Ahiru no Sora (あひるの空)
Episode 1
The Ugly Duckling is the first episode of Ahiru no Sora (あひるの空) anime. The Ahiru no Sora anime first episode aired on October 02, 2019.
- Kanji Name: みにくいあひるの子
- Romaji Name: Minikui ahiru no ko
- English Name: The Ugly Duckling
- Directed By: Shingo Tamaki
- Written By: Shingo Tamaki
- Air Date (Japan): October 02, 2019
Ahiru no Sora Episode 1 Synopsis
Sora Kurumatani is a boy with a strong heart, passion and desire to play basketball. By chance, he entered Kuzuryu High School. On his way to high school, Kurumatani runs into a random street thug under Kawasaki Bridge. Due to Sora's below-average height, the delinquents assume he is from elementary school and demand that Kurumaya hand over his money and valuable possessions. Regardless of their size and number, Sora challenges them to a brawl. A random street thug easily overwhelms Kurumatani and robs him of his 1,200 yen. Even if he gets hit, Sora won't let go of his most prized possession, his basketball shoes. Chiaki Hanazono, a second-year student at Kuzuryu High School, watches a drama and goes to see Sora.
As she approaches Sora, Chiaki's stomach begins to make strange noises and she asks Sora for something to eat. Seeing the tall and muscular Chiaki, Sora hands him the rest of the curry buns. While eating curry bread, Chiaki shows Sora a picture of Tomo, a high school sophomore who agreed to date her on her phone. Unfortunately she never shows up. Chiaki tells him that he can always wait 24 hours and that Tomo will never show up.Hearing Chiaki's heartfelt grief, Sora angrily apologizes and tries to find a way to Kuzuryu High School. Chiaki stops him and gives Sora the nickname "Mr. Short."
Sora Chiaki asks while being beaten violently by such troublemakers. He didn't give me the backpack and asked what was in it. Sora tells him there are wings inside the bag, referring to basketball shoes. Chiaki doesn't understand and pushes Sora to the river bank. She struggles with Sora, who can't swim, and she manages to walk back to the stairs where Chiaki is sitting. Sora tells him that he has been involved in this type of fight before and that he never runs away no matter how many people he faces. Chiaki smiles at him and expresses a desire to teach him how to fight. Witnessing a horrific incident, Sora heads to Kuzuryu High School.
Sora attends the school's entrance ceremony and heads to the basketball court before heading to the classroom. goes onto the pitch for dribbling. Like the others, Momoharu assumes Sora is in elementary school, and Hanazono Momoharu and the others take Sora to her dressing room. Momoharu notices that Sora is wearing a school uniform. Momoharu asks Sora the reason for her practice. Momoharu further explains that the basketball court is his lawn and that no one can enter the basketball court without his permission. To pass the time, Sora starts cleaning the messy dressing room. He noticed a small hole in the changing room wall. He peeks in and realizes it's a peephole that leads to the changing room of the basketball girl next door. He falls in love with Madoka Yabuchi.
In the midst of this, Sora asks Chiaki, who seems to have a presence in the dressing room, how she entered. Chiaki informs Sora that he was in the dressing room before him, sleeping in one of the closets. First, the men's basketball club is the home of Kuzuryu High School's thugs, and none of the current members will let them participate in practice. Hearing Chiaki's warning, Sora is undeterred and expresses his desire to still go out and train on the pitch. When Chiaki hears about Sora's passion for basketball, he tells Sora that he respects people who don't give up even if there is no chance of winning. Chiaki makes her way to the locker's front door and breaks it down. They both head to the basketball court to see Madoka and her teammates practicing.
Watching them practice, Chiaki introduces Madoka to Sora and tells him that she is the ace and jewel of the women's basketball team. Madoka approaches him and informs Sora of the dangers lurking on the men's basketball team.Momoharu and his friends make their presence felt on the court before Chiaki and Sora begin training. Momoharu tells Sora that he hates people who break the rules. As punishment, Toharu and the others hit Sora and forcibly took away his basketball shoes.As Sora lies unconscious on the floor, he remembers the moment his mother gave him the precious basketball shoes. Madoka approaches him and asks Sora if he's okay, and Sora becomes furious and tries to fight Momoharu and the others to hand over her prized possessions.
As Sora was unable to fend them off, Momoharu informed Sora that the shoes would be thrown into the detention center. After the brawl is over, Sora challenges the current members to a basketball game.The rules of the game are simple 5 vs. 1 matches, and if Sora loses, he quits high school basketball. The game starts and Sora grabs a quick low tee shot. Everyone in the court is amazed by Sora's speed, Toharu protects him, and Sora quickly overtakes him with a clever deception. Madoka and Masahiro try to stop him. Sora backs away and because of her small and skinny body she walks past. Madoka and the girls' team refer to Sora's deep diving technique as "duckling", meaning that his movements are like a duck diving into water. While observing Sora's amazing basketball skills, Chiaki realized what "those are my wings" meant when Sora referred to his basketball shoes.
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