English Dub Review: Ahiru no Sora Episodes 25~27

Overview:

The boys enter in their first match.

Our Take:

All of the boys passed their exams… somehow. I do enjoy that there isn’t a lot of time spent on the studying, but we get enough information to know that they did push themselves hard where we weren’t watching. Nobody becomes a super genius overnight, but it’s enough to pass (barely).  There is also a lot of attention on Kojima and the fact that he’s still suffering from a leg injury. Although he’s in no position to play in the matches, he still accompanies the team and has a lot of stake in the matches going forward.

This is the start of the match, so not as much heavy stuff happens compared to later matches. The first match in a sports anime tournament is usually meant to establish the home team as contenders that have value on the court, and as team players.

While most of the attention falls to Sora as the protagonist, this gave a lot of attention to the others’ growth. During the first bit of the match, Chiaki was core in the offense, and everyone giving him the respect he deserves is great. Kite this time, too! While he comes off as someone standoffish and harsh, he really has a lot of investment in the team. His really quick plays, and him making choices that help out his teammates that are suffering from nerves is really, really good. He used to be very self-centered, so the key moment where he made a team play while still being himself was a great moment. Same for Mokichi, who considering the last batch of episodes, was extremely hesitant when it came to giving basketball– and other people– another chance. Now he is not only recognizing the talent that his teammates have, but he is giving it all himself. For a sickly guy, he is so underhanded on the court, and it’s great. Sora’s nerves in a position he’s unfamiliar with is hard to watch, but that really makes me want to see him succeed.

I think that overall, the show does have a slower pace than most, and that can slow things down for people who want a faster story. A lot of the framing, now that the match is here, is still shots with a few action scenes in-between. However, most of the stillness is dedicated to people explaining the plays in the match for the sake of the audience. I can see why this would annoy people, but as someone who doesn’t know the rules of basketball, this was very helpful for me to get a better framework as to what’s going on. Probably not something people with a knowledge base in the game would need, but I’ll take it.