RE-MAIN – 11

「出せ！俺に出せ！」 (Dase! Ore Ni Dase!)
“Pass! Pass To Me!”

Match day has finally arrived, and it’s the first time we see a proper water polo game from start to finish. I think MAPPA must have been looking forward to animating this episode because the visuals during the match were utterly stunning. I could go on a tangent about how much I enjoyed the animation of the action sequences, but I do want to dive into the crux of what transpired. So without further ado, here’s my breakdown of this week’s RE-MAIN:

Minato’s Message from the Past is Rewriting Destiny

Sounds dramatic, yes, but there’s no denying the mass effect our “happy” Minato from the past is having on the course of events taking place. His advice to trust in his teammates and work together has seemingly steered him in the right direction to extract the team’s full potential. Gotta give a special mention to Eitarou, of course, for triggering this train of positive thoughts by believing in Minato’s jump and successfully executing the plan beyond expectations. Realizing he had underestimated his team, Minato begins to spark passion in his team with uplifting words and guidance, and the boys looked to be regaining that joy for the game once again.

A Poetic Finale to the Match

The final moments of the match were done in such a harmonious and clever manner, showing the tying together of each character’s journeys and the fruits of their labor starting to bear themselves. Ejiri always wanted to be a sports star, and now his hard work and tribulations over the months have allowed him to reach his goal, becoming the star shooter of the team scoring the most spectacular points. Likewise, Eitarou yearned to see Minato’s amazing feats again, which came true by believing in his senpai and staying dedicated to the team. Joujima wanted to fix his relationship with his dad, and by finally mustering the courage to at least leave him a note, papa Jojo was there in a flash, and boy was he impressed!

Other examples include Amahima applying his swimming to reach the ball first, and the weakest players Babayaro and Yoshiharu contributing to the team with their hands held high up in defence, resulting from their relentless training. Topping it off, the symphony of Minato and his sister Asumi facing their respective challenges in sync was a nice touch to the ending. The combination of the music from the performance and the visuals of the water polo match was a clever way of bringing it all together in a heart-warming fashion. Everyone had reached what they set out to do from the start of the series as friends and family rejoiced at the beautiful sight of Yamanami High’s first-ever water polo victory!

Chinu’s Interest Rekindled

It would seem the Chinu x Minato ship may have made its first move in the right direction. The reality of their relationship is that Minato always fell short in some way, whether it was being his nasty but strong self, or being his kind but weak self, there was always something lacking. Given the return of the strong and nasty Minato but with the guidance of the kind and weak Minato, this is the first time our main character is facing his shadow and owning up to his shortcomings. If discovering his perfect and complete self could be coined as “PROJECT: MINATO,” then I would say the project has finally tipped over the 50% completion mark for the first time in the series. There is no doubting the look of hope in Chinu’s eyes in the final scene, and there is also no denying Minato’s reflective expression at the end as though something, or someone, was on his mind.

Let me know in the comments below all of your hot takes of this week’s RE-MAIN!