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Monday, December 28, 2020

Iwa Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls - Episode 8 - Sayo Calls for Applause

Sayo needed extra motivation to power through pain, so she called on the audience to cheer and fire her up.

Jun found a private place to sulk after her terrible performance in the semifinals. Sayo saw her struggle and promised to do well to help the team gain even more points for the team classification. Unfortunately, Sayo sprained her finger and realized she had a tougher mission to make the finals than she thought.

Sayo thought she wasn't going to make it because her finger hurt so much, but then she saw Nonoka worrying about her in the stands. The beautiful captain of the climbing team knew what she had to do – use the energy from an excited crowd to push her to the top. Even Masumi needed to take a moment to appreciate the sight from her climbing wall. Iwamine finished up her set without as much drama as Sayo had.

The top six advance to the finals and Konomi made it with Sayo! So did Iwamine, Chigusa, Masumi, and Niijima. Sadly, Nonoka convinced Sayo to withdraw due to her injury and it was left to Konomi to carry the team's hopes for a good individual show. Iwamine took a special interest in the talented rookie, but Konomi didn't want to get "eaten." Maybe later... Masumi saw the exchanged and felt jealous? More like disappointed that she didn't do enough to make Iwamine consider her a rival. Her teammates found her and bucked up her sagging spirits.

Masumi did way better in the finals when she started using her Black Panther leaping style. She's a charismatic captain, but she's also an airhead. It just makes her teammates love her more. Meanwhile, the animators decided to hit the route setter announcing team with the ugly stick throughout the episode. Thankfully, they left the girls alone.

Unsurprisingly, Konomi totally failed her climbs in the finals. She was just too tired. The stress of competition and not turning her mind off between climbs sapped her stamina and strength.

The podium presentations told the story of how experience and talent make the cream rise to the top. Iwamine underperformed and Masumi took advantage, leading to her taking the overall victory. Iwamine's team won the team classification as a nice consolation.

Konomi realized sport climbing competitions are bigger than her expectations. Sayo already has plans for her and Nonoka to do well in the next big meet six months from now. Jun took a "journey" by herself for more training to address a "mental weakness." I think training with teammates would be the better thing, but we'll see what the authors come up with.

The end card made an odd choice of including the route setter in its movie poster version of the Kanto championships arc. The main takeaway is that the manga art makes the girls' faces way cuter than the anime. Also, no one in this story likes showing their forehead. Next time, we'll have the inevitable sports anime time skip.

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