Major 2nd
 

Major 2nd, inevitably, gets an anime:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-anime/.122675

For those familiar with the original Major, I think you'll find this very consistent with that series. Mitsuda is at his best writing about kids, IMHO, so Major 2nd is (so far) a lot more like S1 of Major (which I think was the best).

Watanabe Ayumu is directing, which is great news for Major fans. This will be almost totally ignored in the West of course, but in Japan this franchise is a huge deal.

So, Mutsuko is the only other named female apart from Daigo's family, and she's voiced by HanaKana? Yep, that's main heroine traits alright, so we've got Kaoru's successor right there. :D

Overall, first episode was actually much different than I expected it to be. I actually symphatized about Daigo's situation, feeling that he can't follow in the footsteps of his family. I honestly didn't want him to pitch again and have an injury since that was basically Goro's story ad infinitum (including up to this story), so it's refreshing to see another reason why the MC can't play baseball.

Plenty of female representation in this, don’t worry- way more than the first series for sure.

Nah, Goro is great, I prefer a protagonist like Goro than crappy protagonist like Kuroko and the baseball fujoshi crap Ōfuri

so it begins:)
good first eps for me, got flashbacks frol first major

Hearing “Kokoro E” again was quite a goosebump moment.

It's in the episode? I have to wait for a week since I don't have the premium account in crunchyroll... :)

I have seen the opening though, and it is a pity that it kind of "spoils" one of the biggest and most interesting changes in the show...

OPs are for spoiling, you should know that by now. :heh:

Man, I really missed Kaoru. Her being almost non-existent in the later parts of Major was a big reason for the dip in my enjoyment of the series. Now she's back, and HanaKana as Sakura... HHHNNNNGGGG!

As for our main duo, I do wonder why Satou didn't play basebal, and more importantly, why now?

I should be used to it by now, but I still hurt a little when really good sports anime are totally ignored by the English-speaking anime fanbase. This series is so on-point, it's really a shame.

I like Daigo a lot; actually a whole lot more than Goro. So it's a guy with Drive but no talent, and a guy with talent but no drive. Very interesting dynamic.

But that maybe just be the series being more like an Adachi manga, who loves to use his main characters as foils. Mix scans has pretty much caught up already, so I guess I'll stick with this for now as my sport anime of the season. Sorry Tsubasa, you may also have a childhood friend LI, but I already know your story and this one is new. XD

I actually think Daigo is kind of a stroke of genius by Mitsuda - and I’m someone who loved Goro as a lead. Daigo is a total everyman despite being a celebrity’s son - he’s totally relatable. He just wants to do what he loves and look cool, but his body gets in the way and people just won’t leave him be.

I think I'll like it better once Mutsuko gets over her broken pedestal. I mean, it kind of stands to reason that Daigo would freak out if a cute girl expressed interest in him on account of his efforts when his "hard work" was really a desperate struggle to be even mediocre while every moment hurts inside. Someone who's crushed by his physical inability to perform wouldn't be likely to seriously enjoy someone talk about how wonderful their "performance" is. I'm not saying he's really right or anything. He's putting far too much pressure on himself and it's kind of stopping him from managing anything at all. But I'd like to see her finally realize where he was coming from and quit "hating" him for her perception of the situation. Just like I'd like to see HIM realize that, even if he was hurting at the time, he was still a bit of a jerk to jump down her throat over it. I'd like to hurry and get out of this in-between where she thinks far too little of him.

Watched ep.2 and hikaru is more carefree than I remembered. Is all Daigo wants to be, but he doesn't care about it at all. I didn't remembered Sakura said Diago was her first love... well, I really hope she's the Kaoru in the series because I want to have HanaKana here for a long time :)

So looks like Daigo is going to become a catcher. Interesting move there. On the one hand, it's a position that really doesn't stand out; I at first didn't know they played much of any role besides squat and catch. I'm guessing this means it's easier for someone whose arm can't exactly handle hard throws/pitches or swinging the bat. But then I looked it up on Wiki and turns out it's a very strategic position, set in a place where you can get a good view of the whole field and make choices to guide the other players. The sort of role that would be perfect for a ball-loving guy who knows an absolute ton about the sport and strategies. So if he really dedicates himself, this could actually be the perfect position for him, one in which he could frankly make the game for his team.

It'd be interesting to see an outsider's view of this as well. For instance, have Sakura start out thinking no better of him or acting like being catcher's nothing special, until she gets a look at how battered and blue he gets, and how hard he works to master his role in defense.

Either way, I just hope what Wiki says about catchers having fairly short careers doesn't hold true for him. It'd be a shame for him to finally become something special in the sport he loves only to have it end too soon.

Usually the catcher is a position as important as the pitcher... but is not as "espectacular"

It's a nice change and I think even something original, since almost every mc in a baseball story is either the pitcher or the slugger (when not both)

At the little league level, catcher is the most important position on the team. And no matter the level, it's hugely important - they basically run things on the field and at the higher levels, call the pitches. It's not glamorous most of the time - dirty and painful and damn hard work - but critical.

Indeed. And it's practically the opposite of what he's always longed for and admired. On the surface, the sort of level many kids would think, the pitcher or slugger are the ones that make the game, the most important players hands down. As I said, before I looked it up I hardly knew there was anything at all to the position. He grew up admiring the "ace", the guy who makes all the hits or the great pitches, and knowing he couldn't be that crushed him. It'd probably on one level hurt for him to take a role that many wouldn't care about. And again that'd make an outsider's evolving view, maybe seeing it at first as something like another way of running or hiding from the field, before realizing just how crucial and taxing the role is. And how perfectly suited someone who knows as much as Daigo about baseball could be.

Here's hoping at least at some point he'll earn and receive the sort of appreciation and admiration and thanks he's longed for. It's not often the "supporting" roles receive their share of the glory they earned after all.

interesting change i like it.
not the pitcher and slugger for once