DAYS

Episode 15

After fifteen turbulent weeks, the fall season has started, and therefore this will be my last review of DAYS. Fittingly, about that same amount of time has gone by for one Tsukushi Tsukamoto. In the DAYS universe, it's been four months since the fateful day that Kazama randomly invited his shrimpy classmate to play futsal with him, unintentionally launching Tsukushi's love affair with soccer. This may be the conclusion of these reviews, but Tsukushi's story is far from over, remaining in the process of a rough and awkward adolescence. This week was a mixed bag, using the usual DAYS narrative approach of comparing Tsukushi to a much better, but still evolving, soccer player. However, compensating for its thoughtful developments, the episode also indulges some flat and unrealistic action.

I don't know about you, but I like this new, introspective evolution of Tsukushi. It shows some real growth on his part. At the beginning, it was easy for Tsukushi to just keep moving forward, to not simply acknowledge others' criticism but embrace it, with a smile on his face the whole time. But now, ever since that damning missed goal in the Sakuragi game, DAYS has been the "torture Tsukushi power half-hour." Growth is painful, and DAYS makes that viscerally clear through Tsukushi's mental agony. It's these small, intimate details—close-ups on Tsukushi's tearful eyes, the pained crack in his voice—that make his latest breakthrough such a relief. After Tsukushi played offense so badly last week, Coach has made him a fullback, and the thankless struggle of defense seems to be working well for him.

It all started when Tsukushi talked to Haibara. Even fifteen episodes in, I'm still learning Tsukushi's teammates' names and personalities, which is a major issue. Haibara is especially easy to miss since he's short and small, an unlikely starter on the team. He tells the equally small-statured Tsukushi that because he's not going to get taller or faster any time soon, Haibara makes sure that he at least gets smarter every day when it comes to soccer. Haibara compensates for his own shortcomings and tells Tsukushi that instead of trying to be Ooshiba's copycat, he should find a weapon unique to himself. Contrasted with Tsukushi, Haibara seems mature and put-together, but on the field, it's painfully clear that Haibara still has a lot of growing to do. He doesn't consider himself an equal to the taller starters. It's a future parallel to where Tsukushi is now, convinced he'll never get as good as his teammates and, if that's the case, does he even deserve to stay at Seiseki? It's an effective storytelling shortcut because after just one episode contrasts Tsukushi with another player, I feel that I know them well.

In between some serious exploration of self-confidence and individuality, however, this episode's soccer is a bit flat. The referee forgot his red card as usual, and poor Tsukushi gets a slap across the face while his attacker doesn't get even so much as a warning. On top of that, around the 14:10 mark, the game suddenly reverses to a mirror image where every player is standing reversed from before (right handed people are now left handed, etc.). One thing I've always appreciated about sports anime—that I haven't gotten at all from DAYS—is a helpful 101 about how the sport is played and how it is played well. But for as little as I've learned about soccer, at least Tsukushi has taught me how to be a resilient, amazing human being.

Rating: B

DAYS is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist