The First Score
This blog post may contain minimal spoilers. Please read this only if you have seen this Episode.
EPISODE OVERVIEW
Mami told Manaka that she is moving soon just after their current semester has been finished. Thinking about their memories together, Manaka can’t accept the fact that Mami shall be moving away, after the years that they had spent together when they are young.
And then, Manaka has thought of one way to say goodbye to Mami. She wants to play in an exhibition ice hockey match, and she wants and requests for it. Coach Yoko then accepts the girls’ request!
Despite that these girls had trained and practiced playing for at least three months, they seem to have a hard time playing and scoring against their guest opponent team. Manaka wanted to fulfill this last memorable moment together with Mami in playing ice hockey, just before at the time of her departure. Will she and her team get a good game and get their first score?
EPISODE REVIEW
Previously, we had really expected that Mami shall be exiting from the Nikko Dream Monkeys team! That’s right, and did you see the current lineup of the team under the Nikko Dream Monkeys? Only one girl shall replace the other one. And we can get to see her soon!
For my review proper, we can see some drama and crying scenes here, as well as some little education about ice hockey again (To be discussed in the next corner). So then, the scenes, where Mami told them that she is going to move out, show that how two people met since childhood, and they cry together when they begin to part ways. Basically, it is just similar to other drama and romance movies, or even TV series that feature the same scenes where childhood friends always part ways. But then, losing someone who is dear to you is very painful. Why? It is because you have been with that person for a very long time, in many years and you grow up together to become adults. But then, only fate can go to these people, causing them to be seperated or to part ways forever. Yep, and there are really times that it shall happen.
But what happens when you and your childhood friend part ways, and you never see them again? You can see each other in the future, and remember each other. But then, there is only one negative effect when you see each other again. That childhood friend of yours can still remember you. However, he or she may see you already as a ‘rival’ or ‘enemy’. Did you see that sentence? And to mention, I had been encountering those scenes before, where childhood friends, who had been together ever since before they part ways, may become rivals and enemies at each other in the future.
I like the fact the Manaka is trying to cheer Mami up, and she had thought of an idea on how to say goodbye. And that is, she wanted to play ice hockey with Mami for the last time. Whether they win or lose, they must play in order to cherish the moments, and they create memories together, to be remembered forever.
And then, at the ice hockey playing part, it shows that they had really never get to play seriously due to lack of stamina (as mentioned by Coach Yoko) and experience. Basically, what a noob team can do when they had only trained for a very short time, yet they can play without any strategy or body reflexes? And so, they had enjoyed somehow their first exhibition match with an actual ice hockey team, but leaving them with a gapful score from their opponent. At least, they had tried, rather than making them lose totally, scoring zero or nothing at all.
So then, I had learned something new from this Episode, especially in the ice hockey playing part. Basically, you can still try to change yourself, not only by the people who talk and give advice to you. You can change yourself also, given if you are eager to try it just for once. Whether you fail or succeed, you still tried, and you call it ‘progression’!
Right now, when this Episode was about to reach its end, we can get to foreshadow a new character who can join the girls in the Nikko Dream Monkeys, with Mami Ono’s exit. And who could be the ice hockey team or club, called the Snow White, that Coach Yoko has heard? And to spoil you, the characters lineup per team from their official website can give you some idea.
ICE HOCKEY HISTORY!
In the previous Episode Review, we had talked about some history about ice hockey — on how it became a professional sport! This time, we can talk about on how this ice hockey game is being played! Actually, due to the long explanation of this part, we can somehow divide this one into parts! Alright, let’s talk!
Each team is consisting of six members, one of them is a goaltender (goalkeeper), 2 defense men, and 3 are forward men. The objective is that each opposing team must score by shooting the hard-vulcanized rubber, called the puck, into the opposing teams’ goal nets, which are located at the opposite sides of the ice hockey rink. While they only use their ice skates to move in the rink, they should only use their ice hockey sticks to move, pass, and to shoot the puck into their opposing team’s goal net in order to score!
And that’s it! This part shall only mention the objective — on how to play the ice hockey game! The others, such as the team composition, and the rules on how to play it, shall be tackled in the next Episode Review! That’s right, and this is something for the readers to look forward into, next time!
SERIES INFO
Pride of Orange (2021, dubbed: PURAORE! (プラオレ!) -Pride of Orange-) is Japanese Anime series about ice hockey sport. This Anime series was produced by CyberAgent/EXNOA, and character designs were done by Craft Egg (known for BanG Dream! Girls Band Party smartphone video game). Animation style was done by C2C. This Anime series has been aired and streamed since October 6, 2021, with its first Episode.
In Tochigi Prefecture in Japan, at Nikko City, an ice hockey sport season has opened for girls who wanted to aim for the ice hockey world championships.
A female junior high schooler, named Manaka Mizusawa, has become interested in playing the ice hockey sport. While she invited her girls who were her friends, they entered and tried for this sport game.
Their journey for aiming their first win, indeed, begins when they had experienced the world of ice hockey sport!
©2020 プラオレ！メディアミックスパートナーズ
