Suzuka – 11

Short Summary:
At the track meet, we get introduced to Emelson Arima, the current number one sprinter. After Suzuka loudly exclaims that he’s below Tsuda-senpai, Arima comes over and confronts her, repeatedly saying that Tsuda is dead, and that he’s number one now. Yamato, who was led to the track meet by Hattori, witnesses Suzuka in tears. He steps in, exclaiming that he’s the fastest, but Arima dismisses his words and tells him to prove it in the 100m race. The race starts off with Arima in the lead, but Suzuka’s “cheering” (she calls him an idiot) allows Yamato to catch up. However, although nearing the finish line neck and neck, Yamato falls, unable to keep up with Arima’s pace. His pride hurt, Yamato runs off into the nearby woods to sulk. He’s surprised when Suzuka arrives with a first aid kit and bandages his knees. In the end, she asks him to show up again at club activities the next day.

This episode was fairly cheesy in my opinion, mainly in the way Yamato leaps to defend Suzuka, and in the way she cheers him on. It is ultimately a way to bring the two back on speaking terms with each other. Granted, the exact same events occur in the manga, but I’ve said before that I don’t like these current volumes so much. The back and forth in their relationship would drive me crazy if it weren’t stopping soon.
The one thing I can’t complain about this episode is the production quality. The animation stays consistant, and they’re making decent use of the background music (meaning that there are still a few weird silences through the episode). I said last week that Arima didn’t look evil enough as he does in the manga, and that still holds true (I think his eyes aren’t slender enough), but he’s not really a major character so it’s ok.
Fortunately this is the last of the episodes covering story I really don’t care for. Starting next week, we’ll get into some of the good stuff (volume five and on) in terms of the plot and Honoka, and fanservice in the form of a swimsuit scene. Of course, the week after that (episode 13) is what I’m really looking forward to. Suffice to say, the plot really gets going when we start to get more Honoka.