Ahiru no Sora Episode 5| Broken Wings | Review

After the last episode, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. It was great to see our boys doing well in the first quarter of the game but what’s next? What is Sora’s weakness? How much of an impact will it be on the game if he is shut down? Will Chiaki’s waiting pay off and actually get a girl?

I spent most of last week trying to think about what can be Sora’s weakness that the enemy sees but I could not figure out. It’s kind of hard seeing as there are not many clues from our perspective. Though we didn’t have to wait very long for this answer. His hypothesis was correct and identified that Sora cannot shoot on the left side. As someone learning myself, I definitely have my sweet spots in shooting threes and would have a hard time anywhere else but Sora is different. Someone like him who shoots 1000 shots a day may want to spend some of those shots on his weakest areas.

I thought this was a nice way to balance Sora. Yes, he’s short but he just seemed like an ace that can’t be stopped on the court and it wouldn’t be right if this story was just about this group of misfits always winning.

One thing I noticed in this episode was that they got more informative on the rules of basketball. I should’ve noticed the last episode that these thugs that don’t know the game would be the informative device for the viewers at home. A good example is when they had a brief moment of looking over the rules pertaining to the shot clock. Happy to see more information being dispersed on the rules because Basketball is a very technical sport.

As this battle on the court was going on, I was wondering when Chiaki would get there. I feel that Chiaki is going to be part of this game in some way since the opposing team captain came specifically looking for him. Also because he is long overdue for some character development. I just didn’t expect the reason for him being there would be the girl showing up and asking him to go. We got a little more info on his background and now we wait and see how he comes into play now that they NEED another player.

I also wondered what Madoka’s role would be in all this. She seems very analytical and knows how to build up Sora. I wonder if she will have some coaching role on this team. It seems that way in the OP but hard to tell. I did like how quickly she is able to see through Sora’s act and help guide him to another solution.

I’m not entirely sure what the team can do to wiggle their way out of this one but I’m excited to see what happens next. Is Sora going to have some second wind and be able to turn this around and will Chianti finally get on the court and throw away his care for his image. Find out next time on episode 6!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!