(L) Cross game

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by humbug23

I haven't watched a single episode of this show, but I'd like to know whether does one need to be knowledgeable of the rules of baseball in order to enjoy it?

Not in my opinion. The baseball is secondary to the relationship drama, and it's not that geeky about the baseball side of things.

[golthin]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Not in my opinion. The baseball is secondary to the relationship drama, and it's not that geeky about the baseball side of things.

the baseball only helps move the plotline, unlike most baseball or sports manga where the romance or comedy is just used to move the plot. An example is Major and eyeshield where all the other things outside of the sport is only used to move the plotline.

[Guardian Enzo]

Wholly disagree with that analysis of Major. Baseball is more critical to the plot than with CG, but it's still a character-driven story first.

[golthin]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Wholly disagree with that analysis of Major. Baseball is more critical to the plot than with CG, but it's still a character-driven story first.

lets put it this way, if you take the sport out of CG, you still have a story. If you take the sport out of Major or eyeshield, you wouldn't have a story.

[BetoJR]

Albeit, with that change, CG's story would be missing a very crucial plot device, wouldn't it?

[golthin]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

Albeit, with that change, CG's story would be missing a very crucial plot device, wouldn't it?

I am not trying to put down the sport side of CG, I am just saying that it is not what make the manga and anime be so good. I liked Major first and second season a lot because even though it was about baseball it had a very nice and warming story. the latest seasons have been more baseball centered and thus why I lost interest, the same thing with eyeshield. I kind of lost interest in both series because they bagan to be more sport intensive. I might lose interest in the CG's manga and Anime if the same thing happen. Just going by Adachi previous works, he seems to be able to keep a balance between the Drama, comedy, romance and sport in his works that meets my expectations.

[Sackett]

Man... Kou still has it bad...

I got to get a girl to watch this series with... they are just going to go all gooey eyed over Kou's devotion.

[monir]

The show is back and so am I. Episode 12 was wonderful. Several things struck a chord about the episode:

- Did Kou sort of indicated that this might be the last summer he would play baseball? Earlier in their running, Kou observed that the captain of the middle-school baseball working so hard because it's the last time she will be with the team before going to High School. And since girls can't play in any official matches, her baseball carrier is pretty much over. Is Kou indicating that he won't play either after this summer because Aoba won't be able to, someone who loves baseball a lot more than he ever did?

- Kou said to Midori that she should go take the bus to that other batting center to practice against 130 kph ball since she is bent on having a match against Aoba. Wait just a minute. Is he saying....... ? *I'll be branded as a sexist if I finish this question*

- 16th birthday is when Kou gets the kettle. 20th birthday is when he gets the ring. Will he need to buy a second one, or that one will suffice? lol... I'm wayyyyyyyy ahead of myself.

Enjoyed the episode very much for a change.

[DragoonKain3]

Just wondering, how is it sexist with what Kou is implying to Midori when he said she needs to use a 130 kph batting centre? All he's implying is that Aoba pitches at around that speed, so if Midori wants to have a chance, she needs to practice up to that much.

Or is 130 kph/80 mph really THAT hard for females to reach? I dunno, since I actually never seen a female hardball team in my area lol. XD

Originally Posted by Sackett

I got to get a girl to watch this series with... they are just going to go all gooey eyed over Kou's devotion.

Heck, I myself still get gooey eyed every time Adachi shows this in the manga. It's this particular trait I love about Kou the most. So much so that I actually want him to move on already... he's suffered enough, and no amount of loving would bring her back from the dead.




As for the new episode... I don't remember Midori in the manga. Is she an anime only character? Because, well, it's very rare for me to forget a girl who trips my osana-najimi radar, even of the itoko kind (<3 Sakura Yoshino).

In any case, now I can't help but root for MidoriXKeiichirou now, though it does feel weird not calling him Senda lol.

[monir]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Just wondering, how is it sexist .....

Or is 130 kph/80 mph really THAT hard for females to reach? I dunno, since I actually never seen a female hardball team in my area lol. XD

Ahem.... no comment.

In any case, now I can't help but root for MidoriXKeiichirou now, though it does feel weird not calling him Senda lol.

I've been rooting for them too since I've finished watching the epiosde. Yeap, it amounts to about 1 and half hour of consecutive rooting. If Midori is indeed an anime-original, her introduction to the story was seamlessly done. There was no gaffe to indicate something was amiss about the story for any viewers who have been following the anime only. Once again, the anime team has done a fabulous job with the adaptation.

[Willen]

Originally Posted by monir

The show is back and so am I. Episode 12 was wonderful. Several things struck a chord about the episode:

- Did Kou sort of indicated that this might be the last summer he would play baseball? Earlier in their running, Kou observed that the captain of the middle-school baseball working so hard because it's the last time she will be with the team before going to High School. And since girls can't play in any official matches, her baseball carrier is pretty much over. Is Kou indicating that he won't play either after this summer because Aoba won't be able to, someone who loves baseball a lot more than he ever did?

Didn't you get the indication that as long as the sunglasses coach is at Seishuu, the prefab team will never play an official game and will probably be disbanded eventually? It's probably worse for Aoba since another coach might let her be on the team playing in practices, he might not since he already used her and tossed her aside.

- Kou said to Midori that she should go take the bus to that other batting center to practice against 130 kph ball since she is bent on having a match against Aoba. Wait just a minute. Is he saying....... ? *I'll be branded as a sexist if I finish this question*

I took it to mean that he's saying to Midori that she'd have to be able to hit a 130 kph fastball since Aoba pitches at least that fast. I'm assuming that Aoba wouldn't throw breaking balls. Midori might be as good as or better than most of the guys on the prefab team as a batter. But Aoba pitched a shutout against a middle high boy's team and she was going easy on them.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Willen

Didn't you get the indication that as long as the sunglasses coach is at Seishuu, the prefab team will never play an official game and will probably be disbanded eventually? It's probably worse for Aoba since another coach might let her be on the team playing in practices, he might not since he already used her and tossed her aside.

From the context of the dialogue by Kou in two separate occasion (when he was running and when he "bumped" into Aoba to cause her arm render useless just when Midori came out to ask for her match), the coach's decision to whether the farm team gets to play or not has nothing to do with why Aoba can never play again. She is still a middle schooler after all. Once she starts high school next year, why would she want to practice with a high school team if she won't be able to even participate in any matches? At least, that was my line of thinking anyway to reach to such conclusion after listening to Kou's dialogue. Will need more episode to know for certain whether or not the story will follow any differently. The visual in the opening theme song indicates something is in the making for Aoba's talent as the series progresses.

I took it to mean that he's saying to Midori that she'd have to be able to hit a 130 kph fastball since Aoba pitches at least that fast. I'm assuming that Aoba wouldn't throw breaking balls. Midori might be as good as or better than most of the guys on the prefab team as a batter. But Aoba pitched a shutout against a middle high boy's team and she was going easy on them.

I like this explanation better. Btw, it wasn't a shut out because she was going easy on them.

[Willen]

Originally Posted by monir

From the context of the dialogue by Kou in two separate occasion (when he was running and when he "bumped" into Aoba to cause her arm render useless just when Midori came out to ask for her match), the coach's decision to whether the farm team gets to play or not has nothing to do with why Aoba can never play again. She is still a middle schooler after all. Once she starts high school next year, why would she want to practice with a high school team if she won't be able to even participate in any matches? At least, that was my line of thinking anyway to reach to such conclusion after listening to Kou's dialogue. Will need more episode to know for certain whether or not the story will follow any differently. The visual in the opening theme song indicates something is in the making for Aoba's talent as the series progresses.

I'm assuming that Aoba likes pitching enough that she'd be willing to be on the high school team to play in unofficial games and practice with the boys even though she wouldn't be able to play in regular games. It's interesting that they brought in the anime-original character Midori to bring up the question of why Aoba is playing on a middle high boy's baseball team when she could be going to a school with a girl's baseball team. It's pointed out that she's more a 'team player' than most. She was willing to be the practice pitcher for the prefab team in episode 6. In addition, she let them use the middle high field when the 1st and 2nd years had a school event. (More on this below.) Speculation on my part since I haven't read the manga, but I'd be shocked if she doesn't have a bigger role than manager for the team when she enters high school (it's pretty obvious that the prefab manager Hiroko is doing a pretty good job, unlike Risa who I don't think is gonna be sticking around). But anyway, this is talk of future events and they've only started playing summer practice games.

I like this explanation better. Btw, it wasn't a shut out because she was going easy on them.

Yeah, I should have said, "But Aoba pitched a shutout against a middle high boy's team, although it wasn't a no-hitter since she was going easy on them." to be more accurate. The fact that she allowed the other team to get some hits off her pitching so that her teammates could do some fielding is pretty impressive. She could have struck out all the batters (she got 12). Or walking the really good ones and striking out the rest.

[MeoTwister5]

With episode 12, Kou just climbed the GAR scale a few more notches.

[Theowne]

Wow, people sure do jump to conclusions. Aoba good pitcher = practice with faster machines = no sexism.

Good episode, not sure if I care that much about the new character but we'll see.

Nice to go back to slice of life after some heavy baseball episodes. The ending, oh the ending....

I don't know what it is about Kou. He has some traits of other characters in shows like these, but is also markedly different from them. Not sure if I could explain why.

[BetoJR]

It's quite hard to peg down the characters in this - even when compared to other Adachi works. It's kind of one of the perks, I guess, on top of a good story.

[DragoonKain3]

Originally Posted by Theowne

Wow, people sure do jump to conclusions. Aoba good pitcher = practice with faster machines = no sexism.

That's what I thought too, but I thought Monir was saying something else, and the only thing I could think of are physical body limitations.

To put this in perspective, real life major league baseball has the best fastballs topping at around 160 kph/100 mph. Kou basically implying Aoba is at 80% of 'pro level', and she acheiving this as a middle schooler, is no small feat indeed. Her being female might be the sexist thing, because of the fact that the average female has less muscle mass than the average male. (I personally think that is not sexist, as thinking otherwise is just being plain delusional) As such, throwing at 130 kph/80 mph might very well be the limit in real life for adult females, and thus Aoba reaching this at the middle school level would be a stretch.

But then again, what do I know? I actually never seen a female hardball team, let alone know the fastest fastballs one could expect a 'top ranked' female pitcher throw a hardball.

Not that I mind Aoba being 'larger than life', as she's supposed to be a baseball prodigy after all. I mean, its not only her, as Adachi has written just as big if not bigger 'exaggerations' for his male protagonists throughout his career. (But to be fair, Adachi was much more careful/smart by not ever even so much imply at what speed Aoba pitches at in the manga, so he dodged this issue quite nicely there)

[Guardian Enzo]

I definitely took it to mean, "Aoba throws at least 130 so if you want a match wiith her, these wimpy machines won't cut it."

Meo, Kou definitely is climbing the GAR-o-meter. He's a wonderful character - quite unconcerned with how anyone else perceives him and perfectly content to measure himself against himself. His devotion to Wakaba is fitting, though it is starting to feel a little painful - she certainly would have wanted him to move on by now.

[monir]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

That's what I thought too, but I thought Monir was saying something else, and the only thing I could think of are physical body limitations.

You are spot on! The rest of your post expands on the premises very nicely which coincides with my own thoughts. Will try to be a bit more clear in the future.

[musouka]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

But then again, what do I know? I actually never seen a female hardball team, let alone know the fastest fastballs one could expect a 'top ranked' female pitcher throw a hardball.

Wikipedia says (regarding women's softball): "During her softball career, Joyce's pitches were sometimes clocked at more than 116 mph (186 km/h). In exhibition games, she struck out Ted Williams at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, CT in 1961 (also during a brief stint in 1966) and Hank Aaron in 1978."

That's probably pretty unusual, but, yeah, Aoba is definitely not an impossible exaggeration.