Recap

Our girls continue to try and unite the towns, but tensions are about to burst. After a heart to heart, the captains agree to a race which will place new guardian statues on the country’s castle. While the Mie vice-captain plans to steal glory for his own, Captain Tomoki gets back into the game and remembers his love of the sport.

The Rolling Girls‘ formula has paid off once again. After learning a bit about the past of Himeko, we also learn about her connection to Tomoki. As an aside, that scene once again it brings up my question from last week as to why every stone except the one Nozomi gave Himeko has descended as a heart. The apparent age gap is a little weird, but since they both seem pretty grown up I won’t needle that point too much. The show only really ships them for the first scene inside the out of nowhere transvestite cafe, so it’s not as if it mattered a whole lot. What’s more important is that the two of them are united in their feelings of emptiness in the wake of pursuing their dreams. By becoming the best biker, Tomoki has lost the enjoyment of competition. Himeko’s childish wish to get better became a bitter desire to surpass her father.

Despite receiving payment for this gig, the girls don’t really feel like they did a whole lot to help this time around. Other than giving the old man Himeko’s bag, they were always in the background or getting undermined by the Bests or their subordinates. Yukina finally shows some worth, but it just seems such a half-hearted way of going about it. Her penchant for getting lost has long stopped being funny, so having it be the deus ex machina that brings Himeko and her father back together just seemed dumb. To contrast, I love that Ai still is trying her darnedest to engage with the Bests and learn the secret of their powers. It’s her energy that makes a lot of the girls’ scenes, it’s just a shame the other three don’t bring nearly as much presence.

The race is actually a bit boring in the beginning. The fact that there’s only three riders at most doesn’t allow for a lot of drama. Obviously, it seems like the show realized that as well, as it quickly turns into something out of Speed Racer, with missiles and superpowered pushes to the end. At first I thought it would be pretty boring. The fact that Tomoki has a stone that makes him go faster just gives him a natural advantage. Having him finish it on a two-speed bike was way funnier, and also made for some stylish shots as he shoots for the end. The end is cheesy, but this is meant to be a feel-good show so I will allow it a little sentimentality. With the girls finally in possession of their own Moonlight Stone, I wonder if we’ll see some superpowers come out of them anytime soon.