(L) Cross game

[Guardian Enzo]

Baseball is very well served by these three series, no doubt. All totally different yet excellent in their own way. CG is certainly less about the baseball than the other two, no doubt, but the sport still plays a crucial role in the lives of our heroes.

[The Rumblefish]

#42

Weird how slow-paced this episode felt compared to the previous one. The score starting at 20'18" was a brand new one, right? Nice piece. I still hope they release the soundtrack one day.

Spoiler for #43's preview:

I feel a bit sorry that they spoiled Miki's return in the preview. That was one of the nicest surprises of the manga's last stretch.

[Theowne]

Subsmith's page appears to be broken....should we be worried?

[Ansalem]

Originally Posted by Theowne

Subsmith's page appears to be broken....should we be worried?

Not to worry.

[PeterI]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Baseball is very well served by these three series, no doubt. All totally different yet excellent in their own way. CG is certainly less about the baseball than the other two, no doubt, but the sport still plays a crucial role in the lives of our heroes.

Aoba does complain that Adachi's manga aren't really about baseball that much.

http://www.onemanga.com/Cross_Game/116/11/

[ZGMF-X10A]

slow episode nothing stood out. I have a feeling something going to happen to Akane. Aoba had a flashback of Akane saying that she was always sick when she was young or something, I'm guessing Akane will get sick somehow. We saw that in this episode Akane was sitting on the bench after Aoba got off the train. The beginning of this episode was kinda tense, Azuma's if Azuma's brother was in that meeting it would have made it feel more relaxing, saying that they better make it to koisen. I guess that tense feeling wanted to show how serious they were to make it to koisen, and it showed throughout the episode. Is Aoba going to the world cup or stay with sensou and go to Koisen?

[Guardian Enzo]

Spoiler for 42:

Bit of a letdown ep, really, given how much happened last week. Time is so precious now that it's hard to see 22 minutes go by without much plot advancement. Hints were solidly Kou/Aoba (Mizuki"s "160" comment, the shared sunset) and that Akane may end up getting seriously ill (please, don't go there). But on balance, not much happened.

[Asleep]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

It's interesting to consider that from Kou's side, as well. Kou just turned 18, and has never been on a date - unless you charitably call his field trip with Akane a date (as Aoba did). It's commonly assumed - certainly by me and Tsukishima-san and probably Aoba - that it's out of loyalty to Wakaba. But what if the real reason Kou never dated is out of loyalty to Aoba?

Like DeX-kun said it might be subconsciously but I don't think he would not date someone consciously because of Aoba. I still don't think he realisesthat he is in love Aoba. I don't think he thinks about dating someone. He only went out with Akane because was sort of forced to and because she looks like Wakaba. But he sure didn't like Aoba going on her "date".

and ooh 42 is out

[Theowne]

42 was...well, uneventful, following some random interactions between all the characters. "Calm before the storm", I guess. Well, this kind of gentle pace and atmosphere is what characterized Cross Game from the beginning, but like everyone else is saying, some more developments would have been nice at this point, especially after last week.

Still, I'm looking forward to the return of actual baseball matches, which played a pretty small role overall in this anime now that I think of it, almost as if Adachi was a little tired of writing them by now.

Nice BGM at the final scene. I love the simple sincerity of the Cross Game score.

[Nemuru]

Originally Posted by Asleep

Like DeX-kun said it might be subconsciously but I don't think he would not date someone consciously because of Aoba. I still don't think he realisesthat he is in love Aoba. I don't think he thinks about dating someone. He only went out with Akane because was sort of forced to and because she looks like Wakaba. But he sure didn't like Aoba going on her "date".

and ooh 42 is out

and how did you come with the conclusion that he is in love with aoba? Im just curious besides the presistent fan wanting to see that pairing I've only been viewing it as an admiration from kou of aoba form when pitching along with childhood friend relation. No one has been open about their feelings and at best it has a good chance of moving on to more than just friends but it will require someone to make to first move which isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[Proto]

Personally I loved this episode. This slow episode approach is, at least for me, where Cross Game is at its best. It's nice that it took its time to do this even this late in the show.

Other than that, Momiji's growth throughout the series is just striking in a series were almost everyone else has remained the same.

[MeoTwister5]

Due to exams and the relative amount of intense focus I usually reserve for Cross Game, I have no choice to delay watching it until Wednesday at the earliest.

Please help me oh Lord.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

Spoiler for #43's preview:

I feel a bit sorry that they spoiled Miki's return in the preview. That was one of the nicest surprises of the manga's last stretch.

Sure it's a shame, though it was only a matter of time before he appeared again, and to take down sunglasses.

Originally Posted by Theowne

Nice BGM at the final scene. I love the simple sincerity of the Cross Game score.

So very true, which means that the biggest crime to date is that there's no soundtrack release yet.

Yep i caught up with Cross Game just now. Would have done so on Thursday, so i had some things to do over the weekend. I have quite a bit to talk about, so i'll post about that later tonight. For now i can say that it's been one hell of a ride, and it's such a shame i couldn't join you guys for the past conversations and what not while this show has been on the air. I have no excuse as to why it's taken me until now to start it, though i'm so glad i did, because it's been one of the best anime experiences in a while.

[BetoJR]

Finally, eh? Took you long enough.

[Haak]

You know, I just realised something. Cross Game somehow managed to pull off one the biggest shonen cliches, rather well with Azuma...

[Asleep]

Originally Posted by Nemuru

and how did you come with the conclusion that he is in love with aoba? Im just curious besides the presistent fan wanting to see that pairing I've only been viewing it as an admiration from kou of aoba form when pitching along with childhood friend relation. No one has been open about their feelings and at best it has a good chance of moving on to more than just friends but it will require someone to make to first move which isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Ehhh is it not obvious They are both just really slow. Does admiration make you jealous? They don't have to be open about anything for the viewer to notice things. Even Azuma thinks so and Akane thinks there is something going on. And I know nothing will happen soon, I don't even know if anything will ever happen. It might just end like this...

Originally Posted by Shiroth

So very true, which means that the biggest crime to date is that there's no soundtrack release yet.

the biggest crime would be if it never gets released at all I was very surprised when I found out it hadn't been released as yet. I hate it when my favourite tracks never get released in my fav soundtracks, but not releasing it at all... I thought Xam'd's OST would never came out but thankfully it did, I just hope Cross Game gets an OST release.


I like the filler episodes in Cross Game. I have always enjoyed the slice-of-life side of this show, so it was a nice episode for me. The sunset scene was nice.

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

Spoiler for #43's preview:

I feel a bit sorry that they spoiled Miki's return in the preview. That was one of the nicest surprises of the manga's last stretch.

It was hinted at before.

Spoiler for preview:

Azuma had muttered something when someone called it an unknown school in a previous episode. So I knew Miki was going to return. Was that absent from the manga?

[Guardian Enzo]

Well, filler episodes and slow episodes are fine - I enjoy those when CG does them. I just worry with so much to accomplish and so little time left to do it. My biggest fear after 42 is that we're headed for some sort of tear-jerker arc with Akane, and I really hope that's not the case. That would be quite the red herring and an unfortunate distraction. Perhaps I'm reading too much into those little hints in 42.

[DeX-kun]

Originally Posted by Proto

Personally I loved this episode. This slow episode approach is, at least for me, where Cross Game is at its best. It's nice that it took its time to do this even this late in the show.

Other than that, Momiji's growth throughout the series is just striking in a series were almost everyone else has remained the same.

Thank you, someone that feels the same as I do This episode flowed very smoothly and it felt like a nice break from everything that has been going on (except maybe the scene with Akane but we might be reading too much into it.) Regarding Momiji, what I found pretty interesting about her was just how alike she is to Wakaba now. Her open admittance to having a boyfriend (the karate kid ) and her mature outlook on things. Well they are sisters so I guess that shouldn't be all that surprising.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Yep i caught up with Cross Game just now. Would have done so on Thursday, so i had some things to do over the weekend. I have quite a bit to talk about, so i'll post about that later tonight. For now i can say that it's been one hell of a ride, and it's such a shame i couldn't join you guys for the past conversations and what not while this show has been on the air. I have no excuse as to why it's taken me until now to start it, though i'm so glad i did, because it's been one of the best anime experiences in a while.

So you've finally caught up with us, it's about time I can't wait to see your comments about your Cross Game experience.

[Nosauz]

I personally felt that this filler episode lacked any tact. The thing about filler is that you really need somebody who loves the material their writing for, someone who can iminate the voice that adachi evokes. Here things were just very heavy, the one decent scene was when we look over the shoulder of akaishi and he's looking at kou with his head tilted toward the setting sun. This had some adaichi essence where as the nakanishi scene was decent but it just didn't feel like adachi, the characters have always been stoic and past their prime so even though she's retiring, I would have felt differently if the tone had been more in line with the series.

OH shit... next episode is gonna be good, miki, my favorite character not on seishu, seriously this guy is better than mishima, oikawa, or anyother characters adachi has written for this manga/anime. Also... the who azuma/sendo moment was just too cheesy, I know the animation studio is trying to show how azuma has changed, but even though he's the have fun play baseball type, I don't think he would have gone as far as to tell sendo how to bat, let alone a compliment.

[Guardian Enzo]

I have no problems whatsoever with Azuma giving Senda batting advice. He wants to go to Koshien (and win) very badly. Senda is the leadoff hitter and Azuma saw something that could make him more effective. Makes complete sense to me.