Michi faces her first match against Sachi from Hakata South High School. Can she pull off a win in the first round?
Since this is the first round, Michi had some difficulties with Sachi. Thankfully, from last time, Michi remembers what her older brother said about how good it feels to throw someone down. So, of course, Michi achieves her first ippon as she gets excited. The funny thing is that the referee threatens to take it back. Still, Michi feels good about taking down someone bigger. Of course, Michi has Sono to thank for teaching her the throw that allowed her to achieve an ippon.
As expected, Michi seems to quickly take down Kotoko in the second round. This causes Natsu to lose confidence even though many men cheer their team on, which adds to the pressure. Believe it or not, Hakata South High School’s renowned Judo team disbanded for a long while until recently. Now, there are high expectations for Natsu to make a comeback. We see this in the flashback.
However, she had difficulty facing off against Michi, who had a lot of momentum. When they eventually tie against each other, it looks like Natsu can make it after Kotoko tells the supporters to stop cheering. Unfortunately for her, Michi managed to score an Ippon, thus eliminating Hakata South High School from the competition. Still, Natsu seems to have fun after letting go of the anxieties from high expectations. Of course, she had some nice moments, such as Natsu getting out of Michi’s hold successfully.
That said, it’s nice to learn more about how Natsu turned in her club application to revive the Judo club at her school. While their advisor is very inexperienced regarding Judo, the saying, “softness subdues hardness,” resonated with her. Also, seeing Sachi hit the advisor on the back is funny. Still, it’s a blow for them compared to Aoba West, who also revived their club. However, this is unsurprising since Aoba West has a team of experienced players and more members. Give it some time, and Hakata South will eventually reach that point.
Aside from that, it’s nice to see Michi buy an ice cream cone for herself and Sono, who helped her out. But, of course, I find it funny how she doesn’t see the ice cream as a replacement for the parfait Michi stole. Still, I find it funny how she is upset over that.
Even so, Aoba’s West next round with Nishikiyama High won’t be easy. After all, they have two second year and three third year students to face off against. Given their amount of experience, it’s an uphill battle. Even so, Sanae is fired up for the next round. We’ll see how they do next time.
Reviews from Other Bloggers
- Mou Ippon! Episode 9: Judo Pride – The Yuri Empire
Michi finally got to shine and it’s well deserved.
Despite being benched Nagumo showed the world why she’s still best girl.
It was nice learning about Team Sachi. They’re wonderful parallels to our heroines.
Excited for Round 2!
Agreed, it took Michi quite a bit to get to that point and it’s nice to see the fruits of her training. Nagumo and Sono should pat themselves in the back.
The next round should be interesting though.