Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup!)
 

おおきく振りかぶって (大きく振りかぶって)
Ookiku Furikabutte

Based on a seinen manga.

Official site of the anime:
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/oofuri/

And more comprehensive site:
http://www.oofuri.com/

Broadcast: Spring 2007

Based on a manga thats serialized in the seinen manga magazine Afternoon.
For now there are 7 volumes released of this manga.
Here are the covers:

http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/6670/vol1oe5.jpg http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/5592/vol2zs9.jpg http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2886/vol3fk1.jpg http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9820/vol4nt5.jpg http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/2084/vol5uk6.jpg http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/9288/vol6wo6.jpg http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7480/vol7qn7.jpg

Some info about Ookiku Furikabutte from Entropy group:

Mangaka: Higuchi Asa (ひぐち アサ)

Genre: Seinen, Sports

おおきく振りかぶって
Ookiku Furikabutte

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9...061222ahl9.jpg

Official site of the anime:
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/oofuri/

And more comprehensive site:
http://www.oofuri.com/

Director: Mizushima Tsutomu
Series Composition: Kuroda Yousuke
Character Design: Yoshida Takahiko

Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures

nice!!! i read this! :D too bad there's only been about two chapters out since then. but i already liked what i read! :3

no word yet on who's voicing, huh?

Casting News
 

got this from someone who got it from Afternoon Bareshi and thinks it's most likely genuine


三橋：代永翼 (debut)
阿部：中村悠一
花井：谷山紀章
田島：下野紘
桃井：早水リサ


Mihashi: new guy
Abe: Nakamura Yuuichi
Hanai: Taniyama Kishou
Tajima: Shimono Hiro (Rahxephon's Ayato Kamina)
Momoi: Hayamizu Risa (Gokusen's Yankumi)

Volume 7 of the seinen manga Ookiku Furikabutte got released this month, so I added its cover to the first post :P

main site has been updated with a flash teaser containing screenshots and previews, gallery pictures, character designs, OP/ED info, staff, etc

http://www.oofuri.com/

the series will kick off on April 12th at 1:25 AM on TBS

Swing Big [Ookiku Furikabatte "Oofuri"]
 

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4726/ookiku3xi0.th.jpg

Network: TBS
Original Author: Asa Higuchi
Manga: Afternoon (JP)
Official Site

Synopsis
Ookiku Furikabatte (or Swing Big), is the story of a young and timid guy who one day became ace in jr. high due to family connectins. Now in high school he's gonna see if he gonna put his skills to the test and shine in his own right.

If you guys like dramatic sports animes. Titles such as; MAJOR, Whistle!, Eyeshield 21, Wild Striker etc... then you're gonna probably like this one as well.

The main guy is timid, as opposed to being cocky and arrogant?
He was made an ace pitcher in middle school due to "family connections'?

Sounds good to me. I adored Major S1, so I notice sports anime more than I once did. I may check out the scanlations.

scanlations out are only up til chapter 3 i believe. hopefully, someone subs the anime and we can all catch up to this hit series in Japan.

It's a great manga. I really like the main character. Eventhough he doesn't have much guts he's at least better then some selfish prick. *cough* Gorou *cough*

LOL. I read chapter on of Ookiku, but the main character was so gutless it was annoying. It was so extreme that it's obvious he won't stay that way for long, though.

Just watched the raw of eps and the main character pisses the hell out of me.........he's such a damn wuss..biggest one i've seen, worst than ones in harem shows. The show itself isnt bad but aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrghhhhhh the main character......seems like it's his first time being out of the house and talking to people.

oh and the stupid face he makes annoys the hell out of me too.... i dont think i can put up with all the annoying thig on this show.

The main character is definitely timid, as the sypnosis state. It is borderline annoying but it worked for me because I now sympathise Mihasi and I am eager to root him on. Abe-kun is really cool and their female coach, Maria, is absolutely hilarious and mysterious at the same time.

The BGM and animation (Takahiko Yoshida - Honey and Clover) is pretty darn good in my opinion. I don't like much sports anime - Touch is an exception - but I think I will like this series.

wow, I'm impressed. Interesting characters and darn the catcher is da man :D

It's not a "harem-type" wuss, it's a "yaoi-type" wuss. Ookiku Furikabutte being one of the more frequent series to attract a very large BL following. Not that I have any interest in that, but I've heard more than enough and it certainly fits the stereotype (weak-willed, submissive pitcher, dominating confident catcher). FWIW the series itself isn't openly shonen-ai but the innuendo is thick enough to cut with a knife...

Personally I thought the relatively quick pace helped alleviate some of the fidgeting of the main character, so I'll stick with it for now, but if it starts to suffer from typical mid-series bog-down doldrums I might drop it.

Anyword of someone subbing this series? Looking forward to a good baseball manga anime. Major just annoyed me with all the drama/emo that if had and Goro wants me to kick him in the throat to shut him up. His basicly Naruto but worse lol.

Saizen/Entropy are subbing it together

Ignoring that utterly, being innuendo-onchi, and just watching the show for face value, it was a bunch of fun.

I have no problem thinking of the pitcher as a weak-armed, but very precise thrower who lacks for any shred of ego or self-respect.

The catcher seems to be a master strategist who can read the weaknesses in the other players. Together they will make a great team it seems.

It will be more fun this way for the audience, than to have a single super-hero pitcher who simply destroys all the opponents with his super-human fastball -- nothing against touch, i loved that show, but I'm ready for something new !


btw , i normally hate all sports shows, so I have no idea why i even watched this. I guess I'm following it for the time being though, because it hooked me :P

So is anyone kind enough to tell me what the "tone" of the first episode was like? Is it potentially drama-ish like Major (The only sports series I've seen, and I loved the first season) or will it be a wacky show with the occasional "emo" moment? I'm not sure if it's possible to tell from the first episode or not, but I'll ask anyway....

I haven't read the manga so I can't tell for sure, but my wild guess would be that we won't get away without at least some emo moments where Mihashi will end up doing something wrong and getting embarrassed before the crowd (and the "I'm no good..." usual speech should ensue). About the mood of the first episode:



I liked what I saw in the first episode - interesting characters, decent animation which shows nothing special but I couldn't spot badly drawn people. Great OP. Nothing amazing, really, it just looks like it'll be a fun ride. I hope A1 Pictures's first production can do well, it's always nice to see new studios not making awful-looking series.
I'm a bit doubtful about its possible success, since sports anime isn't exactly the most popular things amongst otaku, and not many other people will be watching this so late at night. But maybe the BL fangirls will be there to maintain the budget? It looks like there are a lot of doujins floating around, so I suppose they make up for a good part of the fans :p