Subculture Anime Blog

Do you like Engrish???

Summary:

Some girls invite Miyako to go to a shop with them, but she denies because of her need to go to kendo practice. They wonder why, but their answer is brought to them when they see Danjuro calling Miyako over to him. One of the girls wonders how a boy like Danjuro could be Miyako’s boyfriend, so the other gives her a ridiculous explanation. Ishida enthusiastically prepares his girls for practice in the dojo, though he is actually quite disappointed in himself. When Tamaki approaches him, Ishida offers to take her to the clinic for her final check up. Kirino is put in charge while they are away, so she decides with the remaining group that they will test themselves in a ranking of strength. Ishida drops Tamaki off at the hospital, but she insists that she will be fine without him taking her back afterwards.

The rest of the group at the dojo finds their rankings, but they are quite like they expected them to be. Danjuro cheers up a despairing Miyako as usual, but Yuuji cannot help but notice something troubling while watching the two. Tamaki runs into Kenzaburo after her check up is done, and he offers to give her a ride home. While stuck in traffic, Kenzaburo takes the chance to ask if her previous match was the first time she has lost. Tamaki denies that it was a loss, however, as she would have won if she were able to continue. Kenzaburo suggests that it would be better if Tamaki lost once, as there are things that can only be seen once this happens. Tamaki is unable to comprehend this, only stating that she does not want to lose.

Danjuro and Miyako meanwhile visit the kendo shop to find a new sword. Miyako finds one that she likes, but a large foreign woman also takes interest. The two soon get into an argument, but Danjuro breaks them up. The foreigner takes an instant liking to Danjuro, as he reminds her of the things she liked in America. Miyako has her own suggestions, however, before the shop owner interrupts the argument. The foreign woman challenges Miyako to a match the next day, before walking out of the store to Miyako’s irritation. Danjuro tells Miyako that fighting isn’t good on the way home with her, but she assures him that it will be okay.

Talking on the phone with him at night, Tamaki wonders to Yuuji what it felt like when he first lost a match. She is unable to get an answer, however, as her father enters the room to interrupt her. Meanwhile, Miyako practices for her match the next day. The foreign woman from earlier arrives at the school the next day, so Miyako quickly shows up to take her challenge. The girls are excited about how Miyako’s position would change if she won, but Tamaki expresses that the girl is strong. Miyako tries her best to beat her opponent, but she is still unable to in the end. Danjuro comforts a despairing Miyako after the match, and he denies the American girl’s advances on him. He tells her that his only love is Miyako, which finally makes her give up. She and Miyako say their farewells to each other afterwards, promising to each other that they would have another match one day. The girl also finally introduces herself as Carrie.

Preview: Holy crap, a Blade Braver episode!!!

Impression:

My love is only one…MIYA MIYA FOREVER! Man, that was the best line in Bamboo Blade I have ever heard. Love power!!! Well, I guess this was the first episode in the anime original series. I’m actually quite satisfied. I didn’t see the foreigner coming at all (Okay, that’s a lie…Kurogane likes to write spoilerific titles), and she provided for a lot of humor. It’s easy to tell that they aren’t able to bring any major story forward though, as the dialogs just seem to be spinning around in circles around what we already know. Kenzaburo’s suggestion that Tamaki should lose once was a nice touch, and I laughed at Tamaki’s father worrying about Yuuji taking her away.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Miyako struggling for her place in the kendo club. I doubt we’ll be seeing a conclusion to this in the anime though, which is a bit disappointing. The introduction of Carrie and her challenge almost made me think that she would finally win a match, but it still didn’t happen. Speaking of that character, what was up with the guitar rifts that started playing while she was around? Haha!! You’ve gotta love that Engrish too. Another thing I enjoy about this show, which I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, is how the matches only last one to three minutes long. They don’t drag them out like they do in shounen anime, Ah, but who cares about that? The next episode looks really awesome, since it seems like we’ll get an extended look at Tamaki’s favorite anime!