Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

The Inter High tournament has arrived, and Macho Captain Man wants Yamato to do really well, since this is the last highschool 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.