10 Second Anime - Silver Spoon S2 - Episode 4

Silver Spoon S2 - Episode 4

It's all about the horse in the equestrian club. Aki has a rival? And the star of this season is shaping up to be Maron!

One thing we learned from Ookawa's pep talk is that... he doesn't know how to give a pep talk. In praising the horse in competition, he made it clear the rider is nothing but a bug on its back. Nakajima, the faculty advisor, puts it much more nicely: trust in your horse, look at the next jump and the horse will guide you there. Yeah, Ookawa meant to say that.

It's the equestrian club's first public competition, and they're all a little nervous about seeing all these other people. One of those other people is Aki's self-proclaimed rival from back home, Ayame. She's the stereotypical French curled ojou-sama, right down to her laugh. I'm sure she means well.

But the star of this show, and maybe even the season, is Maron the horse. He and Hachiken seem perfectly paired in that they both hate to lose. Hachiken has also figured out how to put his powers of concentration to use in paying attention to Maron's movements. Unfortunately, there's one thing that can shake his focus: his older brother watching from the crowd. This causes a bit of drama when Hachiken loses hold of a stirrup, and instead of stopping, they keep going, because Maron wants to finish strong. He literally drags Hachiken over the finish line, and the judges decide that he fell after he crossed it. Yay for Maron and Hachiken!

Aki ends up having to use Maron for her jumps as well, and Ayame inadvertently gives her a pep talk. Aki does well in practice, but her mind wanders during competition. It's up to Maron to recover from a small mistake, and they end up with a good time. Afterwards, Hachiken wants to congratulate Maron, but he wants to save his affection for someone who knows how to jump. Maron definitely plays favorites. It looks like to me he's doing that just to get under Hachiken's skin a little bit. They're going to end up good friends, in time, but Maron has to make sure it looks like it's one-sided affection from Hachiken for a little while longer.

In the end, Aki finished 3rd in her division, and Hachiken finished 4th among the beginners. That's not bad for a first timer, and Hachiken should be proud. In the final scene, Hachiken has to get back to school for an assignment, but the buses around there don't run very often, and he thinks he has to run all the way back. Not so. He's not the only one having a good time riding a horse down a paved road. Maron looks like he's having a blast.