Now that Towa defeated Hana after Michi, Sanae, and Himeno failed to take her down. Now, we have a tall, cheerful blonde-haired girl named Emma facing off against Towa. Sadly, she might look like a formidable opponent despite being the first time participating in a tournament.
It’s finally the match that can decide everything. While Towa gave a big yell before the match, Emma seemed enthusiastic, despite Towa throwing her down and initially having an advantage. Finally, Touwa managed to score a point. However, her advantage quickly disappeared as Towa started to tire out a bit. We also find out that Emma always smiles. She is quick to learn her opponent’s strategy and manages to win.
Halfway through the match, Towa loses her advantage. She had some near misses. But manages to make a last-minute save and tends not to crash into Erika, who is spectating. Either way, the score was tied, and Towa gave as much as she got.
Sadly, she ends up losing after realizing she messed up. However, she wanted to win as she opened up thanks to Michi and her smile. Thankfully, her friends were there when she started to cry.
Still, seeing this end result is unsurprising, as Rinka’s team is well-established, and Shino has to start from scratch. At least they got pretty far, and Towa faced a formidable opponent. This will serve as a good experience for next time. Sure, this is Himeno’s last time, but at least she filled in, and Nagumo feels she can live up to her reputation. Nagumo won’t compete in this tournament, but it’s a shame we didn’t see how she does. At the same time, we also find out that Erika’s team fell short too.
Aside from that, Shino’s team and Erika’s went to the same ramen shop. Sanae feels down for getting instantly defeated. Yep, she feels terrible not being able to score a single ippon, unlike Michi, Towa, and Himeno. However, she also admits that Nagumo can handle anything. As a result, Sanae felt she was a deadweight to her team and not living up to being the team’s captain.
Thankfully, Himeno doesn’t think this away as Sanae cares about everyone, and they need her despite her abilities. So, she tells her to work up her courage; with experience, she will have the greatest summer imaginable. In other words, Himeno tells Sanae to believe more in herself as her time will eventually come. But, of course, that is while Michi wants more ramen.
Also, Shino’s team and Rinka’s team took a photo together before they parted ways. I find it funny how Rinka held back her enthusiasm for Shino. Still, it’s unsurprising that she was doing this in front of her teammates, and she can’t show the other side of her personality. Not only that, it’s nice to see a beach episode when the credits rolled along with a short epilogue of the girls’ last day of summer.
Final Thoughts
Mou Ippon is an exciting girls’ sports anime. Sure, Michi’s and especially Hana’s mentioning the boyfriend thing is very cringe. However, the characters are enjoyable, and the Judo action doesn’t disappoint.
Also, it’s nice to see the girls on Michi’s team grow their bonds and even open up to Towa. Indeed, she is a bit more outgoing compared to the first episode, but it’s nice how each girl changed throughout their Judo journey. Michi is a bundle of joy, although I wish she would stop mentioning that thing. Finally, it would be good without the boyfriend thin, but I wouldn’t mind a second season if it happens.
Solid show that felt incomplete even for a manga lure. Stupid “running gag” aside our heroines and their hot coach were all wonderful, especially the MVP Nagumo who we were denied her in-ring debut. Not cool. Even so Nagumo remains best girl.
Yes, I agree since the show was just getting started when it end, and it’s too bad that we didn’t get to see Nagumo in action. Yes, that running gag makes me sigh, it’s not really needed here.