01x03 - Taiyaki and Cake

[bunniefuu]

Your mom said what?

She told me after the Badge Test that

I could only skate till middle school.

But that's next year.

[Inori sighs]

If that's the case, how 'bout

we get you into a competition?

Whoa. Really?

-[gasping]

-[Tsukasa] What do ya think?

-Inori? Hello?

-[sighing]

Anyone home?

[Inori] Wow. Thank you.

Mmm.

-How do ya like it?

-It's so yummy.

Well, good. Now, let's talk some more

about the competition.

THE MEIKOH CUP

You'll be entering the Meikoh Cup.

It's a pretty famous competition

that's held in Nagoya every midsummer.

Unlike a big competition where you have to

have a certain badge to even enter,

this one has categories for every level,

all the way down to Prelim.

And first through third place will be

awarded in each separate category.

Really?

Really.

So let's kick this competition's butt

and show your mom

that you're worth investing in.

-[Inori] Um…

-Huh?

Do you think Hikaru will be

competing there?

Hikaru… You mean…

Kamisaki, the winner of

the Novice B Contest last year?

Yeah, her.

[Tsukasa] I would assume so, but she'll

probably skate in Novice B again. Maybe A.

So I can't compete with her yet.

She's so far ahead.

[Tsukasa] Does Inori see

the Novice queen as her rival?

That is so epic!

[Inori] If kids my age are competing

five whole levels above me…

-then fine!

-Huh?

I'll just have to win first place

in the Prelim level of this competition!

TAIYAKI AND CAKE

[students chattering]

Okay, attention, everyone!

This is Inori Yuitsuka, and she'll be

skating with us starting today.

Let's give her a big welcome!

[heartbeat thumping, breathing shakily]

-Huh?

-[students] Nice to meet you!

What grade are you in at school?

Do you like anime?

-[students clamoring]

-[breathing shakily]

[exclaiming]

[Hitomi] We'll start with

Prelim routines as always.

This is your first time

skating to music, right, Inori?

This is gonna rock.

Not only has she learned her program,

but she's already doing sit spins

and Salchows.

No one will believe

this is her first routine!

She'll blow their minds!

[breathing shakily]

["Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity"

playing]

[both stammering]

[Hitomi]

Uh, should I restart the music for you?

Oh. Okay, yes, please. That sounds good.

[music continues playing]

[grunting]

[Tsukasa] And… she's a robot now.

Not a terrible start, though.

And here's her first jump.

A single Salchow!

I landed it just like I practiced!

All right! Nice!

Now crank it up a… notch?

Inori? Are you okay?

Did you pull something?

[Inori grunts]

[Tsukasa gasps]

Or is it…

-she just forgot the choreography?

-[breathing shakily]

THE NEXT DAY

[Tsukasa] What? What do you mean

"too embarrassed to practice"?

[Inori] I don't mind practicing spins

or jumps in front of people,

but when I dance, it always feels like…

-[students laughing]

-…people are laughing at how bad I am.

[Tsukasa sighs] I see.

Well, how about we skate together?

Huh?

What do you mean?

We'll do the routine together, and you

can skate like you're hiding in my shadow.

Once you get in the groove, it'll be so

fun you'll forget about being embarrassed!

[gasps]

[Tsukasa] All right. You ready?

-[Inori] He really stands out.

-[students murmuring]

This doesn't feel like I'm in the shadows.

It feels like I'm in the spotlight

even more.

[Tsukasa] And here's the music.

["Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity"

playing]

[gasps]

[Inori grunts]

[shudders]

Oh, wow.

It's like he's making a really big disc,

spinning around.

I thought he'd be the same when he danced

as he is in real life,

but he's like someone else now.

Every move is so deliberate.

He's even dancing with his fingertips!

His form is so beautiful.

That coach is good!

My coach is so amazing.

He can wow people who don't skate at all.

I want to be like that one day.

Captivating.

And have people talk about

how beautiful I am, too.

40 DAYS UNTIL THE COMPETITION

[Inori grunts]

[sighs, grunts]

I wanna zoom off in one big,

smooth motion like Coach Tsukasa,

but every time I try to imitate him,

I fall. [grunts]

I want to keep moving

even when I lean really far.

I want to be able to

swing my arms out wide.

I want to get good!

I want to be amazing!

Now that's the stuff.

Our tin girl

finally got some oil in her joints.

[chuckles] And she looks like she's

having the time of her life out there.

-That was great. You really-- [exclaims]

-[student] I'm not doing it like that!

[growls]

You're gonna do it

the way I tell you to do it!

If you can't handle that,

then we're not doing jumps anymore!

Now, for the last time, it goes like this!

But you're going like… bleh!

Hey! I don't look like that!

-[screams]

-[coach] Aw, someone's "angy"! Too bad!

You're never gonna catch me

unless you learn how to use your edges!

[singsongy] Scrawny little pip-squeak!

You crusty old hag!

-[Tsukasa] "Pip-squeak"?

-[Inori] "Hag"?

[both] I don't think you're

supposed to speak to your…

-[Inori] …coach like that.

-…student like that.

Maybe you wouldn't be so pissy

if you tried skating better!

You ever think of that?

Go on, bend your knees!

[growls, screams]

[Inori gasps]

[gasps]

[Inori, Tsukasa shout]

[grunts]

I am literally

the sorriest I have ever been.

MARIO NACHI - HEAD COACH

OF GRAVITY SAKURADORI FSC

Is there some way I can make it up to you?

It's really not a big deal. I'm all good!

-Hey, wrecking ball, apologize to him!

-Why?

I shouldn't have to say anything to him.

It's your fault you were acting

so dumb, Nacchin. I'm innocent.

RYOKA MIKETA (THIRD GRADE)

GRAVITY SAKURADORI FSC

Miketaro!

I told you not to call me that.

It's Mittens!

Besides, these slowpokes

shoulda gotten out of my way faster!

[chuckles]

[gasps]

[screams]

[breathing shakily]

[gasps]

Ta-da! Just a little something special.

Shortcake? It's not even my birthday.

Anyway, isn't Nacchin super annoying?

Huh? Um, who?

Her long-suffering coach.

I'm Mario Nachi, or "Nacchin."

Good to meet ya.

And I call Ryoka here "Miketaro."

And I hate it, so stop!

Well, my name is Inori.

I'm in fifth grade.

Fifth?

Then you're two whole grades above me.

You're so tiny

I thought you were in my grade.

-You better be drinking tons of milk.

-[cow moos]

I've been drinking it since I was five,

'cause I'm going to the Olympics.

[Inori] So she's been

working towards the Olympics

-ever since she started.

-That's hot.

You said your name is Inori?

It's pretty rare for Ryoka

to make a new friend.

Another friend!

[Mittens' mom] You two play nice, now.

Oh, uh, I will!

[Inori giggles]

23 DAYS UNTIL THE COMPETITION

[Mittens] Inori!

-Hi, Mittens.

-Come here!

-[Inori exclaiming]

-Inori!

She reminds me of one of those

hard-core baseball fans

who drag their rival team's mascot around.

-Hey. There you are. [grunts]

-[groans]

Mittens, can you let go?

My coach wants to talk to me!

So what?

"So what?" Huh?

The coaches are all grown-ups.

Are you gonna put them before your friend?

No! You're my friend

and that's really important, but…

it's different!

Don't you know?

If you only listen to grown-ups

all the time, it'll make you stupid.

STUPID

Stupid?

When I decided to start skating,

I did it by myself.

I practiced and got good

without Nacchin or anyone.

If you just do what you're told

all the time,

you're never gonna be good

in your whole life.

[sighs]

-[grunts]

-But hey,

you still have a chance

to turn out all right, you know?

'Cause I wouldn't have picked you

as a friend if you didn't.

Anyway, I can't decide if I want

my costume to be pink or orange.

-Mom thinks red would be cute too, but…

-[groans]

Huh?

I'm sorry, but I really do have to go.

What? But why?

I think it's really cool

that you've been skating for so long

and that you're not scared of adults.

But I don't think I can learn

like you did.

I tried and I failed.

I can't go back to doing things on my own.

But I'm not mad at you or anything.

-And I can still come talk to you after--

-I don't care.

You sound exactly like everyone else

around here who I can't stand.

You're afraid of the grown-ups

not liking you.

And honestly,

I don't think you're cut out for this.

You can't do anything by yourself.

I saw you doing your homework here.

You had to get your mom to help you.

[Inori] Yeah, but--

[Mittens] And you can't even

practice dancing in front of people.

They're not gonna let you skate

next to your coach during competition.

-You know that, right?

-[gasps]

I heard you're gonna be at Meikoh Cup.

Well, I'll be competing

in the Prelims too.

And I'm gonna win no matter what.

And all those adults you rely on

won't make a difference.

I'll never lose to the likes of you!

A double Salchow.

That young lady can jump so high.

I know. And she's so cute.

-[spectator 1] She's one of Nacchin's?

-[spectator 2] Yep.

No surprise. Mario Nachi

can jump really high too.

She was getting all that attention

in World Juniors.

We might be looking at

the next Hikaru Kamisaki.

[Inori] Watching the kids who started

early never makes me want to work harder.

It just makes me feel like

no matter what I do

I'm never gonna be like that.

-[Tsukasa] I thought you'd be here.

-[gasps]

A skater landing double jumps

in Prelims, huh?

So in this cup, even though

they could compete at higher levels,

some skaters will enter into lower ones

just to maximize their shot

at first place.

Oh, so that's why.

What do you think? Wanna try it?

Huh? What? Try a double jump?

We have three weeks until the competition.

The way I see it,

we have two options we can go with

to get you a winning program.

What are they?

The strawberry shortcake method

and the taiyaki method.

Huh?

It's gonna be up to you to decide

which one we're gonna go with.

Sh-shortcake? Taiyaki?

[Tsukasa] I'll break it down.

What ingredient is the star

of a strawberry shortcake?

The strawberry!

So, let's compare the value of

a double jump to a strawberry.

Now we could devote the next three weeks

of practice to all jumps all the time.

If you can land a Double Salchow,

it's possible you can win

even if all your other elements

are a little rough.

[gasps]

-However…

-Oh, what?

[Tsukasa] If you're not able to

nail it down in time,

your program will be

much weaker without it.

Like a strawberry shortcake

without a strawberry.

[whimpers]

Okay, so what's

the strawberry taiyaki method?

Slow and steady.

We polish and perfect the basics.

Then, if we have time after that,

we can work on the jump.

That strawberry would be

like an extra-special bonus.

But if it doesn't happen,

you still have a regular taiyaki.

And that's just as delicious.

Both ways have pros and cons.

But we need to make a decision.

[Inori] Ugh. Now I'm too hungry to think.

Which one would you prefer?

[gasps, groans]

I mean, what do you think I should do?

You don't need to worry about

what I think.

[gasps]

I have an opinion, of course,

but you need to get used to making

these kinds of decisions for yourself.

[exhales sharply]

[Tsukasa] You'll have to make choices

like this all throughout your career.

You'll have to decide what to take in

and what to throw away.

And every little choice

can have big ramifications.

But that process is what's going to

make you a one-of-a-kind figure skater.

As you get better,

grown-ups will start coming out

of the woodwork with their dumb opinions.

Don't let them make decisions for you.

I want you to be the kind of skater

who can choose her own path.

After all, you're staking your entire life

on this big dream of yours.

[Inori] Oh.

Well, I know Coach won't be mad at me

if I pick the wrong thing or mess up.

But what if I don't pick the option

that he thinks I should do,

and because of that I wind up losing?

-[Tsukasa] Don't stress too hard.

-[gasps]

Just pick the one you like.

I promise I'll lead you

to victory either way.

[grunts]

Which one would give me

more dancing practice?

The taiyaki method.

Okay, then. I really want to win

this competition if I can.

But I want to be a good dancer

just as bad. I want to be beautiful.

So I'll forget about learning

the double jump for now,

and I'll do my best to make sure I perform

with a really solid foundation.

17 DAYS UNTIL THE COMPETITION

[Tsukasa] In! Out! In! Out!

That's kinda weird.

I thought she wanted to be able to jump,

but she's only been practicing skating.

10 DAYS UNTIL THE COMPETITION

[grunts]

[gasps]

She's fast as heck.

Most Prelim girls with no experience

are too scared to zip around like that.

Is she fearless or just crazy?

This Inori girl is so good at

a back scratch spin!

[gasps]

Is she trying for a double jump?

Skaters drill that spin

to build their center

and improve their rotations in the air.

[Mittens] How long do I

have to stay in the Prelims?

-I want to compete at level one!

-[Nacchin] I keep telling you,

competing in Prelim is the only way

you can win first place!

That's the only way

I've been able to pacify her.

If Inori lands a double jump

and Mittens doesn't, we're in trouble.

She could really beat us.

We gotta do something about this.

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE COMPETITION

LAST PRACTICE RESERVATION

Wow, she can spin so fast!

Her balance was good at to begin with,

but she's really refined it lately.

[Hitomi]

Her program is very polished overall.

Not too much skating,

not too much jumping.

It's well-balanced and really beautiful.

At her level, jumping

and spinning to music is hard enough,

but it looks like she's got

a really clear picture of

what kind of skater she wants to be.

[Inori] Next up: a double Salchow!

[grunts]

[Hitomi sighs]

[grunts]

[exhales]

-[skates clank]

-[gasps, squeals]

She did it!

Double Salchow into a single Axel

nine times out of ten!

We got this in the bag!

-Miketaro!

-[breathing heavily] Huh?

You've really been pushing yourself.

You're blowing my mind,

you little furball.

You're definitely going to win.

I know nobody else cares about Prelims,

but I do and I'm so

freaking proud of you, girlie.

Ms. Miketa!

Thank you so much for all your…

[snoring]

[Mittens] Leave her alone, Nacchin.

She's a-sleepin'.

She was up really late last night

putting sequins on my costume.

And it's literally four in the morning.

[Nacchin] Yeah. This was the only time

they had available to book.

Is it okay if I go one more time?

Holy moly, you're on fire!

Is your rebellious phase over?

No, shut up.

I just can't lose to that girl.

FOUR DAYS UNTIL THE COMPETITION

It was just too much to expect a beginner

to learn a double jump

in under two months.

She's so close to a double Salchow.

She's almost there.

Yeah, well "almost" isn't good enough

to have it in her program.

If she falls, she'll only get half of what

that jump is worth and take a penalty.

I know all that,

but we've already come this far.

A competition isn't

all about winning first.

Inori's has a beautiful, clean program

and she's got a great chance to podium,

even if she's not on top.

Personally, I think she should

stick with her single jump.

If we'd only had one more week,

we could have added the strawberry.

The what?

I should've recommended

the shortcake method,

but she chose taiyaki

and I wanted to respect that.

Oh, you're just losing it.

[grunts]

Where are you going?

Library. I need to do so some research.

Inori does have a great foundation,

but her choices will start to determine

what she can and can't do.

And the path forward really

only stays open for the skaters who can.

Which is exactly why

I want her to win now!

I want to give her that boost

of confidence that comes with victory.

Show her that she can and will improve.

That as long as she doesn't give up,

she'll overcome all sorts of chall--

[panting]

[Tsukasa stutters]

A doggo?

Huh?

A lost doggo.

-[dog whimpering]

-[groans]

[whimpering intensifies]

[gasps]

[gasps, grunts]

I won't be able to pull off a double.

[footsteps running]

-Inori!

-[screams]

I have something

I want you to try right now!

[grunts] Hold it!

Get that doggo out of here!

NO PETS ALLOWED!!

Where have you been?

I was so worried about you.

Instead of trying to jump,

imagine you're folding

your skating leg up.

-Make sense?

-Yeah. I'll give it a shot.

[grunts]

[grunts, sighs]

[grunts]

[gasps]

She's airborne!

And she's still spinning.

With no traveling?

-That was unbelievable.

-[breathing heavily]

She chose the right dessert!

[Hitomi] She ex*cuted a flying sit spin?

Her spins were near perfect,

so I had her give it a go

and she nailed it on the very first try!

And check this out.

I did some calculations.

The Prelim level only requires you to do

a regular standing or sit spin,

so if we change that to the harder,

flying sit spin,

the base score for her program becomes…

…5.18.

Yep! The base value for a program

with a double jump is 4.78.

I mean, who needs a double Salchow now?

So what you want is a flip

and an Axel in sequence

with a flying sit spin to finish.

[Tsukasa] Her success rate

on the flying sit spin is well over 90%.

And she'll probably get

extra points for quality.

Wow. This just might work.

It will work.

If I have anything to say about it,

she's going to win!