REVIEW: ‘Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games’ Episode 4 — “Late-Night Study Sessions”

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4 is another entertaining episode that manages to be hilarious while highlighting the best aspects of the anime’s protagonists.

The episode begins with a short flashback to little Aya (Ikumi Hasegawa), who got so much better at fighting games than her friends that they stopped playing against her. Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4 then flashes forward to Tamaki winning a round against Aya with her newly learned combo, much to her excitement.

However, Aya beats her in the subsequent rounds and then fights Mio (Kana Ichinose), whom she loses to more often than not. The night ends, and Mio and Aya return to their room. Tamaki then reflects on noticing how Mio is sometimes happy that she doesn’t win all the time. This moment showcases excellent, subtle storytelling that ties Aya’s feelings from the earlier flashback in this episode to events from prior episodes. Those events led Aya to act the way she does, and that’s why she’s so appreciative and excited about her current friend group.

The framerate in the Street Fighter 6 footage shown in Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4 was choppy.

That aside, while the sequence showing the group playing Street Fighter 6 is still as exciting as in previous episodes, thanks to the cool combos the girls were able to execute, the framerate in the shown footage was noticeably a bit choppy. This is especially jarring to see in an anime where the best footage could’ve been curated.

Later in Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4, Aya runs into Mio, who laments to her about the upcoming exam period, mostly because she’s lazy, hates studying, and only cares about gaming. She tells the group that she ignored her studies and shirked her duties despite the consequences throughout her school life.

Mio’s demeanor as she recounts the horrors of the Japanese schooling system and her past with it, along with the group’s reaction, is incredibly funny and provides plenty of laughs. However, even funnier moments come from the scene that follows, which shows a flashback of Mio facing the consequences of her irresponsibility during a scolding from her mother.

What enhances the scene between Mio and her mother is how oddly striking and fluid Diomedéa’s animation is. 

Mio’s mother gave her an ultimatum. She either studies hard to get into Kuromi or defeats her in a physical fight right then and there. Not only is the whole exchange between mother and daughter incredibly wacky and overly dramatic, leading to a hilarious moment, but the facial expressions are goofy and melodramatic in all the right ways.

What enhances the scene is how oddly striking and fluid the animation from Diomedéa is, specifically when Mio’s mother attacks her with her shockingly expert-level karate moves, questionable domestic violence aside. The group’s understandable, but comical, reaction to Mio’s story is the icing on the cake. What’s more, Mio and Aya are noticeably getting closer, as despite Mio’s unreasonable behavior, Aya still coddles Mio and even defends Mio after hearing her story.

The group suggests changing their nightly gaming sessions to study sessions, much to Mio’s dismay, who physically throws up at the thought of studying. Regardless, she decides to protect her time with her new friend group and commits to studying hard even if she hates it.

Against all odds, Mio passes her exams with flying colors in Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4, and the girls celebrate later that night with their regular training and gaming session. Tamaki (Shino Shimoji) reveals to the group that, unlike the other girls, she is trying to get better at a game to catch someone’s eye. She also points out that EVO Japan is coming up, and the episode ends with the girls excitedly making plans to practice together before the tournament.

Overall, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4 is highly entertaining, thanks to its many excellent comedic moments. It also provides valuable insight into Mio’s backstory and personality, which were noticeably lacking in previous episodes. Lastly, it also serves as a great segue into upcoming major events as the group’s first major tournament approaches.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Episode 4 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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