Differing Enthusiasm (温度の違い, Ondo no chigai) is the thirteenth episode of the Ahiru no Sora anime. The opening theme is Happy Go Ducky! which is performed by the pillows. The ending theme is Tsubasa which is performed by saji.
Synopsis
True passion for the game drives players like Sora to succeed. But can passion for basketball be taught especially to players still new to the sport?
Summary
Kuzuryu High's first training camp
It is the start of the Golden Week. Madoka and her family have planned to go to Fiji. Before their departure, Madoka catches the common flu, and due to that, she cannot travel with her family. Meanwhile, outside her residence, Madoka sees a walking bed and then notices its Sora. An exhausted Sora arrives at school and meets the rest of his teammates. All of them look excited and enthusiastic about their first training camp. Nao arrives accompanied by her father. Yasuhara assists Nao with her luggage. While helping, he informs Nao that he has brought plenty of vegetables since his family runs a grocery store. Nabe also joins in their conversation and tells them that he has brought 20 kilos of rice since his father runs a farm in Ibaraki. Upon hearing, Nao feels delighted and shows them she has brought basketball sneakers.
Kenji asks Nao where they will sleep. Nao replies in the basketball gym and will use the Home Economics classroom to make their meals. She then later instructs them to gather at the gym, and on their first day of training camp, they will only do some light exercise. Afterwards, in the boy’s locker room, Nabe notifies his colleague that this training camp reminds him of his seaside trips at elementary school. Yasuhara agrees and informs them that he has brought his gaming console. All of them get excited and yells that training camp rocks. Madoka recovers from her flu symptoms and heads towards her schools' gym. Upon her arrival, she sees an exhausted Kuzuryu High boys' basketball team. Madoka greets Nao and questions her that Sora and his teammates look out of breath. Nao replies that the emphasis on todays' training is on footwork, which includes the continuous stop and dash shuttle runs. The Shuttle Run is an agility test in which the participant sprints back n forth between two parallel lines as quickly as possible. Nao further explains she has prepared individual training lessons for each of them. The majority of the boys' team members have minimal experience when facing more vigorous opponents. At the current moment, they are a rookie team, and the primary goal of this training camp is to make the Kuzuryu High basketball club into a team.
Nao's explaining to Madoka her workout session emphasizes on footwork training
At the end of their training session, Madoka asks if she can stay and help out in their training camp. Nao gladly accepts her offer and requests she would need some assistance in cooking. Nao, at the moment, is unaware of Madoka's inefficient cooking skills. Sora and his teammates rush towards the Home Economics room, and they see an overcooked food and decide to leave. On the other hand, Momoharu stays, eats the overcooked meal, requests Madoka for a second serving, and becomes the first victim of hospitalization. On the second day of the training camp, Nao takes her squad for early morning running workout. Alongside Sora and his colleagues, Nao also invites Madoka. At the end of their running session, Nao instructs them to do some stretching exercises that will help them to cool down their physiques. Nao divides on-court training into two phases. Morning training from 9:00 am to 11:30 am, and Afternoon training from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Currently, the emphasis of the training camp is on footwork, also known as the continuous stop and dash shuttle runs.
The inexperienced teammates, which include Yasuhara, Masahiro, and Nabe, mid-way through exercise get exhausted. Sora tries to explain to them in his unusual way how to do shuttle runs properly. Yasuhara and Nabe get even more confused about his explanation. Meanwhile, Kenji, in comparison to others, is doing shuttle runs at a much faster pace. Upon watching, Nabe informs Masahiro that Kenji isn't human, and they question their abilities. Kenji then advises them that their knees and toes aren't aligned correctly in the same direction. He further explains that they should keep a steady pace, and if they turn too fast without stopping correctly, they will lose their balance.
Kenji doing shuttle run training
On hearing Kenji's advice and witnessing the intense training sessions, Madoka is amazed at their teamwork and believes that Sora and his teammates can indeed become a better team at the time of the Inter-High Preliminaries. At the end of their workout, Nao instructs the inexperienced members Yasuhara, Masahiro, and Nabe to do light training that will help them in improving their skills. After dinner, a tired Sora heads towards the schools' gym, and this time is uncertain about completing his daily quota of 1000 baskets. Upon entering sees, a focused Kenji doing layup shot practice and agility workout. Sora asks Kenji if he can join and assist him in passing the ball as he goes for a layup. Kenji refuses his assistance and advises Sora to focus on his training by improving his shooting accuracy skills. Seeing Sora's shooting form, Kenji is impressed and questions himself that maybe he should have accepted Sora's offer of assistance. However, after two hundred 3-pointers, Sora becomes exhausted. Kenji asks Sora what does he thinks about the team as a whole. As soon as Sora is about to answer, Yasuhara joins and asks them for help to improve his dribbling skills. Then the three of them practice together.
After their friendly basketball practice session, Kenji heads to the locker room. Upon entering, he sees Chiaki, Masahiro, and Nabe playing video games. Kenji questions as to what they’re doing? Nao specifically instructed us all in our free time to do individual training ourselves. Masahiro disagrees and says that everyone is entitled to do whatever they want in their leisure time. Upon hearing, Kenji bluntly replies that he aims to get Kuzuryu High in the Inter-High Tournament, and their non-serious behavior can drag the team down. Chiaki gets seriously frustrated. During that time, Sora and Yasuhara arrive. Sora tries to stop an angry Chiaki. Kenji further states that he didn't say anything wrong and stated the facts, and out of the three beginners in their team, Yasuhara is the only one taking the training camp seriously. Masahiro again disagrees and informs Kenji that he and Nabe are taking the training camp seriously, and they just took a break because their feet hurt due to today's intense Shuttle Run workout.
Sora trying to calmn down the altercation between his teammates
Nao arrives at the locker room and sees all the commotion. Upon leaving, a frustrated Masahiro informs Kenji that reaching the Inter-High Tournament isn't the same for everybody. Chiaki agrees with Masahiro's response and tells Kenji that he is too self-aware. Both Nabe and Masahiro have just started playing basketball and are at a place where they’re finding the sport of basketball fun and interesting. Chiaki cautions Kenji that he doesn't want to see this type of behavior from him ever again and further elaborates that he can understand Nabe and Masahiro's way of thinking because he was discouraged before, similar to them. Nobody does things for the sake of others, and never say somebody is dragging you down. The following day Sora meets Nao at the schools' hand wash station. Both greet each other, and Sora notifies Nao that he couldn't sleep last night due to yesterdays' argument. He agrees with Chaiki's sentiment but is more inclined towards Kenji's way of thinking because he also aims to reach the Inter-High Tournament. Yasuhara also joins in their conversation and informs that Masahiro and Nabe haven't returned from last night's argument, and their luggage is missing as well.
A cheerful Nabe and Masahiro stroll across the streets of Kawasaki city. Both feel happy and relieved that leaving the basketball team was worth the effort. Masahiro informs Nabe that they have been doing nothing but practicing, and this truly feels like a vacation. Later, both head to their city's local arcade store and spend the rest of their day enjoying playing video games. On their way back, they see some local kids arguing. Masahiro confronts the Middle School teenager and questions why he is bullying the elementary school kids. The teenager responds that there is no bullying taking place. The elementary school kids lost the wager basketball game, fair and square, to him and his colleagues. He further explained there is only one basketball court in the entire vicinity, and whenever there is a debate about who gets to use it, both sides settle it with a wager game of basketball. Nabe and Masahiro disagreed with the idea of the wager game and challenged the middle school teenager and his colleagues to a friendly basketball match.
Nabe and Masahiro having a friendly basketball match with the Junior High kids
At Kuzuryu High, Sora requests his teammates that they should go and look for Nabe and Masahiro. Upon hearing, Chiaki and Kenji declined the offer. Kenji gives his opinion that they left on their own accord, and anyone who lacks the true passion for playing basketball will not get better no matter how much they practice. In the meantime, at the Kawasaki Park sports ground, both Nabe and Masahiro horrendously lose the friendly basketball game. The Middle School teenager questions them and doubts if they are members of a high school basketball team. Masahiro responds they are indeed members of a high school team and then questions how they are so good at a young age. The teenager responds that he and his friends have been playing basketball since the first grade, and they intend to improve further. Hence, upon leaving, the teenager advises and requests Nabe and Masahiro not to underestimate the sport of basketball. Meanwhile, at Kuzuryu High, Sora notifies Kenji that he remembers Chiaki's words from yesterday. Nabe and Masahiro have just started playing basketball and at a place where they find the sport interesting. Upon leaving, Sora further states that he has no intention of giving up on them; instead, he will look for them on his own and bring both of them back to the team.
Characters by Appearances
- Sora Kurumatani
- Chiaki Hanazono
- Kenji Natsume
- Yasuhara Shinichi
- Momoharu Hanazono
- Ryuuhei Nabeshima
- Masahiro Saki
- Nao Nanao
- Madoka Yabuchi
- Masayoshi Satsuki
Episode Staff
- Storyboard: Tomoyuki Itamura
- Director: Ryo Kamon
- Animation Director: Mino Honda, Mayuko Matsumoto, Naomi Ide, Masakazu Ishikawa
