Ahiru no Sora Episode 4 | First Flight | Review

Sorry guys, I’m a bit late on this one. Going into midterms this week and had some personal stuff come up BUT I’m still here with episode 4 of Ahiru no Sora. I must say, this episode was something I really needed. There were some great funny moments, we got to see these boys come together on the court and work well together. Let’s jump right in.

The first few minutes of the episode put me through an emotional roller coaster. First, we get to see Sora’s mom. She is still alive in the hospital. I was concerned she passed away. Then we get this hilarious moment where she gets the picture of the team which is something no mom wants to see, her son with all these delinquents. Hopefully, we get more insight into why she is in the hospital and if there is a road to recovery that she is on.

I really enjoyed the flashback to when Sora was a kid crying to his mom about not being able to play. I loved her view on the obstacle in his way and the solution she presented to him. It really hit me like a ton of bricks when she said all that AND jumped into the river to get his shoes back. I really hope she doesn’t pass away. That would wreck me.

One thing that is odd is Sora lied to Madoka about her health status. I’m not sure what it can be. Maybe he doesn’t want her to worry? I just love seeing Madoka’s interest growing in Sora. I wouldn’t say she has fallen for him, I just think she really admires the passion he has for this sport and how hard he works. ALSO, he secured the number! MY BOY!

I honestly didn’t think we were going to get right into a basketball game this soon. I thought we would have more training and explaining the basics. Some of you may know that one of my favorite things about sports anime is the knowledge dump they provide on the sport. This anime doesn’t do it that much but because I’ve been getting into the sport already, it doesn’t bother me. Hopefully, this isn’t pushing anyone away from the series.

I also assumed that Chiaki would be brought into the team sooner. He is still this weird character that is obsessed with women and not willing to do anything that takes too much work. As I mentioned before, this can be damaging for his character but I believe he will finally be brought into it since the captain of the opposing team came to this school specifically for him. That must mean Chiaki is really good and just needs the fire under him to get going. Likely next episode, things will change.

The highlight of this episode is seeing Momoharu and Sora work together. They almost seem like best pals at this point. The way that they dominated the opposing team with the tip-off into a half-court shot was so impressive. Unfortunately, the episode ends with one of the players figuring out Sora and declaring that he will shut him down. We’ll see what is Sora’s weakness and how he will bounce back from it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this! I’ve really been enjoying these weekly posts and I hope to get back into reading what everyone else is saying about this show. I love writing about it but would love to interact with others that are into it.