Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story-

Episode 19

Aoi takes flight! Eve had fun taking the golf mafia down yet another peg last week, so now it's her estranged partner's turn to soak in all of the dynastic melodrama propelling both girls to the pro league. While Aoi's side of the story has always paled in comparison to the criminal shenanigans and colorful characters of Eve's life, this episode gives her enough space to spread her wings and zero in on her driving force. Her side of the narrative feels a little fuller now, and that's exactly what Aoi needed to keep up with Birdie Wing's skyward slope towards golf drama nirvana.

The nicest surprise is the development of Amane's backstory. She's been saddled with the thankless task of being one of the series' more serious characters, but as this episode shows, that can be easily improved by making her past even more absurdly dour. One of the week's highlights sees Seira, in all solemnity, telling a girl at her father's funeral that “he was an amazing caddy.” This is further bettered by the revelation that young Amane entered into indentured golf servitude with the Amawashi clan and that she can only financially support herself by supporting Aoi's career. Given the timing of this conversation—in a clandestine meeting with her aunt Reika, Japan's current prize queen—we expect this to signal a betrayal. It wouldn't be out of place in Birdie Wing's cutthroat world of ball-and-stick sports. Instead, it only reinforces Amane's loyalty to Aoi specifically, family and money be damned. That's a wonderful moment for her character, even if I still believe she's an utter fool if she thinks she can keep Aoi from sucking Eve's face.

Coach Amuro continues to be a defining factor in Aoi's life, whether he's designing her new clubs or scaring her with his golf-wasting disease—which has now been identified as tuberculosis sclerosis complex. I'll give the show credit; it's a genetic syndrome that causes tumors in the brain, so while I certainly don't expect Birdie Wing to replicate its exact pathophysiology, it does fit the symptoms. The important part is that this gets us to the incredible scene of Jinguji rolling his wheelchair into the spectator zone so he can have a psychic conversation to soothe his daughter's nerves. It's so dumb and cheesy, and it's tonally perfect. I am, admittedly, disappointed that the story isn't pursuing Seira's denial of his fatherhood any further, but I suppose The Witch from Mercury has enough manipulative mom content for one season. And speaking of Gundams, props to the translator for putting “new type” in the same sentence where Amuro says “rollout.” They didn't have to use that wording, but they know exactly what kind of show this is.

I also like how this episode downplays the competition between Aoi and Reika, despite the way it's set up in the early scenes. It looks like this will be more of a factor next week, but for now, it's more satisfying for Aoi's struggles and victories to be internal. She needs to shake off the turmoil that's festered since Eve's absence. This lets us focus on the conflicts within the people around her as well. Amuro ignores his health for his daughter's sake. Seira remains trapped under her father's thumb. Amane, in the most emotionally complex moment of the episode, weeps when she realizes that she can't encourage Aoi without recapitulating the manipulations of the Athens dynasty. While it's tempting to cast Aoi as an innocent and ignorant pawn in these machinations, I think this installment shows her to possess far more fortitude than that. Look at this week's climax. Look at what she's golfing for—who she's golfing for. All the extraneous weights thrust upon her are just necessary evils that she too must participate in to reach her own goals. She is chained to golf, but with enough strength, she can liberate herself with golf.

It's all too fitting, then, that Aoi's golf superpowers are unleashed with a giant flap of symbolic wings. Eve can kill in golf, but Aoi can soar in golf. And with the support of her real parents, she just might achieve the escape velocity needed to do what Seira couldn't and escape her grandfather's stifling influence. Note, too, that these are the same white wings we've been seeing in the OP all along. Aoi had wings in her VR outfit too, and that's not to mention her hair ornament. Birdie Wing is an extremely dumb show with extremely smart construction.

On Eve's side of the story, there's not much going on (for once), but it's just nice to see her reunite with the rest of the crew in Nafrece. Despite regaining her memories and meeting her grandfather, she hasn't forgotten who her real family is. It's that kind of genuine warmth that makes her dirtbag tendencies all the more endearing. Ichina also remains a fun fish-out-of-water addition to this dynamic, and I can't wait to see how she acts in an actual pro tournament. With the preview teasing a reunion with Golf Char, however, both Eve and Ichina might have deadlier targets to deal with first.

Rating: Birdie

Cumulative Score: -26

Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He still disrespects golf. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.

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Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.