The start of the volume where we see everyone’s eyes on Inori is interesting. It truly shows where Inori is now, and no one will be sleeping on her. Though the speculation of whether she can do a quad was put to rest very fast. It’s actually neat how that affects the other skaters. With Momoko we see what pushes her to excel at her own program. While for Moé she wanted to match Inori’s quad and couldn’t. It just shows that Inori is a major player right now.
The bit of focus on Suzu was neat because on the surface she can seem a bit self-centered. But that is precisely what makes Suzu special because her motivation for skating is simply to be cute and be on the stage with 1st place. Her coach understands that her confidence is where it all starts for her. People putting expectations on you can weigh you down at times, which was something Inori at times struggled with. He wants to hold the weight of the burden and wants Suzu to skate to her heart’s content. Also, the other thing is her personality because the way she skates is full of personality, as Kouichi quickly points out. The triple axel she pulls out really sets the tone for the other skaters.
One thing I love about this manga is how Inori & Tsukasa’s relationship has evolved. Inori not only has been learning but also has grown confidence. In responding with that, Tsukasa has been putting more faith in Inori’s corner than she can handle. Of course, he is prepared if things don’t go ideally. Inori watching Hikaru’s performance is one such example. She has a point that she intends to make Hikaru her longtime rival. So she might as well start watching her performance. Though ultimately, he wants to minimize the burden on Inori, which is fair given he is her coach. Though one point is who is going to share some of the burden that Tsukasa is holding? Kouichi and his family have tried to do so, but Tsukasa can still be stubborn when it comes to himself. Although Tsukasa’s conversation with Hikaru was interesting in one aspect, and that is sacrifice is important. As that is a key thing that Jun has preached to Hikaru. Meanwhile, Tsukasa wants to do the opposite. It makes me curious if Tsukasa can prove that Inori can be a gold medalist without needing to overly sacrifice. It is actually concerning how much burden and discipline Jun has put on Hikaru. There appears to be a lot about their relationship we haven’t even touched.
As we learn that Hikaru is using Leonid Sorokin’s choreography, who is also the one that helped Jun, the curious thing with Hikaru & Jun is that Hikaru seems to be not just learning everything Jun is giving her, but consuming it. Taking what is considered Jun’s song and taking it and making her own is quite the statement. As it has been stated, what is Jun’s reputation on the ice? You also add how much power is in Hikaru’s performance. Suzu outlined a fantastic program starting with a triple axel with a slight error. But after everything Hikaru does, she end with not just a triple axel, but a triple axel euler triple Salchow. Though you do have to respect Inori for still wanting to match up to that and willing to change her program up. But is that viable? Also, you have Miku up next, which you get a feeling she will surprise some people.