「人材は作り出す必要がある。」 (Jinzai wa Tsukuridasu Hitsuyou ga Aru.)
“The Material Has to Be Created”

With the fun of ship adventures now over, Youjitsu turns once again to the tried and true school-time format: sports festival. What? You knew it was coming at some point, no proper school-life anime is complete without a little competition around the track, even if in Youjitsu’s case it’s a tad more competitive than average. And on the plus side it makes better sense than the last test, because one way or another, everyone understands what failing to make the podium means.

Much as mentioned back at the start of the last arc, each new test in this series is all about fleshing out a particular character (or characters), and in this case it’s all about Suzune. While the girl received her time in the limelight last season it’s not difficult seeing where things are heading here: Suzune is still standoffish, she still believes in doing as much as she can herself, and she has absolutely zero intention of helping when she sees no benefit in doing so. In a way she’s a more assertive Kiyotaka, but unlike Kiyotaka has failed to appreciate that there’s a limit to what one can do alone. Well-functioning teams – i.e. teams working in concert towards a common goal – will always achieve more than any individual and a good chunk of this arc will be getting Suzune to understand and appreciate the difference. Classes A and B for example didn’t get where they are because they’re all comprised of rockstars.

Suzune alone, however, isn’t the only focus for the moment; cannot forget the very blatant calling out of Kikyou as a traitor. For the moment not easy guessing where this came from (why sell out your own class for no apparent reward), but considering Kikyou’s dual personality it’s not hard assuming it’s got something to do with her simmering hatred of all things Suzune (which has been on the down low for a while now). Or, you know, if Kiyotaka is even telling the truth in the first place since that’s also a distinct possibility. In truth it’s all guesswork for the moment, but the one thing you can be sure of is that the fun and games here have only just started.

After all, cannot forget that Class A is technically partnered with Class D for this one. Rest assured the strategizing over that shall prove spicy.

3 Comments

  1. Even though I had forgotten most of this anime, seeing how long ago the 1st season was, picking up the remaining puzzle pieces has been going relatively smoothly.

    At the very least I fully remember my biggest appeal here, Kiyotaka’s thinking.
    It’s very relatable.

    JHNSeph

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