Golf Girls Double Up in BIRDIE WING, Episode 12

Eve and Aoi partner up in the golf doubles qualifying round. The pair’s adversarial competitiveness produces incredible scores!

Episode 12 – “Are Aoi and Eve Okay Together? The Doubles Championship Begins”

Hmm.

It took so long! BIRDIE WING finally showed Eve and Aoi playing a full round of golf against each other. Now, now. They were a doubles pair demolishing the muscular Sato, but that’s not how they played. Unsurprisingly, they tied again. It’s fun to see from their scorecard how their differing styles arrived at the same number of strokes. We know Eve is a gambler, while Aoi matches her shot selection to an optimized program. Eve had more bogeys but more eagles than Aoi. Aoi had more birdies but more pars than Eve. If the two played poker, Eve would go all-in on big pots more often than Aoi. But Aoi would fold more often while systematically collecting chips. It’s lovely to see the dichotomy.

Eve’s gambling attitude is also a source of mental focus. BIRDIE WING dropped her into the middle of a new golfing landscape where she didn’t know the courses, the players, or even the rules. She is an empty vessel. Instead of panicking, she asks for targets. To his credit, Coach Reiya saw how Eve plays, so he started feeding her the things she needed to know. He arranged a “chance” meeting with a rival high school’s top player. And he gave her a name and a score to beat for the qualifying round. The best players in this new setting are like the ones in the old. Golf is played on the course and in your opponent’s mind. Coach Reiya started softening Eve and Aoi’s targets when he goaded them into beating Mizuho’s qualifying score. He’s a gambler too!

We have one more episode before the season ends, which is not enough time to show the entire tournament. Will BIRDIE WING make an announcement of a second season soon? Please, Bandai Namco, don’t leave us hanging.

Heh.

Kaede, Mizuho’s golfing partner, doesn’t like how the All-Japan Girls High School Golf Doubles Championship appears to be an orchestrated debut for Aoi Amawashi. She’s not wrong. Kaede’s recitation of things the audience already knows about BIRDIE WING feels like an anime recap for the middle of the season. Kaede smash! Mizuho just wants strong rivals so she can become stronger herself.

Ichina stars in her version of BIRDIE WING again. Rushing and tripping. Aoi and Eve practice together for the regional qualifiers. Not much teamwork here. They compete in every little thing! The caddies don’t get along either. Amane is rigid and detail-oriented, while Ichina is old school and views the golf course as an organic being. Amuro likes the “team of rivals” atmosphere. Abraham Lincoln managed his cabinet the same way, but are the stakes of high school golf as high as the American Civil War?

It’s the day of the qualifiers at the Athena Golf Course. It has a statue of Athena. Playing golf! BIRDIE WING makes the opponents brag for Aoi and Eve. Ha! Eve called Japanese people “rude” for staring at her beautiful face. The cute and pretty pair pisses off the other high school girls! Eve is motivated. She’ll get all-you-can-eat hamburgers from Aoi if she beats her score.

Ooh. A dark-skinned muscle girl steps up to challenge Eve and Aoi. Sato fancies herself a long ball driver. The Innocent Tyrant begins her mind games. Smile and clap! Eve shows Aoi how to do it. Pierce Sato’s heart with her Blue Bullet. Bang! Oops. Too strong. That one shot took out four other players. Haha! Eve wants to pierce Aoi too! Nope. Barrier! They’re the goofiest pair in BIRDIE WING and the most feared. Coach Reiya fired them up by goading them into beating Mizuho’s -10 score in her qualifying round.

Aoi and Eve entered their own golf tournament. The other players didn’t matter. Amane and Ichina build up their tsundere caddy relationship as well. Again, BIRDIE WING uses the other characters to brag about their rivals. Mizuho and Kaede talk about Kaoruko and Kuyou. We’ve already met them. Ha! Eve and Aoi both got 11-under scores. They beat Mizuho but didn’t beat each other. No hamburgers for Eve!

Yay! Eve catches up with Klein and Lily before her golf tournament. Eve sent a Gunpla kit to Lily, but it’s the wrong kind. Is a Shy-Tarn not good enough for her? Eve let the cashier choose that one. She’s like the rich aunt buying you a Transformer you already own for your birthday. For Lily, it’s MG or nothing in Gundam models. Eve has a battle suit too. Outrageously red! Coach Reiya is so permissive. BIRDIE WING places personality above conformity. Haha! Kinue won’t let Eve have Reiya. Lots of subtext flying around on this bus. Har. Ichina needs to explain golf match play rules to Eve. The girl from Nafrece always claimed she wasn’t a golfer. She just hit balls for the money. Hoo! Look at how Eve made Aoi blush. Yuri head pats for the win!

Epilogue time for BIRDIE WING. Eve makes a big splash in the hotel lobby. She ignored Kuyou and went straight to Kaoruko. Eve already has a list of piercing targets, and Kuyou is not on it. She also wants a piece of Mizuho! Eve loads up her rainbow bullets to aim at Mizuho! Bang! I love that over-the-top ending!

Next time, Ichina has trouble sleeping with Eve. And Aoi gets a kiss on the cheek!

BIRDIE WING: Golf Girls’ Story (BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls’ Story-) streams on Crunchyroll and VRV in Japanese audio with English subtitles.