(L) Cross game

[Budweineken]

Finally got around to watching this and really enjoyed it. I had read the manga when it came out, but hadn't bothered with the anime until now.

One of the best out there certainly, and one of my favorite Adachi's series. I wish more of his series would be animated.

Now waiting for more scanlations from MIX... been a while since a release was made.

[Guardian Enzo]

Indeed, Mix has been dry for a while scanlation-wise. Gonna get an anime for sure, though.

[SeijiSensei]

"Kou" comes to the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/s...ani-japan.html

A left-handed slugger and a right-handed pitcher, Ohtani has played in the outfield or as a designated hitter on the days he did not pitch for his current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, and did it well enough to become known as Japan’s Babe Ruth. But Ohtani’s plan to continue double duty could drag his American employers far outside their comfort zones, tampering with modern rituals of caring for an M.L.B. starting pitcher as if he were a piece of fine crystal.

I'd be more than happy to see Ohtani playing for the Red Sox whose management has recruited a number of Japanese stars like Matsuzaka Daisuke and Uehara Koji. We're in desparate need of a slugger now that David Ortiz has retired, and left-handed sluggers have historically fared well in Fenway Park.

[Guardian Enzo]

Yankees and Seattle seem like the frontrunners to me.

[SeijiSensei]

So with the arrival of baseball season in the US, it was time to rewatch Cross Game (for the fourth time, I believe). Watching it alongside the NCAA Basketball Tournament brought home the one-and-done aspect of the trek to Koushien, and apparently of the Tournament itself.

Mathematicians with a taste for baseball have addressed the question of how long a series must be to be fairly decisive. Most of these efforts suggested at least nine and maybe eleven games would be required to identify the better team. Single-elimination must put an enormous amount of pressure on these adolescents. A single late-game error could end their team's chance of advancement.

I still find Mizuki (the mountain-climbing cousin with the hots for Aoba) a pretty useless character, and the business with Akane seems pretty contrived. I also found Aoba's unrelenting negativity towards Kou pretty tiresome after a while.

Still this remains one of my all-time favorite shows.

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Yankees and Seattle seem like the frontrunners to me.

How about the Mariners actually make the playoffs at all? They haven't since blowing their 116 win season and wasting the careers of Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez, amongst others. Yankees - them and their absurd payroll advantage can get bent. I hope another underdog like Atlanta pulls off something against the odds. Or the Rays not wasting their window (because their stadium deal is an utter joke and that they are being forced to stay in a non-Tampa area that doesn't attend due to a jerk of a council is pathetic) or that Anaheim stops wasting Ohtani's and Trout's careers, but Arte Moreno is one of the worst meddling owners ever with his free agency whiffing and trying to rebrand Anaheim into LA.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I still find Mizuki (the mountain-climbing cousin with the hots for Aoba) a pretty useless character, and the business with Akane seems pretty contrived. I also found Aoba's unrelenting negativity towards Kou pretty tiresome after a while.

Still this remains one of my all-time favorite shows.

I gave this a shot a couple of months ago and I was very underwhelmed, dropping it after a few eps. And after looking at Touch for a bit and also dropping it, I have just accepted Adachi is very, very subjective. And that you really need to be emotional to appreciate it. Which I am not. Only baseball series I ever liked was One Outs - very adult and very reason/mental/psychological. But I guess most sports titles are middle/high school and very emotional, which is why I avoid them. Just not my thing.

[Guardian Enzo]

What does Major have to do with Adachi?

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

What does Major have to do with Adachi?

Meant to say Touch.