Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story – 15 – The Swing Within

When Eve’s Orange Bullet holes the ball and gives them the win, Eve has to be told it happened; she must’ve gone into a trance when using Orange, which is probably why she hasn’t used it until now; it’s a last resort. As for Aoi, she passes out and remembers her father training her and telling her he wants her to not just win, but keep enjoying golf with a pure and innocent heart, for “hearts too sharpened by conviction can sometimes shatter”. That’s a great line.

Despite hearing news that her daughter is in the hospital and they can’t find anything medically wrong with her, Seira still can’t be bothered to cancel a business meeting to go see her. Real Mother of the Year shit! But she also knows that Aoi is going through the same “thing” as Kazuhiko, only earlier in life (he was in his 20s), which is concerning.

Fortunately for Eve, Aoi comes to in time to treat her to all the hamburgers she can eat, and the next day they watch Nadaminami’s Oikawa Kaede and Himekawa Mizuho trounce their semifinal opponent. Eve makes a throat-slitting motion to Mizuho, who is looking forward to facing off against a real opponent.

There’s no rest for the weary on the eve of the final against Nada, as Coach Reiya takes Aoi to the driving range, not to teach her anything per se, but simply to “put a spell”, which he accomplishes with three swings. Aoi recognizes his first as her mother’s then her father’s. She doesn’t know the third, but it comes with lots of sparkles, as any good spell should.

Reiya tells her the third swing is the one still within her, which has been waiting until now to be unlocked. Amane, watching from the bushes, notes that it’s far more advanced than even the most ideal swing Aoi’d been working on, and after just a few swings, she already has it mastered. After leaving Aoi to practice, Reiya himself collapses after just those three swings, and a concerned Kinue comes running.

On the subject of special golf attacks that take a lot out of you, Ichina has been over it over and over and can’t find a way for Eve and Aoi to beat Nada…unless Eve can pop off two more Orange Bullets. Eve, a picture of confidence as she lounges on her bed, tells Ichina she’ll shoot all the Oranges in Florida if that’s what it takes to win. And so we enter the finals with both out Gold Girls relying on new and unpredictable weapons.

The change in Aoi is instant and shocking to everyone watching, from her suddenly frustrated Nada opponents, to her mother (who finally deigns to arrive to watch after her daughter already finished eight holes), and Leo and Date watching on TV. Klein and Lily are also tuned in at their classy bar. But just when they’re just one hole from beating Nada, Aoi can fell that she has just one more swing left in her.

After taking it, she’s unsteady on her feet, but Eve is there to support her and to take it from there…but won’t commit to a kiss, which is important due to what comes next. As expected, when Eve begins to execute another Orange Bullet she experiences a mental shock, and suddenly her long-buried memories of her childhood, and the identities of her parents, are suddenly unlocked.

Just as Aoi changed as a golfer after Reiya’s spell, after the rush of memories and emotions triggered by Orange, Eve unleashes a Rainbow Shot, identical to that of the late, great Kazuhiko. A rainbow shot means the club is swung without any hint of uncertainty in one’s heart.

An astonished Aoi, still conscious and leaning on her golf bag, approaches Eve after her shot, and Eve declares her real name: Evangeline Burton; her mother’s name, Eleanor Burton…and her father’s name: Hodaka Kazuhiko. Since that’s the same father Aoi has, that makes these golf girls half-sisters by blood.

And while I’m glad Eve finally knows who she is, and I love the postcard memory of her family to close the episode, I am a little disappointed, since this revelation confirms that Aoi and Eve will never be a romantic item. Unless, ya know, Birdie Wing goes and does something weird and crazy, which, as we know, it has never done in the past.

Or hey, maybe Kazuhiko isn’t actually Aoi’s dad. Hey, one can hope. And even if Eve x Aoi isn’t to be, there’s always Eve x Vipere!