Anyway the chapter starts off with Kirihara pulling off Renji's move (dunno what it's called. from other people's lj, it's K something or other...). Renji is surprised; Jackal thinks that Kirihara finally managed to surpass his own limits. Niou says that Kirihara is using the moves of his previous opponents. Sanada says that this is the playing-on-a-subconscious-level state (I have no idea which one word can describe this...). OMG It took me forever to figure out what that chinese phrase meant. +_+ Only until Sanada explained what it meant did I know what it meant.

Playing at the subconscious level is when the body records and evinces past experiences without the mind thinking about it.

Sanada thinks "Akaya... I'm very surprised."

Then he says a very important line:

"Win Akaya. Use your hands to attain Rikkai's victory at Kantou!!"

If I remember correctly, Tezuka said something similar to Ryoma at the Seigaku vs Fudomine match. Actually it's probably the exact same thing only you replace Akaya with Echizen and Kantou with...match or something. >_> I don't know; I don't have that part of the manga. Just going by what I remember from the anime. Anyway it's another blaring PARALLEL between Seigaku and Rikkai. First the buchou thing, then the promise, and now this.

Moving on. Akaya starts doing a weird stance and Rikkai is all like "That stance is?!" It's apparently a type of smash... and Sanada especially was like "th-this is...!?" I love the dramatics on that panel. The shading really helped. And I can see why chibi!Sanada looks like the way he does with the blocky nose now. XD;;; But unlike chibi!Sanada, normal Sanada looks smexy with his nose. It like...doesn't look like an Asian nose! XD Anyway...sorry I had to stop and oogle at Sanada. >_<;;

Akaya then does this spinny move on a really twisted and weird bg. XDDD

Seigaku warns Fuji. Fuji is all like "I won't lose! The victor will be Seigaku!!" and returns the smash. His racket net breaks though. Akaya does the smash again. OMG WTF is that the manga version of the Cyclone Smash??!! *dies* It freaking looks like it!! The spinning, the intensity of the smash, the fact that it has a swirly BG. Well if it is...I'm glad Fuji isn't symbolically FLYING AWAY. Stupid stupid AniPuri.

Yagyuu comments that indeed that was Sanada's smash. Sanada just has this intense look. Inui and Renji both say "probability of returning is 2%..." I still don't know what to make of this talking at the same time thing... nor do I want to. Aka smashes again. Ryoma yells "Fuji-senpai, the frame!!"

Fuji thanks Ryoma inwardly and uses the frame of the racket to return the ball. He does a cross-court return but Aka is fast and catches up to it. Fuji is ready for him though because he can use the frame to return the smashes.

Unfortunately, the racket flies out of Aka's hand because his grip isn't strong enough for that move yet. Even though he can copy the moves, his body still hasn't adapted to the demands of those moves. Didn't that happen with Jyousei's Wakato? Even though that was AniPuri...

Fuji wins with 7-5.

Ok I am actually quite content with the ending. Both put up a pretty good fight even though it is SO...overly dramatic. It's like OH WOE Fuji is blind and he's still PLAYING SO WELL. Then OMG Akaya pulls out SSJ moves a la Ryoma. But I like how they made Akaya lose because his body wasn't used to the techniques. That is actually believable because it's true that you might be able to copy something but if your body isn't trained for it, it won't be able to pull off the move perfectly. I wonder if Ryoma goes through that too. Though I guess the moves he used are not so demanding in a physical sense. They were more technique-based. So anyway. I was happy with the results. It was expected that Fuji was going to win anyway. But Akaya put up a good fight and now he can have something to work toward for Nationals.

I find the parallel between Seigaku and Rikkai extremely interesting. They've been popping up throughout the recent chapters... Out of all the schools, Rikkai's situation is the most similar to Seigaku's. I mean you just don't get the same connection with Fudomine, Hyotei, and other schools. OMG I can totally imagine Yukimura and Sanada getting along with Fuji and Tezuka. >___<;;;;;;; And going on double dates... ok I'll stop here.