High Touch – For You, Who Gave Me The Smile
We’re here now, doing Stride together
Overview:
This is pretty much a perfect penultimate episode. The majority of the lot threads are neatly tied up, leaving behind only the one that’s been a lingering presence throughout the series. It seems like Prince of Stride is heading to a nice little finale.
We begin with Nana, Riku and Takeru at Honan. Once again, Takeru recalls the three of them as children and even implies (and later confirms) that winning End of Summer was a promise they made back then.
The next day, it’s time for the semi-final match with Saisei whom they’ve never beaten before. Regardless, both teams are determined to give it their all. The match-ups are the pairs from before. Bantaro and Hozumi are as friendly as always, Kaede wants to earn the right to be Kyosuke’s biggest rival, Heath and Tasuku engage in passive aggressive banter, Riku and Asuma are just straight up friends, and Reiji and Takeru have their usual quiet rivalry. The dynamics are familiar and nice.
It’s pretty much guaranteed that Honan will win this match and that’s exactly what happens but all the same, it’s extremely fun to watch them race neck-to-neck. Stride is great to watch, even if this particular match didn’t have as much tension as it could have.
Notable events are Riku pushing his stamina to its limits and Takeru using their childhood promise as motivation to pull off a victory over Reiji. It turns out that Riku, Nana and Takeru participated in the End of Summer pre-party when they were kids. Though Takeru wasn’t as good a runner them, Riku kept him going. That explains why Takeru had such unwavering faith in Riku throughout their time in Honan. Later, they promise to win End of Summer in high school.
Takeru has always remembered but it seems like the recent match jolted the other two’s memories as well since they apologize to Takeru for forgetting him and renews their promise. Next up, it’s the finals against Kakyoin.
Thoughts:
Holy shit, this episode is saccharine sweet.
That’s not a bad thing per se but some scenes may come across as cheesy. Oddly enough, this show makes it work.
And we finally get to know how Takeru knew the other two. It’s one hell of a coincidence that they chose the same high school despite Riku and Nana forgetting but they both seem to have other reasons for fixating on Honan. I’m impressed by how Takeru worked so hard for a childhood promise – do things like this actually happen in life? – and held fast to it despite the other two’s obvious obliviousness. Determinator, much?
At the end, Riku expresses his resolve to stop running away from his brother. He’s just in time too. I wonder if he’ll run against Tomoe in the finals.
Oh you’re so close to being done! This episode really threw me for a loop. I thought it came out of left field he’d been working on a childhood promise! 😛
As usual, great thoughts! 😀
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I was expecting something of the sort ever since we first saw that glimpse of tiny Takeru, Nana and Riku haha. I actually just finished the last episode. That was fun!
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Ooo I don’t remember ever seeing that glimpse! Maybe that’s why I was like where the heck did this come from! Lol
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I think it was during the Sasisei training camp episode, during the fireworks. I can definitely see where the confusion comes from without that though. But hey, it’s a nice touch and adds a new depth to Takeru.
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Hmmm maybe I have to rewatch a few episodes. But yes! If that’s the case then it def does add depth to him! 😀
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‘Determinator much?’ LOL! You’re almost finished! True…this episode is sweet. It wasn’t something surprising and it’s pretty much obvious that Honan will win this time, still it’s refreshing to watch these two teams play again! Looking forward to your overall conclusion! Gambare!
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It is. I like Saisei and Honan together a lot. This story is predictable sometimes but still fun. And thank you! The last episode review will be up in a few hours.
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Tubby Takeru was cute. You’re totally right about the whole childhood promise thing being a bit much, in my opinion. Only in anime! I don’t know. It seems to happen too often in shows (oh look they actually were childhood friends) and I think we had a brief chat about childhood friends being put on a pedestal before.
Still, the episode (from what I can remember and from your post) was sweet. After spending several episodes setting up the line of dominoes, the show is finally ready to push and let it end spectacularly. Eh. Why am I talking about dominoes? I guess I’m in the mood for pizza…
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He was adorable, yes Nana looked more or less the same, just tinier. Riku looked different though.
Right? I can’t even remember my childhood friends. I don’t think I had any except from my cousins. At least in this case, they weren’t exactly good friends. Just 3 kids who bonded over a particular event.
Mmm pizza… I want one. I haven’t eaten anything decent in days.
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Mmmm. I can’t quite remember the others to be honest. Dang.
Yeaaaah. Japan just has a fetish for that childhood friendship blossoming into romance I guess. You do have a good point. I guess they have a bit if leeway there.
D, you seem to always be starving whenever we talk. ;__;
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They’re not as memorable as tiny!Takeru.
Japan has a thing for a lot of..things. Unfortunately, the childhood friend always loses in love triangles.
Haha damn, that’s not a good trend. I’m a picky eater though and that makes trips like these pretty tough on the stomach.
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tiny! Takeru is just that dominant in terms of impression!
It seems like that’s the case, yeah. It’s like Japan doesn’t know how to treat childhood friends. Sometimes they’re treated as the best friends in the world and sometimes they’re cast to the side.
Ahh I see. Good job hanging in there! :c
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His cuteness is just too overwhelming.
Exactly. I prefer the non-romantic best friend approach over the sidelined love interest one. You?
Btw, does next week sound like a good time to start Sidonia?
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Yes!
Hmmm I think childhood friend romance is nice. They were there with you when you were a snot nosed brat but fell in love with you anyways. That’s pretty good to me.
Next week sounds great!
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Good point. It does have the basis for a strong bond but it comes with its own pitfalls.
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Mmmm you’re definitely right about that.
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