|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent |
 Stretch
|
[series:4801#628] | ||||||
|
(Rent+ or Buy) (12 (all?) episodes watched): I thought I'd take my chances with a baseball anime and I was pleasantly surprised by what I got. This show has a mystery of sorts behind it and I suspect the main question will not be whether this team wins a championship but whether Kaname recovers from his amnesia. So, it looks like it will be about the characters rather than the game, which is always a good idea. At one point during episode one I wrote in my notes "I'm liking it". The jokes are fairly funny and I wonder where the plot will go. Surely Kaname won't just snap out of his amnesia overnight. In episode two we learn that Taro wasn't the only player who came to Kotesashi to get away from the Battery and baseball in general. Two excellent players turn up, and while for now they refuse to join the team they obviously will eventually. You sort of wonder, if they were so good how did the Battery break their devotion to the game so thoroughly? But whatever. Kaname can be annoying, but maybe that was intended. Word starts to get around to other teams of where the two have wound up. An elite school, which had hoped to recruit Kiyomine and Kaname (and the other two stars) challenges this brand new team to its first game, and they accept. It seems that these four characters plus Taro will be the main cast of this show, and no more major ones will be introduced (except for opponents, that is). That encourages me, because I would always prefer a handful of noteworthy characters to countless unremarkable ones. And this show can be genuinely funny--like the tactics used to persuade the two reluctant aces to sign on. In episode four the practice game takes place and while there are clearly a couple of gems in this team the remainder are embarassingly amateur and inadequate. Kaname especially slips up, and Kiyomine cannot employ his full talent without a decent catcher. I felt that the exact theme of the show was becoming confused and difficult to discern--will it be about rehabilitating Kaname? Or building a respectable team? Or both. or something else? And I don't recall any major laughs in this episode. In episode five the boys deal with the consequences of their humiliating defeat. I liked this one somewhat better--the conclusions the various characters reached made a good deal of sense, at least when you accept that Kiyomine has such loyalty to Kaname that he would sacrifice his entire career for his friend's sake. Why they don't accept the enticing offers from the elite school was not entirely clear, but I felt the characters had become more complex and interesting. Indeed, in episode six we learn more about Todo (the yellow haired guy) and how he lost his nerve on the diamond after being humiliated by Kiyomine and Kaname, and for a time took out his frustrations in brawls with juvenile delinquents. Kind of disturbing. It doesn't make complete sense but at least we get to know him better. I burst out laughing at his little sister's reaction upon meeting his fellow players. In episode seven Todo explains that he's got the 'yips', that is, he has lost the ability to do something (throw the ball accurately from his shortstop position to first base) that used to be so easy that he gave it no thought. Kaname, being effectively a complete amateur, comes up with a strange suggestion that, lo and behold, seems to work. As Todo solves his problem Kaname is also re-learning how to play the game. The plot manages to remain fairly interesting, I thought. The team desperately needs a credible centerfielder, and in episode eight Kaname stumbles across Kazuki, a former player who now plays virtual baseball on his I-phone. Kazuki is persuaded to give 3D baseball another try, though exactly what convinced him wasn't clear to me. In episode nine Kazuki (IIRC) suggests that hypnotism be tried to revive Kaname's memories. It all seems like a joke until, lo and behold, Kaname seems to snap out of his amnesia and become the brilliant player he once was. I was intrigued by this unexpected turn of events--I had assumed he would relearn his skills but otherwise remain pretty much the same to the end. But it turns out that the change isn't permanent, and he may switch from 'Commander' to 'Hairy Nipples' mode at any moment (or vice cersa). We also get a look at Chihaya's backstory, which was interesting. Another practice game is scheduled with a prestigious team. Going into episode twelve I could only guess whether this would be the concluding episode or another season was in the works. Kaname is in an unstable condition, we just learned Chihaya's story, Kazuki hasn't gotten an episode about himself, and in general it was hard to see how one more episode could wrap everything up. Somewhat surprising, the game itself only occupied the first half of the episode and afterwards we get an alternately touching and confusing sermon about Kaname. It is hinted but not made clear what might have caused his amnesia: he felt guilty about all the boys whose dreams he and Kiyomine shattered. So, this is one of those shows that could end satisfactorily here or easily continue onwards. I hope it will be the latter, because Boukyaku Battery was one of my favorite shows of the Spring 2024 season. Last updated Monday, July 08 2024. Created Monday, April 15 2024. | ||||||||
