Days - Episode 14 (Review)
By:AlanV[yasr_multiset setid=11]Miss my review of episode 13? Check it out here!Soccer is back to being the main focus in episode 14 of Days. Tsukushi and the rest of the Seiseki crew are attending another training camp, but this time around it’s a completely different animal. They will be tested in every game as there are no slouches amongst the competition.The camp feels tangibly different from the first one. The senior leadership on the team informs the freshmen that this is their opportunity to claim a place in the starting line-up, but if they are keen on doing so they will have to pry it from the hands of a senior player. This part was wonderful to see, as internal competition within a squad is what will allow a team to become as good as it can possibly be.
This internal competition actually pushed Seiseki’s current starting forward to make some changes as he sees Tsukushi in the rear view mirror. While he is very talented he has a me first attitude. This mentality is what’s really holding him back from being an important cog in the Seiseki machine. After having a chat with one of his teammates he seemingly stars to put it all together, becoming a force in the first game and setting a high bar for Tsukushi.Meanwhile, Tsukushi is brought back down to Earth. Considering he had zero soccer experience he has attained an important role on a strong team, all because of his willingness to run. While having lungs of steel is a great trait to have, at a certain point a player will need soccer smarts and skill. Having a talented group of players around him has allowed him to just run and be successful.
The Seiseki coach knows this, and looks to dole out an important lesson from the get go. He makes wholesale substitutions that have Tsukushi paired with other young players whose skills can’t cover for him anymore. He finally comes to the obvious conclusion that just running isn’t going to get it done anymore. He will finally have to work on the other crucial parts of his game.It was disappointing to see so little soccer animated on screen when a game was the focus of an episode, but it was still fun to see that Tsukushi will be headed in a direction where he isn’t just running all of the time. It was also entertaining to see the players push one another for starting spots. This camp is setting itself up to be a good one.Days can be viewed on Crunchyroll, new episodes debut Saturday at 3:30PM EDT.