"Holy crap, Teacher Zhao Qinyin's tournament schedule is brutal right from the start! They're facing last year's national champions in the second round?"
"Shouldn't a team like that be in the other half of the bracket, so everyone can meet in the finals? Why is it like this... That's so unfair!"
"There are four regions in total. The four corner seeds are Kainan, and the middle-left seeds are Sannoh, Meiho, Hakata Shogyo, and Luo'an. They don't play in the first round and get a bye to the second. There are fifty-nine teams in all, and you have to win four straight games to reach the finals. This bracket's got me completely lost! And the schedule's one game a day for five days straight. Lose once and you're out. Holy crap, anyone who plays basketball knows that unless you've got Superman-level stamina, five games in five days, forty minutes each... Even an ox would drop dead from exhaustion!"
"It's the same for every team, though. True, judging by this format, the team that wins won't just have to be strong—they'll need incredible stamina and endurance too!"
"They're all high schoolers, after all. If a basketball tournament lasts ten days or half a month, when are they supposed to go to school?"
"I have faith in Sakuragi and the rest of Shohoku, but this is ridiculous. I feel like the main team's getting the worst of it..."
"Come on, don't worry. Sannoh may be the defending champions, but who knows how strong they'll be this year? Maybe they'll turn out to be a bunch of weaklings and give Shohoku Team an easy win!"
The Danmu immediately started analyzing the bracket and the story!
In the animated episode, aboard a train bound for the tournament venue, Toyotama's players recognized the Shohoku players.