AnimeSuki Forums

Shiroth · 2010-02-22, 05:55

Yeah no episode next week made that preview all the more OH MY GOD. Damn.

MeoTwister5 · 2010-02-22, 10:37

I have to say first and foremost that this episode personifies what I love about this show. Full to the brim with the depth and wit I haven't seen from the series in weeks.

Right off the bat in the first few minutes of the episode is classic Cross Game gold dialogue. This is one of the few times that Aoba actually extols her own virtues and abilities in front of others, as opposed to her usual bewilderment at trying to figure out what she's good for, but what makes such words from her particularly striking is the manner in which she can talk good about herself: More often than not, she can easily talk good about herself when made in relation to Kou, such that what goodness she finds in herself seems to be tied to what good comes out of him. In short, it's as if the good things in her is tied intrinsically to the good things in Kou, and that she finds some pride in being responsible for making Kou in the upstanding and prodigious baseball player that he is.

What's more is that with that flashback she realizes that Kou feels the same way, seeing her in a light that he himself admits is difficult to explain to others, as if to suggest he understands her in ways no one else can even if he tried explaining it (a fact we've all agreed long ago, but only now it becomes evident to both of them).

This type of mutual understanding is for me a very massive step. I dare say all you need is a good push on both sides and we'll all get what we've been hoping for almost a whole agonizing year. OH HELL YES!

A bit of a problem for me is still Akane's leanings. I don't know if that date thing when she gets better was made in jest but dammit with all the KouxAoba development we're getting she's starting to feel like a third wheel. Personally I still have inclinations that she's not exactly in the race for Kitamura's affection and is squarely in the pro-Aoba camp but dammit comments like that confuse me.

More so with her upcoming surgery which she says with such a face that it leaves Akaishi and Aoba shocked. She says she said it only because Akaishi asked, and that she's making herself a bit of an issue to make Akaishi play better than how he's been the previous game. She does, perhaps, have an attraction to him...

Aaaaand I just realized this is all in just the first 5 minutes of the show.

As for the 4-leaf clover well there are plenty of ways to interpret that, but for me it only means one thing when you consider that Kou considers himself lucky to find one while Azuma blatantly ignores the one beside him. To me it can only mean Azuma's resignation; that there is only 4-leaf clover between them (and dammit we know who that is

), and he's backing off to let Kou have what's been there beside him all these years.

The signal's green Kou. Your wingman just brought himself out of the running.

Akaishi's comment in bed of course is likely to be the direct result of Akane, moreso with what she just told him in the hospital. I think perhaps this is one of the most defining moments of his character in this show, finally allowing him to make the distinction between Wakaba and Akane, and that in the here and now, he loves the latter.

Nakanishi's comment was gold. Everyone freaking wants him to reach 160 for more reasons than one. As for their game itself, the sudden silent montage of Kou and Aoba's shared past of him standing near Wakaba's grave with Aoba watching behind a tree during a pitch that got Kou's cap blown off, with Aoba simply looking on in a probable surprised silence could very well mean that, at least for that single pitch, Kou might have finally hit the 160 kmph mark.

One of the best episodes of the series IMHO.

I purposely decided not to heed the warnings from other viewers about the preview this episode for reasons of probable contempt, but now I can safely say that GODDAMMITZOMGWTMFBBQSONOFANASSBARGADINGDONGERSCANT BELIEVEBULLSHIT CLIFFHANGER PREVIEW.

I henceforth blame all of you, you and especially you the reader of this post retroactively to the power of infinity for not taking power tools and drilling the warning into my head into a cerebral hematoma concussion formation to dissuade me from looking at the preview. Biggest preview cliffhanger in almost 2 years of any and all mediums I've had. And to think that week starts my finals. I need to look at my pharmacology textbook and find a drug that can induce retrograde amnesia. Crap.

Proto · 2010-02-22, 10:46

Told yah. But no one ever heeds poor ol' Proto.

BetoJR · 2010-02-22, 11:19

Nah, he'll get over it.

Just wait for what's coming. It'll do ya good.

poko-kun · 2010-02-22, 11:42

I love Nakanishi for his comment on Kou's 160 kmph which hit the nail on the head!
He's the one who understand Kou very well . Count him your best friend, Kou. He really is.

Ingram · 2010-02-22, 16:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proto

Told yah. But no one ever heeds poor ol' Proto.

I wasn't heeding you. ^_^ I skipped the preview, but I skip the previews for almost everything that I watch. There's no sense getting tied up in knots while waiting for the next episode (especially in this case, when it's two weeks away). On occasion, I'll go back and watch a preview after I've seen the episode being previewed (when the previews are clever/silly/etc), if I remember to do so.

wormspeaker · 2010-02-22, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by karasuma

Anyone like the ED? I can't get the "suuuki da suki da...." out of my head..

Agreed. I love the ED, but strangely only for the line you quote. The rest of the song really does not interest me, but I'll listen to it just for that line. I think it's because I'm hoping that's exactly what Aoba's heart is singing when she thinks of Kou.

Guardian Enzo · 2010-02-22, 22:11

I despair for the future artists of Japan, that's all I can say after looking at those Nomo pics.

Spoiler for 46:

king12354 · 2010-02-22, 23:05

Lol, what a great episode.

Free · 2010-02-22, 23:52

Apparently next week's CG slot is taken over by the Olympics. Let's rightfully blame Canada for this~

Guardian Enzo · 2010-02-22, 23:55

And that bitch Anne Murray, too.

kk2extreme · 2010-02-23, 00:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free

Apparently next week's CG slot is taken over by the Olympics. Let's rightfully blame Canada for this~

if only they could play baseball on ice...

MeoTwister5 · 2010-02-23, 05:20

Fuck this I'm peeking at the manga. I have two weeks worth of exams starting that week and what little is left of my sanity won't hold before I break into dysphasic delirium.

Someone kindly PM me the volume and chapter I should look at and I'll figure it out from there.

The Rumblefish · 2010-02-23, 05:28

Check your PM box.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

He understands a lot, this kid - even when he plays dumb, I think he gets it, deep-down.

This is my only issue with the character (as a plot device, not in terms of personality) since at least the two-thirds of the show when it looked like he handled the "reappearance of Wakaba" as properly as anyone in his age and situation could. Kō is not just "too mature", he appears irreproachable. Of course that makes him so damn likable, but it also makes it harder to create highly dramatic situations out of such a character. Tacchan in Touch was prone to many more internal struggles which made his journey more of a roller-coaster. Kō always looks set on his destiny and, whichever decision he makes about his own life, anyone knowing him (the other characters but also the audience) has to think: hey, whether I agree or not, he probably thought it through and knows what he is doing. Of course, I have my own idea of what he should do with his life but I have never, ever been worried about Kō.

/end of ultra-nitpicking

MeoTwister5 · 2010-02-23, 06:39

Thank you. I'm actually planning to read the entire thing this summer alongside watching the entire series all over again. Right now I'll at least get the nagging feel of the OMGWTFPREVIEW out of my system through the manga so as to remove it as a distraction for my exams.

Probably won't beat actually hearing them talk about it, but it'll do.

Edit - I need a clarification. Seishuu's match against Ryuou IS itself Koshien? From what I understand in the anime their much awaited rematch is sort of a regional tournament, so if it is, Koshien would be national level so their match is in itself isn't Koshien right? Am I right to assume they get to Koshien AFTER beating Ryuou, and when they get there they'll be pitted against some other team?

If the answer is considered spoilerish please PM me with the answer instead. Spoiling me is okay since I'm going ahead with my plan to read the manga content after this week's episode.

Willen · 2010-02-23, 07:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Thank you. I'm actually planning to read the entire thing this summer alongside watching the entire series all over again. Right now I'll at least get the nagging feel of the OMGWTFPREVIEW out of my system through the manga so as to remove it as a distraction for my exams.

Probably won't beat actually hearing them talk about it, but it'll do.

Edit - I need a clarification. Seishuu's match against Ryuou IS itself Koshien? From what I understand in the anime their much awaited rematch is sort of a regional tournament, so if it is, Koshien would be national level so their match is in itself isn't Koshien right? Am I right to assume they get to Koshien AFTER beating Ryuou, and when they get there they'll be pitted against some other team?

If the answer is considered spoilerish please PM me with the answer instead. Spoiling me is okay since I'm going ahead with my plan to read the manga content after this week's episode.

To put it simply, the winner of the match goes to Koshien. Like in Touch, the goal is to get there. How well you do there doesn't seem to matter as much.

It's kind of like that in most non-professional sports. It's a nice accomplishment to go to the Little League World Series, winning it all is basically icing on the cake.

***Pellissier*** · 2010-02-23, 08:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

God I just finished all the manga content starting from the end of this episode to the finale. In one sitting. My ass hurts. I'm so going to fail my practical tomorrow.

Interesting. But can we avoid mentioning the manga all together in this anime only thread? The rule still applies, whether it is a manga reader or an ex-anime only watcher now also manga reader.

I'm getting tired of repeating this, guys. As I already said, it's not for the contents themselves, but for the extremely high risk that the classical slippery slope would happen.

Do your choices, but respect the others'.

Guardian Enzo · 2010-02-23, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

Check your PM box.

This is my only issue with the character (as a plot device, not in terms of personality) since at least the two-thirds of the show when it looked like he handled the "reappearance of Wakaba" as properly as anyone in his age and situation could. Kō is not just "too mature", he appears irreproachable. Of course that makes him so damn likable, but it also makes it harder to create highly dramatic situations out of such a character. Tacchan in Touch was prone to many more internal struggles which made his journey more of a roller-coaster. Kō always looks set on his destiny and, whichever decision he makes about his own life, anyone knowing him (the other characters but also the audience) has to think: hey, whether I agree or not, he probably thought it through and knows what he is doing. Of course, I have my own idea of what he should do with his life but I have never, ever been worried about Kō.

/end of ultra-nitpicking

I have to gently disagree here. I always worry about Kou, because even if he understands a lot (and even teenage boys are sometimes preternaturally incisive) it doesn't mean that he doesn't hurt just as much. Even when they lost the Ryou game in his junior year, I could see the hurt in his face though he remained stone-faced - I literally said to myself "That kid needs a hug" about 5 seconds before all the third-years hugged him.

When Akane made her "Aren't boys great? So simple..." comment in 46, my thinking was "Sometimes, maybe - Akaishi might be, at times. But that doesn't really apply to Kou."

Proto · 2010-02-23, 10:26

Yeah, Kou's quality, more than being irreproachable, is being pretty damn unreadable, even for us the viewers. It requires you non-literally undress him in order to find what they heck he's hiding.

FuzzyWuzzy · 2010-02-23, 10:43

When is this going to end. It is the same crappy story since episode 30. The development is like so slow. How many times can they do the same thing over and over. We get it. Aoba and Kou are falling for each other. It has been like that since episode 2. How many times are they going to play the same thing over and over but with different scenarios.

2010-02-22, 05:55	Link #2741
Shiroth Beautiful fighter. Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: England, UK Age: 37	Yeah no episode next week made that preview all the more OH MY GOD. Damn. __________________ MyAnimeList Twitter

2010-02-22, 10:37	Link #2742
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	I have to say first and foremost that this episode personifies what I love about this show. Full to the brim with the depth and wit I haven't seen from the series in weeks. Right off the bat in the first few minutes of the episode is classic Cross Game gold dialogue. This is one of the few times that Aoba actually extols her own virtues and abilities in front of others, as opposed to her usual bewilderment at trying to figure out what she's good for, but what makes such words from her particularly striking is the manner in which she can talk good about herself: More often than not, she can easily talk good about herself when made in relation to Kou, such that what goodness she finds in herself seems to be tied to what good comes out of him. In short, it's as if the good things in her is tied intrinsically to the good things in Kou, and that she finds some pride in being responsible for making Kou in the upstanding and prodigious baseball player that he is. What's more is that with that flashback she realizes that Kou feels the same way, seeing her in a light that he himself admits is difficult to explain to others, as if to suggest he understands her in ways no one else can even if he tried explaining it (a fact we've all agreed long ago, but only now it becomes evident to both of them). This type of mutual understanding is for me a very massive step. I dare say all you need is a good push on both sides and we'll all get what we've been hoping for almost a whole agonizing year. OH HELL YES! A bit of a problem for me is still Akane's leanings. I don't know if that date thing when she gets better was made in jest but dammit with all the KouxAoba development we're getting she's starting to feel like a third wheel. Personally I still have inclinations that she's not exactly in the race for Kitamura's affection and is squarely in the pro-Aoba camp but dammit comments like that confuse me. More so with her upcoming surgery which she says with such a face that it leaves Akaishi and Aoba shocked. She says she said it only because Akaishi asked, and that she's making herself a bit of an issue to make Akaishi play better than how he's been the previous game. She does, perhaps, have an attraction to him... Aaaaand I just realized this is all in just the first 5 minutes of the show. As for the 4-leaf clover well there are plenty of ways to interpret that, but for me it only means one thing when you consider that Kou considers himself lucky to find one while Azuma blatantly ignores the one beside him. To me it can only mean Azuma's resignation; that there is only 4-leaf clover between them (and dammit we know who that is ), and he's backing off to let Kou have what's been there beside him all these years. The signal's green Kou. Your wingman just brought himself out of the running. Akaishi's comment in bed of course is likely to be the direct result of Akane, moreso with what she just told him in the hospital. I think perhaps this is one of the most defining moments of his character in this show, finally allowing him to make the distinction between Wakaba and Akane, and that in the here and now, he loves the latter. Nakanishi's comment was gold. Everyone freaking wants him to reach 160 for more reasons than one. As for their game itself, the sudden silent montage of Kou and Aoba's shared past of him standing near Wakaba's grave with Aoba watching behind a tree during a pitch that got Kou's cap blown off, with Aoba simply looking on in a probable surprised silence could very well mean that, at least for that single pitch, Kou might have finally hit the 160 kmph mark. One of the best episodes of the series IMHO. I purposely decided not to heed the warnings from other viewers about the preview this episode for reasons of probable contempt, but now I can safely say that GODDAMMITZOMGWTMFBBQSONOFANASSBARGADINGDONGERSCANT BELIEVEBULLSHIT CLIFFHANGER PREVIEW. I henceforth blame all of you, you and especially you the reader of this post retroactively to the power of infinity for not taking power tools and drilling the warning into my head into a cerebral hematoma concussion formation to dissuade me from looking at the preview. Biggest preview cliffhanger in almost 2 years of any and all mediums I've had. And to think that week starts my finals. I need to look at my pharmacology textbook and find a drug that can induce retrograde amnesia. Crap. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing - Last edited by MeoTwister5; 2010-02-22 at 10:49.

2010-02-22, 10:46	Link #2743
Proto Knowledge is the solution Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 39	Told yah. But no one ever heeds poor ol' Proto. __________________ How to play Japanese games in Linux

2010-02-22, 11:42	Link #2745
poko-kun Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007	I love Nakanishi for his comment on Kou's 160 kmph which hit the nail on the head! He's the one who understand Kou very well . Count him your best friend, Kou. He really is. __________________ It's Cross game month!

2010-02-22, 23:52	Link #2750
Free Pro Procrastinator Fansubber Join Date: Apr 2009	Apparently next week's CG slot is taken over by the Olympics. Let's rightfully blame Canada for this~ __________________

2010-02-22, 23:05	Link #2749
king12354 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007	Lol, what a great episode.

2010-02-23, 05:20	Link #2753
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	Fuck this I'm peeking at the manga. I have two weeks worth of exams starting that week and what little is left of my sanity won't hold before I break into dysphasic delirium. Someone kindly PM me the volume and chapter I should look at and I'll figure it out from there. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing -

2010-02-23, 06:39	Link #2755
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	Thank you. I'm actually planning to read the entire thing this summer alongside watching the entire series all over again. Right now I'll at least get the nagging feel of the OMGWTFPREVIEW out of my system through the manga so as to remove it as a distraction for my exams. Probably won't beat actually hearing them talk about it, but it'll do. Edit - I need a clarification. Seishuu's match against Ryuou IS itself Koshien? From what I understand in the anime their much awaited rematch is sort of a regional tournament, so if it is, Koshien would be national level so their match is in itself isn't Koshien right? Am I right to assume they get to Koshien AFTER beating Ryuou, and when they get there they'll be pitted against some other team? If the answer is considered spoilerish please PM me with the answer instead. Spoiling me is okay since I'm going ahead with my plan to read the manga content after this week's episode. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing - Last edited by MeoTwister5; 2010-02-23 at 06:54.

2010-02-23, 10:26	Link #2759
Proto Knowledge is the solution Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 39	Yeah, Kou's quality, more than being irreproachable, is being pretty damn unreadable, even for us the viewers. It requires you non-literally undress him in order to find what they heck he's hiding. __________________ How to play Japanese games in Linux

2010-02-23, 10:43	Link #2760
FuzzyWuzzy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007	When is this going to end. It is the same crappy story since episode 30. The development is like so slow. How many times can they do the same thing over and over. We get it. Aoba and Kou are falling for each other. It has been like that since episode 2. How many times are they going to play the same thing over and over but with different scenarios.