Eve recalls her past and parents, leading to confusion and conflict with fellow golf girl Aoi.
Episode 16 — “The Strange Fates of Two Generations of Young People Who Were Caught Up in the Ego of Adults”
Hmm.
Open yuri love is back in play for Eve and Aoi. BIRDIE WING looked like it drove the ball out of bounds with our golf girls’ confusing parentage, but Eve doesn’t have to hide kisses from her half sister. Eve and Aoi are only related by the game that matters most to Eve: mafia golf. We need confirmation for how Eleanor Burton relates to the European golf scene, but I’m sure the Burtons own a golf course or two. Both golf girls have golfing heritage in their blood, just not the ones they had thought. The cute-girls-do-cute-golf part of BIRDIE WING is over. We’re going back to Death Star golf and rocket launchers!
The flashback of Seira’s father dictating his daughter’s golf career and marriage partner matched my expectations for a zaibatsu plotline. Japanese clan corporations can be as ruthless as Mediterranean mobs, so we will soon enjoy watching the golf industry kaiju in a monster mash. But earlier BIRDIE WING flashbacks made me expect more dramatic revelations. I had thought Eve was found in the streets after the car she was riding in with her parents had blown up. Vipère’s rocket grenade antics primed me for something other than a cruise ship sinking. Still, the Italian coast has seen its share of catastrophic shipwrecks, so I can’t fault the reference to the Costa Concordia disaster from 2012. Similarly, Amuro’s collapse from a stroke was a slight letdown.
Amuro had recounted a stormy golf match against Leo that resulted in a bitter defeat. I hoped this scene would explain how Seira married Kazuhiko instead of her lover. But a less dramatic headache took Amuro down. Is BIRDIE WING saving Kazuhiko’s match against Leo to explain how he lost track of Eleanor Burton for seven years? Also, I’m still hoping that Leo is Eleanor’s brother-in-law, making him Eve’s uncle. Golf is a small world in BIRDIE WING, and its families appear even smaller.
Heh.
Eve and Aoi watch Mizuho line up her putt. Look at Eve’s hand on Aoi’s hip! And Mizuho missed it! Aoi and Eve won the match play at 4&3 (four holes up with three left to play). There’s no time for the opening credits. The BIRDIE WING episode will be full of plot development! Aoi can’t put on a happy face yet after the doubles win. She felt exhausted from a bad headache and the stress of Eve claiming Aoi shares a father with her. Eve doesn’t know that yet, but Aoi knows how men can take wives’ family names in Japan. Are they half sisters, really?
Kaede does not look happy to be runner-up. Aw. Eve’s little sisters in Nafrece cheer her on. Uh oh. Amuro needs to talk to Seira about Eve’s Rainbow Shot. Whoa! They just accepted that Evangeline is Kazuhiko’s daughter. The theme of “Sins of the Fathers” reaches its climax here. That is a hell of a lengthy episode title.
Here we go! Twenty-year-old flashback time in BIRDIE WING! Huh? Why is Crunchyroll translating Αθηνά (Athena) into “Athens?” Old man Amawashi clearly says, “Athena.” She is the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and crafts, making her the perfect symbol of women gripping long shafts, giving good head speed, and giving balls a hard time. The elder Amawashi wants Kazuhiko, Reiya, and Seira to become golfing legends to sell his new golf equipment brand. Ack! Bandai Namco also spelled アテナ (Atena) as “Athens” for the “Athens Japan Classic.” What the heck?
Ha! That’s not good news for Seira! The winner of that golf tournament will be her husband! But she loves Reiya! Hey, no worries. Amuro only has to beat Kazuhiko. Easy-peasy. Whoops. Except for that sudden headache and stroke. Wow, BIRDIE WING. Kazuhiko joined the European tour and didn’t come back to Japan for three years. That’s plenty of time to get mixed up with Mediterranean golf mobsters. And enough time for Reiya and Seira to get up to their hijinks.
Man. If you didn’t hate Mr. Amawashi before, watching him slap a pregnant lady should convince you. Wow. Kazuhiko looks like death. But he’ll marry Seira and raise Reiya’s child as his own! These three people really cared for each other. Ah. Kazuhiko finished second at the British Open one year, which explains why the opening credits show the final hole at St. Andrews. When Aoi was seven years old, Kazuhiko returned to the European tour. Then he died in a boating accident a year later! Well. We know what kind of “accidents” happen in Nafrece to golfers. It’s time to hear Evangeline’s memories of “Papa.”
Aw. Eve was a little cutie when she grew up in a modest townhouse in Nafrece. She knew faraway papas were supposed to call their daughters who missed them. I see good hints about a small family in hiding from the mob. So, what changed? How did Kazuhiko find them again? Death Star Golf Simulators and bionic hands are about to reappear in BIRDIE WING! Kazuhiko had a year of bliss with his one and only daughter and her mother. Evangeline learned the secret of the Rainbow Shot. Then the cruise liner the loving family was aboard capsized, and Eve washed up on a Nafrece beach without her memories. Klein and Lily rescued her, and we’re caught up to the start of the first episode!
Time for golf girl drama! How will Aoi react to the news that who she thought was her father is also someone else’s father? Eve confesses that she had amnesia but remembered everything after her second Orange Bullet shot. Golf worlds collide in BIRDIE WING! Aoi thinks she and Eve are half sisters! But wait! Eve remembers her Papa telling her she was “his one and only daughter.” Eve is a master debater because of the mind games she learned playing underground golf. If Eve and Aoi aren’t lying about their kind and wonderful father, then someone else is! Boom, roasted, and checkmate! Eve can shoot Kazuhiko’s Rainbow Shot, but whose golf swing does Aoi’s belong to? Eve says goodbye to playing friends with Aoi because it’s time to play golf.
Let’s check in with Seira. Uh oh! She knows that name Aleon! Rose is dead, but do the Amawashis know that? Golf Zaibatsu versus Golf Mafia? Who wins in BIRDIE WING? But before all that, the perfect world built around Aoi starts to shatter! Seira answered her daughter’s questions like a lawyer: Never with a yes or no, but only deflections and turned-around questions. Aah! Spa time for Eve and Ichina! Uh oh. Aoi requests Eve play in the Japan Women’s Open. Seira will have to take drastic action to keep Eve’s pile of mafia chaos away from Aoi.
Next time, Eve gets deported for immigration fraud! At least she had a nice chloroform nap beforehand. Back to Nafrece, so we can find answers about this Burton family.
BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls’ Story- streams on Crunchyroll and VRV in Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Do you like sisters with complicated family relations? The J-List Store has a wide selection of products if you do. I like the glasses-wearing sisters in My Near-Sighted Older Sister 3 when they get overly affectionate from drinking too much.
What did you think of the BIRDIE WING bombshells dropping left and right about Eve and Aoi’s past? Will the yuri flow be spicier now that we know they’re not half sisters? Are stepsisters good enough? Let us know in the comments below or online on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord.
