Subculture Anime Blog

Oh, oh, oh~

Summary:

Looking into the sky, Tamaki realizes that summer has come. In the dojo, Ishida notices that Kirino has not come to practice again. She has been missing for a few days, and the club is concerned because she usually usually wouldn’t miss even if she was quite sick. Sayako has tried contacting her many times without avail, and she eventually has a bad feeling about the situation. As Sayako speeds off on her bike, Yuji expresses his concern in that Sayako knows Kirino the best by being with her for so long. Sayako recklessly speeds through the town to find Kirino, but is shocked to find her working happily at a croquette shop. When Satori arrives at the dojo late, she finds that everyone is cheerfully eating croquettes. Tamaki wonders why Kirino would go out of her way to work, but Sayako does not know either. When Kirino returns to her mother in the hospital, she finds that she is quite lively despite her circumstances. Kirino’s mother worries about her daughter skipping school for her, but Kirino is more worried about supporting her mom.

When Kirino returns to the dojo, she finally tells everyone what happened. Everyone happily greets her back, but Ishida notices something about her usual concentration during practice. Ishida tells Sayako about his realization that Kirino is distracted because of her mother, but Sayako tells him that she knows this already. Sayako energetically leaves with Kirino after she is done dressing, and Ishida gives some encouraging words to Tamaki when she comes out. At the tournament the next day, the team does extremely well in defeating their opponents. Kirino even surprises Ishida, because she is actually more concentrated than usual. Sayako notices a girl named Konishi above them later, and recalls the rumors she has heard about her. The team predicts that Konishi will be Tamaki’s opponent, but they are not worried at all. Satori finds an extremely irritated Miyako in the meantime, who is concerned about the fact that she is the only one who has not won a match. Danjuro calls Miyako to eat lunch with everyone, and tells her that she was cool in doing her best despite her losses. This instantly cheers Miyako up, as she grasps on to Danjuro’s hand.

As the group eats outside, they notice that Satori is missing. Satori rushes to catch up with the group, but she runs into Konishi along the way. Before Konishi leaves, she crushes the can of tea that Satori had bought for Miyako. Satori apologizes to Miyako when she finally gets outside, but Miyako cheerfully accepts the drink anyways. Satori excites Ishida by telling the group that she has food for everyone, but she opens her bag to find that she has the wrong thing inside. Sayako meanwhile notices that Kirino is lost in thought, so she causes a lively aura by helping her eat. An underclassman finds Konishi in the bathroom, calling her over for their meeting. This team expresses the importance in winning, and notices how strong of an opponent Tamaki will be. Despite all of this, Konishi declares that she will win. Ishida wakes up outside to find that everyone has left him behind. When he catches up to the group, however, he finds Kirino cheerfully coaching the others. Tamaki is called unexpectedly before her match, passing by Konishi in the halls. Tamaki finds tacks in her shoes on the way out, and finds that three fans of Konishi are waiting for her outside. The three drag Tamaki away, and throw her into a locker. Finding that she is locked inside, Tamaki desperately searches for ways to escape.

Preview: Tamaki will kick Konishi’s arse….then teach her the power of justice!

Impression:

Uh oh!! Bamboo Blade is getting exciting! This episode was really funny as usual, but I noticed a few things this time. Some of it might have seemed slightly disjointed, with the story jumping from Kirino’s working and her return to the start of the tournament. I think this is just a problem of manga going to anime, but it kind of felt like the episode ended three times. There were also a few uguu~ moments, with Yuji’s chin earlier in the episode. One of the highlights of this episode for me definitely had to be the Danjuro x Miyako scene. I mean, they held hands and everything. LOVE POWER, YEA! That’s really all I have to say about that one. Seeing that Kirino’s mother was as energetic as her daughter was pretty funny, and I think we all knew that the drama from the last episode would be killed off instantly this week.

We were shown a bit more development with how close Sayako really is to Kirino, but most of the antics remained about the same. The climax of this episode definitely had to do with Konishi. I wouldn’t say I’m hating her, but I’m definitely disliking her strange hair colored fangirls. I’m pretty sure that they’re actually the ones doing all the wrong. They seem to be setting up the next episode to look like Tamaki will finally lose, but I seriously doubt that will happen. It’s like Initial D. You don’t want anyone to lose, but you realize in the back of your head that they never will. Speaking of Initial D, the sabotage moves in this episode reminds me a bit of that show too. Haha, what a weird comparison. Anyways, I’m definitely pumped about the next episode. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on it sooner than I have been lately.

Oh, and a certain viewer (who might be named Nemo_N) has recently informed me that the dvd releases of Bamboo Blade have been given a new animation! Check it out here. I think it’s really awesome. I don’t see why they can’t give the series this treatment while it’s airing.