The girls of the Nakajima Gym began training for the Winter Cup in the previous episode, and we don’t have to wait long to see the first few matches.
We begin with Fuka returning to Nakajima Gym after attending the qualifiers for the Winter Cup. How well did she perform?
She qualified, and in the best way possible.
Nove then shares the tournament brackets with the girls. There are four blocks: A, B, C and D.
Vivio
It turns out that Miura will be the first to face Rinne, and the winner of that match will go on to face Vivio if she wins her first fight. Fuka is unsure as to whether she will get to face Rinne herself, so the others suggest setting up a match between them two afterwards if they don’t fight.
Miura stays over with Nove and Fuka.
Fuka gets a chance to talk with Miura. Miura views Vivio as her number one rival. The Winter Cup will be her last opportunity to fight as an under 15, so she intends to defeat both Rinne and Vivio. She wants to win the whole thing, but victory over those two are the most pressing matters.
After that, it’s time for the Winter Cup to start.
Victoria Dahlgrun shares a few words at the opening.
After that, the first fight starts.
Our first combatant is Adeel Telstar
Adeel’s opponent is Vivio Takamachi.
The fighters for the second match are:
Fuka Reventon
Karna Maven
Karna has a few words for Fuka before their match begins, but it is ultimately bluster. This match finishes in mere moments. The prime match gets started after that.
Miura Rinaldi
Rinne Berlinetta
It’s an impressive fight, and one in which Miura seems to gain the upper hand.
Miura is able to down Rinne twice.
If a fighter gets downed three times in one round, they lose. However, Rinne had been working in improving her resilience – something that Vivio is able to pick up on from just watching the fight. Miura becomes determined to finish the fight, but that’s when Rinne starts to fight back.
Miura’s definitely going to feel that one when she wakes up…
The episode ends with Rinne claiming victory over Miura in brutal fashion.
Now that the tournament has started, I’m sure we’ll be in for some interesting fights – Miura vs. Rinne was the highlight of this episode, simply because Vivio’s and Fuka’s matches were over so quickly.
Miura’s hopes of fighting Fuka, Vivio and Einhard in the tournament have been shattered into about as many pieces as her ribs, so I can’t help but feel sorry for her.
Vivio will be next to face Rinne, and I feel as if the safe prediction is that the latter will win just so we get a Fuka vs. Rinne match. Regardless, I’ll always cheer for Vivio, and let’s just hope things don’t end up being as predictable as that.
We have yet to see Einhard fight, as well, so that’s also something to look forward to. Hopefully the opponents that the girls fight in the future get to put up more of a fight than Adeel and Karna did in this episode.
I’m continuing to love the soundtrack for this show, as well – just thought I’d mention that.
Rory Muses 
I wonder why there are so many anime characters with mismatched eye colours? I get that this happens in real life but there seems to be a lot of them in anime.
I guess it helps them to stand out. I’m fairly keen on characters with heterochromia, which is part of the reason Vivio is one of my favourite characters from the Nanoha franchise.