Volume 27: The Captain’s Decision

Chapters 230-237
Trains: 3
Lame Puns from Dabide: 1? (It’s kinda hard to tell from the scanlation... Dabide spoke, though, so it was probably a pun XD)
Fanta: 1 (wished for)

Plot Events:  Echizen defeats Sanada, sending Seigaku to the National Tournament

--------1----Kelfin----1--------

Yay! I’ve been really energetic and busy this week! I won all the endings on Hiyoku wa Azami no Kanata e ~Renri no Yume~, came to peaceful conclusions with many of my life issues, and figured out how to use AGTH with Gakuen Heaven! I also fought a food war with my cat (we disagree on how long food has to go untouched before it is rightfully his) and translated an entire BL manga into English! (From Russian. There was a Russian fan translation but not an English one. Do you guys have any idea how much easier it is to translate from Russian than from Japanese? Whew! Anyway, I am pleased with how I did and surprised by how well I remember my Russian! :D)

Anyway, we were in the middle of the match between Echizen and Sanada. The gist of this match is that they are both good at tennis, engendering mutual respect. I’m really embarrassed for Sanada as I watch—never, never, never, never, ever get smug until after you win! You will only be forced to eat your words later! It just makes it worse that all of his schoolmates refuse to believe that he could possibly fail…

Ryōma returns all of Sanada’s cool moves with Muga no Kyōchi. DON’T DO IT SANADA! Don’t show him your last two moves! He will only use them against you!  …Through some kind of plot device, Sanada is forced to use them. Sigh. At least Sanada has now realized that he’s not dealing with the usual riffraff and has shut his mouth.

Fuck, now he’s hallucinating a guy in hakama with a katana. We must be to the part where Prince of Tennis smacks us in the face with a giant sign that says ECHIZEN = SAMURAI. The only comfort I have is the fact that it’s Sanada who notices it. Whatever, he decides to ignore the fact that he’s obviously having a vision and just defeat Ryōma already. That’s pretty much the only thing a man with integrity can do at this point.

It’s the perfect time for a flashback to The Match between Echizen and Tezuka, during which Tezuka apparently also saw Echizen turn into a magical hallucinatory samurai. The flashback effectively links the two matches for us, as does Tezuka’s request that Ryūzaki have Echizen play this match against Sanada. That’s a little highhanded of you, Tezuka, don’t you think?

All I can say is, thank god Tezuka kicked Ryōma’s ass, because if he went through the whole series undefeated, he’d be unbearable.  Though I’m not sure I personally would have gone about said ass-kicking by hitting tennis balls at his face and screaming “Evolve!”

To be honest, I’m not really sure how the logic behind this match works. Echizen’s only playing tennis in order to defeat his father, ergo Tezuka must defeat Echizen, because defeat will clearly make him want to play more tennis…?! Is it because he needs to broaden his experience? If it is, I wish they would say so clearly. (I am constantly wishing manga would say things more clearly.)

Anyway, Tezuka insists that Ryōma must face Sanada in order to improve. *thinks* …You know, he’s right. Okay, I’ll stop rooting for Sanada now.

Ryūzaki: Tezuka, why do you go so far for Echizen?
Kelfin: Good question.
Tezuka: Because I am his captain.
Sure. That explains exactly nothing. I don’t see you having midnight telephone calls in which you angst about Arai.

~*~

Thought-Provoking Thought: I’m really unimpressed by Ryōma’s English, yet when Yagyū speaks French, it’s hot. Hmmmmmm…

~*~

Speaking of hot: Muga no Kyōchi apparently provokes really amazingly cool reactions in those it possesses.
Ryōma: My heart has become empty. It is empty because there is nothing.
HOT. Also hot? Sanada. Of course he can do it, too. ♥

Oooooooooooooooh, will Ryōma’s energy explosion indeed prove to be his downfall???  The DRAMA in all these frames, it’s crazy! It’s really well drawn… I like what he’s doing with all these lines…

Okay! Ryōma won! At least we can all feel like it was a good match, honorably won. Unfortunately Seigaku are being reckless (and lame), tossing Ryōma so high that he’s probably going to fall and die, or throw up or something. It makes me feel much better about him that he is not so sure about this, either. OMG, is Ōishi actually crying?! (Yes... and talking in his head to Tezuka, too. Seriously.)

For his part, Sanada figures out how Cool Drive works. He is not going to lose again to this kind of bullshit. He actually admires Ryōma, which I like to see—mutual respect is refreshing. Then it’s dramatic speech time for Sanada and his team, and… you know… he’s good at this. It’s an encouraging speech instead of a shaming one, which I did not expect. On the other hand, I suppose it is difficult to scold other people for doing what you just did right in front of them (i.e., losing).

WTF, this is ominous: “But no one could have predicted the new troubles that this one victory would bring.” *TENTERHOOKS*

This is why Google is your friend.

Okay, okay, Fudōmine vs. Rokkaku—obviously I’m rooting for Fudōmine; they’re less of a freak show. Speaking of freak shows:  Hi, Chitose! Nice geta. Chitose is annoyed that the match sucked, but we can tell it’s just because he is all hung up on Tachibana. (Who is totally hung up on him, too, naturally.)

Tournament awards recap!

Fudōmine gets 3rd place. They’re headed to Nationals; however, Kamio is dripping puddles of shame all over the court because Tachibana has supposedly gotten weaker, and obviously it’s because he and their other team members are not good enough to give Tachibana a challenge. DDDD: ♥ He’s going to use it as motivation to get better, so it’s cute.

Rikkai gets 2nd place, but… Yeah. Refusing the trophy is bitchy and unsportsmanlike. “Everything else is worthless”, Sanada? Really? How do you think that makes Fudōmine FEEL?

And 1st place is Seigaku, obviously.

Wait, what? “Seigaku’s Summer Vacation”? This can’t be good… Oh right, they’re at the beach. With Rokkaku. Because Fanservice. This is making me die on the inside.

I wonder what it is about Aoi that makes me want to punch him in the face literally every time I so much as see him.

...Oh god, whose idea was it to put Fuji and Saeki on the same team?