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Old 2010-01-11, 21:15   Link #2341
SeijiSensei
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That whole stalker thing was just, well, weird. Why didn't Aoba call the police? The way that part of the story ended was also weird. Next day there was no mention of him at all. Many things in CG don't always advance the plot, but this particular thread seemed a bit pointless, at least as of now.

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Originally Posted by Theowne View Post
is CG performing well enough to warrant a sequel?
Despite its obviously devoted fan base here on AS, Cross Game's viewing numbers in Japan are hardly astounding. It averaged about a two when last posted here (October). That puts it squarely in the middle of the pack. Lately it's been doing better, though, running in the 2.5-2.9 range. (And what are those kindergarteners sending in their drawings of Nomo doing up at 10 pm? C'mon, Japanese parents, put those kids to bed! ) This is a show where the demographic breakdown would be rather interesting I suspect.

On the other hand, the single for "Summer Rain" has done pretty well. According to these figures taken from Oricon, it was the seventh most popular anime-related CD in 2009; only CDs from One Piece, Bleach, K-On, and FMA: Brotherhood sold more copies than "Summer Rain."
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Old 2010-01-11, 21:24   Link #2342
Ansalem
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Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
(And what are those kindergarteners sending in their drawings of Nomo doing up at 10 pm? C'mon, Japanese parents, put those kids to bed! ) This is a show where the demographic breakdown would be rather interesting I suspect.
It airs 10 AM on Sunday, not 10 PM. ^^
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Old 2010-01-11, 22:14   Link #2343
Guardian Enzo
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I can't say any of the ED sequences has done as much for me as the first one, but this one wasn't bad. The last cut of Aoba and Azuma back to back was a bit unsettling, though.

This was a good episode (they all are) - Aoba's cuteness factor just grows and grows every week for me. I actually liked the scene where the guys were hanging out at Clover and the scouting sequence with Aoba and Azuma senior. But I confess, we're close enough to the finish now that any deviation from the central story is frustrating. Honestly, I care not at all for the stalker bit, women's national team or even Ichi-nee's courtship outside of how it impacts the central romantic plot. TBH, I don't even really care about Koshien all that much - it's the Kou/Aoba eps that I crave, and anything that doesn't drive the plot forward feels like wasted time.

One more quibble - does anyone else think the whole Akane thing is getting creepy? It's not enough that everyone keeps saying she looks exactly like Waka-chan, but we need to pair her off with Kou and dress her in an apron at Clover? This just isn't healthy, and I think Kou is the only one right now who realizes that.
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Old 2010-01-11, 22:31   Link #2344
SeijiSensei
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Originally Posted by Ansalem View Post
It airs 10 AM on Sunday, not 10 PM. ^^
Oh, you're right, of course. I should have known it would have 22:00 if it were a night-time series.

So why are those kids inside watching TV? They should be out playing baseball!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo
One more quibble - does anyone else think the whole Akane thing is getting creepy? It's not enough that everyone keeps saying she looks exactly like Waka-chan, but we need to pair her off with Kou and dress her in an apron at Clover? This just isn't healthy, and I think Kou is the only one right now who realizes that.
I'm especially concerned about Aoba's father, to be honest. He seems very caught up in the "my daughter has returned from the dead" feeling.
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Old 2010-01-11, 22:33   Link #2345
Theowne
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On that stalker thing....was it only me that initially thought this was meant as a joke about Akaishi following Akane / looking at her through the window and being mistaken for a stalker? So when there was an actual stalker, it just felt odd. And I agree the whole thread was kind of pointless.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SeijiSensei
And what are those kindergarteners sending in their drawings of Nomo doing up at 10 pm? C'mon, Japanese parents, put those kids to bed! ) This is a show where the demographic breakdown would be rather interesting I suspect.
As said above, its 10am. Which seems like a typical "family" slot. I do have a feeling that CG's viewers would skew young. It isn't an otaku show, it airs in a "family" slot, and the show is obviously being "marketed" towards youngsters (the Nomo song, super-easy quiz bits, etc).

Not that I think it's a "kids" show. But that's just my honest guess.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo
One more quibble - does anyone else think the whole Akane thing is getting creepy?
I don't know about creepy, but strange, yes. I mean, I get it. Akane looks like Wakaba. I feel like this idea is being forced too much, it feels rather manipulative at times.
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Old 2010-01-12, 01:09   Link #2346
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That whole stalker thing was just, well, weird. Why didn't Aoba call the police? The way that part of the story ended was also weird. Next day there was no mention of him at all. Many things in CG don't always advance the plot, but this particular thread seemed a bit pointless, at least as of now.
For me the whole point was showing how Aoba became genuinely worried about Kou's welfare and desperately tried to stop him when the later decided to confront the stalker.

Well in any case, after this people should be able to relax. We will enter the final climax initial stages pretty soon.

Quote:
One more quibble - does anyone else think the whole Akane thing is getting creepy? It's not enough that everyone keeps saying she looks exactly like Waka-chan, but we need to pair her off with Kou and dress her in an apron at Clover? This just isn't healthy, and I think Kou is the only one right now who realizes that.
Well, as you can see from the preview for next episode,

Spoiler for preview:
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Old 2010-01-12, 01:12   Link #2347
SeijiSensei
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Originally Posted by Theowne View Post
I do have a feeling that CG's viewers would skew young. It isn't an otaku show, it airs in a "family" slot, and the show is obviously being "marketed" towards youngsters (the Nomo song, super-easy quiz bits, etc).
It certainly seems that way to me as well. I'd be curious about how it breaks out between boys and girls. I'd imagine most young boys in this country would be turned off by the romance portion even if they like baseball. Is that not so true of Japanese boys? I laugh every time I see a reference in New Announced Anime to stories that are considered "shounen romances," unless shounen in this case includes teens and young adults. I'd love to hear the reactions in the executive suites in Hollywood or New York if someone came in to pitch a "boy's romance."

It looks to me more like it's targeted at the young ladies in the audience, particularly girls with an interest in baseball. One key advertiser, Wakasa (oops, almost spelt that "Wakaba" ), is a major sponsor of girls' baseball in Japan. In this clip Aoba "visits" a real-life team and pitches batting practice.
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Old 2010-01-12, 01:19   Link #2348
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Is that not so true of Japanese boys?
To some extent. Kimagure Orange Road and Love Hina were technically "shonen romances" for maybe a young teen crowd, but these were sort of wish-fulfillment, comedy-heavy type series, quite different from the way romance in Cross Game is depicted.
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Old 2010-01-12, 01:36   Link #2349
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Anyone think the "Akane said she likes..." from the PV is going to be...

Akaishi?
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Old 2010-01-12, 02:24   Link #2350
MeoTwister5
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Well to be honest my favorite scene of the episode is the end, between Junpei and Aoba. For what it's worth I find it almost diagnostic that at least for Aoba's side, the Yuuhei x Aoba ship isn't going to leaving port any time soon, if not cancelled at all. I'm already far into concluding that most of Kou's actions toward Akane are simply due to his nice nature and probably nothing else.

After simply seeing Aoba's face and demeanor light up at Kou's suggestion that she can figuratively borrow her body for Koshien, despite Junpei's prodding I'm almost fairly of what exactly she thinks of the Kou and Yuuhei comparison. At this point in the story, the only thing we need now is any indication of where Kou himself is leaning towards, and that in itself will finally put all worries to shame.

And yes, when these two finally kiss, it'llbe one of the most visually satisfying moments I've had in years.
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Old 2010-01-12, 05:50   Link #2351
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo View Post
One more quibble - does anyone else think the whole Akane thing is getting creepy? It's not enough that everyone keeps saying she looks exactly like Waka-chan, but we need to pair her off with Kou and dress her in an apron at Clover? This just isn't healthy, and I think Kou is the only one right now who realizes that.
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Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
I'm especially concerned about Aoba's father, to be honest. He seems very caught up in the "my daughter has returned from the dead" feeling.
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Originally Posted by Theowne View Post
I don't know about creepy, but strange, yes. I mean, I get it. Akane looks like Wakaba. I feel like this idea is being forced too much, it feels rather manipulative at times.
Oh, boys, I'm so in agreement with all of you. It also ticks me off that Akane's reaction to the whole thing - wich noone even tries to hide from her - is so benevolent: wouldn't anyone be at least disturbed at being continously compared to a dead person, as loveable as it may have been?

I really hope the comparison ceases soon, it is being dealt with in such an un-realistic way, IMO
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Old 2010-01-12, 09:48   Link #2352
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what a nice episode. Did Kou really liked Wakaba? I think so, because we see Wakaba telling Kou that "if a dog barked at Kou he'll run, but if a dog barked at her(wakaba) he'll protect her". There has to be some relationship between Kou and Wakaba for him to protect her even if he's scared. Akane and Aoba looks like they've become good friends, as they go shopping together. Aoba gets kinda pissed when all the attention is upon Akane and that her dad even said she's like a sister or something but Aoba than retaliate that but she's not. This shows that she still loves Wakaba and that no one not even someone that looks and acts exactly like Wakaba can replace her.
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Old 2010-01-12, 10:04   Link #2353
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Quote:
Did Kou really liked Wakaba?
To be honest I think this had been established a while back
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Old 2010-01-12, 11:42   Link #2354
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Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo View Post
Anyone think the "Akane said she likes..." from the PV is going to be...

Akaishi?
Spoiler:

Guys, what have I been saying numerous times?
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Old 2010-01-12, 13:11   Link #2355
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Yeah. We all know she likes Aoba. It's so obvious.
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Old 2010-01-12, 14:57   Link #2356
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THANK YOU and AMEN to the "Awww Akane is so much like Wakabe <3" creepiness. I already thought I'm just being heartless again, because I find the comparison very unsettling and not sweet at all.
Yes, it's heartwarming that Wakabe still means so much to everyone ... but that it's heartwarming to Akane too .. and the reactions of (almost) everyone else ... that's just not right. I also think it's rather tactless of Akane to pick the job at the clover. She's way to comfortable with playing replacement. The only one's behaving comprehensible are Aoba and Kou, who look at her the same way often. Not in astonished wonder like Akaishi or her father.

I like the new ending <.< Not particulary the slideshow, but the music is nice. Imo way better then the ending(s) before. Which none I can recall now ... that's how much I liked them
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Old 2010-01-12, 15:07   Link #2357
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Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
It certainly seems that way to me as well. I'd be curious about how it breaks out between boys and girls. I'd imagine most young boys in this country would be turned off by the romance portion even if they like baseball. Is that not so true of Japanese boys? I laugh every time I see a reference in New Announced Anime to stories that are considered "shounen romances," unless shounen in this case includes teens and young adults. I'd love to hear the reactions in the executive suites in Hollywood or New York if someone came in to pitch a "boy's romance."
I think that is mostly due to the US entertainment industry having little to no experience with good ones. In shounen romance, the girl likes a nice boy for no obvious reason and the boy is clueless and/or bewildered, but out of this he gets pushed into doing something great.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
It looks to me more like it's targeted at the young ladies in the audience, particularly girls with an interest in baseball. One key advertiser, Wakasa (oops, almost spelt that "Wakaba" ), is a major sponsor of girls' baseball in Japan. In this clip Aoba "visits" a real-life team and pitches batting practice.
It is certainly being used as a vehicle for promoting girls' baseball, but in a shoujo series the boy would not be much like Koh or Tatsuya.
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Old 2010-01-12, 18:28   Link #2358
Proto
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I like the new ending <.< Not particulary the slideshow, but the music is nice. Imo way better then the ending(s) before. Which none I can recall now ... that's how much I liked them
Huh? Not even the first one? That's practically Cross Game's theme song till the middle point of the series.

Anyway, while some people in the show (and even some posters) are sometimes amazed and unsettled by Akane's resemblance to Wakaba, we have to remember that there are some people that are much more like Wakaba personality wise than Akane will ever be. A poster in this thread made an interesting comparison of how Akane's and Wakaba's VA seemed to have perfectly catched the gist of the stark difference in personalities between the two when comparing the inflection she gave to the voice of the two characters.

edit: Heck, compare them side by side at 00:17:00 in the subsmith subs. That speaks loads about the differences between Wakaba and Akane.

Last edited by Proto; 2010-01-12 at 19:16.
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Old 2010-01-13, 08:27   Link #2359
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Well, we - the watchers - are probably hardly mistaken. The unsettling point is that the folks in the show do not seem to realize the difference between the two as well as we do
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Old 2010-01-13, 09:02   Link #2360
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I find it amusing at most that people are passing off the Akaishi x Akane as a possible paring when Akane herself said Akaishi looks like her grandpa but its probably more to the fact that people want to see Kou end up with Aoba and any obstacle is showing the ugliest of humanity.

If the anime presented a view of a no Aoba scenario people would cheer for akane if her involvement came earlier in the series. The second thing that irritates me is when people treat an anime OP/ED as canon..
I admit I support Akane and kou together on the reason that her feelings are genuine as in she’s is acting like Akane who grew up to be Akane there is nothing calculating in her endevour. The only crime people are pushing are the fact they look the same.
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