Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

Yukari’s running and imagining herself chasing a figure in the mist. However, Yukari’s times have been lagging, and the tournament selections are coming up. While Yukari’s stock is tumbling, Kana’s is rising sharply. Kei and the drama club cast Kana in the lead role, and Kana makes steady improvement. Unable to handle the pressure, Yukari sinks into an emo-funk and contemplates quitting the track team.

It turns out that Yukari’s sister-in-law passed away, and Yukari has been trying to emulate this sister-in-law for quite some time. This is why she runs long distances in spite of being more of a sprinter. Finally Mizuho tells a story about tricking yourself into thinking you are suffering by your own volition, and Yukari is revitalized. The next day, everyone shows up to run with Yukari because she is so slow that even track n00bs can keep up with her.

In spite of the crazy Yukari emo in this episode, there were some moving moments. Mizuho’s message about being given an opportunity and doing something for yourself was somewhat convincing, but also a bit silly. I’d say that Takako’s message about just BS’ing and making others believe your lies was a better life lesson. I was intrigued at how Ichiko was trying to bust out of house arrest and somehow became able to hug Yukari even though the hug was not really related to Mizuho.

I was very much reminded of Suzuka during the whole episode, and Maria would be Suzuka and Yukari would be Yamato.