Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl

Dangerous Debut Battle (1x62)

Air date: Mar 11, 1991

The Mitsuba team continues its practice, with Fujiko showing the most progress due to her ballet training (counting "un, deux, trois!" with her ballet steps)and physical advantages; Jigoro praises her by saying that she could have been a good judoka had she taken up the sport earlier. Minamida (Nanda) Yoko, the serial dumpee, has various "technique execution shouts" based on the names of the boyfriends who dumped her (e.g., "Haruki you jerk!" "Makoto you jerk!" "Keisuke you jerk!", etc.). The team has purposely not asking Yawara for help because of her "contrarian" personality, thinking that if they did she would not help, but if they try on their own, she will volunteer. Jigoro adds fuel to the flame by emphasizing how the novices will fight on their own but be crushed bloodily on the tatami. On the day of the match, media shows up based on Matsuda's scoop that Yawara will be there, but the novices believe that it is due to their own newfound "celebrity" (only Fujiko is scared out of her mind, hoping that Yawara will show up at some point to rescue them). The match is to be decided by elimination, with Mitsuba's strategy being to delay as long as possible until (hopefully) Yawara arrives. Yoko (nicknamed Paddy Field) scores a surprise first takedown with her "jerk chant," because the Tsukushi team is super nervous about fighting the "Yawara" team (Jigoro also reveals that Yoko only knows 1 move (daeshi harai) but has been practicing it for 1 month). With the second opponent, Yoko also scores a surprising yuki and thinks she has won, arguing with the ref because she does not know judo rules; on 2nd contact, the Tsukushi judoka (Kurokawa, a national runnerup) realizes Yoko is an one-trick pony and quickly disposes of her. Sayuri the obese laugher is next and tells Kurokawa "please don't hurt me"; her enormous weight lends naturally to a Osaekomi pin on Kurokawa initially, but she is quickly pinned in turn, but does not "give up" because she has not been how, thus buy