
Now I see why Joichiro was saved by Yukihira’s mother,because she’s truly a creative and courageous woman who isn’t afraid to serve up failure. What took the fun of cooking away from Joichiro was the expectation that kept piling up for him— the belief that he could not fail. But I think meeting Yukihira’s mother gave him back his love for cooking, where failure is alright.
She’s his muse for ideas and creative dishes. Even if she fails her dishes so badly, Joichiro probably fixed them all later on his own. His cooking is a combination of his own talent and his wife’s love and creativity. That’s probably why Yukihira and him make those absolute worst dishes— it’s their tribute to the mother. Those failure dishes are filled with love and care. She’s the one that taught their family that’s failure was okay and that things will be alright as long as you have fun and follow your own path, never giving up. What a great chapter!

You know, I’ve watched them all. Sports anime like Kuroko no basuke, Haikyuu, Prince of Tennis, Diamond no Ace, All Out, and many more. Even old classics like Hajime no Ippo or slam dunk. I’ve learned many lessons from these sport anime. I’ve cried and cheered a lot for them. But this manga/anime, Days, is just so special. We all know that the main message for all these manga is that the underdog will work their way up the ladder and win in the end — but this manga I think takes it to another level. The main character is just so likeable and probably, the most relatable main character yet. All those protagonists from other sports anime may have started weak, but each of them had special hidden talents of their own.
Tsukamoto doesn’t have any of that. All he has is his kindness and observation and just hard work. He’s still a wimp, he doesn’t change. He’s still a weakling, and yet he gets to stand on the field representing his team — which I think this manga delivers the message extremely well: that hard work won’t make a genius out of you. That sometimes, you can’t change. You can’t be a better player. No matter how many new techniques you come up with, you still can’t catch up to your peers, but even so, you have to stand on the playing field. This message is often seen in usual sports anime troupe, but this manga truly embodies it the best without any unnecessary genius or special inhuman tactics. Haikyuu comes really close, but Hinata and Kageyama are still quite OP.
Not only that, but this manga sheds light on ALL of the other players worries and concerns: how some people like Kimishita, who look like they have great talent actually have only years and years of experience shooting that ball over and over again to gain the accuracy he has now. How Usui looks and acts competent but is actually no different than a normal high schooler who has anxieties and concerns of his own. How Mizuki, Oshiba, and Kazama are geniuses but have huge flaws of their own. How the idiotic freshman came to have strengths of their own through hard work and guts. How the reliable and cheerful Haibara actually had extremely low self esteem all along. How Ubukata, a strong and confident woman, actually gave up on her dreams after being faced with the harsh reality of things, and yet tries hard to regain back her passion.
I think this manga develops the idea of truly being a team the best out of all the sports anime I’ve read and watched so far. It’s a shame that this isn’t as famous as the others and that people find the “little shonen action” and “dumb protagonist” boring. It really deserves the spotlight.

Asahi doesn’t realize it, does he? He may have some skill and talent that can use everyone’s knives, but in the end it’s just stolen stuff. He doesn’t have the experience of the frustrations the chefs go through to get those skills because he’s so overly fixated on the final result of their journeys.
On the other hand, Yukihira has no need for a hundred knives. All his experiences and knowledge from battling a variety of opponents, him “stealing” their skills are all embedded into that one single knife that he holds. And that one knife is way more valuable than a thousand different ones.

Dun dun dun here we go. The long awaited question: can Chika shoot? To be honest, I think she can totally shoot if she wanted to. It’s just I think she’s too kindhearted and doesn’t want to hurt other people if possible, but honestly, you got to do what you have to do sometimes, especially now when Osamu is fighting FOR her. Hopefully we can see badass Chika in the next battle :)

Last two chapters really brought a whole new meaning to their battle. They both had tragic pasts, but they’ve chosen to walk on completely different paths: one letting go of his past and one carrying the burden of his past. The only difference is that Teruasa isn’t able to resolve his past yet. At least the other guy caught his family’s murderers, but Teruasa isn’t able to do so yet, so it’s kind of unfair for Uesugi to take a jab at Teruasa, saying that he isn’t living his life because he sort of is, just slightly behind Uesugi and his successful revenge.
Anyway, I love the story and their games!
See this is what I love so much about this team! Everyone is a beast of their own and the other teams should be wary of every single player on Seiseki, because all of them are amazing and hungry for a win.