During Winter of his third middle school year, water polo star Minato Kiyomizu got caught in an accident and has been in coma ever since.

It was directed by Kiyoshi Matsuda, written by Masafumi Nishida, who also served as the chief director and sound director, with Kaori Futō providing the original character designs, Shiho Tanaka adapting the designs for animation, and music composed by Kana Utatane.

Afraid to ask Eitarō about a sudden memory of having made vituperative comments at his teammate, Minato instead seeks the truth from Chinu, who confirms his suspicions and reveals that he was an arrogant braggart.

Anime News Network had four editors review the first episode of the anime:[14] Richard Eisenbeis commended the episode for covering Minato's rehabilitation and giving focus to his family after the accident, but criticized the use of memory loss that removed the years of "emotional, physical, and intellectual growth" he gained from elementary school and going through high school without the "emotional maturity and social skills" needed; James Beckett gave high praise to Masafumi Nishida and MAPPA for telling a "compelling and thoughtfully-written character drama" that doesn't use Minato's situation as a "source of cheap melodrama" and commended Yūto Uemura's performance for capturing Minato's "childish yet melancholy dichotomy" throughout the episode; Nicholas Dupree felt the episode suffered from tonal whiplash when telling its two different stories, praising the "surprisingly grounded personal drama" involving Minato and his family recovering post-accident but criticized the "loud, wacky sports story" that throws him into comedic shenanigans while retaining "mental and emotional stress" from said accident, saying the show failed to balance its two halves without showing its central sport.

The fourth reviewer, Rebecca Silverman, felt the show has potential with its "different approach" to the "average sports anime", criticizing the classmates prodding Minato to get back into water polo but prasied the family for supporting his decision to leave the sport, saying, "That could give this show the structure it needs to work, so if you're missing the boys in speedo-equivalents from Fairy Ranmaru (or you know more about water polo than me), this is worth checking out.