"Ippon" Again!

Episode 8

The team's assembled, the training montages have played out, and it's time to return to the land of Tournament for another – hopefully longer, for our girls' sake – series of bouts. As always, "Ippon" isn't in any hurry, so rather than jumping straight into their first fight, we follow Michi and the others through the opening ceremony before meeting their serendipitous opponents. It makes for very chill viewing, but that's exactly where this show does best.

Sure, a part of me wants to get back into the fray and see what our cast can do, but the downtime is used well here. For one, we flesh out Shino-sensei a bit, revealing that she's cautious about Nagumo participating as a white belt because an injury derailed her own high school sports career. It's a classic sports story beat, but I'm honestly glad we have an adult who's actually observant and considerate of their students. So many sports anime let their kids get away with reckless shenanigans that could wreck their bodies, all for the sake of winning high school tournaments, that it's refreshing to see Shino stand firm on not letting Nagumo compete. For as frustrating as sitting out this tournament might be, it's a hell of a lot better than breaking your leg and missing everything after that.

We also meet their first opponents, who just so happen to have their own dramatic sports narrative. Heck, on paper, they're even bigger underdogs than our main crew, with only three members who seemingly scrapped a club together after the previous one disbanded five years ago. On the one hand, that's an incredibly convenient match-up, but the notion that every team at this tournament has their own stories makes them feel as authentic as our heroes. They have backstories, motivations, and relationships that existed before this and are no less driven than our main heroines. The laws of storytelling make Aoba West's victory nigh-guaranteed, but giving texture to their opponents is a good way of making the conflict feel less predetermined. Plus, Sachi's adorable, and her height mismatch against Michi the munchkin makes me smile whenever they're on screen together.

We only see the beginning of that pair's match, but I love their shared competitive energy. The biggest thrill in sports narratives comes when both sides are fired up and put everything they have into a match, and the added element of their size difference adds to the tension. Sachi's height and build give her an advantage, but that makes the idea of our underdog toppling her all the more exciting, and that competitive fire gets both riled up in tandem. Michi listing off all the sensations that come with a match and how they get all the more potent as the intensity cranks up is almost poetic. We'll have to wait until next week to see the conclusion, but just watching these two smiling as they grapple makes this half of the match satisfying in its own right.

Besides that, this episode is littered with charming details. My favorite is the blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where Shino is holding Nagumo back from just walking onto the mat with the rest of the team because, of course, the little stinker would try that. I also appreciate the more casual air Himeno brings to the group, counterbalancing Sanae's flustered micromanaging. Small choices like that give the cast an effortless charm and make even transitional episodes like this one engaging.

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"Ippon" Again! is currently streaming on HIDIVE.