Another stellar outing from Winter’s most overlooked series.

Sports anime aren’t as a rule hugely popular in English, to be sure.  And Ryman’s Club was the last show out of the starting gate this season, when most folks had already settled in on their viewing schedule.  But I tell you what, this series is pretty damn good, and getting better.  It certainly deserves more attention than it seems to be getting, and to my surprise (I didn’t even peg it as a sleeper, though I did preview it) it’s making a strong push for my #2 spot this season.

At this point I’d say Ryman’s Club is doing a very solid job striking a balance between a traditional sports series and one abjectly pitched at the Ikebukuro audience.  We’re certainly not in Free or even Haikyuu territory here (and not an exclamation point to be found), but these are generally amiable and attractive guys just the same.  The fact that they’re adults helps it avoid that trap I think – and the interplay is far more authentic than in the flat-out pandering sports series like Free (I exempt Haikyuu from that, as its success with that audience doesn’t come down to pandering).

This was a really important episode in a lot of ways.  The series had to get a lot of things right here, and I think it did.  The competition factor was important, and those scenes were quite nicely brought to life.  And on the character side, we finally had our reckoning on the Mikoto-Azuma front.  That storyline has dominated the first five episodes, but I think it was adroitly dealt with here in a way that will allow the story to move forward.  I give credit to Ryman’s for not dragging that out, and for surprising me with the results of this match.

Is it a badminton tradition in Japan for the umpire to say “On my left/On my right” in English, I wonder – and so, why?  In any event things are going very badly for Mikoto in this match, and Tatsu is pretty much playing singles.  We already knew Azuma didn’t blame Mikoto for what happened – now we see he actually blamed himself (and may even have already injured his arm from excessive training).  The area where both boys were at fault was not on the court but after the accident, in not speaking to each other and clearing the air.  Azauma dealt with the physical and psychological aftereffects both, and for Mikoto the latter were pretty devastating.

Mikoto’s mental block has a certain selfish quality to it, and I give credit to Tatsu for not losing his cool over it.  In fact he comes up with a solution to give Mikoto a nudge forward – having the pair call their shots, a rather amateurish practice but one which settles Mikoto’s mind.  In truth I think it was Azuma dressing him down on-court that really shook Mikoto out of his funk, though.  I never expected the Tatsu-Mikoto pair to win this match, but I guess in context it only takes them into the quarters so it’s not too huge a break with tradition.

Seeing the rival teams get together for drinks after the match was a lot of fun – again, not something you’re going to see in a high school sports series (even sans alcohol).  It also gives Azuma and Mikoto the chance to finally clear the air – though Mikoto is pissed on “spicy red king crab umeshu” (if you like natto cola, that’s nothing in the weird flavor department).  Again, this was a very satisfying way to bring this thread to what seems like a close – earlier than one might have expected, but there are a lot of threads Ryman’s Club could still pursue.

One possibility that can’t totally be overlooked it Mikoto and Azuma being a pair once again.  The outro confirms that Tatsu remembers his meeting with the child Mikoto even if Mikoto doesn’t.  It also suggests Tatsu isn’t planning on playing for long – “before the end” is pretty unambiguous.  Is there an injury or illness here, or is he simply planning to retire and focus on sales?  32 is hardly old even in sports. but maybe in corporate badminton that’s considered over the hill – he does seem to be the oldest player we’ve seen so far.  Given that Tatsu is comfortably the most engaging and charismatic character in the cast, I certainly hope the series finds a way to keep him directly involved.