Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl

Yawara's Debut Match! An Ippon Victory Before You Even Know It Happened, Jya! (1x9)

Air date: Dec 11, 1989

As the media buildup over Yawara's debut continues, Matsuda is instead trying to find out more about Yawara's mysterious father, Kojiro, who won the 1974 Japan Judo Championship but then inexplicably disappeared afterwards. Yawara works extra her in her "final" practice with Jigoro, throwing him several times, with the guilty knowledge that she will lose the match and also quit judo afterwards. Yawara tells Matsuda that her mother has been looking for her father after he disappeared, and only returns home a few times a year. Despite the losing scheme, Matsuda is still having dreams of fans cheering for Yawara. Jigoro and Yuki Tohdoh, who talks, eats, and looks like sumo wrestler, have a udon eating contest as they boast by turn how few seconds it would take for the contestants to defeat each other. Yawara's friends are concerned that she will be hurt or killed in the match (not knowing true abilities), and urge that she just needs to "cry to stop the match." They also try to make her more fashionable by tying a yellow ribbon to her head. The match begins and Yawara is quickly thrown for a yuko (5 points) on her way to intentionally lose the match.