Eve sneaks into the final round of the U15 Women’s Golf Championship to keep her promise to Aoi. Who will win their personal one-on-one match?
Episode 3 – “A Match Between Just the Two of Us”
Hmm.
This week, BIRDIE WING employed a typical shounen anime device: the mind-reading conversation. We regularly see this during a battle scene between great enemies or rivals. I hate it. A similar circumstance is a non-shouting dialogue when two characters are hundreds of feet apart. Are we supposed to believe that two rivals’ hearts become closer through fighting so that they can sense the other’s emotions? I wish there was a better way of sharing feelings than shouting across distances, but anime has not yet solved this issue.
Last week, I discussed how Aoi’s and Eve’s opposing golfing philosophies make them rivals in BIRDIE WING. Eve’s straightforward style gambles on overcoming environmental conditions. Aoi wagers on the wind and ground to move the ball to her target. But the weather can change and affect the grass on the golf course. Players who start later in the day need to account for these changing conditions. On the eighteenth hole, the grass on the greens dried out, or the wind changed, which affected Aoi’s putt. Better golfing gamblers know when to change how they gamble. I want to see the shounen video game story of BIRDIE WING make this dynamic between Eve and Aoi a pivotal moment.
Where does Eve go from here? The anime showed Aoi’s golf school and characters from a competing academy watching the golf tournament. That’s how BIRDIE WING lays the groundwork for a change in setting, so we can expect Eve to meet the new characters over there. I want to see how Catherine’s terms with Rose make this happen.
Heh.
Alright, BIRDIE WING. Explain the last few minutes of last week’s episode. That’s a tall skyscraper. The Boss Lady Catherine enters. She’s smoking! A cigarette… Catherine’s question to Rose implies that the U15 tournament entrants need to attend a golfing school to qualify. Or does Catherine mean any school? Eve is a golf-hustling dropout. Catherine is the primary sponsor of the girls’ golf world championship. What does her legitimate company do? A scar on Catherine’s shoulder takes up a lot of space. Watch out for scarred people. Even Eve has one. What do they signify in BIRDIE WING? Eh! Eve! Please don’t offer your body to a golf gangster! Boo! Catherine only plays with young men. Uh oh. Rose offers to agree to the terms of an “earlier offer.” An overarching plot point! Catherine instantly took the offer. I’m curious, but we won’t learn what the price of Eve’s round of golf will be until later.
Eve goes legit! Girls’ golf gear and a complete set of clubs. Can she use fifteen different clubs? Eve knows how to color coordinate. I’m impressed! Ah. Aoi ran up to watch Eve’s drive. We’re caught up on the past BIRDIE WING episode. Har. Eve entered the last round as “Eve Aleon,” taking Rose’s last name. Amane’s roster claims that Eve has over eleven years of golf experience! Hahaha! Eve’s hobby is “going for walks.” Ahahaha! Other things make sense. Her favorite club is the driver, but that should make her favorite color blue, not red. Could that be the color of her “female battle armor?”
Aw. Eve and Aoi can’t play a golf round together, but they can keep track of their scores. Aoi has the advantage since she’ll know Eve’s final score when she’s still on the golf course. Anri joined Rose as a golf spectator, but Anri still had her nightclubbing outfit on. Or putt-putt hustle clubbing outfit… Rose explains that Eve is advertising the Aleon line of golf wear. Ha. BIRDIE WING already made Eve admit she’s not a golfer. Now it’s Rose’s turn. But Eve excels at a couple of things. She can hit the golf ball straight, and she can intimidate opponents. Underground golfers like Eve and Rose specialize in match play, so demoralizing their opponents is key to their golf games. It’s more like playing poker than golf.
I see all the girls at the driving range use Aoi’s mother’s golf clubs and bags. Helene rubs a shiny head… Yes, I’ll keep those double entendres coming if BIRDIE WING keeps giving me material. Bandai Namco needs to sell those Gundam kits. Har. The little sisters at Klein’s bar tease Lily that Eve dumped her.
Silly girls. Eve doesn’t care about long grass. Red Bullet! Finally. Aoi sets up Pac-Man on the tee. Ooh. Caddy sign language from Amane. People need to be quiet on a golf course, you know.
Suddenly, BIRDIE WING is in Japan. We know it’s true because of Mount Fuji. This is Aoi’s rich girl school. Aoi’s friends will be important later in the season. They want to watch Aoi steamroll the competition. Eve finished the front nine. Burger time! Eve is used to golf sprints, but eighteen holes is a marathon. The Big Kahuna Burger includes fresh avocado.
Aoi noticed the wind changed from yesterday. Can she adapt her game? Oh yes, she can! Chip in! Eve needs to up her game. How? Hit the Bullets harder! Ooh. The infamous Fourteenth Hole from the last week’s BIRDIE WING episode. Amane thinks Eve can’t hit an eagle blasting through the woods again. Uh. Didn’t Eve already take care of the fat branch that stopped her eagle before? Amane has a failure of imagination. Eve’s Red Bullet proves to Amane that Eve is Aoi’s worst enemy. Uh, yeah. That’s what we’re here for.
Ugh. I hate these mind-reading conversations. Oh? Girls at Aoi’s golf school celebrate her overall lead, but the coaches see the next layer. They know Aoi is losing the round to Eve. Ack. A different golfing school. Who are these people? I’ll care in an episode or two of BIRDIE WING.
Eep. Lily and Klein rushed to the Nafrece golf course. Who’s in charge of the little ones? Yup. Eve starts feeling the heat and the exhaustion from an entire round of golf. She finished ten under. Beat that, Aoi! Rose looks pleased. Aoi is tied up, but can she score better? Crap. More mind-reading dialogues. Please stop, BIRDIE WING. Aoi’s putt to win over Eve… missed! What did Rose know? She celebrated the Sun in the sky. Did the eighteenth green dry out, so Aoi misread her line? Or was it magnets?
Next time, Eve plays someone with a real-life golf simulator.
BIRDIE WING: Golf Girls’ Story (BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls’ Story-) streams on Crunchyroll and VRV in Japanese audio with English subtitles.
