(L) Cross game

[DragoZERO]

I just started this one. Watched the first 12 episodes Friday night (couldn't stop). But that first episode...I was spoiled about it being sad but I had no idea who or how. :'(

Anyway, I'll return after I finish the series, I really don't want to be spoiled.

[Rednanaki]

Put this off until right before finals. Note: bad idea watching 50 eps in 4 days during exam period.

Don't regret it one bit. I loved all the characters and following them through 4-ish years of their life (besides ep1)

[Willen]

Viz has shot up to number 1 on my anime company ranking.

I hope this means that there's a possibility for a R1 DVD release. I really want to own a copy of this series without importing expensive R2 DVDs.

And I guess this is a good excuse to watch Cross Game again.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

I just started this one. Watched the first 12 episodes Friday night (couldn't stop). But that first episode...I was spoiled about it being sad but I had no idea who or how. :'(

Anyway, I'll return after I finish the series, I really don't want to be spoiled.

It was exactly the same for me. I knew the first episode was sad but I had no idea this is what would happen.... it hit me pretty hard.

[MeoTwister5]

This should help give the series more exposure. God knows it deserves more attention.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

This should help give the series more exposure. God knows it deserves more attention.

I've already heard from a lot of people who haven't seen the show yet are planning to watch the Viz stream, so it's working!

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Willen

Viz has shot up to number 1 on my anime company ranking.

Until they release the second boxset of Monster, the jury is still out on Viz for me.

[MeoTwister5]

May God bless Viz. Seriously. Even if they are cutting staff.

[Guardian Enzo]

Previews of the translated manga:

http://www.shonensunday.com/series/c...me/index.shtml

[Guardian Enzo]

To revive this thread, if I may...

I'm through 16 eps in my second viewing and 16 was an important one, in so many ways. First, of course, it introduced the epic Nomo drawing song. As if that weren't enough, it's the ep where Kou's true baseball skills come to the fore, Aoba shows the first signs of answering her question ("That's what I want to know, too") from the end of the nearly as epic 15, and the story materially changes gears.

If the New Year's ep was the one that tipped me off that there was greatness here, 16 confirmed it. 15 was the perfect lead-in - Azuma's GAR showing itself with the punching of the lampost, the superb Kou/Aoba interplay. 16 was a great baseball episode - the game itself was inspiring, showing for the first time that CG was capable of being a great sports anime. It showed us Azuma's insight in its clearest detail yet. Kou fully revealed himself for the giant soul he is - unflappable, sardonic, caring, and ultimately a stud when under huge game pressure. And Aoba took a big step in the journey towards a new understanding of the boy she thought she knew, who knows her better than she knows herself.

And of course, we had the Nomo drawing song.

[SeijiSensei]

I think we should take up a collection and buy Enzo a Seishuu uniform for Christmas!

BTW, Daisuke pitches for us (umm, the Red Sox, in case that wasn't obvious from my current avatar) against Cleveland tonight. Wonder if we'll get the one-hit game from a few starts back, or the nine-walk game he pitched immediately afterwards. He really is an enigma and has been, more or less, since he threw out his arm defeating South Korea (who else?) in the 2009 "World Baseball Classic."

My daughter took an Asian cultures class in her high school. Each of them had to report on an aspect of popular culture in an Asian country. Two of her classmates gave reports on Koshien, and neither of them, as far as we know, ever watched Cross Game. (She reported on Japanese robots and androids.)

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I think we should take up a collection and buy Enzo a Seishuu uniform for Christmas!

Hey i'd also love one.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I think we should take up a collection and buy Enzo a Seishuu uniform for Christmas!

I wholeheartedly second this entirely logical and praiseworthy suggestion.

The question is - where? I suspect such a thing would have to be made from scratch - I certainly saw no sign of any Adachi-themed merchandise (other than manga, of course) anywhere in Japan. FTR, I would happily settle for a Meisei jersey as well - but the closest I could find was Nishiura socks. Frankly, it's just not the same...

[Guardian Enzo]

In what must surely be be one of the seven signs, I've actually started a blog. I only mention this here because my initial post is a personal tribute to Cross Game...

http://lostinamerica-deeg.blogspot.com/

[Guardian Enzo]

As I re-watch the eps, I usually scroll back through the pages here to see what the reaction was. And 21 was clearly a very important episode. The blush, the cafe scene between Kou and Ichi-nee ("Wakaba wouldn't mind"), the catch-ball with Kou and Tsukishima-san, the "date" with Mizuki ending with Aoba cheering up after arguing with Kou. Important happenings. And in looking at the posts here, it appears to have been the episode where this board really took off. Several pages of posts, the first real-sense that this was something truly worthy of high praise and that this was a special community of fans. And that's so very Adachi - not all that much really happened, so that a casual viewer might wonder what all the fuss what about. Yet for those already hooked in, every small moment was an epic.

[Guardian Enzo]

Having just re-watched 29 (conclusion of the first Ryou match) I must, once again, bow down to Adachi's genius. Obviously, the episode was note-perfect from the start - the way the match ended, the group hug on the bus, Ichi-nee's advice to Aoba, and Aoba's smile. But where hindsight really lends perspective is with the Akane twist. I was so skeptical at the time - so worried about what it meant for the story. But like all else about this series, it was genius - right down to the time it was introduced, at the wind-down from one of the dramatic highs of both the baseball and relationship storylines. We can clearly see the evolution in Kou and Aoba's relationship at long last, like an oasis after days in the desert - and boom! There she is. For all my doubts at the time, Akane was introduced at the perfect time and was the perfect device to shed more light into the souls of the main characters.

I apologize, Mitsuru-sama. I will never question you again.

[hoang24]

Well, I just finished watching all 50 episodes of Cross Game in 3 days, and boy - I can honestly say I've never enjoyed an anime before involving spots. The first episode hooked me right into the show, with the first ED playing at the perfect moment, and as the series progressed, the relationship between the characters, especially Kou and Aoba really amazed me. Overall, I'll give the series 9.5/10.

And I'd also like to thank several people on the forums for advertising CG through their avatars and sigs. After seeing countless suggestions for CG, I decided to wiki it. At first I was skeptical about watching a baseball anime, but after reading Enzo's post about CG in his blog, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try the first episode. And as I said, that episode BLEW me away.

GREAT SERIES!

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by hoang24

Well, I just finished watching all 50 episodes of Cross Game in 3 days, and boy - I can honestly say I've never enjoyed an anime before involving spots. The first episode hooked me right into the show, with the first ED playing at the perfect moment, and as the series progressed, the relationship between the characters, especially Kou and Aoba really amazed me. Overall, I'll give the series 9.5/10.

And I'd also like to thank several people on the forums for advertising CG through their avatars and sigs. After seeing countless suggestions for CG, I decided to wiki it. At first I was skeptical about watching a baseball anime, but after reading Enzo's post about CG in his blog, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try the first episode. And as I said, that episode BLEW me away.

GREAT SERIES!

Oh Gawd - why don't I just go live in a cave somewhere now, because this is probably the high point for me...

Great to hear you loved the show - and I'm awfully glad to have played a small part in that. The avatars and sigs seem to have made exactly the impact we all hoped they would, too.

[hoang24]

I re-watched the first episode again as a conclusion to the series, but after watching it.... I feel like watching the entire series again

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by hoang24

I re-watched the first episode again as a conclusion to the series, but after watching it.... I feel like watching the entire series again

You are now therefore obligated to likewise advertise the series.