Mai's a genius who sabotages herself every single time she's about to win, and the show knows exactly what that looks like from the inside. Rina doesn't let her hide behind excuses or talent. When Mai finally has to choose between the comfort of near-misses and the terror of actually mattering, the bowling stops being about strikes and splits, it becomes about whether you're brave enough to stop running. The tonal shifts will jar you; the time-travel logic doesn't quite hold. Watch it anyway. This is a show about second chances that actually understands what it costs to take one.

Mai captains the Ikkokukan High School bowling club and is a genius at the sport, yet she never seems to win. Whenever she bowls a turkey, three strikes in a row, her next throw mysteriously leaves the stubborn Snake Eyes split. Rina, the club's only first-year, accuses Mai of doing it on purpose and running from victory, and threatens to quit if Mai has no intention of winning. Mai won't let her go, so a match is held to settle whether Rina stays. After another of Mai's turkeys, the five club members are suddenly thrown back in time onto a Sengoku-era battlefield, and replaying that match turns out to be their way home.