Days - Episode 2 (Review)

By: AlanVDays continues down the path laid by the first episode, with Tsukushi doing a whole lot of running. The team doles out punishments to their Freshmen when mistakes are made. With Tsukushi part of this group it means a lot of laps, which upsets his peers.In order to not be seen as a burden he requests that he run the laps on his own, because he genuinely enjoys being around his teammates and doesn’t want them to resent him. This galvanizes the rest of the boys to rally around him, joining him on his ritualistic laps.All of the running they do will set them up well for the first day of a camp that is attended by various schools. Their first task is a vicious mountain climb that wrecks just about everyone, except Tsukushi and the rest of the Freshmen who blast right through it after running themselves to the ground at practice. Rival players who had previously snickered at Tsukushi couldn’t believe that he and the rest of his group easily made it to the summit.One of the best moments of the episode was a discussion between the current team captain and the coach. He declares that the unassuming Tsukushi will rise to be the team captain in two years’ time. While the statement might seem ludicrous based on the skills Tsukushi possesses, he seems to be able to get through to his teammates using his unrelenting commitment.The amount of soccer itself is nonexistent, which could disappoint those who are watching the show just to get some more footy action. It was more about establishing how the people who surround Tsukushi are touched by his earnestness and effort.Days can be viewed on Crunchyroll, new episodes debut Saturday at 3:30PM EDT.