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Nov 14, 2019 10:37 AM
#1

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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Oh well, this seems to be the club's first real challenge. Misaki Academy doesn't seem like a pushover.

That's a reality check for the tennis club. They have to adapt and change their tactics. I do like the amount of human emotions thrown into the match though. Felt very real.
Nov 14, 2019 11:54 AM
#2
Shalltear

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Apr 2018
34441
Really good episode, the match against that school was interesting.
Nov 14, 2019 11:55 AM
#3

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Nov 2017
241
lol, the shingo/tsubasa match was really fun to watch
i loved the evil laughing scene before the final match.

I'd say the team did pretty well for their first real match. Now all that's left is the final match.
Going against aces wouldn't be easy for our pair, and i really doubt they'll win (i hope they do)
but it would be nice learning experience for them
Nov 14, 2019 12:06 PM
#4

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5104
Great episode.

Takenouchi and Soga were hilarious. That was a good strategy.

Nov 14, 2019 12:10 PM
#5
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13480
Standard practice match The cheer was fun
Nov 14, 2019 12:15 PM
#6
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Considering they didn't score even once in the tournament, the new pairs are doing fine.
Yuta has been very reliable, the real MVP here. And Maki and his laugh and keep it cool, he's definitely special. He seem to have find something out about their team.
We got a typical yet one of the best part of sports anime. The cliffhanger that somethings great's about to happen. I don't think they will win, but I think they might actually tie the match, specially considering that no one managed to do it before. They might win if their ace have a breakdown, but I think it's unlikely.
Nov 14, 2019 12:23 PM
#7
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That pre-match dance was LOL. Looks incredibly silly, but I can see how it not only hypes you up, but also loosens your muscles so you're less tense.

Shingo and Tsubasa match...I don't even. Got me chuckling due to how ridiculous their strategy was, but it was fun :P Only because it was team we're supposed to root for, otherwise, I would've hated it.

The team was able to hold their ground a little bit, but as expected, it is the champion team they're against, so of course they couldn't actually win any games. The other team has superior technique, they haven't had enough experience playing with higher level players to be able to even successfully return a slice (or probably topspins or backspins for that matter). There's a lot they still have to learn, but they've improved a lot in terms of simple rallying. Best part is that they are more confident in themselves and held positive attitudes even after losing.

I'm very curious as to what Maki has in mind!
Nov 14, 2019 12:29 PM
#8

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Jul 2017
8313
Wow, what a place to put a cliffhanger, damn that ace pair is pretty strong

lots of animation flexing as well lol

and I'd be down to watch a full tennis tournament if everyone yelled out battle cries like Shingo and Tsubasa match
Nov 14, 2019 12:29 PM
#9

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Mar 2016
1723
The opponent school has really likeable characters.

So Shingo's dance from last episode was his victory dance. lol. It was so cringy but I kind of liked it.

I predicted the way the matches would go, and all of my predictions came true. Yet, I was still pleasantly surprised by the execution.

Hahaha! I think Maki has found himself a rival. The way he laughed was so adorable.

The ed actually has a proper TV size version. I feel like we see a different version of it every episode.

Not getting any dramatic content in this anime so suddenly is scary in its own way.
Nov 14, 2019 12:29 PM
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That shouting before the serve lands was hilarious, but also 100% against the rules as well. I'm kind of surprised how winded they were for only being a best of 5 game match unless the rules were explained wrong and it's sets not games.
My Karma ran over your Dogma
Nov 14, 2019 1:48 PM

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Nov 2019
756
What tsubasa & shingo did was just really bad sportmanship and a disqualifiable offense to boot. That it is being presented as something to be proud of and with no consequences seems to be a recurring pattern within the show.

Nov 14, 2019 2:10 PM

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May 2018
985
Interesting episode, love the game match on this episode. Grasshopper victory dance was great too.

Nov 14, 2019 3:31 PM

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31882
They did better than expected. And boy, those were some interesting tactics and dance moves, awkward, but interesting.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


Nov 14, 2019 3:37 PM

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The amount of cringe on this episode was off the charts. When we don't have randomly placed backstories we get cringe instead... Neat.

this_shit_again said:
What tsubasa & shingo did was just really bad sportmanship and a disqualifiable offense to boot. That it is being presented as something to be proud of and with no consequences seems to be a recurring pattern within the show.



That was very stupid, imagine doing that on a real competition and getting off it pretty easily as some funny gag. If the boys team weren't already ridiculed enough, they proceed to get more ridiculous by doing those random screams...

I know these shitheads are kids, but still...
"We could make the world better, but it's easier to just shut our eyes."
~Blackwall
Nov 14, 2019 4:02 PM

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Oct 2013
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Singo and tsubasa were hilarious. I started actually laughing out loud during their first point, lol. I played tennis in HS so i know a lot of this shit wouldnt fly (kicking an opponent in the shins?!!?) and my disbelief is usually hard to suspend- buuuut this show makes it work though. all the characters are so charming, even the main rival dude from the other school.

also these boys are fucking adorable. bravery! lively! victory!!
Nov 14, 2019 4:38 PM
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Jan 2018
268
That was straight up illegal lmao. You can’t scream like that
Nov 14, 2019 4:39 PM

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The first three matches were pretty interesting, and it was exciting to see them holding their ground against players who have way more experience than themselves. I'm starting to like the other members, and to learn their names too. Shingo and Tsubasa were kind of funny, if not condonable, and I love the dance Shingo came up with his sister, it even helped Taiyou and Nao to start well. Oh, and Mitsue's remarks were funny, and I love how Yuuta tried his best to get to know the other team before these matches. Can't wait to see what Maki came up with.
Nov 14, 2019 4:50 PM

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Feb 2011
3695
Haha, Shingo/Tsubasa pair was hilarious
Nov 14, 2019 5:12 PM

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Nov 2010
1283
If you kick opponent players, you lose the game. The author lacks common sense as usual.

As for film technique, the occasional blackouts for scene transitions are annoying. The fluttering of the tennis court net, probably made by CG, was beautiful. But the unrealistic rigidity of the handwritten net was pathetic when Maki made a double fault.

The geek girl's tsundere moves were cute.
kuroneko99Nov 14, 2019 10:01 PM
Nov 14, 2019 5:22 PM

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Ok, Shingo and Tsubasa's "tactic" was as wrong as it was hilarious to watch. They should have been called out on it at least, but oh well.

And then Arashi and Maki are standing at the net and just - start laughing like Beavis and Butt-Head. What even.... xD
Nov 14, 2019 5:57 PM

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6916
Takenouchi and Soga were really bark with no bite, poor bastards!

I wonder what is Maki planning? But good episode nonetheless, I was impressed by how hard the guys played.

Maki/Oji faceoff was hilarious!
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove

Nov 14, 2019 7:08 PM
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Jan 2017
1106
Stars Align reaches the halfway mark with yet another fine episode! The soft tennis club faces their first real challenge and the boys get their butts handed to them in this episode. Fortunately, they get to learn from this experience and have a lot of fun playing their favorite sport. It's a bit annoying that the episode ended right when things were getting interesting and we'll have to wait till next week to see if Maki and Touma can turn things around. Stars Align is one of the finest shows of the season and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Nov 14, 2019 7:09 PM

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Dec 2010
2200
Y'all taking this too seriously. Takenouchi and Soga were hilarious.

Looking forward to seeing what Maki's got brewing.
Nov 14, 2019 8:02 PM

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Jul 2016
8618
"Bravery! Lively! Victory!!~." Seriously, me and my sister "d'aww"-ed so hard at this. Taiyou and Nao are so fucking precious! >_<

Good episode overall. It was refreshing to have one only focused on the soft tennis club without any external drama happening. As for the pairs, most of them did a quite decent job against such skilled opponents. It was their first step so let's hope they all can learn something from this experience.
That Shingo and Tsubasa pair tho... that strategy was so against the rules I'm surprised no one said anything. I know it was mostly for comedy purposes but it still bothers me that not even the umpire called them out. Anyways, it wasn't something "that" serious so I'll let it pass.
Nov 14, 2019 8:32 PM

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Jul 2014
634
The end of the episode really snuck up on me.
Nov 14, 2019 10:07 PM

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Oct 2017
27155
Lol Takenouchi and Soga's match was hilarious. Toma and Maki's match is heating up.
Nov 14, 2019 11:42 PM

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Oct 2017
2726
This episode is hilarious XD
Glad to see that this episode showcase all the "immature side" of most characters since they're only junior high. This is how those junior high students should act :P

And as expected this serie try to aim for realism instead of Jump type of sport anime which mc miraculous pull off the win against the stronger odds, so as a team that never won once , they really shouldn't win the school that's way stronger because "mc power".
At least they got one win against their opposing side whether through enemies underestimating them or some silly trick like shouting.

Only complaint from me is it seems that this show is slightly out of budget halfway mark, since the quality drop of this episode is very significant compare to the extremely refine quality of ep1~4.
Nov 15, 2019 12:42 AM

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Feb 2019
3447
Shingo and tsubasa match was hilarious af. Maki's got something up to his sleeves.
Nov 15, 2019 4:48 AM
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May 2014
218
That victory dance! I had to pause because I couldn't breathe from laughter XD Overall a pretty good episode. I look forward to what Maki has up his sleeve this time around!
Nov 15, 2019 4:55 AM

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Mar 2019
952
One of the best episodes so far, the matches were fun and interesting in the same time
I wonder what will be Maki's idea
Nov 15, 2019 9:34 AM

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Apr 2011
1399
Another great episode from this anime! xD
It's very fun to watch and the matches are well done. I thought Maki was kinda holding off on the onset of the game, but I guess it's just a beginner thing though he quickly learned the basics.

Looking forward to seeing the next ep! Gosh, I really want to watch it now :(




Nov 15, 2019 10:15 AM

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1694
Maki's ideas are so great that they deserve as a cliffhanger

OMG
Nov 15, 2019 10:50 AM

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Oct 2013
769
Finally some real games, really dig how expressive the animation is.
Nov 15, 2019 2:00 PM

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Jan 2015
15106
Wtf what’s with that cliffhanger lmao
Nov 15, 2019 9:52 PM
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Sep 2019
132
The good thing about this show is that at least the MC's team is not 'winning all their matches'..

Plus, a loss where you learn and grow is really good.
Nov 16, 2019 2:08 AM

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Xenocrisi said:
Wtf what’s with that cliffhanger lmao


Pretty much like this
Nov 16, 2019 8:23 PM

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3514
Tsubasa and Shingo are like the discount yankees of the group, crushing that other player's hand while kicking the other one's shin. Damn, I'm surprised not many people noticed or how they were allowed to continue but oh well, Anime.

I think Maki found a loophole somehow and he'll PROBABLY dominate the match next week or at least hurt their ace's pride.
臭い-
Nov 17, 2019 2:18 AM

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13718
Nice practice match!
at least east pair was able to win at least one game per set! nice!
5/5.


Nov 17, 2019 3:07 AM

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767
this_shit_again said:
What tsubasa & shingo did was just really bad sportmanship and a disqualifiable offense to boot. That it is being presented as something to be proud of and with no consequences seems to be a recurring pattern within the show.


Welcome to real life. Sometime people do shit and there's no consequence.

This anime is exactly showing that and the kids aren't the perfect "good boys" we are used to see in other shows. But at least this episode they didn't break any racquet on some kid's head so I guess "honor is safe" and everything's ok.
Nov 17, 2019 7:36 AM

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Nov 2019
291
Cute lil episode I'm looking forward to our lil team getting better & better.
Nov 17, 2019 8:32 AM
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Nov 2017
229
Tsubasa and Shingo made me die laughing hahaha, those dance moves

When they greeted their opponents and when Shingo started screaming out his "attack" while Tsubasa was screaming random words "STUPIDDD" I died
And when the other academy's ace fell off chair laughing XD
Nov 17, 2019 10:03 AM

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Mar 2014
901
the arrogant guy named ouji wearing pink shoes makes me want to laugh. quite a sissy actually.
Nov 17, 2019 4:27 PM

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Nov 2019
756
Ysad_Ziwezhan said:
this_shit_again said:
What tsubasa & shingo did was just really bad sportmanship and a disqualifiable offense to boot. That it is being presented as something to be proud of and with no consequences seems to be a recurring pattern within the show.


Welcome to real life.




Okay, now let me tell you how real life works within the confines of competitive tennis.

Physical acts of violence will get you suspended in tournaments and even with tennis competitions between schools, I can't imagine letting a match continue when that happens.

If you engage in deliberate acts of hindrance, the umpire will penalise you. Your opponent will win the point, everytime you do it.

Since the umpire is a member of the opposing school, it is unlikely that he would just let all this pass.

It could've been a good episode, but that match was especially problematic.
Nov 18, 2019 11:31 AM

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this_shit_again said:
Ysad_Ziwezhan said:


Welcome to real life.




Okay, now let me tell you how real life works within the confines of competitive tennis.

Physical acts of violence will get you suspended in tournaments and even with tennis competitions between schools, I can't imagine letting a match continue when that happens.

If you engage in deliberate acts of hindrance, the umpire will penalise you. Your opponent will win the point, everytime you do it.

Since the umpire is a member of the opposing school, it is unlikely that he would just let all this pass.

It could've been a good episode, but that match was especially problematic.


Looks like you live in a very protected world. Good for you.
Nov 18, 2019 2:02 PM

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please tell me they won

Ysad_Ziwezhan said:
this_shit_again said:




Okay, now let me tell you how real life works within the confines of competitive tennis.

Physical acts of violence will get you suspended in tournaments and even with tennis competitions between schools, I can't imagine letting a match continue when that happens.

If you engage in deliberate acts of hindrance, the umpire will penalise you. Your opponent will win the point, everytime you do it.

Since the umpire is a member of the opposing school, it is unlikely that he would just let all this pass.

It could've been a good episode, but that match was especially problematic.


Looks like you live in a very protected world. Good for you.


@this_shit_again: technically they're just talking. and talking isn't against the rules.
Nov 18, 2019 2:31 PM
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OMG I actually caught up!
Nov 18, 2019 3:28 PM

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Nov 2019
756
ttcchen said:

@this_shit_again: technically they're just talking. and talking isn't against the rules.


1. Technically they were shouting.
2. They were doing it while the ball was moving towards their opponents.
3. It was clearly deliberate.
4. It interfered with their opponents' ability to play.

Therefore, their opponents could claim deliberate (verbal) hindrance and get the point.

Nov 18, 2019 8:02 PM

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this_shit_again said:
ttcchen said:

@this_shit_again: technically they're just talking. and talking isn't against the rules.


1. Technically they were shouting.
2. They were doing it while the ball was moving towards their opponents.
3. It was clearly deliberate.
4. It interfered with their opponents' ability to play.

Therefore, their opponents could claim deliberate (verbal) hindrance and get the point.

Where I'm from this is not against the rules in tennis matches, however, there are of course certain elements that are different.

1. I don't play professional tennis, so I don't know if the rules for professional tennis is different from amateur tennis.

2. I play hard tennis not soft. And one major rule differing the two is the way you call scores. For hard tennis it's "fifteen love for 15-0" which is 1-0 in terms of soft tennis. So as you can see the two are vastly different when it comes to rules.

3. US rules and Japanese rules are going to be different.

So you can't say for sure this is against the rules in Hoshiai no Sora cause you have to take in consideration the geographical location (japanese), the fact they're playing soft tennis, the fact they're just amateurs on a school team, and such.
Nov 19, 2019 5:39 AM

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Nov 2019
756
ttcchen said:

1. I don't play professional tennis, so I don't know if the rules for professional tennis is different from amateur tennis.


Me neither.

ttcchen said:

2. I play hard tennis not soft. And one major rule differing the two is the way you call scores. For hard tennis it's "fifteen love for 15-0" which is 1-0 in terms of soft tennis. So as you can see the two are vastly different when it comes to rules.


That's a superficial change, and at least according to the USTA, you're allowed to use 0, 1, 2, 3 numbering for point calling if you prefer. Soft tennis is an offshoot of tennis, some things changed and some stayed the same. I'd say the biggest difference between the two is the ball change. It changes the whole dynamic of the game. The changes to the rules are mostly made to account for that. In any case, hindrance is more of a code of conduct rule, it's something that occurs in both games and the umpire has the discretion to deal with it.

ttcchen said:

3. US rules and Japanese rules are going to be different.

So you can't say for sure this is against the rules in Hoshiai no Sora cause you have to take in consideration the geographical location (japanese), the fact they're playing soft tennis, the fact they're just amateurs on a school team, and such.


True. So I'll refer you to the Japan Soft Tennis Association's Manner Book which also discourages that type of behaviour.
Nov 20, 2019 3:13 AM

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Jul 2017
14675
The soft tennis friendly between champions Misaki Academy and the rough that is Shijo Minami Academy. On point, they've done their homework and are firing up.

First up, the Taiyo/Nao pair to test each other's tactics. I mean sure, the boys only have a single winning formula, but the Misaki guys just keep messing up their 1st game, THE EXACT SAME WAY as how both of them started bickering in exchange, but then compensated for skills. But then after that, all as per normal, with wins, losses and learning lessons.

Second, the Futsu/Ameno pair. Using the first game loss as a lesson for impairing skills, as soon as the game is set towards their control, all is but a one-way street from there. And they evened the score.

Thirdly, the barbarian team of Tsubasa and Shingo. And I must say, THAT WAS FUN AND HILARIOUS for a random strategy, that is intimidation. Another loss, what a shame, these two can go further.

And last but not least, the ace pair of both schools. Toma and Maki facing of against head honcho Arashi and their strategist. The REAL match starts now, with the Misaki ace pair performing admirably as per their usual in competition.

What does Maki have in store to counter the ace pair? Really wanting to see more!
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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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