Subculture Anime Blog

Stop running.

Summary:

Panicked, Kirino finds Tamaki to question her resignation. Talking to her on the school rooftop, Kirino sees that Tamaki has put a lot of blame on herself for the previous loss. Kirino wonders if she is really fine with quitting, and Tamaki confirms that she is as she leaves. Kirino breaks the news to her other team members, but Ishida and Miyako are not there. As the group does their best to get to practice as usual, Satori wonders if Danjuro has talked to Miyako at all. However, Danjuro is depressed at the fact that he could not help his girlfriend. When Kirino alerts Ishida of the situation, she finds that he only accepts the facts. Before Ishida can leave, Kirino emotionally wonders why he is running away. After practice is over, Kirino assures Sayako that things will be alright despite their situation. At home, Ishida believes that his kendo has ended. Kirino is exhausted when she returns home, unable to even answer her ringing phone. In her own house, Tamaki wonders about her situation as she passively watches her favorite anime.

The next day, Miyako and Ishida are still absent from the dojo. Yuji wonders if there has been anything strange with Kirino lately, but Sayako does her best to deny this fact. On the school rooftop, Ishida looks out into the blue sky. While Tamaki rides home, she can only remember the memories she shared with everyone in the kendo club. She is suddenly stopped by a flat tire, so she is forced to walk the rest of the way home. Yuji catches up to Tamaki, wondering about her quitting kendo. He eventually brings up her previous question about the feeling of losing. Yuji suggests that Tamaki is probably feeling it now; the feeling of pain and frustration. Tamaki is brought to tears at this realization, but Yuji explains to her that this is not a stopping point. He assures her that she could become better and win, and with this, come to love kendo. After hearing this, Tamaki borrows Yuji’s bike to rush back to the direction she came from.

Tamaki actually visits Kenzaburo, asking him for help in dealing with the jodan stance. Kenzaburo sees that Tamaki has finally realized what it is like to lose, but he suggests that her team already has a jodan user. With this, Tamaki approaches Ishida with her knowledge that he use used the jodan to defeat Kenzaburo in the past. Ishida does not believe he can teach Tamaki anything, and instead suggests that there would be opponents that just cannot be beat. He suggests that Tamaki should just enjoy herself in club, but Tamaki cannot accept this. This makes Ishida remember his own hard days of kendo, and the very moment he defeated Kenzaburo. Ishida finally agrees to help Tamaki, inviting her inside the dojo. He sees that she is exhausted from riding all the way to him, however, so he suggests that they continue later.

Satori meanwhile catches up to Miyako in town, wondering about her troubles. Satori attempts to stop Miyako by clasping on to her arm, but this only annoys her. Becoming frustrated herself, Satori lectures Miyako about her actions. In the end, she suggests that she should win first if she decides to quit. With this, Miyako drags Satori in the opposite direction so that they can get back to practice. Sayako visits Kirino at her home, becoming shocked at the sight of a recognition letter. Pushing her onto her bed, Sayako makes Kirino realize how ridiculous her actions are. After this, Kirino realizes her place.

Yuji and Danjuro arrive at the dojo much earlier than everyone else the next day, and are forced to face Toyama and Iwasa one last time. While Danjuro takes it upon himself to face Toyama, Iwasa explains to Yuji that he and his partner do not really hate kendo. Danjuro deals an ending blow to Toyama, surprising everyone. With this, Toyama and Iwasa actually leave peacefully by presenting their resignation letters. Before they can exit, Yuji presents them with their respective dolls from Kirino and Danjuro gives them a proper thanks. Danjuro wonders if he has gotten closer to realizing Miyako’s feelings afterwards, when Miyako arrives just in time with Satori. Yuji presents the resignation letters to Kirino as well, only leaving Tamaki and Ishida to fill the gaps. Ishida and Tamaki soon enter the building, returning everything to normal. Kirino presents Tamaki’s doll as she welcomes her back, and the team’s smiles are returned.

Preview: Miyako and Danjuro are lovulovu

Impression:

IM NOT RUNNING! Hahaha……….okay, I guess nobody really gets that joke. But wow, this was probably the best episode yet. There were so many exciting parts, and I’m really not sure where to start. I think Yuji might have made his first score with Tamaki, giving her the insight she needed to get out of her slump. It’s really funny that Sakaguchi Daisuke is playing the same insightful type role in Clannad this season. It’s certainly no Jacuzzi Splot! I was totally psyched when it was revealed that Ishida used the jodan stance to defeat Kenzaburo. Man, I can’t help but think that the jodan is really badass now.

Satori’s yelling at Miyako was nothing but epic, and the drastic shots during that scene were perfectly fitting. I wonder if this is a bad thing, but I could only thing of one person when Sayako pushed Kirino on to the bed. The yuri vibes were real! To top everything off, Danjuro’s defeating of Toyama was wonderful. Bamboo Blade is definitely the perfect series to show that even the bullies have hearts inside. I’m still loving how powerful they’ve managed to make the dolls as symbols. After this episode, I definitely got my smile back for Bamboo Blade. Next week looks like a chance for payback, and I’m expecting an excellent end for this series.