(L) Cross game

[DeX-kun]

Boy, I've been gone for far too long. I was avoiding this thread since I had to catch up after missing a month's worth of Cross Game due to my lengthy vacation. Either way, every episode I missed was great and each one left me wanting to see the next one. Kou and Aoba have gradually become closer and Aoba seems to be the first one to realize that she might be in love with Kou, whereas Kou is his usual self

Spoiler for Episode 41:

Episode 41 does seem to suffer from pacing issues but it still did it's job at sending it's messages (although the impact was probably lessened.) Kou and Akane seem to be getting closer and closer while the same can be said for Aoba, she is the one being left behind because she still can't be honest with herself (Kou is the same as well.) The grave scene made the biggest impact in my opinion, because Kou lied about still buying the gifts on Wakaba's list and because Tsukishima told Kou to bring whatever girl he likes to meet Wakaba. It's a shame the next episode is going to be filler, but how will they end the series with such few episodes left?

[The Rumblefish]

Originally Posted by Asleep

I wanna see! What chapter do I have to read?

Chapter #121, although if you look online it will probably be renamed chapter #131. There was a chapter reboot after the first volume (10 chapters) which focused on the characters' youth. The anime instead separated the various events told in the first volume into several childhood memories spread among different episodes.

Originally Posted by Asleep

Could they end the anime and manga together or is the anime still really behind?

At the usual rhythm of three chapters per episode, it would take about 11 episodes to reach the current point in the story. However, I need to check but I believe this episode contained more chapters than usual; they also switched around some events in the chronology recently and you have to take the anime-original subplots into consideration as well. So it is hard to tell.

My view is that the manga is ending in four chapters, but this is debatable depending on how you believe Adachi will end Cross Game. If the manga does end in four chapters (= 17 volumes in total), then it is impossible for the anime to catch on the manga unless Adachi goes on another hol- You know what? I am not even going to finish that sentence. My heart couldn't take it.

[Ansalem]

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

At the usual rhythm of three chapters per episode, it would take about 11 episodes to reach the current point in the story. However, I need to check but I believe this episode contained more chapters than usual; they also switched around some events in the chronology recently and you have to take the anime-original subplots into consideration as well. So it is hard to tell.

Episode 41 contained the end of 117, 118, 120, 121, and 122. So 4.5 chapters in one episode.

Also, dividing the chapters covered at this point by the number of episodes doesn't really give an accurate view on how many chapters they do per episode, since there has a been a fair amount of anime original material, and a recap episode. Assuming he ends the manga very soon, and the anime original story wraps up quickly, the anime could reach the manga ending.

[The Rumblefish]

dividing the chapters covered at this point by the number of episodes doesn't really give an accurate view on how many chapters they do per episode

Well, good thing this is not what I did, then!

I did not divide chapters/episode to reach this number; I merely read the manga again and checked. The vast majority of episodes cover three chapters (and add extra stuff). The first exception is of course the childhood volume (ten chapters), which is divided between the first episode and later flashbacks. The other exceptions are the few anime-original episodes, which usually take very few scenes from the manga and are almost entirely made of original scenes. And of course, there is the filler (what a waste of space that was, in retrospect...). But for standard episodes following the manga closely, the batting average is around three chapters per episode.

[edit] That being said, I completely agree that we cannot use this to predict how the remaining 10 episodes will be spent. #41 proved SynergySP can squeeze way more into each episode if they need to. However, if they intend to follow the original plot, I do think the story-telling will suffer from it.

[poko-kun]

Originally Posted by Asleep

And since my post got ignored I'll ask again Any news about the soundtrack? 41 episodes and nothing I am worried they will never release it

I haven't heard of the BGM release, but if you mean OP/ED, they all now avaliable.

[Nosauz]

jesus... they butchered the animation of momiji during the mizuki catch scene. And this is what you call ham, the art show thing... the series doesn't need it because the relationship between kou akaishi and akane is developing in a reasonable fashion, this just kind slaps you screaming at you that akaishi does have a chance.

also i finally realize why the ed4 sounds soooooo out of pace, ed4 reminds me of the op1 for nodame, which is really good but the feel of nodame vs cross game is just tooo different.

Also in the manga the massage scene was a tad bit different, and it was quite a bit more funny.

[Asleep]

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

Chapter #121, although if you look online it will probably be renamed chapter #131. There was a chapter reboot after the first volume (10 chapters) which focused on the characters' youth. The anime instead separated the various events told in the first volume into several childhood memories spread among different episodes.

Thanks! I will read it

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

[edit] That being said, I completely agree that we cannot use this to predict how the remaining 10 episodes will be spent. #41 proved SynergySP can squeeze way more into each episode if they need to. However, if they intend to follow the original plot, I do think the story-telling will suffer from it.

I wonder how they will end the anime... I really really hope it ends with the manga because I am not sure about getting a second season. Most of the good ones never get sequels. I don't want it to be left hanging forever I will read the manga if the anime is incomplete, but I would like to see it animated...

Originally Posted by poko-kun

I haven't heard of the BGM release, but if you mean OP/ED, they all now avaliable.

I did mean the BGM release This doesn't look good. It might never get released.

[HitagiIsHot]

Another excellent episode. Lots of stuff has happened in this episode as others have pointed out which may have lessened its impact, but it was nevertheless interesting development. I just want to add that Akane and Aoba gave Kou a cake that were both eaten completely. If Aoba did in fact make that cake, this is probably the first time we see Aoba's cooking being safely consumed by anyone in the show lol.

Also interesting is during Akane's art gallery, Kou says Akane's art is like an "art explosion". What a weird way to comment on Akane's art. Akaishi says "What are you talking about [Kou]? It was very good," prompting Akane to laugh/giggle. Nice to see Akaishi steppin up his game a little with that nice comment after a strange comment by Kou.

For those interested I wrote a synopsis & review with pics here.

**** (Perfect)

Originally Posted by Asleep

I did mean the BGM release This doesn't look good. It might never get released.

Yeah I hope they release a BGM of this show too. The BGM fits the show really well and is one of the more memorable pieces of music for a show.

[Guardian Enzo]

I performed an interesting experiment tonight. I watched episode 2 - mostly because I was curious to see if the animators had aged Kou and Aoba much since then (curiously not - but Momiji looked much younger). What ended up being interesting, though, was just how much Aoba's attitude towards Kou has changed. It's easy to lose sight of it watching them every week, because the change (in pure Adachi style) is so subtle - like observing the growth of a younger sibling you see every day. But to watch episode 2 and then 41, it's like seeing your 13 year-old cousin after a year and finding out he grew six inches taller.

[Pellissier]

Truth to be told, I've simply been in awe with all the recent episodes (from 37 onwards, 39-40-41 in particular) and for a simple reason: while for pretty much the whole anime we've seen things mainly from Kou's perspective, shifting on Aoba from time to time, in these episode the main character's role switched to Aoba.
Unlike before, Aoba is now the absolute core of the narration and we're seeing the world reflected in her eyes constantly instead of just occasionally.

To me this was the biggest and most impactful change occurred in the last span. This is why I'm partly surprised to see people picking on little details instead of enjoying these episodes at their fullest. I mean, I also saw the clear pacing issues of episode 41, but how many other anime had me staring at the monitor praying that the episode was not actually over, or to give me at least other five minutes? In addition, it's been months that we've been craving for actual steps ahead in Aoba's mind, something that after the thaw we had around episodes 19-21 did not really happen, with Ao-chan stuck with her stubbornness and prisoner of Waka's memories.

Even Akane's arrival didn't make things better, since at first, Aoba did tend to step back to favour Akane, probably for a sense of inferiority. But now, finally, her mind seem to have unblocked. It took a large number of elements, the injury, Azuma's confession, Kou's offer to get her to Koshien by borrowing his body, Junpei's words about when you love someone (it is something you can tell without being asked), and finally the proactive role of Akane in making Aoba's defenses crumble.

The ladder scene of ep.41 showed how much Aoba is grown if compared ep.35 (Valentine). While on the latter she retired seeing Akane popping up, leaving she and Kou alone, on the former instead of encouraging the pairing she actually sensed it as a danger, and avoided it. Finally her love feelings are starting to see a ligth in the dark, they're nearing the surface. At this point I would say Aoba has understood it, just that it is a very tough fact for her to accept and she prefers not to approach the matter directly. The "do you love Akane?" she said to Kou is an example of indirect approach. The way she spontaneously treats him now, kind, caring, worried, admirer, and last but not least jealous is the ultimate mirror of Aoba's changes.

The difference here is simple, starting from a premise: to love someone, both your mind and heart must be synchronized. However, if that doesn't happen, the stronger of the two, the one who can suffocate the other, is the mind.
I've always being saying that her heart was ready since a while ago, but her mind simply had all ports blocked for that hypotesis. Now the mind have started to accept the possibility, thus unlocking doors and allowing the heart to kick its feelings in. Boy, didn't she grow fonder of that annoying sister-robber next door's guy?

In short, I think we can't ask Cross Game more than this. It is what it always aimed to be, a genuine story of people sharing pains and confronting them together while growing and experiencing new worlds. I don't dare to imagine how much I will be missing this show and especially these characters once it'll be all over, hence I treasure each second I can get of it while it's still here with us.

[Guardian Enzo]

Interesting point, Pellissier. I have a suspicion that in the end, Aoba will fully come around before Kou - that in fact it will be Kou who backs away from a relationship, at least at first. It seems to fit with Adachi's contrarian style of character development, first of all. And second, it's been easy for Kou to mentally toy with the idea of a relationship with Aoba because he knows (or thinks he knows) that she'd never consider it. Of course he has strong romantic feelings for her but he's not threatened by them the way she is - they're safe because they're practically absurd. I expect a pullback from Kou once it becomes clear that Aoba is drawing closer to him romantically.

[poko-kun]

Anyone noticed about the theme of the ED?
1st : The lost love
2nd : Won't forget it
3rd : Even our love is not that romantic, but I'm OK with it. (New love huh?)
4th : (Forget her) and say you love me!

And the story teller has been changed from Kou to Aoba since the 3rd ED.

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by poko-kun

Anyone noticed about the theme of the ED?
1st : The lost love
2nd : Won't forget it
3rd : Even our love is not that romantic, but I'm OK with it. (New love huh?)
4th : (Forget her) and say you love me!

And the story teller has been changed from Kou to Aoba since the 3rd ED.

I really never felt that the first ed was about lost love, it was more the overcoming of pain, hurt, specifically that of lost love but more about overcoming it and accepting that pain as part of oneself. The reason I feel this way is due to teh actually melodies used in the song give a sense of coming to terms with the sadness.

[Guardian Enzo]

If there's one small character point I would find lacking in this incredibly well-written series, it's a seeming lack of libido on the part of the main characters. Or perhaps more accurately, an acknowledgement of their libido. Adachi certainly isn't a writer who specializes in that sort of thing, and this isn't really even a romance in the strictest sense of the word. The series has done an incredible job showing us the gradual development of all these characters, especially Kou and Aoba - from the standpoint of their dealing with grief in their own ways, the slow evolution of their complicated relationship with each other - it's just about peerless in that regard. Yet, the fact is that Kou and Aoba are teenagers and there's been little exploration of that side of their relationship - to the point where it really hasn't even been established that there's a physical attraction there. Or elsewhere, for that matter - there have been small nods to Kou noticing girls scattered here and there, but in many ways the Kou/Aoba relationship almost seems more akin to a squabbling middle-aged couple than a couple of kids.

I only notice this, I suppose, because in almost every other way the show has been incredibly rich and realistic in the way it's developed this relationship. That makes the somewhat unrealistic absence of erotic tension more noticeable. The existential dilemma of Kou/Aoba has been explored deeply, and the physical dilemma barely acknowledged. I guess that's why the physical contact in 41 - the stretching scene and especially the massage - were so striking. Is the manga more open about this side of their lives, I wonder - and the anime being extra cautious because of the time slot?

[Proto]

The manga doesn´t have any extra scenes in that sense (actually I can´t remember any major scene which has been skipped so far), however there have been small nods to the physical tension between them here and there. Like when now is back before the 2nd year Koshien when Aoba and Kou got their faces close, and Aoba stepped back blushing.

BTW, excellent analysis there Pellisier. Sometimes as manga readers we lose sight of the important details and we tend to focus on silly details like adaptation quality and whatnot. It is thanks to comments like yours that we remember when we were awed ourselves over this develpments, and appreciate all over again what the anime is doing right here, right now. I´d give you some rep but it seems i´ve given some to you recently already.

[HitagiIsHot]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

Truth to be told, I've simply been in awe with all the recent episodes (from 37 onwards, 39-40-41 in particular)

In short, I think we can't ask Cross Game more than this... I treasure each second I can get of it while it's still here with us.

Great post. More evidence Cross Game continues to deliver consistently good story and developments. I especially liked episode 41; all of them are very entertaining episodes.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I performed an interesting experiment tonight. I watched episode 2 - mostly because I was curious to see if the animators had aged Kou and Aoba much since then (curiously not - but Momiji looked much younger). What ended up being interesting, though, was just how much Aoba's attitude towards Kou has changed. It's easy to lose sight of it watching them every week, because the change (in pure Adachi style) is so subtle - like observing the growth of a younger sibling you see every day. But to watch episode 2 and then 41, it's like seeing your 13 year-old cousin after a year and finding out he grew six inches taller.

I rewatched episode 2 too during the holidays. In episode 2 to 41, Aoba went from completely "hating him [Kou]" to "I'm not praising him, I'm just speaking the truth."

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Proto

The manga doesn´t have any extra scenes in that sense (actually I can´t remember any major scene which has been skipped so far), however there have been small nods to the physical tension between them here and there. Like when now is back before the 2nd year Koshien when Aoba and Kou got their faces close, and Aoba stepped back blushing.

In a sense it's almost charmingly old-fashioned, this chaste dance Kou and Aoba do around each other - blushing at the merest hint of contact. I've been re-watching the other great teen romance series of recent vintage, True Tears, and it's a fascinating contrast. In just about every scene in that series (especially with Shin and Hiromi) the hormonally-charged tension is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. There's still a teenaged awkwardness and sense of embarrassment but, as was so often the sense in that show, the air was electric with potential danger. Of course that was a true romance series, and only a quarter as long as Cross Game and thus charged with a lot more urgency to get where it was going.

In Cross Game we're being treated to an eight-year courtship that's taken our leads from elementary school to the end of high school - a slow, languid and painfully halting journey through incredibly profound psychological territory. At the same time, largely devoid of passion. What a fascinating contrast between these two series.

[Theowne]

I personally find Cross Game's approach more rewarding, and I wouldn't say that this indicates a lack of passion either, assuming we're using the definition of passion meaning "A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger". Maybe this will differ for every viewer, but it never stuck out to me as being unrealistic, particularly since we are watching Cross Game as observers, rather than hearing narrations about every thing going through Kou or Aoba's mind. Even if they did have the feelings you refer to, it doesn't mean it would manifest in their behavior in any overt way.

Maybe it is charmingly old-fashioned, maybe not - Honey and Clover is a more modern series that drew similar complaints. I recall this same thread of discussion popping up in those old H&C threads about how real university students would be more libidinous or lustful, and I didn't quite agree back then either.

My two cents, FWIW.

[Pellissier]

Something else I noticed: Aoba stil doesn't call him "Kou". It's always aitsu. In the last episode they even joked with it, when Aoba said "aitsu", Akane indicating the photo "aitsu is koitsu?" and Aoba "soitsu". She doesn't go further than calling him "Kitamura-senpai", not even when talking to third persons. While Kou has been calling her Aoba, without honorifics, all the time.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that Aoba, despite being a very attractive girl - as proven by the dozens of fans she's always had - , has never once so far shown of being aware of it. Not once she's been vain and didn't ever brag about either (except maybe in ep.40 with Kou where she was about to say "even I have had a stalker!"). On the contrary, she's always very harsh with herself, and quite convinced of her unladylikeness.

Especially with Akane's words (plus Azuma confession), this is another aspect of her which is going through a change. Once she'll realize her attractiveness and fully accept herself as a pretty girl, and not only as a good player, she'll probably be ready to face Kou for "that" matter.

I quite agree that while Aoba is developing at a fast pace, Kou has pretty much remained the same. His thoughts about an Aoba-Azuma pairing have been unclear, sometimes he seems to wish for it, sometimes he doesn't. As Enzo said, it's probably a non-issue for him as of now, given the clear impossibility he thinks is opposing such an event. But unlike us, he hasn't seen the latest episodes of Cross Game ^^ (thus the change in Aoba's perspective), hence despite his empathy with her, he might be surprised quite soon.
Aoba wouldn't seem the type to make the first step, but then again, she's crashed so many taboos in her journey that who knows.

On a side note: if anyone wants a new CG sign, I made a very simple one about two great men standing in the rain.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

In just about every scene in that series (especially with Shin and Hiromi) the hormonally-charged tension is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. There's still a teenaged awkwardness and sense of embarrassment but, as was so often the sense in that show, the air was electric with potential danger. Of course that was a true romance series, and only a quarter as long as Cross Game and thus charged with a lot more urgency to get where it was going.

In Cross Game we're being treated to an eight-year courtship that's taken our leads from elementary school to the end of high school - a slow, languid and painfully halting journey through incredibly profound psychological territory. At the same time, largely devoid of passion. What a fascinating contrast between these two series.

Well in True tears Shin and Hiromi have quite an head start on Kou and Aoba

Spoiler for True Tears plot:

Here we're 41 episodes in and the characters are just now starting to see feelings for eachother pop up,something that is already pretty much the case in episode 1 of True Tears
Shin is already in love with Hiromi and the only thing preventing Hiromi from acknowledging her feelings is because she's been lied to,she gladly accepts her feelings when she learns the truth.

And I just got done marathoning Toradora and that ending was quite satisfying,waited 25 episodes for that ending and I got it!I can only imagine that getting the ending I want after 50 episodes would be even more satisfying.