Subculture Anime Blog

IT’S OUR POWER OF LOVE.

Summary:

After paying her respects to her mother, Tamaki announces her departure with blade in hand. The kendo club finds their way to the bus taking participants to the tournament, and Yuji notices that Tamaki is a bit nervous on the ride there. Miyako sees Carrie on the way, instantly becoming enraged. When the club reaches their destination, Ishida remembers memories of his own competition at the very location. He meets Kenzaburo while at the site, and the two discuss their activities as usual. The kendo club expresses their anticipation inside, when Miyako sees Carrie in the distance. With this, she approaches her with a usual challenge. After further discussion, Kenzaburo brings up the nostalgic feeling he has. When Ishida brings up his win against him, Kenzaburo wonders if they should have another match. While Tamaki signs up for the competition, she is surprised to see Rin’s name in the listings.

Satori is matched up against Tamaki in the first round, resulting in a quick loss for her. In the meantime, Ishida predicts the match Tamaki will be playing against Rin. While facing off against Carrie, Miyako implies that it will be her win this time. Previously, Miyako and Satori had visited Reimi’s house to review the videos of the earlier match. Miyako is successfully able to land a winning blow against Carrie, allowing her to finally experience the feeling of victory. Reimi makes it to the stadium late, but when she arrives, she sees Miyako walking outside with Carrie. The kendo club discusses their progress when they meet, and go to watch the boys’ side shortly after. Yuji has been set up against Danjuro, and Ishida is impressed by the amount of progress that has been made. Preparing to face off again, Miyako wonders why Carrie uses a dual blade style when she cannot use it in competitions. Carrie finally reveals that she was inspired by a samurai movie as a child, as the two begin another match.

Yuji lands his win against Danjuro, and Tamaki announces that she must leave for her match soon. Her opponent is Rin, causing a lot of anticipation from everyone else. During the match, Tamaki and Rin are very equal in ability. Tamaki is able to lay successful blows to Rin, amazing the rest of the group. Elsewhere outside, Miyako gains an amazing win against Carrie despite Reimi’s distractions. It comes to the deciding moment for Rin and Tamaki, as the crowd around them shouts in excitement. Tamaki realizes that everyone around them loves kendo, and Rin becomes very excited at how strong her opponent has become. As Rin puts up the jodan stance, Ishida wonders what Tamaki would do if she was really to face her mother. However, Tamaki believes she would want to win against any opponent. Tamaki preforms an amazing tsuki against Rin, successfully winning to the cheers of the crowds. Rin hopes for another match in the future, and Tamaki happily agrees. Ishida leaves with his responsibilities as a teacher in mind, and he disappears from the stadium before Kirino can find him. With his apartment now empty, Ishida accompanies his acquaintance in wonder of what he will be doing from now on.

Preview: Rin in a ponytail.

Impression:

YOU SAID IT MIYAKO! Holy crap. From knocking double blades out of enemy hands to Atomic Fire Blades, this episode was the most exciting I’ve seen by far. I had a smile on my face throughout the entire episode, and I was jumping in joy during the excellent matches. Those lame shounen fighting anime really need to take a hint from this show, because two minute matches are plenty to be excited about. I also love how things are not blown out of dramatic proportion, since things are kept very down to earth in a real kendo sports fashion. Reimi’s yuri fantasies almost came true in this episode, and I laughed really hard when I saw her Miyako adorned room. I guess all of her actions didn’t end up as a random side jokes in the end after all! Some other awesome moments included Miyako’s mention of American jokes and Tamaki’s cute mochi mochi face. The teammate versus teammate set ups were a ride too. The next episode looks like a life goes on ending, and I now I really don’t want it to all be over.