©Nare Nare Project/Nanare Hana Nare Production Committee
Okay, before I get too deep into this, I want to revise something in my previous comment. I said in my reviews of the first two episodes that whatever mental disorder is preventing Kanata from performing the refueling action is related to Megumi’s current condition. It was later pointed out to me that the two events seemed unrelated, and that the reason for Kanata’s trauma was something we didn’t yet know, something that was addressed more directly in this episode. This was a pretty big mistake on my part, so I apologize if it caused any confusion. With that out of the way, let’s dive into this week’s episode.
So Suzuha has been a mystery so far, as the only things we really know about her are her insane parkour skills and some unspoken tension between her and Shion. It turns out that the reason Suzuha acts so awkward in front of Shion is because she likes her so much. She’s always aloof when she’s around, which is just a result of her being a sociopathic fool, and it doesn’t take long for her to go from stoic to approachable. The fact that she actually wanted to get closer to Shion and apologize for being so weird around her led to her decision to join Anna’s film and complete our ensemble. While she’s afraid that Shion won’t like her because her deadpan tendencies have led to her being misunderstood in the past and ultimately leading to her quitting the cheerleading squad, Shion also doesn’t have much confidence in herself because she’s convinced that no one really likes her songs. Luckily, the two of them ended up becoming each other’s biggest fans, with Suzuha proclaiming her love for Shion’s singing to the point of not minding her being a little tone-deaf, and Shion revealing that her song was actually based on their routine It was her thinking how cool Suzuha was and then being too embarrassed to finish the rest of the conversation. It’s very cute, and while I’m skeptical about the show’s commitment to any real romance between the girls, I’m still rooting for these two to work things out regardless, and all of it makes me feel really cute about them both.
Anyway, while this all makes for a pretty decent subplot, the main focus here is Kanata as we learn what happened to her, and this is where I felt the episode stumbled a bit. We learn that Kanata suffers from a condition called “Yips” that makes it difficult for her to perform other familiar physical activities, and the cause appears to be related to some currently unknown events that occurred during last year’s big game. She’s also been keeping it a secret from those closest to her (including Megumi), and she actually wasn’t even supposed to participate in the tryouts last episode because she was banned from cheerleading until her condition was cured. After learning the truth, Megumi, Shion, and Nodoka all feel hesitant about including Kanata in their cheerleading video. But Anna points out that it should ultimately be Kanata’s choice and they can’t make this decision for her. As expected, Kanata does decide to get herself involved, but she’s hesitant to put herself on top since she’s still unsure if she’ll be able to do any actual gymnastics and feels better as an observer at the moment. It would be a good compromise if the episode ended here, passion aside, it would be pretty reckless to have her act when she’s dealing with a psychological situation that might make her lose her temper if she screws up She was in real danger. Instead, she did end up trying to do the gymnastics moves, and while she did fail on her first try, the others cheered her up, telling her that the most important part of cheerleading is knowing who you’re cheering for, and that she needed to be more confident about herself Confidence, which was ultimately enough for her to successfully complete the flip.
To be honest, I’m not sure how much I like this. While I wasn’t really expecting Kanata to be unable to attend most of the show or anything, it does feel a bit cheap to have things addressed in such a simple way considering how badly her condition seems to have affected her. To be fair, I don’t think this is going to last, and since we’re still not sure what caused Kanata to start developing Ips, it’s possible this will continue to affect her for a while. But considering this is the show’s strongest dramatic highlight yet, it would be a bit of a letdown if it ended up being in the background. Despite some concerns, I still largely support this show. Even if Kanata’s problems do take a back seat, what happened with Suzuha and Shion at least makes me believe that the show might be able to do enough with the other girls to keep things going in the meantime.
score:
Narenare – Cheers for you! Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
