**First Time (sub)**

**Episode 36**

The theme of this episode is privilege.

The episode starts off with one of the funniest sequences in the series thus far. We have these two ~~old~~ men complaining about their posters for their title match looks lame, while a poster of a commemorative match looks impeccable. Shimida and Saku have worked very hard for many years to get where they are, yet a exhibition match has more fame and audience than their title match. Of course, Souya and Rei have trained very hard themselves, but that's not exactly the reason why their poster of the commemorative match looks better than a poster for a title match. The main reason is that they are both young shogi prodigies; their future looks brighter than Shimida and Saku's.

This theme of privilege is further extended when Rei arrives at his hotel. The service is nice, and the room is much bigger and nicer than what Rei has and what other players and observers have had during their involved matches. The designer's poster is even blown up in the lobby of this big hotel.

And Souya has the most privilege of all. Despite his weird behavior with the questions and the wine, no one calls him out. No on even berates him for wearing clothes unfitting for a commemorative match.

**Episode 37**

The theme of episode 37 is the feeling of adversity. This feeling can inspire other feelings.

The end of the episode 36 reminds about how Souya "can stop time". He is a demon, a storm, etc. All of the words used by others to describe him something other than human. For Rei, this feeling is further cemented at two occasions. During the reception, Rei sees Souya act naturally without skipping a beat, and he realizes that Souya has been doing that since he has been a child. And then something weird happens. Souya does not answer a question properly, walks into someone and has wine spilled on him, and then answers a question that was never asked while not making a fuss about the stains on his clothes. The second occasion involves Rei facing Souya in the match room: Rei is wearing clothes fitting for school and a commerative match, while Souya is wearing a garment fitting for an official title match. Both events establish the gap between Rei and Souya.

The feeling of adversity goes further into match. When Rei makes a mistake, he realizes that he has guaranteed his loss, but he continues playing. And he feels the void, and it inspires him to play his best nonetheless. The feeling of the sublime can be inspirational which is a contrast to the previous episode where Takagi thinks about her future, and that leads her to her anxiety that causes her to lash out. For Takagi, the lack of 100% success rate depresses her, while the 0% success rate invigorates Rei. Not only that, Rei finds that playing with this storm to be fun.

After the match, Rei and Souya have to deal with the storm, though Rei also has look after Souya. This event is used to establish the gap between the two. Souya is almost always one step ahead of Rei, looking and pointing where to go or do next. (How interesting that there was a food store called "Sangatsu" when they were looking for food during the storm.)

**Episode 38**

(I do like how the storm leaves when Souya leaves. Again the analogy that he is a force of nature or supernatural is nicely encapsulated in the previous episode and this one. Rei saying how he is going to face a storm is both true in a literally and metaphoric sense.)

The theme of this episode is health.

Souya's deafness is defined more thanks to the Chairman. Souya seems to have wanted to recover from it, but he feels content with being deaf. It is a handicap for long matches, but he like not having to hear the word of strangers. Like Shimida, obtaining success comes with people badmouthing you behind your back, so perhaps he does not want to hear that. He seems to communicate with his "friends" just fine. If anything, his deafness allows him to relax and focus more so.

And then we end on Nikaidou. The audience and Rei get told that Nikaidou must surely be depressed from having his condition ruin his chance for a rank promotion and perhaps may even lead to a rank demotion. Rei believes this sentiment. We (or at least some of us) believe this sentiment. Suspense builds. Yet, despite having just gotten out of the hospital, he wins a rank-deciding match. He is the epitome of joy, jumping and striding towards his friend while celebrating his success. Rei obviously cannot contain his own joy and relief that his friend is okay.

These two characters have health conditions that make everyday challenging or different than what others may be used to. But they accept them, and preserve despite them or maybe they grow because of them.