We learned why Ayano lost interest in badminton this episode.
While this woman looks amazing for the time being she will be booed. Read on to find out why.
Found my episode header.
We started the episode with a flashback of a younger Ayano playing badminton with her mom, giving us a clue to the cause of her grief. Elena was also there and had her own emotional obstacle.
Ayano has nice legs indeed. Sadly this is only admiration.
Boy crazy megane.
Not gonna lie. She’s funny.
Elena talking to Nagisa.
Like Harukana most of the ladies on this show are hot. Moving ahead Elena suddenly left the club and joined boy crazy megane at the movies. After megane left Elena saw Nagisa jogging. After her third round (I think) she talked to her about Ayano. We got a clue about what was upsetting Elena when she showed a small bit of her jealousy toward the other club members because they got along with Ayano quickly. Basically Elena wanted to be relied on by Ayano deep down contrary to what we saw at the start of the show. Nagisa asked her why Ayano quit. She didn’t know but assured her she’d find the answer. However, when Nagisa told her she wouldn’t be able to find the answer she quietly took offense to that and left.
Kaoruko challenging Ayano.
Next day the ojou-sama from the end of the previous episode, Kaoruko along with her sidekick, arrived to challenge Ayano. To the surprise of everyone the pink haired babe who looked like my favorite character from High School of the Dead, Cranky Pinky, dominated the match with her tricky play style. That and Ayano’s head wasn’t in the game. Also as we briefly noticed last time it was confirmed that Kaoruko beat her in their first encounter. Losing to her again made her want to quit the club.
Kaoruko’s dirty trick.
Moving ahead a bit Ayano didn’t come to school after that. Elena had a feeling where she was, a playground she went to whenever she felt sad. After finding her she told her what her problem was with Kaoruko. In the aforementioned first encounter Kaoruko had a cold. She tricked Ayano into the storage closet, tied her up and infected her. Her excuse was to “even the playing field”. It’s still cheating. Her dirty trick worked and apparently that was enough for her mom to abandon her.
Still hope they’re dating. Would make a fantastic age-gap heel couple.
Ayano tried winning as many matches as she could after that in the hopes her mom would come back…but the last straw came when she saw the above picture.
Uchika Shindo. 10 time Japan Nationals champion.
Oh and she won 10 National Championships in a row throughout her career. Most of us sense there’s more to the story than that but for now Uchika abandoned Ayano because she doesn’t have an undefeated streak like her…so let’s boo this hot mama.
Elena asking Nagisa for help.
After hearing her story Elena was at a loss but then remembered how much Ayano enjoyed badminton so she went to the one person who felt the same way she did for help. It worked. Thanks to Nagisa being more chill she was able to help Ayano lighten up during a friendly game at the playground. We then learned that Elena envied Ayano due to her having found a life passion. Even so she wanted to stay by her side and help her get to the top of the badminton world. The AyaLena ship is still going strong. Let’s hope it keeps going.
A certain someone almost gave up on the show. I thought it was because of the Euphonium-esque drama but in actuality it was because of a certain criminal saving the day. I brushed it off myself because I thought Nagisa was a lost cause and accepted it. However, there might still be hope for her. Also here’s hoping Coach Criminal won’t be saving the day as often as the ladies from now on.
The Yuri Empire 
I’m glad that Ayano got her grove back, hopefully one of these days she will get her revenge on her mother.
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I imagine they’ll cross paths at some point.
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Yeah there’s still drama but I guess now that Ayano is fixed (for now) we can move on to the fun stuff. I need that bad. Ayano Mama is hot, but leaving your sick kid without saying anything? Not cool. It maybe the tough love that we see everywhere in anime, still I don’t like it. Also this is the third anime girls with name Kaoruko I’ve seen this year. My first impression of this Kaoruko, she’s crazy. And Elena is a good (girl)friend.
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Hmmm I understand where Ayano’s coming from but so far it’s all still just her side of the story so I won’t boo her mom until I hear her side somehow. Though I admit that leaving your child is definitely not a good move but again I want to hear her reason why.
Elena’s intention of having Ayano and the club members get along is nice but somehow got tired of it along the way because she felt left out since she’s not into badminton like the rest. And probably because she saw that Ayano’s not really having fun playing just like she used to when they were kids so she didn’t appreciate the sport despite not really being into it because her best friend isn’t happy. But she knows that Ayano loves it so she still finds ways to help her get back the feeling. Even if it’s not her, she needed someone who can understand Ayano’s love for badminton so she went to Nagisa. Seeing Ayano happy is what Elena wants.
Not being relied on like always was also one of the reasons why she left practice. I’m guessing she’s not used to seeing Ayano being around other people other than her. From the flashback during their middle school days, Ayano didn’t really belong to a team, she did but quit eventually because they weren’t any good. So Ayano’s still with her in the end. Unlike now, in their high school, that she has other people other Elena to rely on from now on.
Kaoruko, well for Ayano, she’s basically the reason why her mom left (assuming she really did leave because Ayano lost) so I can see why she feels uneasy with Kaoruko. That storage room scene was funny though 😀 Did she just cough on her or did she do something more to Ayano? I mean there was a blanket LOL.
Like you, I also hope that the two of them are dating – mom and step sister. Well I think any child would be hurt very bad if they see their own mother raised someone else as her own child to be the next queen instead of the legitimate one, who was originally working very hard in the beginning only to be abandoned later on. That picture and article was a very deadly blow to Ayano.
P.S. Ayano’s grandparents are really cute 😀
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There’s really no good reason to abandon a kid outside you just are not capable of taking care of them. But she was taking care of that other kid, so that reason is obviously not it. I suspect they’ll try and make it look like it was something “noble”, but it’s wrong. Plain and simple. I will never accept the reason the series gives. She had just been so brutally hurt by the match, and then in her greatest time of need, her mom just ups and leaves. And never returns. For at least a few years. That’s unacceptable. Especially since she’s just been playing the sport abroad, becoming some sort of amazing champion.
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We’ll see what happens with her. For now she’s a mean mom who should be booed.
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Well like I said, abandoning her child was a wrong move but that won’t make me completely hate her until I hear her side. Whatever reason the series will give I will listen to it and then decide how I will react towards that character later. Also, she hasn’t been playing actually, she’s been training someone else and that protégé of hers became the new queen according to that magazine. The reason why, I don’t know yet. Maybe she did think that Ayano was weak went to look for someone who can be the next champion like her, she has great pride as an undefeated champion after all so having a child that lost might be unacceptable for her. Or maybe she thinks that Ayano’s already too strong and looked for someone good and trained her hard to be as good as Ayano so that she’ll be able to match up with Ayano otherwise she might get bored with badminton if no one’s able to catch up to her. Or maybe she felt that it was her fault that Ayano lost, blamed herself, thought that she’s not fit to train her embarrassed to face Ayano and left then found that kid later and convinced her somehow to train her. Maybe she married that kid’s dad for all we know that’s why she got to train her. Or maybe since she’s famous she didn’t want her child to feel any pressure while playing that’s why no one probably knew the existence of Ayano and she probably thought sooner or later the media might find out about her so she left and made sure that the media’s eyes are on her when she took on the job of training that kid. Or maybe that kid was an old friend’s child that probably passed away or something and she owed that friend so she went to her.
They probably won’t try to make it look like something noble because if that’s how the story goes then that’s how it goes. They’re basing it on the manga and so far the only thing that’s changed are the timeline and sequence of events and the other things that made Ayano inconsistent with how she should be and made it more dramatic, nothing major especially on the characters’ issues and stuff. Most especially for Uchika’s reason for leaving because that’s where all the issues began and just had a domino effect on Nagisa that’s probably why they took care of that immediately. So regardless of how and when or who tells Ayano why her mom left, Uchika’s reason stays the same. They probably won’t try anything to change that and make it more noble. It’s just a matter of putting yourself in her shoes. But if it really is genuinely because of Ayano’s loss to Kaoruko then I agree 100% that what Uchika did was definitely wrong regardless of what angle you look at it from. But based from Elena’s flashback during their middle school, Ayano quit the badminton club because she said no one is good enough and it’s okay because Uchika said she should quit. So from there, I think there’s already some kind of an issue even before her match with Kaoruko. Again, the show has yet to tell why she left so right now, the wrong thing I see in Uchika’s decision is leaving without talking to Ayano about whatever problem/s there was/were at hand or at least just some few words or even just to say goodbye. That’s why Ayano just assumed it’s because she lost, she’s the only one saying that though. Uchika hasn’t said anything, hopefully in future flashbacks there will be something. Sure it’s wrong that Uchika left but for me, it’s also not right to just immediately hate her for that without even knowing the whole story and assume she’s a bad mother. If she has a record of being a useless, abusive and selfish parent then there’s no argument there. It’s hard for a mother to have a decision to leave because, obviously, they want to be with their child most especially if she’s a single parent. That’s why Uchika was there during Ayano and Nagisa’s match in the first episode, though she left before the game ended, she still hasn’t abandoned her completely. The grandparents don’t seem to be mad at Uchika or something so that means they understand. It’s not a good idea to leave her child but they seem to understand why she has to do it.
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So because of pride it’s okay to leave your kid?
I’m not saying I completely hate her, i’m saying I won’t ever except the reasoning. She screwed up. She did something she shouldn’t have. And if they try to spin it any other way then I won’t be the happiest, but I’m used to anime making it seem like it’s okay to abandon your kid as long as you have a “reason”. What makes it worse is she’s either been taking care of another kid, or ran off from her daughter to go be with someone.
There’s no good reason. her underage daughter, during a time of immense emotional stress, was abandoned.
I agree that the main issue is that she didn’t give any reason and just up and disappeared. If she at least explained it to Ayano, then I’d be a lot more lenient. But she didn’t.
The grandparents aren’t mad sure. But that doesn’t mean it’s right.
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I’m not saying it’s because of pride, I’m saying it could be because of a number of other things. And I said it’s not right either.
Anyway, it’s just the third episode, nothing really happened much yet I guess to have this exchange of views already. The step sister hasn’t even appeared yet.
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In that case, you should read the latest chapter of HaneBado! I didn’t really dislike Ayano’s mum in the first place, however, the grandparents gave us some important information.
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Ayano must be a big Uma Musume fan 😀
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Probably.
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sorry, I meant to say Yu, who’s checking out girls’ legs like Trainer-san.
I guess using the wrong name really messed up my comic timing eh?
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I get what you’re trying to say.
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Unless the seedy underbelly of professional Badminton is threatening Ayano’s mom to train this other girl or they’ll hurt Ayano, I don’t see forgiving the mom.
I liked this bit in the beginning:
Boy crazy megane: Ayano sure looked good playing Tennis. I might chase after her.
Elena: Ayano, we’re joining the Badminton club.
AyaLena is definitely off to a good start.
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We shall see what happens with Mean Mom.
Hopefully it keeps going.
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I like Elena and Ayano, I wasn’t sure about this anime but, I’m glad I started watching, I’m sure the mom had a “good” reason to leave, she better! for the time being, boooo to her though!
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