(L) Cross game

[ahmad]

I am liking this series a lot! I have to start reading the manga now since I can't wait 1 week for 1 episode

[DragoonKain3]

And risking derailing the thread again... (well sue me, I need to get more Cross Game fix since the manga won't continue until a month or so )

Originally Posted by golthin

I have always been against the trope that Hate leads to love from fictional stories. I have never seen this happen outside of hollywood and entertainment. In this case, I am hoping that the trope happens with Aoba and Kou.

Ding! Ding! Ding! And we have a winner!

Seriously now, 'classic tsundere' really is just another name for (or to be more precise, the 'more otaku' term for) the 'melting ice queen' or the 'bad boy with a heart of gold' tropes, all of which share the 'hate turns to love' story. And as most watchers who focus on romance would know, it is the prevailing trope in western romances.

I personally have no love for the trope, as my idea of ideal love would very much be how the typical childhood friend relationship is portrayed, where total understanding (sometimes to the point of being almost telepathic) forms the basis of that relationship. Of which, of course, Koh and Wakaba shared.

But with the absence of Wakaba, I'll take the next best thing... AobaXKoh. They might not share the connection Koh and Wakaba had, but at least Aoba and Koh show potential to have it. Even this very episode hammered to your head the idea that Aoba and Koh are very similar in many ways; that despite their animosity to each other, the two still share a sense of deeper understanding of the other that no one else has of them, ironically enough.

[monir]

Dog tired, but still didn't forget it's Sunday, so couldn't resist watching the episode by fighting off sleep. As much as I was bracing for the sports aspect of the show, I've to admit it wasn't all that bad. So far the very simple strategy is working out, but Koh has ways to go before he starts showing that he can appreciate the rigors and the passion of sports such as baseball. He gave into his emotion a couple of times, but also showed some brains with Azuma at bats. Control needs more working. So is his stamina. 3 innings deep and he is already showing signs of fatigue. Then again, someone who really hasn't been in any competition cannot really appreciate the fact how the mind can bring the body down just from the sensory overload from the mix of anticipation, excitement, and exhilaration that every individual goes through in team sports. Koh will get used to it. Plus, he is pretty tenacious as has been already established. Some screens for episode 9:



Off to bed.

[BetoJR]

Just a heads up, monir: the screens you posted take us to episode 7 scenes...

And who's the dude in the last screen?

[Free]

That's a girl. >_>_>

At the end of every episode, they have a little segment called Dreaming of Aoba or something, where they interview a female high/middle school baseball player.

PS. The sub is already out. <_<_<

[BetoJR]

Oh, simply watching the subbed episodes, I had no idea about that. Thanks for the info!

[DragoonKain3]

Damn, and here I thought they were going to finish the baseball game this episode. Oh well, I guess 2-3 epsiodes per major baseball game isn't that bad. At that rate though, they probably will need another 50 episode season to finish off the series. Not that that's a bad thing, per se... it's just that I only have a passing interest in baseball (I know, for example, that the Red Sox just massacred the Blue Jays today ) and full time interest in romance (duh, shipper much?), so I personally want them to cut lean on the baseball. XD

Oh well, at least it isn't as long as I remember some of the games in Touch lol.

[ragnarokr]

I'm not very fond of the baseball parts too, but there were some games in Touch and in Major that made me root for them, it was really crazy.

[MeoTwister5]

Watching Kou pwn himself a few nubs was awesome, and to think I hate baseball.

Still, I won't be satisfied until he strikes Azusa out in 1-2-3. The next episode title suggests Kou's going to get really serious.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Watching Kou pwn himself a few nubs was awesome, and to think I hate baseball.

I am not a big sports fan but it is more fun to watch when you get to see the characters develop and care about them outside the game.

[Rarity]

They interviewed a girl playing baseball in High School? Dramatic license aside, I found the "9th grade girl plays baseball" part of the story entirely implausible. Just as I no longer have my angelic choirboy's singing voice and now tend toward the baritone, it would be tough in the extreme for Aoba's post-pubescent body to pitch a baseball with any velocity. We had a 10 year-old girl on our little league team who was a pretty darn good player. But I saw her 4 years later and she could hardly throw a baseball. Oh well, maybe Aoba has specially flexible joints or whatever.

In any event, even though this is a drama with a side of baseball, thanks to Central Anime for translating the baseball terminology correctly.

Points of information:

(1) Do they use soft baseballs in junior high in Japan? Kou acted surprised about the hardball when he started throwing, which didn't make sense to me;

(2) I was surprised to see Aoba without a bag of ice on her arm after throwing hard in practice. Is this method of recovery not used in Japan?

[Guardian Enzo]

It's always interesting to see how various baseball anime portray the "battle" eps in ways that reflect their overall character. Major - GAR-fests of great drama and individual heroism. One Outs? Preposterous Oceans 11-level scheming and long expository speeches. OoFuri - high on emotion and psychology. And Cross Game? Just like the series as a whole, unpretentious, straightforward and matter-of-fact. No crescendos of dramatic music or superhuman feats - just baseball.

[Menshi]

Hopefully Ep. 9 was animated by an outsourced studio or something otherwise this will be a painful series to stick with.

I know the manga's art isn't that great which doesn't give them much to work with. But everything in ep. 9's game looked so awkward if I knew how to make gif's I'd be laughing over and over at the fat 3rd baseman catching the ball while falling by being turned 90 degree's without blinking or any movement.

[Free]

Nothing new. There has been only one documented case of blinking in the entire series. :P

[golthin]

Originally Posted by Free

Nothing new. There has been only one documented case of blinking in the entire series. :P

blinking is very rare in anime, kyoani is one of the few studios that always has blinking.

[BetoJR]

Can't really find much to fault in the animation of any of the nine episodes so far, myself. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? For one, I thought Nakanishi's catch was supposed to be weird like that...

[velvet]

Can't hold back my big grin when Kou scored a homerun, and Nakanishi was going "A-are?"

And my smile just gets even wider when I heard the preview "I figured it out, Akaishi.. Why this is so tiring."

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

Can't really find much to fault in the animation of any of the nine episodes so far, myself. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? For one, I thought Nakanishi's catch was supposed to be weird like that...

I haven't noticed either but then again I am just enjoying the story so much that maybe I am just not paying attention.

[monir]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

Just a heads up, monir: the screens you posted take us to episode 7 scenes...

I somehow clicked on the wrong thumbnail when browsing for the upload. I thought I deleted ep 7 thumbs. Whoops. Two days late but, fixed!

[Menshi]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

Can't really find much to fault in the animation of any of the nine episodes so far, myself. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? For one, I thought Nakanishi's catch was supposed to be weird like that...

I'm probably just spoiled having watched all 5 seasons of Major in the past month, but so far Cross Game is the worst animated sports anime I've ever seen nothing feels or looks impressive even home runs.