DAYS

Episode 12

Why are episodes when the team loses so much better than episodes when they win? This episode of DAYS gave me flashbacks to that pivotal loss in season one of Haikyuu!!, where the volleyball players gulped down food and tears at the same time. Just like back then, there were facets of the players you didn't really get to know until they were at their vulnerable worst. When things go bad, characters drop their confident fronts and you see the ugly self-doubt and fear that hides underneath—somehow, this makes me relate to them more than ever. This episode follows Kasahara, Kazama, Tsukushi, and Chikako as they deal with the aftermath of a devastating loss, and it's the best DAYS episode in weeks.

Ugh, those replays were painful to watch. The rest of the game played out in a carnival of missed opportunities that crushed any remaining hopes Seiseki had. They lost a pivotal game that would have qualified them to represent Tokyo, and for one of them, Kasahara, it's the disappointing end of a high school soccer career. At the post-loss party, Mizuki and Kasahara chat about how Tsukushi—who was picked over Kasahara—whiffed that last kick. Kasahara is confident he would have made that goal, and it's hard to disagree: all we really know about him is that Tsukushi used to help him practice kicking goals for hours every day! While Kasahara wrestles with what might have been, Kazama struggles with frustration, apparently a new emotion for him. Having always put his own ego ahead of the team, this is the first time he's disappointed with a loss not only for himself, but on behalf of his teammates. It's an emotional moment when he tries to start cleaning the clubhouse only to break down crying about how frustrating it is to have all their hopes and dreams dashed like that. In both Kasahara and Kazama's storylines, long pauses lead to clenched fists and manly tears. The pauses are echoed in odd, painterly stills of Mizuki vowing to keep his team from ever getting disappointed again. All in all, this is a story told in the silences between words.

But the real gem of the episode is Chikako, who has always had more personality, life, and guts than most of the soccer players in this show. The disappointment is hitting everyone hard except Chikako, whose entire life has been about frustration and, more recently, rage. When she notices that Tsukushi isn't sleeping or grieving, they go to a family restaurant (she takes him, mind you, Chikako always calls the shots) to talk about it. Tsukushi doesn't feel like he deserves to be upset when, in his mind, he's the reason the loss occurred. He's of a parallel mind to Kasahara, thinking that he wasn't the right choice for the team. Chikako slaps that out of his mind, quite literally. Sometimes we all need a pretty, angry girl to slam her hands on the table and tell us it's OK to be upset. Is there a more pathetic moment for Tsukushi than when he's crying into Chikako's spilled iced tea in public? I adore Tsukushi as a character, with his determination and spirit, but part of that strength comes from how powerfully he feels this loss, both for himself and his team. The empathy that Kazama's feeling for the first time is something he learned from Tsukushi.

I'm not all that into the soccer in DAYS. I often run it back, pausing to look for a glimmer of recognizable real life plays, only to observe what seems to be an obstruction or an ignored foul instead. But this episode, which doesn't feature much soccer at all, is a strong point for character building, plot development, and even artistry. If there were a way to bring these emotional high stakes to the actual soccer field, DAYS would be one incredible show.

Rating: A

DAYS is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist