Giant Killing 14 – Passion
Victory changes everything. We spent the last four weeks of the series focusing on the one key game to get ETU on track for success. They have a little downtime until the next game, but instead of resting on their laurels, everyone is working harder than ever. The win over Nagoya has renewed a sense of passion, both in the fans and the team’s staff. It might not be as exciting as watching a game, but rest assured, just as much can happen off the pitch.
Things like Sera taking a shower! Wait... what?
Now of course, passion can act as a double-edged sword. If you’re really excited about something and want to do it very well, you might start to over think your task. Here there be madness. It becomes so easy to psyche yourself out over the details. Should I do it like this or like that? It quickly evolves into the ultimate question, “What if I screw up?” The easiest way to combat over thinking is to divert your attention. Gone are the fun and easy training drills Tatsumi had planned for the prior games. He has his team playing a full on scrimmage amongst themselves. They might go into the game the next day a little tired, but you can battle past some physical discomfort. It’s far more difficult to get your head back into the game.
Yuri takes this idea to an entirely different, and dangerous, level. With such a small PR staff, she has to take on much of the workload herself. Unfortunately, she pushes so fast and so hard that she collapses in the middle of the day. As Tatsumi points out, you have to do everything in moderation. It’s not good to take your ease because it will make you restless. Also, putting your soul into your work will make the finished product better. Expending too much energy, though, can doom you to failure. I know, I have a workaholic for a grandfather. His running full tilt for years slowly developed heart problems, ending in major surgery. Yuri’s already on that path, and you can tell because she never realized when her contemporaries got off work until the medical staff forced her to rest. I hope she takes everyone’s advice to heart.
Also, you watch out for those banana peels.
This episode invests a lot into the fans and how they have evolved with ETU’s victory. Tsubaki in particular has managed to attract a lot of attention from the ladies, and Kuro is a regular man’s man. Most striking is how the adult’s have started acting just like the kids! They spend the entire day running all over town trying to recruit people for their fan squad. It gets to the point that the kids criticize the adults for not acting their age! I think this is a real testament to how passion can reinvigorate someone. When you have a cause to rally around, age doesn’t matter. A fifty year old man can have as much spirit as a ten year old kid. Between the two, I think they can give the middle generation a run for their money in the cheering department.
From here, we can draw an interesting parallel with Tatsumi. When he made his debut and won his first game, you can tell it filled him with excitement. Many years have passed since then, and he has lost some of those accomplishments to time. He has also built up this cool and flippant persona as a coach. He says what he really thinks. He reacts so little to everything around him that a simple smile can betray his overwhelming confidence in victory. Can passion touch even him? Look no further than the closing pan of the episode. The amazing photographer got a perfect shot of him after the Nagoya game. He looks like the happiest of all. Yes, even Tatsumi can lower his guard, if only for a short time.
He's king of the fricken world, and don't you forget it!
