The Inter High tournament has arrived, and Macho Captain Man wants Yamato to do really well, since this is the last high school match for the seniors. Suzuka’s been cold as usual, and Yasunobu and Honoka both notice that Yamato is totally bummed that no one is rushing to sign up as a Yamato-groupie. As Miki tries to convince Suzuka to give Yamato a pep talk, Honoka prepares her trap.
After donning a cute little top and skirt, Honoka arrives on the pretext of cheering Yamato up. Things are going well as Yamato cheers up and accepts her hand over his, but then that woman shows up in a similar top/skirt outfit and identical pan-up scene! Faster than you can say, “Back off biatch!” Honoka dives for a kiss and prevents Yamato from turning around and seeing Suzuka. Then, of course, Honoka executes a tactical retreat. Suzuka arrives to the leftovers (having not seen the kiss), and mutters out some words of encouragement as Yamato openly questions why she even bothered.
Yamato’s confused about his feelings now; on the one hand he said all along that he liked Suzuka, but on the other hand he never really had a girl like him back. Now that Honoka’s in the picture, Yamato wonders if a manager in the hand is worth a high jumper in the bush. Or something like that (running out of hands here…). Later that night, Honoka goes to see Yamato again, but he turns away from her attempt at a second kiss. Realizing that perhaps her efforts were in vain, Honoka begins to cry, and Yamato realizes how hot he finds crying girls and gives her a kiss. Miki arrives on the scene just in time, and is quite surprised by what she sees. Ah, Yamato you pseudo-two-timing cad!
This was a really good episode, with even more difference coming between the haves and the have-nots. Effort finally gets rewarded as we see Honoka’s carefully planned long-term strategy pay some dividends, while Yasunobu’s impulsive plan results in zero nanpa (chick hunting) successes and extra work setting up the send-off party. I think what everyone (except Yamato) really likes about Honoka is that she is able to get over her fears and just make her moves. Honoka knows that if she can keep Yamato focused on her, then he won’t be lured away by Suzuka. The first kiss scene illustrated this so perfectly, and was very well executed by the director. Additionally, the thought she puts into her plans (like the carefully coordinated outfits, the specially trained splashy carps, the handily small bathing suit, etc.) really make her quite appealing. It’s a real shame that Yamato seems to just be settling for her for as long as Suzuka remains out of reach.
So far Honoka’s 2-0, with Yamato not even noticing (or being impressed by) Suzuka’s entrance that first night, and then even missing Suzuka making her personal record official with a 3rd place finish at the Inter High. Now Miki’s in a total pickle, and her and Yasunobu need to really step it up because they’ve been disappointing as wingmen so far.
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This post was written by...
Kabitzin – who has written 1940 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
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Nice screenshot. Did you combine snippets from the scroll-over to get the large screenshot of Honoka?
I cap it at intervals and splice the shots together in photoshop. It works best when the character doesn’t move or have wind in the hair, cause then you have to do weird stuff to get all the pieces to fit together.
Woohoo I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed the fabulous fashion of our two leading ladies this episode!
It’s weird how Miki seems to favor… camouflage. Both her swimsuit and the shirt she wore while setting up for the party were in camo.
I noticed her camouflage fetish too and I really like it. It’s probably a subtle hint that she’s quite the hunter.
I can’t help but cheer for Honoka. It’s a shame she’s destined to lose to Suzuka.
“Yamato wonders if a manager in the hand is worth a high jumper in the bush.”
LOL
I don’t know about you guys, but I really did not like this episode.
After watching it, I was just like “…what just happened? WHY THE HECK DID HE DO THAT JAG EG AJG; EGA JGK?!?!”
Well also, I don’t like Honoka.
Seriously, I despise her and HAVE despised her ever since the first few episodes she was in. I don’t get how anyone could like her.
Yeah, maybe it’s just me, but I really don’t like her.
lmao great comments Kabitzin
i was looking forward to this ep for quite a while and luckily it was well worth waiting for…
*lol*
Great entry, Kabitzin. Especially the comment Dave pointed out in comment 7 ^_^
I strongly doubt that this was really a planned-out attakku from Honoka. In fact, the first kiss was a clear impulse reaction to Suzuka’s appearance. “LOOK AT ME!” … and the second one was hardly preplanned either
I really need to give Honoka props for taking her first steps to crack her Shinobu-style baby shell and grow. In the beginning of the manga I was not too interested in her, because she seemed so harmless and simple. This was the scene where I firmly switched over to her camp, and it will be a joy to see her continuous development from now on. By the current chapter 78, she is the character in the show I admire most. Who would have thought that?
Finally: I think it’s a clear sign that the show has fully taken off now when I come to your entry with 9 comments already, and many by people who didn’t bother to comment before. As it was said before, this is when the show begins to shine, and the upcoming arc is simply great.
Despise Honoka? Why? I mean WTFZOMGBBQ?!?!11 I can imagine that people dislike Suzuka but Honoka is cute as well as beautiful and also very kind. The only thing that might be considered annoying about her maybe is her lack of courage but that’s something she shares with many of the other characters.
Ever notice Honoka doesn’t ever seem to have to tend the shrine anymore? Maybe Po hates absentee mikos.
Just wait until Honoka shows her PMS side. Then you’ll know she’s not all that nice and considerate. She’ll be bitchy at Yamato over something. If that doesn’t happen, I wouldn’t say she’s realistic character like Suzuka. If you seen real life females, they’re all imperfect and have their mood swings and PMS outbursts, and I’m just waiting to see the fireworks.
She’s losing her religion! Bad Yamato-kun, tempting the pure and diligent miko!
Real life females are imperfect? Ever considered moving to Holland? They all have dutch wifes there and I was told those never complain.
Somehow after Kannazuki, I can never see mikos in the same light ever again. =)
The only thing I don’t like about Honoka is that she represents the idea of “settling for your second choice”. We all know that Yamato prefers Suzuka, but in his mind we can hear that he’s thinking, “Honoka’s not so bad, and she actually likes me for a change…”. Also, the fact that she was always trying to persuade him not to work too hard or push himself on the track team makes her seem like the devil on the shoulder, trying to get Yamato to give up on his dream.
That being said, she’s still infintely more likeable than Suzuka at this point. Personally I think Yamato is a doofus for preferring Suzuka, but if that’s what he really wants, he should stick to his guns and stop messing around with Honoka.
By the way, when is Miki going to come into the equation?
I still like Suzuka though. I dunno, I like mean girls. Miki is keeping it on the down-low in her camo outfits =D.
She must be in stealth mode, waiting for that shock paddle sneak attack.
I definitely think that Yamato shouldnt be messing with Honoka. Sure, she kissed him first, but think about it. Sooner or later, Suzuka will make her big move, and Yamato will obviously choose her… leaving poor Honoka heartbroken. I guess it would be partially Honoka’s fault, but still… Yamato should know better…