Mou Ippon! Episodes 1+2: Judo Girls

I skipped talking about the premiere because though I enjoyed it something irked me. The 2nd episode alleviated those concerns about a certain “gag”.

Quick rundown of the premiere. Michi and Sanae are besties competing in a middle school tournament on the same team. Michi surprised Sanae saying this would not only be her last tournament but last time competing in Judo. She hoped to at least score an “Ippon”, specifically a successful takedown throw. Her opponent would eventually change her life. Said opponent was the soon to be named Towa. In their battle we saw how good the animation would be during matches hyping people up for more.

Michi had the match won at one point but because Sanae noticed it’s via Ippon and shouted it she celebrated prematurely giving Towa a shot to put her in a Guillotine with Scissors submission. Michi refused to tap until she passed out. The problem wasn’t the loss but the face she made was meme worthy. A certain friend would post it on Twitter and the rest was history.

The main drama of the premiere was Michi feeling all her hard work, the injuries and long training periods in harsh conditions felt meaningless as she wasn’t satisfied by her lack of progress, hence why she chose to retire. Sanae blamed herself for costing Michi the win and was heartbroken hearing her homie quit because as it’s made obvious in the first and second episodes Michi’s special to her. I doubt they’ll make clear she’s “THAT” special but for now the two are ship worthy.

By the way the girl one who posted Michi’s silly face photo on Twitter was Nagumo, a kendo practicioner who for some reason was obsessed with getting her to join her in the ways of kendo. Dunno why that is yet but I like her a lot thanks to that persistence. Plus her design is adorable. She’s my current favorite basically.

Skipping ahead Episode 1 wrapped up with Towa following Michi and the gang to high school and reigniting her love of judo. There’s more that happened but that’s the gist of it.

Oh and the main reason I felt iffy about the premiere was Michi’s obsession with finding a boyfriend. I knew it’s just an excuse to try in vain to forget about judo but she said it so many times it go annoying. Thankfully she didn’t mention wanting sausages once in Episode 2 hence why we’re here.

Something I didn’t mention about Episode 1 the continued in Episode 2 was Towa being really shy and unable to approach Michi. As mentioned she went to the same high school as the three. She tried to psyche herself up to approach Michi but in her first attempt Michi repeatedly got her surname wrong and Towa ran off embarrassed.

Meanwhile Sanae had her own struggle. Her mom wanted her to focus on studies and get into a good college. She only humored her when she took judo in middle school as a “kids stuff” phase. Sanae of course still wanted to judo but mom pushing her to keep the promise made her hesitate. While mom was pushing her dad was more reasonable sensing his daughter’s worry. At school as the duo took the tatami mats out of the gym (Watch Episode 1 for more) Michi reminisced about her favorite judo moments in middle school. The trip down memory lane got them in the mood to wrestle. To Sanae’s surprise another one of Michi’s favorite moments was Sanae’s first ever win. The megane cutie was deeply touched to say the least.

After a learning experience during lunch break Towa once again tried to approach Michi. She donned her trusty judogi because it boosted her courage meter a bit. Finally she said what she wanted to say. “I’m sorry”. She followed Michi to the same high school just to apologize for that day. That and she wanted to wrestle against and with her more. Seeing Towa’s courage was the last push Sanae needed to face her mom about taking judo again. Dear old dad helped sway to make the right call.

By the end of the episode after the Judo Club became official Towa revealed she competed in the Nationals before. Michi was surprised at first to see a girl get into judo at a similar time frame as her and accomplish more. Sanae worried this would discourage Michi but instead it motivated her to train harder now that she had a strong teammate along with a great bestie.

Good stuff for the most part in both episodes. Tone down the strudel nonsense and we have a fun show on our hands. Next time hot coach debuts.