DAYS Episode 19 Review: Come With Me. It's a Straight Shot to Nationals

Seems like our wild ride in the soccer camp is at a close. It has definitely been an exciting story arc and the best action of the series so far. DAYS manages to keep you wanting more! With the end of the camp, our review this week examines the post-win Seiseki and their mission to make it to the Nationals. Who are they up against this time? Read on to find out!

Japanese Original Episode Title: ついて来い　全国まで一直線だ

Plot

©安田剛士・講談社／「DAYS」製作委員会

After the action-packed excitement of the last few weeks, DAYS needed an episode to let it all soak in. This episode has little to no soccer and is written in a way to help us get into the heads of the Seiseki players. There’s a lot at stake for the team, with the Nationals being the last chance for the third-years to play in a tournament. If they don’t make it through preliminaries, the third-years will be forced to retire.

Episode 19 begins with the highlight of Episode 18 – Tsukamoto scoring the winning goal. The shock to the team was nowhere near as great as the shock Tsukamoto felt. He has no idea what happened, but he’s a hero! After the match, Seikan’s players congratulate Seiseki and actually show some humility. Each of the rivals has a good discussion and there’s a lot of lessons they take away. Ooshiba’s ego grows ever larger. Even Kimishita is told that he is the only one who will be able to enable the growth of Mizuki, the star player of Seiseki.

Kazama approaches Tsukamoto after the match and seems somewhat aggressive. Tsukamoto apologizes profusely for ‘betraying him’, but Kazama brushes it off and drags him outside of the field. It turns out that Kazama wanted to introduce Tsukamoto to his mother. Tsukamoto fumbles around like he tends to do, but Kazama declares Tsukamoto his best friend and thanks his mother for allowing him the opportunity to meet ‘Tsukushi’. Kazama and his mother promise to meet again at the Nationals.

Summer break comes and goes and with the arrival of the next school session, Seiseki gets to see the preliminary tournament brackets. We learn about the Fearsome Four, the name given to Tokyo’s strongest teams. These teams are Seiseki, Sakuragi High, Tennouzou, and Touin Academy. Sakuragi High and Tennouzou are in the B bracket, which means that Seiseki will not face them until far later in the preliminaries. Touin Academy is a fearsome opponent with a headstrong captain and may prove to be just as much of a challenge as Saku High. Seiseki’s team must understand this in order to be successful.

The coach announces the starting lineup and Tsukamoto begins to feel a bit nervous. He doesn’t want the third-years to be forced to retire. Luckily, there is a time skip and the team seems to have won its first match after a pep talk from Mizuki. At the end of the episode, Ooshiba makes a promise and Kimishita is impressed.

©安田剛士・講談社／「DAYS」製作委員会

Episode Highlights

Highlight 1: Kazama Watch

There’s not any real Kazama highlight in this episode! The closest thing we have to some Kazama antics is after the summer break ends and Sayurin hears him yell something out. She turns to look at him and he is wearing an old man’s mustache and he is using a crutch. The visual comedy is appreciated, but Kazama doesn’t get much time to shine after the incident with his mother.

Highlight 2: Kimishita and Ooshiba Argue

Towards the end of the episode, before Ooshiba makes his promise, he gets into a heated argument with Kimishita. The problem is that Kimishita is incredibly intelligent and the antithesis of Ooshiba. Ooshiba gets tongue-tied and Kimishita yells at him to use words! The last two minutes of the episode is actually fantastic altogether, so keep an eye out for the promise Ooshiba makes! It’s full of inconsistencies but 100% genuine.

©安田剛士・講談社／「DAYS」製作委員会

Themes

This episode explores reflection and expectations. Seiseki knows it can accomplish a great deal when the team works together. After reflecting, they noted that they won all eight of the camp games. However, this doesn’t mean they are unstoppable. There’s a very real possibility of the third-years being forced to resign if they fail to perform in the preliminaries. Mizuki notes this in an intense speech, but suggests that all the lessons the team has learned together has prepared them to win. Since the roster has changed, the tactics will change as well and instead of being scared of the future, Seiseki will need to go in confidently and fight!

Comments

This is the most boring episode of the last few weeks, but it’s an important one. It would become entirely too much for the audience to have to sit on a rollercoaster that doesn’t end. Just like the team, the audience needs time to reflect upon the events. I think skipping some of the matches is actually a good thing since it builds excitement for the important ones that will come up. This is definitely the calm before the storm.

The Next Opponents are tough!

If Seiseki performs well through the preliminaries, then they will have to face Touin Academy. We got a brief look at a few of their players this week. This is looking too far ahead, though. Watching the bracket, there’s another team that will present a challenge and I suspect we’ll see that matchup next week. Seiseki can’t let it go to their heads! Do you think they have a shot to represent Tokyo at the Nationals?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to read the rest of our episodic reviews!

NEXT TIME: Don’t Underestimate Seiseki!