Episode 17 — “The Girl Who Regained Her Lost Memories Returns Home and Learns a New Truth”
Hmm.
BIRDIE WING’s theme, Sins of the Fathers, which had colored its plot development through sixteen episodes, has almost become fully baked. Last week’s story told us everything that happened for three of the four parties related to Eve and Aoi. We know how Elder Amawashi directed Seira, Reiya, and Kazuhiko to affect Aoi’s life and future golfing career. But we still don’t have details on how Eleanor Burton broke Kazuhiko’s heart and secretly raised his daughter. She ran away from the golfing mob boss of Europe to protect her lover, who had the endorsement of the invading golf empire from Japan. We saw the transition to a new theme start, Star-Crossed Lovers. Eleanor Burton and Kazuhiko Hodaka were the golfing world’s Romeo and Juliet.
The writing in BIRDIE WING continues to impress me. As the story of the earlier golfing generations screwing over the future ones wound down, the anime started building the foundation for the next theme. Even better, golf’s version of Romeo and Juliet arose from the Sins of the Fathers. If Elder Amawashi had not dictated Kazuhiko to marry Seira, he would not have fled to Europe and fallen in love with Eleanor. As the scion of an enemy golf kingdom attacking the market share of the ruling golf mobsters, Kazuhiko became Romeo Montague, and Eleanor was Juliet Capulet. The analogy is so clear that two characters inside the story have made the connection. But BIRDIE WING deliciously mixes the two themes of Sins of the Fathers and Star-Crossed Lovers. Aoi and Eve are the next generation’s Romeo and Juliet!
The mind-blowing part of these themes mashed together in the anime’s context is that Eve and Aoi are also the solutions to warring golf nation-states suing for peace. Elder Amawashi’s actions regarding politically arranged golfing marriages for lineage reasons reminded us how royalty usually ends wars. The enemy prince and princess marry, producing heirs to a melded kingdom. The Athena and Arios golf empires already have mixed heirs! However. However! Eve and Aoi are only half-heirs because Aoi is the daughter of Seira and Reiya, not the scion Kazuhiko. And Eve is the daughter of Eleanor and Kazuhiko, not a blood relative of Amawashi. So, the peaceful political marriage between Burton and Amawashi will only be complete when Yuri Romeo and Juliet compete on the golf course for kisses on the cheek! Or hamburgers if Aoi loses. Love and golf conquer all in the world of BIRDIE WING.
Heh.
Last week’s events were so shocking that BIRDIE WING gave us a recap! Short recap because Seira kidnapped Eve! When Aoi’s mother makes up her mind, she acts quickly. Ooh. The Arios logo is on the golf ball in the opening credits. That’s Leo’s brand! Did Eve enjoy her chloroform nap? Yes, we are all after Eve’s body. Thanks for playing golf in Japan. Now, get out. Sweep the leg! We just got a reminder that Eve grew up on the mean streets of Nafrece playing underground golf. Ack. Eve’s quest to play golf against Aoi added a side quest. No problem. Eve will become a pro golfer first. Then, hamburgers!
So believable. The principal just took Eve’s word that she quit school. Geez. Amane and Ichina are nosy. Their eavesdropping gave them Eve’s secret identity. Amane cryptically calls herself a “hostage” to the Amawashis. Branch family drama in Japan? Never heard of it. Oh. Aoi received a side quest too. She must develop her personal style of golf by October to beat Reika Shikishima and become a top pro golfer. That should be easy. The girl only practices with a real-world golf pro, Momoko Osato! Lame. BIRDIE WING didn’t give the pro a speaking role. At least the anime dressed her in BIRDIE WING’s official merchandise.
Good old Nafrece. I had never made the connection that the logo on the airport was a lion. I’ll pay attention to that! Yay! Vipère looks happy. And Eve still knows how to charm the ladies. Oh no. Young ones should not play with Lily’s Gundam models. I’m still waiting for Bandai Namco to restart the Gunpla commercials in BIRDIE WING. Nice. Vipère is still lovey-dovey with “Darling,” the bodyguard from Nicolas’s organization. Please don’t read the English text on the Burton dossiers too closely because it will start to look like lorem ipsum placeholders. Oh? The logo for the mafia-back golf brand Arios is a lion! Whoops. That’s not funny! Eve is the granddaughter of Michael Burton! Oh, yeah. Catherine still has a bounty on Eve, so the Burtons could erase that.
Aw. Eve finally could visit her mother’s grave after all this time. Bigger aw! The family’s butler still pays respects too! Alan Harvey mistook Evangeline for Eleanor. Neat. Eleanor played golf because that was the Burton family business’s legitimate part. Alan wasn’t sure why Eleanor ran away, but it made sense if Kazuhiko was her lover. He was the face of the competing brand, Athena, so Arios would not have approved of its daughter getting together with the enemy. They were BIRDIE WING’s golfing equivalent of Romeo and Juliet! Eleanor wanted to protect Kazuhiko and Eve from the Burton family’s criminal influence. Eve still had her freedom even after her hardscrabble existence.
Eve hatched a plan. Beat a pro golfer to become a pro golfer! Her victim? Cheris Kay. The eighth-ranked women’s golfer would lose to a Blue Bullet and a Rainbow Shot by ten strokes. Michael Burton recognized Leo’s Bullet shots, but what about Kazuhiko’s Rainbow? No headaches for Eve when she swung the Rainbow Shot. Will it strike again if Eve uses the Orange Bullet? Or does it matter in BIRDIE WING since she recovered her memories? Don’t make Aoi wait for kisses on the cheek! Ah. Michael Burton recognized Eleanor in Evangeline’s looks. Mafia golf begins now! But Eve needs a caddy, and it can’t be Lily. Ichina, you’re up!
Next time, some old lady will try to crush Eve’s pro golfing dreams. Good luck with that!
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