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| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- Wow, it's been awhile but I miss Natsu and Eiichirou's relationship in this series. They have a fun chemistry in this series so seeing it again is refreshing for this season. Also really nice to see Takuma compete on the courts again. I also have to say that Eiichirou is doing much better than his first match against him. Good episode overall. Can't wait to see others compete later this season. |
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| Nat-chan <3 Edit: The BGM of this episode was actually pretty damn awesome. |
SadMay 3, 2015 4:19 AM
| the official MAL hall of fame/cursed comments is now open for business - you are welcome to PM me any potential quotes to include |
| Finally CONFIRMED!! Nat-chan and Eiichirou both like each other. :D That "jealous" scene was adorable. LOL! |
You can just be yourself. Do things your own way, one step at a time. You'll get there. Just be yourself, you'll be fine." ~Fruit Basket |
| Nice to see Nat-chan again as well as the others.I couldn't stop smiling during this episode and did they add some scene in it like Takuma past and the one in his room where he text Nat-chan and she reply she like Maruo.Anyway really good episode today and can't wait for Nat-chan rival next episode.... |
| Finally Maruo is getting his Big Serve. Been waiting for this a long time. They added that jealous takuma scene which is nice |
| Fun episode! Maybe it's not only Eiichiro who's a bit jealous, I'm guessing that Takuma wants a piece of Natsu too! ;) |
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| Maruo back in Japan |
| It seems on this anime the episodes pass faster than in the others. Waiting to see the this relationship of Nat-chan and Maruo. |
| Awesome ep! Nacchan's face when Maruo was thinking she doesn't seem to be the type to think was cute <3 and her asking "were u jealous" So <3 Props to Maruo for saying he was jealous ofc. Not many MCs are that direct :P Even almost confessing XD Dem blushes <3 Really cute moment until cockblocked by Takuma XD And the scene when he was "Damn that guy works fast" was hilarious XD Someone is jelly :P And he got REKT when Nacchan sent back "I like him but can't tell him yet" XD Man that was cute <3 Finally! Time for Maruo to power up his serves now :3 BA incoming >.<! The way he just grows during a match from trial and error is insane ^^; |
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| These episodes are great. Was wondering though I thought Natsu and Takuma were dating at the start of last season? Or was it just a misunderstanding? Don't remember ._. |
| maybe that's how cooties came to be, little girls telling boys that they would marry them in the future. |
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| Didn't expect that romance development oh wow! But the thing that most impressed me was finally, finally (and I don't read the manga) this anime is addressing the serve. If there was one single thing wrong with the first season it was that as most tennis players know, the serve is the most important shot in tennis and we didn't even get to see Maruo learn it. He just started with a solid, (albeit slow paced) first serve that seemed to go in every time. So now I'm guessing we'll get to see Maruo's serve practice. Definitely a powerful and consistent first serve would raise his level exponentially in winning matches. |
Cytex said: These episodes are great. Was wondering though I thought Natsu and Takuma were dating at the start of last season? Or was it just a misunderstanding? Don't remember ._. From Maruo's perspective in the bushes retrieving his ball he saw Natsu leaning into Takuma's face but it turned out to be a misunderstanding - she was taking something off his back or shoulder. End of episode 2/start of episode 3 if you want to check yourself. |
| Maruo has come back to Japan. Nice to see Natsu again. |
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| Nice episode. Finally we know they both like each other and it's only a matter of time until they confess. |
| Takuma breaking that perfect moment, glad to see it confirmed to be mutual. Takuma being ranked in the 500, Ei-chan learns way too fast!!! Already getting the gist of a good serve, how he was mesmerized by Takuma's serve was fun. |
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| Great episode as always. Nice romance development. Ei-chan still has such a long way to go. |
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| Yay! Maruo's back in Japan. :) haha omg I laughed so hard when Takuma interrupted Natsu and Maruo XD Looks like Maruo's geting back into the groove of things and is starting to prepare for a lot of upcoming tournaments. Did anyone else feel like Takuma was talking about Pokemon evolving when he was talking about Souji and Maruo? XD I think next week is going to be more centered around Natsu and her opponent, so that'll be fun to watch :D |
I was really pleasantly surprised to see that Natsu actually said outright to Takuma that she likes Eiichiro! I am more used to seeing "It's a secret," or something similar. I felt so sorry for Takuma, haha. Anyways, as usual, this episode went by so fast! Can't wait to see more of Eiichiro's evolving serve! He learns things incredibly fast. This is seriously making me want to go back to playing tennis, hahaha. |
| nice episode baby steps seems to be never disappointing and it also doesn't feel too short |
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| Awesome episode! Definitely a lot more romantic development than I expected, as well as overall character to character development between Maruo and Takuma. Now that the ball's rolling, this season's definitely looking like it's gonna be better than the first! Hyyyype c: |
Vexper said: Edit: The BGM of this episode was actually pretty damn awesome. Agreed! Glad someone else mentioned it. I think there were three really good ones that got me hyped for their respective scenes. Man, another good episode of Ei-chan and him improving during a game. While he didn't encounter anyone in Florida with a serve as heavy as Takuma's, he did learn to make cleaner hits, even better control, and to receive heavier shots. But facing Takuma now is perfect timing since Ei-chan had worked on other things, and now he can focus on serves. His eyes are amazing, being able to observe Takuma's serving technique (though he got too immersed in watching haha). Ei-chan did throw away a game for learning to make a more powerful serve, but once he started making most of them in, together with his control, he was beginning to be able to even corner Takuma. At the end, Ei-chan inspired yet another tennis player, even if he's much better than Ei-chan. Lol at Takuma cockblocking Ei-chan =_= And then later on he proceeds to be surprised that Ei-chan still hadn't said anything. It took some courage and the right timing for Ei-chan to try to confess, okay? |
| Woooo! Baby Steps is stepping up (as per usual)! I got kinda pissed last week that the anime skipped out on Maruo trying to build a new serve against Alex, but I see it was actually this week with Takuma. Oops. (^^;; how embarrassing~ |
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| Oooh! :O Ei-chan is now improving his serve! Without a doubt, this is huge since after all, every point begins with a serve. I especially love that one part where we saw Takuma's whole serve motion. Just good stuff there. |
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| YAS. I'm pretty happy about Maruo and Natsu but at the same time I understand how Takuma feels. The music in this particular episode was very good. Maybe I never noticed it throughout the series, but it was definitely intense. Though I thought I was at the halfway point, I was already at the end. :-( |
| Well that was close. Maruo almost confessed |
| Is it me or did Takuma's face look off this ep? It didn't look as angular as usual... It made him look way younger lmao. petecz said: rozz627 said: They added that jealous takuma scene which is nice Some of the scenes are actually in the manga, but much later in the raws, as a flashback. I think it made sense to use it here though. I actually primarily came here to find out if those were anime-original or not, good to know that this is just a flashback rearrange. I read the manga but I'm only up to maybe the end of the next episode lol, I'm a slow reader. |
| Best episode so far. FINALLY! Some progress for romance! Natsu confesses she likes Maruo, even if it was to Takuma. Can't wait till she actually confesses. And the match between Takuma and Maruo was text book tennis, great stuff. |
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| E-Chan x Natsu <33 |
| it´s only me ...or Takuma seems kagami of Knb??? the browns,the hair...the way he looks and the temper is some kind too,i mean it´s similar...strong...well maybe it is only me and my imagination hahhahah I like Takuma too...well Ike Takuma and Eichiro are nice how they are...love how they are near to natsu hahhaha competition of love <3 like the music of this episode too takuma is going to confess too??? i feel sorry for him T_T what will happen in their match?? like so much this episode=one of the best i was waiting for takuma movement  |
Sunakko-ch4nMay 5, 2015 3:41 PM
| Nat-chan's so cute. Not only does Maruo have a lot of competition on the court, he also seems to have some competition off the court, thanks to Ike and Takuma. But hey, at least Nat-chan likes him back! I felt bad for Takuma, actually. The childhood friend never wins... Favorite episode of the season, just for all of the Nat-chan and Maruo moments. It's probably a bad thing when I prefer the episodes without much tennis. I just can't get into the sport. |
Mormegil said: Favorite episode of the season, just for all of the Nat-chan and Maruo moments. It's probably a bad thing when I prefer the episodes without much tennis. I just can't get into the sport. Actually my favourite episode as well. but because of ei-chan and natchan moments. But also his practice match with Takuma. Maruo's Analytical skill is way above what anyone expected. Him deciding to lose a few games to try and copy Takuma's big serve is my favourite part so far. |
| Well of course Ei-chan and Nat-chan's moments were the highlights of this episode, just hope they won't be romantically slow as turtles until the end of the show .. |
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| Not to worry on that, the pacing of the romance in the manga is very good. While it is there, this still is basically a sports manga/anime. With both Natsu and Maruo aiming at going pro they have to keep their focus on skill development and matches despite their obvious and growing attraction to each other. Remember back in first season when people were questioning whether this even deserved the "romance" tag--we've certainly moved beyond that now. |
Please don't feed the trolls! In my next life I want to collide at the corner with the cute transfer student carrying a piece of toast in her mouth...rodac |
| Oh Takuma the shipwrecker xD This was very sweet with Eiichiro and Natsu romance The practise match (postponed later) was great as well |
| Am I the only one who likes Takuma more than Marou? and wishing him to end up with Nat-chan even though I know this won't happen. I really like Takuma and his relation ship with both Marou and Nat-chan |
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| Omg nat chan and eiichirou romance scenes are the best! Takuma saying eiichi moves fast lmao you slow bruuh |
| Takuma.. hahaha that was hilarious. Ei-chan is like a freaking human robot.. Anything in his mind can be done by his body. |
| Ei-chan is so strong to copy the other players. Poor Takuma, he was so disappointed when Natsu said that she loves Maruo. But it was a funny moment. I hope Natsu x Maruo will be quickly real. |
| hmmmm Takuma you had your chance for 10 years, leave it to Maruo now |
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| This tennis journey of Maruo's has given him a true happiness and drive, confidence, but most importantly an ability to understand himself. Remember in season 1 where he would deny that he liked Natsu? I fully believe that the reason why he can be so honest now as to tell her upfront that he's jealous, and to start confessing, and to not deny Takuma asking about it to him working with his instinct rather than against it. One of the most important skills he's gained is the ability to understand what he wants and be true to himself. It's a great development for him and Natsu. Maruo is an inspiration. My mentality if I was playing someone who outdid me because of a skill I lacked may be to work on it in the match, but for the most part it would be to try and avoid it as much as possible and then go work on it alone later. However, to dedicate the match to learning what you need to know and how to do it to win is perfect. It's something I wish I did more. To stare at a necessary problem and decisively go against it with your all is impressive. By practicing, using his skills of memorizing and letting instinct take over, and studying Takuma he forced him to not know what to do and shoot a desperation shot. He got into Takuma's head and forced him to struggle. That's insane! Takuma is hard to pin down as a character. His conflict with Maruo is understandable. Not only was he an annoying kid working to catch up non stop, but he reminds Takuma of Ike the guy who shut him down and surpassed him like it was nothing. I assumed his relationship with Natsu was brotherly, but if he does have feelings for her that he hasn't been able to advance then seeing this Ike-jr catching up to him and already making the moves on Natsu must be tense. Although, I don't think that's the case... Like I said he's a hard character to pin down and I'm fascinated with this focus on him. Baby steps focusing on other characters outside of matches could benefit it greatly. |
| Maruo's back in Japan and already everything's going at full swing just months before the tournament at hand. Maruo and Natsu continue to have their 'moments', that led to Maruo nearly even confessing to her until he saw Takuma and backed out at the last moment. Still, it was nice seeing Natsu confirm to Takuma later via text that she indeed does like him but doesn't want to reveal it just yet. Given how much time they've spent together ever since the time Natsu ruined Maruo's notes in the first episode, their relationship together has grown so much since and progressed at a natural rate. It's an even bigger testament to how much Maruo has grown as a person since he went from doing stuff that he felt was routine and not many activities that he loved, to finding his own path and pushing himself to the limits out of love for tennis, so much that he's even grown to understand his own feelings for stuff like a potential romance with Natsu in his head. Takuma was also jealous at the whole situation since he also does seem to like Natsu, but at least he does respect Maruo enough to not antagonize him immediately and even see how much he has grown over the two years and how high his ceiling is if he keeps on progressing at this rate, in tennis and in life in general. He went from the shy kid who just studied as a perfectionist, to utilizing that in something he genuinely loves and his character and confidence grows too along with that. Now he's a smart student who can stand on the same court and give a little run of his money against a top 500 tennis player and even have romantic feelings for someone when he never seemed to be a guy who would focus on any of that stuff. |
| The match between Maruo and Takuma was a pretty hype material. |
"......If I told you that I was a real witch, would you believe it?"  |
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