REVIEW: ‘Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games’ Episode 2 — “Good Game”

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 is another solid episode that retains many of the great aspects from the previous episode. It showcases more of the protagonists’ insane personalities and competitive intensity, as well as how they think beyond that. Aside from that, the episode does little else and is pretty standard.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 begins with an assembly hall meeting for first-year students. This meeting was unsurprisingly held to discuss the vandalism seen at the end of the previous episode, when Aya and Mio unexpectedly crashed through a classroom window to evade a janitor who almost walked in on them playing  Street Fighter 6.

The Chief of the Dorm Monitors Committee reveals that a first-year ribbon, which secretly belongs to Mio, was found at the scene and requests that those involved identify themselves and take responsibility. But because the culprits never step up, all first-year students are punished.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 really highlights Aya’s personality.

This event forces Aya to second-guess her recent decision to return to playing fighting games and to realize she’s better off not dwelling on her obsession with competition, as the negatives outweigh the positives. However, she decides that before she quits, she has to challenge Mio again and absolutely destroy her in another bout.

She convinces herself that breaking Mio’s spirit is the only way she can move past her urge to prove she’s better than her. This feeling stems from her jealousy of Mio for being able to accomplish all she has while still holding on to her bright-eyed enthusiasm for fighting games, something she feels she’s unable to do.

She meets up with Mio and convinces her roommate, Natsume, to swap bedrooms with Mio for the night without explaining why. This prompts Natsume to think Aya and Mio are in a relationship and want private time together. Natsume instantly becomes oddly ecstatic enough to punch herself in the face to contain her excitement at the thought of their relationship, before agreeing to swap rooms with Mio.

The growing competition between the two girls is undeniable.

The first third of Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 does more to showcase Aya’s personality and the complicated feelings she has about her attachment to fighting games. It shows a more malicious, jealous side to her that aligns well with her competitive side, which is a very human trait.

This is especially because her thoughts are mostly her trying to convince herself to stop playing fighting games and not acknowledge that she’s having fun playing against Mio. The girls’ brief interaction with Natsume is also funny, albeit over-the-top, especially given how unexpected it was.

The two girls set up the game and promptly begin playing. Mio has gotten noticeably better since the previous episode, while Aya struggles to gain the upper hand over her. Mio now knows how to bait, execute crouching medium moves, false whiffs, parry, and more advanced moves, including Invincibility combos, which are critical for competitive matches. It’s incredibly impressive how quickly she’s learned and how much she’s grown.

Romantic tension starts to blossom, but for how long?

It’s also impressive how much knowledge both girls have, as Aya can read everything Mio is doing and quickly create a counterattack. Mio’s sudden level-up in skill absolutely enrages Aya, who openly displays her anger and competitive nature. The two put on an excellent match, but their bout is interrupted when a hall monitor is heard wandering the halls outside their room, which forces them to stop momentarily.

They both lie under the covers to hide, and romantic tension suddenly forms between them as they stare into each other’s eyes for an almost uncomfortable length of time. This is the second time the anime has forced them into an intimate scenario, but this scene makes it clear that Aya may harbor some slight romantic feelings for Mio, based on her reactions and demeanor. Mio teases Aya for being frazzled and claims Aya is scared that they may be discovered. She then suggests that they stop and just say she won their battle instead. This makes Aya very annoyed, leading to another funny moment.

The two resume their last round, going all out and trying their absolute hardest to best each other, pulling out some sick combos in the process. While the animation in this scene isn’t anything special, the visuals are quite eye-catching, especially the colors and shading on both girls that represent their aura during the intense moment. It also excellently shows their crazy expressions in great detail. What’s especially impressive is how detailed and intricate the colors and visual effects on their eyes are.

The visuals during the girls’ gameplay is pretty spectacular.

Aya beats Mio and pops off, and Mio, ever the sore loser, becomes crestfallen and goes to bed. She leaves in the morning and ignores Aya the next day, forcing Aya to feel guilty and reflect on how she’s been wanting someone to play against for a while now. It’s worth noting that, so far, the anime doesn’t show Mio expressing much of her emotions and opinions outside of when she’s playing fighting games.

Any thoughts or feelings she has so far are only seen or heard when she’s playing the game, and they’re only related to fighting games. Unlike Aya, she doesn’t have much of a personality beyond her love for fighting games so far, which is disappointing. 

Aya’s guilt doesn’t last long when Mio finds her in a park and decides to have her rematch then and there. The two start playing each other, and Mio beats her five to one, and it’s revealed she’s only gotten even better after her loss. She also claims she’s been training in her mind since she couldn’t in school, but the results being so significant is incredibly unrealistic.

Regardless, Aya is happy to have a new friend to play with. Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 ends with the two heading back, and Mio reveals she doesn’t like her White Lily nickname and calls it cringe. She also claims she’s never been good at socializing, and her reputation and rumors based on her nickname have made it difficult to make friends in this school, too. Aya then suggests they become friends, prompting Mio to properly introduce herself to her.

Even if things are off to a tense start in Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2, friendship blooms.

The episode’s conclusion finally reveals more of Mio’s personality beyond her obsession with fighting games and her constant desire to win and be better than others. She’s socially awkward and shy, but still very opinionated, all of which has made it hard for her to make friends. Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 excellently showcases the two characters’ personalities and how they think, helping them understand themselves and each other better.

Overall, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 is a great, entertaining episode that makes its characters shine even more in many ways. Beyond that, not much else happens in the episode, as it mostly just consists of the two protagonists trying to best each other in the same fighting game.

Furthermore, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 feels more like an extension of the previous one, as it features many of the same narrative beats, with the two girls reaffirming their love for competitive fighting games. Hopefully, future episodes will see more events focused on characters outside the girls, with the addition of more characters. 

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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