Bamboo Blade

Mei contemplates leaving the Seimei Kendo club and her mind drifts to thoughts of joining the cooking club instead. Tamaki brings her back to reality with a couple strikes that leave Mei in awe of Tama’s skill. Tama gives Mei some instructions during the warm-up practice, but Mei’s aim is slightly off when she strikes the bare part of Tama’s arm. The two formally introduce themselves and Mei, now a full-fledged Tama fangirl, requests to be hit by Tamaki some more. Upon seeing Tama’s prowess, the other Seimei girls volunteer their bodies as punching bags too.

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Sayako begins this episode with some creative storytelling. According to Saya, Satori Azuma quit Kendo because of the sudden death of her father. Saya’s classmates don’t think too highly of her fictional scenario though. Elsewhere, we get a glimpse of Seimei High’s strict training regimen under the watchful eye of Hayashi-sensei. Several of their freshmen have quit the club and we see two young girls in particular, Mei and Nozomi, that are already thinking about quitting.

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Kirino tries to remember Azuma’s name so the club can promptly recruit her into their ranks. Kojirou continues his drills with Miya to help her improve. Miya catches a glimpse of Reimi and freaks out again. Dan finally asks what is bothering her so Miya shares the story with everyone. Due to a misunderstanding over a guy in junior high in which Reimi confessed to a guy who in turn said that he liked Miya who promptly beat the snot out of him, Reimi has been stalking her ever since.

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As the strange girl from last time leaves the store, she tosses a charm that she was going to steal back to Tamaki at the counter. She leaves an ominous message that she will return another time to see Miya. Kojirou returns home to his parents’ grocery store and finds out that they are struggling just to get by on a daily basis. His mom gives him some nearly expired food from the store for dinner and also asks that he help out for the night. An unreasonable customer approaches Kojirou’s mom and demands a product that is no longer produced. He is told that the store can’t do anything about the situation and he walks out angry. Kojirou’s mom tells her son that unreasonable situations are just a part of life and have to be accepted.

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Kojiro gives his dear old mother a call after receiving the package and decides that it’s time to return home for a visit. He also has an argument about with her about her cooking skills but that’s beside the point. Tamaki keeps herself busy at the part-time job by thinking about club activities and how things are going without her. Satori enters the store and Tama greets her rather awkwardly. With the owner keeping a watchful eye on her, Tama makes the sale and convinces Satori to buy two study charms. Shortly after Satori leaves, Kojiro enters the store to buy a gift for his mom. He tells Tama to come to the club when she has the time.

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The TV announcement that catches Tamaki’s undivided attention is pitching a limited edition anime DVD boxset that she desperately wants upon seeing it. She rummages through her entire home savings but comes up short on warfunds. Elsewhere, Kojiro is having money troubles of his own when he unwillingly repays a standing debt and laments on his situation.

The next day at practice, the club is up to their usual antics while Tamaki still thinks about the coveted boxset she so longs after. Miya mentions having to miss her part-time job shift for the day which catches Tama’s attention. Tama inquires about the job with Miya who eagerly agrees to get her a position there. Miya, Dan, and Tama skip out on the rest of practice to go to the shop. Tama is taken to a cute goods shop where she will be the part-time clerk for the front of the store. Kojiro calls Tama on the phone and reminds her to tell her dad about her new job. At first, Tama’s father is against the proposal, but he changes his mind when he looks at the calendar and mistakenly thinks that his daughter is working to save up money for his upcoming birthday.

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Ishibashi challenges Tamaki and declares that the outcome of the duel will officially decide the match’s winner. After some gentle persuasion by Kojiro, Kirino, and Sayako, Tamaki accepts the offer.

Ishibashi explodes from the very start of the match and uses his size advantage to pressure her. Tama is pushed down but is quick to get back on her feet. Their shinai clash again and the two fight on a level much higher than what was seen in the practice matches. Tamaki connects on a one handed head strike, but Kojiro overrules the call because he deems the contact too light. His call upsets Tama as they begin the next set. Tama delivers a stronger one handed strike which gets an unanimous point from Nakata and Kojiro. Ishibashi finally gets serious and assumes the ascension stance for the next set. Upon seeing it Tama is reminded of her mother and goes into a daze. Ishibashi realizes that Tama has lost her concentration and decides to end the match.

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We are given the complete details of Kojiro’s strategy to place Tamaki first and last in the match. Since her identity is obscured by the kendo gear for the first match, she is an easy shoe-in to fight again. He also instructs her to only use half of her strength, with Nakata knowing full well that even half of her total strength is still overkill.

Tamaki easily takes the first victory for the team and scores two easy points. After the match, Tamaki sneaks away, and Kojiro makes up a lame excuse for her sudden departure. Miya and a depressed Asakawa begin their match. Before Miya can fight at full strength however, Dan leaves to go to the bathroom. Evil Miya easily dominates her opponent with a berserk barrage of swings, but her form is sloppy and none of the attacks are valid. The momentum shifts when Asakawa receives a phone message apology from her boyfriend. With renewed vigor, Asakawa easily lays the smack down on Miya and bolts out after the match.

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The kendo club has really become the talk of the school as the episode begins. Kojiro’s senpai tells him via the cell phone that the practice match will be moved up to next week. Nakata and Dan overhear and misunderstand the conversation as a financial problem. He informs everyone that the practice match has been moved to next week despite the fact that they are short one member, but he has a trick or two up his sleeve.

The club gets back to practicing, and Sayako volunteers to spar with Tamaki. Saya tells Tama to give it her all. Tama obliges with the request and easily defeats Saya with a headshot and sends her senpai into despair. Kojiro and his senpai simultaneously write down their respective match order rosters for the sake of plot convenience. We are introduced to Machido High’s girls that have clashing personalities with the Muroe High girls. They have the meganekko team-captain Harada, the slacker Asakawa, the cowardly Nishiyama, the underhanded Miya-like Ando, and the tomboyish Yoko.

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Sayako becomes flustered with herself as she tries writing a story about her encounter with Miya in the previous episode. The next day at kendo practice, Kojiro is busy training Dan and Miya on basic drills. He assigns Kirino to work with Miya who in turn delgates the duty to Tamaki. Tamaki accepts and teaches Miya some basic principles while Kojiro-sensei and Kirino discuss Sayako’s past antics in the club. Apparently Sayako has always been a wild card with amazing athletic ability but would leave for days at a time when she became upset due to some sort of misunderstanding. Kirino even admits that given more time, Sayako could easily surpass her in skill.

As Tamaki and Nakata continue to work with Miya and Dan respectively, they are forced to evacuate the dojo when Kojiro sets off an insect bomb in the backroom. Due to the practice ending early for the day, Kojiro orders Miya to come in early the next morning for more practice. Meanwhile at Machido High’s kendo club, we get a glimpse of a very active kendo club under the tutelage of Kojiro’s senpai. The teacher rounds up his group of rowdy, snarky girls and chooses five of them for the match with Kojiro’s girls. That evening, Kirino sends a text message to Sayako inviting her to come to practice. Sayako replies back in a rather lengthy, dramatic message that she will show up tomorrow.

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