Recap: Character intros are out of the way, and we’re finally getting into the Tokyo Regionals! With the team even more of a powerhouse than they were last year, the focus remains away from them as we see how our two newbies react in an official match.

While it was great seeing the chemistry between the old guard and the new upstarts, we finally are getting into what I love most about this show, some competitive karuta. Last season, as you may remember, the Tokyo Regionals was the first great success of the team. With the second years pretty well established, you’d think this would just be them showing us how much they kick ass now. Tsukuba has other plans, and while he gets caught, Komano comes in to give him a chance.

This means Sumire gets some action too, much to her own chagrin. I really have to applaud this show for how quickly they’re turning what was initially a very unlikable character into someone you can actually relate and sympathize with. I do find it kinda creepy that they implied this dude she was playing was going easy on her just to like, touch her hand and stuff? I’d hope people wouldn’t be that creepy in a gameday scenario but I guess there are all sorts. Still, you can tell that she’s genuinely getting a love for the game, and despite her loss you can tell she’s growing into the group at her own pace.

I think the best thing about this show is that it knows how to make even a hopeless losing match look exciting. That was the exact feeling I got watching Tsukuba. While I am on the bottom side of the sibling totem pole, I can understand a big brother not wanting to disappoint himself. Watching him struggle, against an A-Class player no less, really showed his character. Last episode he just seemed cocky, but now it makes it look like he more feels he has something to prove, to his brothers and to himself. I look forward to seeing how much he’ll be able to improve in preparation of the individual tournaments.

While the other five characters got cordoned to the sidelines, we still got glimpses to show just how amazing they’ve gotten. It was funny seeing Chihaya jealous of Tsukuba since he got to play the A-Class, but I definitely would too if I’d gotten good enough to smoke both of my opponents with a perfect victory. Looks like next episode will be going on to tougher prey, so hopefully Chihaya will get a good challenge. Since Komano and Kana are still the ones with the most room to grow in the original five, I’d also love to see the show demonstrate how much they’ve been able to grow since starting last year.