Hello everyone and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today, as we continue our journey through the high-octane world of semi-legal street golf, I’m eager to get out on the course and watch a new episode of Wings of Birds. With the energy of Girls und Panzer or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure about the stuffy, frankly sleepy pastime of retired white-collar workers, Wings of Birds has so far provided a compelling introduction to this golf-based fantasy society, with our heroine Eve traversing the club against a variety of adversaries in order to save her equivalent of a youth community center.
Whether it’s the aforementioned “GuP,” “Scorching Ping Pong Girls,” “Umamusume” or something else, shows in this ridiculous sports subgenre usually require a balance of two things: idiosyncratic flourishes and a solid foundation. After Wings of the Birds’ first episode showed off its knack for absurd one-off trappings, the second episode underscores its equal commitment to grounded mechanical drama, presenting Eve and new adversary Sora Aoi in a confrontation that showcases their unique approaches to the bunker field. Having achieved this balance, we are now roaring into the narrative destination of almost all such stories: the ancient championship arc where shots will be tested and blood will be spilled on well-watered, near-sheared fairways. Let’s go back to Bird Wings and see how the battle goes!
Episode 3
We begin with a pan-shot of a majestic skyscraper the night before the game, where our evil adversaries must now be plotting their nefarious plans. As before, the prominent use of colorful neon lights nicely adds some texture to the blurry CG background
Ah, right. We’re setting up Eve’s shocking performance in the competition, with her agent Rose attracting the obvious Birdie Baroness
I’m just a little disappointed that the Overwatch’s cigarette holder is not shaped like a golf club. Well, can’t win them all
Eve immediately offered her body as payment. Damn it, girl
Ross offered to agree to her “previous offer,” which remains unspecified. An effective way to turn this plot device into a mystery hook, turning what was meant to be exposition into an active source of intrigue
“I always strike while the iron is hot. And the dice are already in the air.” Her mixed metaphors are really powerful – I love that “iron” here can also apply to golf clubs
So we jump right back to the first hole, a 383 yard par 4. A neat lesson about arranging scenes for maximum impact; we don’t end with the first scene of the final episode, which is still essentially an expository note, we end with the high-impact and essentially question-provoking moment of Eve’s arrival on the court. This in turn makes the episode’s opening scene a solution to an existing problem, making it feel more alive, while also tapping into the general tendency of viewers to accept more explanation at the beginning of a story (or episode) than at the end, where the energy should remain high
“Aoi, what are you doing? You won’t participate in the competition until the last group.” Amane is a convenient sounding board for Aoi, either challenging Aoi to express herself or expressing her thoughts directly. The calculating spectacle pusher can play a variety of natural interpretive roles in sports programming, from illuminating character psychology to ensuring viewers can parse the mechanical interplay of a given conflict
Eve poses the challenge, and Aoi asks Aman to tell her Eve’s score every three rounds to create a simulation of them actually competing against each other. I think this is one of the convenient things about golf – because you don’t interact directly with your opponent, you can “compete” even if you don’t play at the same time
Of course, such a campaign is also naturally more difficult to generate audience-friendly conflict, since there’s significantly less direct back-and-forth than a campaign in which you actively interact with your enemies.
“A game just the two of us”
Really love the set design of Rose’s obvious “little sister”. The pastel, polo and slacks aesthetic inherent to professional golf really helps our flamboyantly costumed characters stand out even more
“Why do we have to watch some stuffy kids play?” The show is endlessly comical and its underlying premise is that golf among all sports has a secret street side.
“She has stabbed two holes through the enemy’s heart.” Poor Universal Design Opponent
Rose said Eve was “a terrible golfer, but very strong.” This is obviously true – her strategy is very simple, she only has physical strength to suppress her enemies from a distance. She’s basically Happy Gilmore
“Our focus is on crushing the opponent’s spirit.” I like this interpretation of Eve’s style. Over the longer term, Eve continues to lose because she bets too much on each shot. But Eve has never played within that time frame – her aim is to break her opponent’s confidence, and for that her ability to hit the ball farther and more accurately within the space of a hole or two is ideal. As such, this game raises a natural question as to whether she can improve her overall performance to compete with her opponents by scoring across the court, rather than physically overpowering them in shorter games.
Ross further explains how Eve’s style naturally attracts others to respond to her risk-taking in order to keep up, leading to their eventual failure. But again, it doesn’t do her any favors if she doesn’t face her opponent directly
Generally speaking, teenage sports protagonists tend to gravitate toward this kind of uneven talent, as they provide a natural contrast to more standard approaches, leading to dramatic turns of fortune that naturally facilitate compelling narrative action. It’s like how many action heroes are defined by their “unusual toughness,” meaning they tend to start off on the back foot and then work their way up, creating natural dramatic arcs relative to their more standard counterparts. A trend that has continued from One Gun to One Piece
“She’s a destroyer. That’s all.” Again, Eve currently sees golf as a path to dominance rather than personal connection or happiness. Aoi leads her down a clear path
“She smells like money.” Perhaps the most honest evaluation
We then cut back to Helen, who is in disarray after being defeated by Eve
Eve was clearly three under by the third hole
Jumping ahead to the fifth hole, we finally find Eve in the rough, giving her poor opponent a brief moment of hope
She teed the ball straight toward the green rather than hitting it back to the fairway before making a safe approach, again embodying her straight-to-the-fairway philosophy. If she’s willing to shoot right through the trees, she’s certainly not going to let a bit of tall grass stop her!
“You’re four ahead of everyone else.” It’s interesting how this interweaving of our protagonists affects the drama, creating the feeling that Aoi is “chasing” Eve throughout the process.
We then went to Japan’s Raiou Girls’ Academy, where we met Ichihina, a girl who aspires to be a top caddy. Okay, super driving right through the trees is one thing, but what about a guy who actually dreams of being a caddy? They really make me stop believing
Her companion Haruka boasts that she is Aoi’s rival. Sorry girl, I’m pretty sure you only exist to give Ichina someone to show off to
Eve finished at 5 under on the front nine, while Aoi improved her score to 2 under with an eagle on the fifth hole.
Yes, they did a great job turning this staggered “duel” into a novel form of competition. With Aoi playing so well in the first half, Eve is now forced to take bigger risks to stay ahead and somehow turn fewer holes into more birdies and eagles
“There’s only one answer – power up my bullets!” Her strategy remains very simple and straightforward. I feel like one of the strengths of the two productions is that we can spend all the time establishing Eve’s starting point as a person and rival before forcing her to undergo any transformative growth
“You never slice or hook. You just shoot straight forward.” This is truly a ridiculous flaw for our so-called all-star golfer, one that the show can only compensate for with her essentially magical straight drive. But that actually works for a show like this – we’re not looking for the nuances of strength that define a true golfer, we’re looking for something that a new person can simultaneously understand, be visually/dramatically exciting, and reflect her personality
As expected, Amane serves as our announcer, setting out each challenge in turn so that the audience clearly understands its outlines
Eve’s novel strategy: keep hitting the court until she blows up all the branches in her way
Ha, love this over-the-top postcard memory shot of Aman acknowledging Eve’s true power
Some soft focus and emphasis on Eve’s breathing seems to emphasize how she’s not used to playing a full eighteen holes
Our leaders’ growing unity of purpose is underscored by their essentially exchanging lines at the end, as they finally reunite face-to-face. It’s clear that Eve’s philosophy is changing, despite how optimistic she appears despite being defeated
Finish
But what is this! ? Was Rose enacting some nefarious secret plan to ensure Aoi’s shots would just miss the final hole? What an evil influence these perverts have had on such a noble pastime as golf, corrupting its purity with their evil wiles! Regardless, the episode successfully showcased Birdie Wing’s solid narrative foundation, expanded our cast, and clarified Eve’s dramatic arc while completing the competitive back-and-forth of the course. Boldness alone can only go so far, and this episode effectively served to promote a ton of future Bold while subtly hiding its underpinnings in active golf drama. It’s no mean feat to be able to write such a story so effortlessly!
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