Shooting is an official Olympic event that will be held in 2020, but is relatively unknown in Japan. "Rifle is Beautiful" is being made into an anime! It's a genre that has become explosively popular with anime about high school girls doing all sorts of things, but it doesn't just have the typical vague plot; the girls actually take shooting seriously and even compete in competitions. We've compiled a list of the results of the competitions for the main characters, Chidori High School!
Hikari Ogura's Match Results
Middle School Junior Rifle Tournament Match Results Before the Main Story
She showed her true strength by defeating Erika Meihama, the overwhelming favorite to win among the tournament participants. However, it seems she gave it her all in that match, as she was easily defeated in the following match.
Practice Match with Asaka Gakuen High School Shooting Club
In the practice match at Asaka Gakuen, her score struggled from the beginning and she was a total disaster. Towards the end, she showed glimpses of her competitive spirit, but her total score didn't improve much, finishing with a score of 378.1.
Beam Rifle Prefectural Qualifiers
Although she was suddenly called upon in the first firing group, she displayed her competitive spirit. Just when it seemed she might fall apart midway through, she made a stunning comeback, demonstrating her true strength. She recorded a surprisingly high score of 414.4, placing sixth overall. While only the top five competitors qualify for the national tournament, Asakura and Shinonome, who placed second and third, qualified for the air rifle, and therefore qualified for the national tournament.
Beam Rifle National Championship Team Competition
In the team competition at the national tournament, thanks to the efforts of Yukio and Erika, the first competitors, Hikari was in a position to win if she could achieve a high score. Hikari, who was the last to shoot in the team competition, showed unprecedented competitive spirit, scoring not only a personal best but also a provisional tournament record of 422.4 points. However, Kokomori, the captain of the reigning champion Minezumi, surpassed her own score with a new Japanese record of 423.3 points, preventing her from winning. She still finished in second place nationally.
Beam Rifle National Championship Individual Competition
Hikari showed a winning streak in the team competition, but after giving it her all in the team competition, her score in the following individual competition was abysmal. Her individual record was 363.2.
Shibusawa Izumi's Match Results
Practice Match with Asaka Gakuen High School Shooting Club
She performed consistently well in the practice match at Asaka Gakuen, but she didn't consistently reach the 10-point mark. Her final score was 396.4, placing her in 12th place overall.
Beam Rifle Prefectural Preliminaries
She showed exceptional consistency in the prefectural preliminaries, but as expected, she was unable to consistently reach the 10-point mark. Perhaps Yukio's high score on the first shot affected the following competitors, resulting in a low overall score for the tournament. Her final score was 384.9. However, since the other three competitors all performed well, she will be joining the national tournament as an alternate.
Beam Rifle National Championship
At the Beam Rifle National Championships, she was a substitute for the team competition, but she did not compete and instead played a supporting role. She played an important role in providing mental support and explaining things to Hikari.
Record-breaking event after switching to air rifle
At the record-breaking event held after switching to air rifle, Shibusawa's hard work and Shinonome's haphazard coaching led to an unexpected critical hit, resulting in a nationally top score of 621.7. Things went so well that Shibusawa thought he might die the next day.
Meihama Erika Match Results
Middle School Junior Rifle Tournament Match Results Before the Main Story
She stood out throughout the tournament and was confident that she was a sure winner, but in the actual match she was defeated by the incredibly strong Hikari. Furthermore, Hikari failed to produce any results after that and the tournament ended.
Practice Match with the Asaka Gakuen High School Shooting Club
Since Asaka Gakuen's captain, Akira Shinonome, is Erika's cousin, a practice match is held. While there isn't much depiction of the shooting, the match results are "412.6," placing the team in 4th place overall.
Beam Rifle Prefectural Preliminaries
In the prefectural preliminaries, Erika didn't show her typical weakness in actual competitions. Instead, she increased her concentration due to nervousness, scoring 414.3 points, contributing to her team's advancement to the national team competition and becoming the prefectural representative herself. It's not that Erika is weak in actual competitions, but rather that she seems to be the type to make mistakes in situations where she has the time and energy to do so.
Beam Rifle National Championship Team Competition
Yukio competed in the next group. Yukio achieved a high score and temporarily took the team lead, but Erika struggled in the early stages. However, by not giving up until the end, she recovered in the final stages and ultimately passed the baton to Hikari without a fatal score. Her score was 409.0, and her eyes looked like a dead fish after the competition.
Beam Rifle National Championship Individual Competition
In stark contrast to the team competition, Erika performed well in the individual competition, advancing to the finals with a score of 418.4. She was the only student from Chidori High School, and indeed the only one in the prefecture, to advance to the finals. However, she was easily defeated in the finals, finishing in 7th place overall.
Igarashi Yukio's Match Results
Practice Match with Asaka Gakuen High School Shooting Club
Yukio was a mysterious and uncharted territory, but in the first group of shots in the practice match, she immediately scored 416.6 points, the same score that earned her a place in last year's prefectural tournament, shocking her teammates and the Asaka Gakuen shooting club.
Beam Rifle Prefectural Preliminaries
In the prefectural preliminaries, she set an impressive record of 420.1 with a unique routine that involved moving her head like a side-to-side jump. This new tournament record earned her a spot in the team nationals, and she's naturally qualified to compete in the individual nationals, making her a force to be reckoned with.
Beam Rifle National Championship Team Competition
In the first group of shots in the team competition, Yukio Igarashi continued to perform at her best, maintaining her precision shooting and achieving a score of 422.3, beating the reigning champion, Minezumi, to take provisional first place. Erika and Hikari followed, but she finished in second place in the team competition.
Beam Rifle National Championship Individual Competition
Yukio had shown impressive consistency and precision up to this point, but she didn't make much of an impact in the individual competition, finishing in 10th place overall and failing to advance to the finals. Yukio's condition is such that hay fever tends to affect her performance, so perhaps her hay fever was the trigger.
[Rifle is Beautiful] Chidori High School Match Results Summary
"Rifle is Beautiful" taps into a previously unthinkable niche: high school girls competing in shooting competitions. It takes the sport quite seriously and I think it's contributing quite seriously to the spread of competitive shooting. It could potentially spark an explosive boom in the shooting industry, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much of an impact it will have in real life, along with its success in the series!
