Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story-

Episode 18

To kill in golf, one must also be ready to be killed in golf. Every day, soldiers tuck their polos into their khakis and dig their cleats into the turf knowing full well that this could be the last time they ever hear the gentle flapping of the flag on the pin. Eve can only find fulfillment in this world, and only with Aoi by her side. She's so close to making it a reality too. She just has to deal with that pesky mob hit that Catherine put on her head first.

This might be the funniest episode of Birdie Wing. While the series has always wielded the absurdity of its world with precise comedic intention, this week finally gives us a persistent straight woman (though certainly not in terms of sexuality) in the form of Ichina. Having as unflappable a protagonist as Eve has inoculated the audience, to a degree, to just how crazy the whole golf mafia situation is. Throwing Ichina, an average noncriminal high schooler, into that environment brews a recipe for hilarity. She wades into an underground gambling golf course wearing overalls and a cute cartoon backpack. I laughed every time she flipped out and feared for her life. You really appreciate the guts Eve has to insult Catherine to her face when you see Ichina in tears throwing her hands up in the background.

Furthermore, Ichina's presence puts a fresh spin on this episode's recapitulation of Eve's past duels. I will never get sick of watching the roguelike fairway in operation, but adding Ichina's awestruck mien to the mix is a welcome innovation. This match then turns into the most powerful demonstration yet of their synchronicity—if there were ever a golfer-caddy pair who were Drift compatible, it's them. It's especially delightful to see how quickly Ichina adapts to the loose rules and regulations of crime golf. All panic leaves her as she tells Eve how to avoid Remelda's soapstone-poisoned sand trap. Eve clearly respects her strategic prowess as well. Though we see her (once again) flirtatiously forget her partner's name, when they demonstrate their mental link, Eve addresses her directly as Ichina. I'm continually impressed by the deftness of Birdie Wing's moment-to-moment character writing.

The villains are no slouches in this episode either. While Catherine's a known quantity, she receives a few strikingly unhinged cuts of animation that add a lot to her character and to her ire towards Eve. Birdie Wing's sakuga-worthy scenes are quite sparse, so that makes these stand out all the more. What Remelda lacks in funny faces, Birdie Wing supplements with flair. She's introduced like an opera diva, literally in the spotlight, and that theatrical visual language follows her to the fairway. Her gimmick isn't quite as inspired as Vipère's stinky tattoo, but I like how she wears a mask of ineptitude, luring her opponents into a false sense of security before she blasts sand all over the green. It's incredible how the series keeps finding new ways to disrespect the tenets of golf.

The sports slapstick climbs to a new acme with the long-anticipated introduction of Eve's Indigo Bullet, which completes her seven-colored bandolier. It's the pièce de résistance of this chapter. I started laughing as soon as I realized what it was going to do, and I didn't stop until partway through the credits. In the show's typically weird way, it makes sense that one of her golf superpowers would involve harnessing surface tension. The specter of Leo, who appears both in Eve's Stand and in Remelda's flashback, heralds his inevitable reunion with our heroine as well. Eve was really only delivering the coup de grâce to a job he had completed. Even the greatest American underground golfer stands no chance against Golf Char and his army of golf newtypes.

There's so much more I could highlight. Eve's conversation with her grandpa is full of gold material (“Are you willing to risk your life for golf?” “What a dumb question.”) Vipère is incredulous at Ichina's age, despite her being a year older than Eve. There's a match cut from a knife to a wedge. Sometimes I think the most honest way to review an episode would be to turn on the webcam so you can watch me hoot and holler at the campy dialogue and ridiculous situations for 20 minutes. And in the end, this episode still accomplishes the important dramatic feats of transposing Ichina fully into Eve's world and freeing Eve to pursue a pro career, punctuated with a ball puncturing Catherine's protective glass enclosure. Eve finally earns the right to play “real golf,” which is an especially hilarious phrase in the context of Birdie Wing.

Rating: Hole in One

Cumulative Score: -25 (Note that this is the 18th "hole," so it marks the end of standard play. Is this good?)

Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He still disrespects golf. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.

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Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.