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Ace of the Diamond: Episodes 64-66 FULL LENGTH Reaction! (Patreon)

Published:
2021-10-27 13:01:03
Edited:
2023-01-31 13:31:38
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Content

With the aftermath of their loss to Inashiro, our team faces the task of rebuilding! A new captain is named...and has a LOT of work ahead of them; there is a desperation with the first and second years to fill in the now-open roster, as well as for our current, remaining members to step up their game for the future sake of the team!

Speaking of for the sake of the team, Coach Kataoka just drops a BOMBSHELL on us the audience...the team doesn't know it, yet, but I'm already dreading if they find out. And in the midst of the third years' regrets and Inashiro's fame and glory at nationals...there's an "outsider" joining the team that is certainly going to shake things up!

LINK: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/Czj2aL7LYjSWZykCPvaSNC?

This set of episodes was FANTASTIC! Thank you for watching with me and for the support!

Files

Ace of the Diamond: Episodes 64-66 Reaction! #KeepKataoka!

Link to Reaction (Starts at 9:20): https://share.vidyard.com/watch/Czj2aL7LYjSWZykCPvaSNC? With the aftermath of their loss to Inashiro, our team faces the task of rebuilding! A new captain is named...and has a LOT of work ahead of them; there is a desperation with the first and second years to fill in the now-open roster, as well as for our current, remaining members to step up their game for the future sake of the team! Speaking of for the sake of the team, Coach Kataoka just drops a BOMBSHELL on us the audience...the team doesn't know it, yet, but I'm already dreading if they find out. And in the midst of the third years' regrets and Inashiro's fame and glory at nationals...there's an "outsider" joining the team that is certainly going to shake things up! Thank you for watching with me and for all the support! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RomaniaBlack My Anime: https://myanimelist.net/profile/RomaniaBlack Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RomaniaBlack You can mail me a letter or anything (except food, please) at this address: Romania Black PO Box 768 Harrisburg, IL 62946 USA

Comments

Melanie Marie (edited)

Comment edits

2021-11-14 19:37:18 I understand that the Coach feels guilty and disheartened that he hasn’t managed to get Seido to Nationals, especially with this past team who he grew attached to so much BUT, it would be crushing for a team to see their Coach give up. I imagine that, for them, it would feel like their Coach has stopped believing in them. Miyuki as Captain will be interesting. Yes, it would be amazing to have a leader that leads the pitchers and fielders as the main catcher, leads the batters as the Cleanup and leads the whole team as Captain like Harada in Inashiro. BUT, like you have mentioned, Miyuki is NOT the best at communicating. And, like Zono and Miyauchi said, Miyuki does not know how to relate with players who struggle. He has always been confident in his plays and has always been at the top of every team he has played in. Unlike Yuki, who gained the respect of the team by working his ass off to become the monster that he is, Miyuki is a true genius. So he might find it hard to raise the morale for players like Kawakami that struggle with self confidence. I also noticed a difference between Furuya & Sawamura in these episodes. Furuya has identified his weaknesses: stamina & control and is working hard to overcome them. On the other hand, even though Miyuki tells him his control still sucks, Sawamura seems to be doing the same he has always done instead of looking for ways to improve. Plus, it seems like there’s some indecision over why should he want to win and go to Nationals. During the Inashiro match, he was perplexed as to why the Inashiro players were fighting SO hard. He didn’t understand the importance of Nationals. Hopefully, Jun speech helps him get motivated to make Nationals his goal and he starts looking for ways to improve too Jun crushes me in that episode! I truly feel like he was the one that wanted to go to Nationals the most and it’s so heartbreaking to see his state of mind after the loss. And it sucks that, since he doesn’t live at the dorms, Yuki doesn’t have the other third years around to support him nor the other third years have the captain around to help them. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but Tojo was the pitcher that the third years destroyed at the beginning of the anime in the 3th vs 1th year match. He went to Nationals during Middle School where his team was one of the best four. And thus, when he got to Seido, high expectations were put on him as a pitcher which he, sadly, couldn’t rise up to. He was used as an example of the concept that how great a player is in Middle School has no impact on who would make the team during High School. Also, he and Kanemaru (the one that said Sawamoron 😂) went to the same Middle School.
2021-10-27 23:04:15 I understand that the Coach feels guilty and disheartened that he hasn’t managed to get Seido to Nationals, especially with this past team who he grew attached to so much BUT, it would be crushing for a team to see their Coach give up. I imagine that, for them, it would feel like their Coach has stopped believing in them. Miyuki as Captain will be interesting. Yes, it would be amazing to have a leader that leads the pitchers and fielders as the main catcher, leads the batters as the Cleanup and leads the whole team as Captain like Harada in Inashiro. BUT, like you have mentioned, Miyuki is NOT the best at communicating. And, like Zono and Miyauchi said, Miyuki does not know how to relate with players who struggle. He has always been confident in his plays and has always been at the top of every team he has played in. Unlike Yuki, who gained the respect of the team by working his ass off to become the monster that he is, Miyuki is a true genius. So he might find it hard to raise the morale for players like Kawakami that struggle with self confidence. I also noticed a difference between Furuya & Sawamura in these episodes. Furuya has identified his weaknesses: stamina & control and is working hard to overcome them. On the other hand, even though Miyuki tells him his control still sucks, Sawamura seems to be doing the same he has always done instead of looking for ways to improve. Plus, it seems like there’s some indecision over why should he want to win and go to Nationals. During the Inashiro match, he was perplexed as to why the Inashiro players were fighting SO hard. He didn’t understand the importance of Nationals. Hopefully, Jun speech helps him get motivated to make Nationals his goal and he starts looking for ways to improve too Jun crushes me in that episode! I truly feel like he was the one that wanted to go to Nationals the most and it’s so heartbreaking to see his state of mind after the loss. And it sucks that, since he doesn’t live at the dorms, Yuki doesn’t have the other third years around to support him nor the other third years have the captain around to help them. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but Tojo was the pitcher that the third years destroyed at the beginning of the anime in the 3th vs 1th year match. He went to Nationals during Middle School where his team was one of the best four. And thus, when he got to Seido, high expectations were put on him as a pitcher which he, sadly, couldn’t rise up to. He was used as an example of the concept that how great a player is in Middle School has no impact on who would make the team during High School. Also, he and Kanemaru (the one that said Sawamoron 😂) went to the same Middle School.

I understand that the Coach feels guilty and disheartened that he hasn’t managed to get Seido to Nationals, especially with this past team who he grew attached to so much BUT, it would be crushing for a team to see their Coach give up. I imagine that, for them, it would feel like their Coach has stopped believing in them. Miyuki as Captain will be interesting. Yes, it would be amazing to have a leader that leads the pitchers and fielders as the main catcher, leads the batters as the Cleanup and leads the whole team as Captain like Harada in Inashiro. BUT, like you have mentioned, Miyuki is NOT the best at communicating. And, like Zono and Miyauchi said, Miyuki does not know how to relate with players who struggle. He has always been confident in his plays and has always been at the top of every team he has played in. Unlike Yuki, who gained the respect of the team by working his ass off to become the monster that he is, Miyuki is a true genius. So he might find it hard to raise the morale for players like Kawakami that struggle with self confidence. I also noticed a difference between Furuya & Sawamura in these episodes. Furuya has identified his weaknesses: stamina & control and is working hard to overcome them. On the other hand, even though Miyuki tells him his control still sucks, Sawamura seems to be doing the same he has always done instead of looking for ways to improve. Plus, it seems like there’s some indecision over why should he want to win and go to Nationals. During the Inashiro match, he was perplexed as to why the Inashiro players were fighting SO hard. He didn’t understand the importance of Nationals. Hopefully, Jun speech helps him get motivated to make Nationals his goal and he starts looking for ways to improve too Jun crushes me in that episode! I truly feel like he was the one that wanted to go to Nationals the most and it’s so heartbreaking to see his state of mind after the loss. And it sucks that, since he doesn’t live at the dorms, Yuki doesn’t have the other third years around to support him nor the other third years have the captain around to help them. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but Tojo was the pitcher that the third years destroyed at the beginning of the anime in the 3th vs 1th year match. He went to Nationals during Middle School where his team was one of the best four. And thus, when he got to Seido, high expectations were put on him as a pitcher which he, sadly, couldn’t rise up to. He was used as an example of the concept that how great a player is in Middle School has no impact on who would make the team during High School. Also, he and Kanemaru (the one that said Sawamoron 😂) went to the same Middle School.

Alien

One of my favorite parts here is what Zono told Haruichi. I love how you put it, players like Haruichi, Sawamura and Nori have the privilege to sit around and sulk. Meanwhile, there’s an intense fight going on for positions on the new team already. 59 members fighting for 20 spots on the roster! Zono represents the majority on a team like Seidou. They strive to make second string their first year and first string their second. Many won’t get to play in a single official game their entire two and a half years (ie. third years Kataoka gave a speech to after Sawamura/Haruichi made it onto the summer roster). The slight animosity that older players have towards younger ones who make the roster before them, and even between peers, is unreasonable but entirely understandable and I like how AOD shows that team sports aren’t completely power of friendship, sunshine and rainbows. It’s crazy because we saw how hard Sawamura had to work just to be allowed to pitch, but he’s one of the very few who made it onto the roster in his first season and on top of that, got to play in most of the games. Furuya made it even earlier! Of course the other pitchers like Nori and Toujou feel disheartened watching them continuously sprint forward. I also gave Nori a hard time my first watch because he isn’t very reliable, but thinking about his situation makes me feel for him a lot more and want to root for him to improve. Onto our new captain: I love Miyuki as a character. He’s talented, smart, driven, resilient, fiercely competitive and self-sufficient, but like Miyauchi pointed out, he subconsciously expects the same strength from his peers, and that’s irrational and comes across as cold and aloof. I think that’s why he appreciates the similarly headstrong first year pitchers but has a harder time connecting to Tanba/Nori who are more reserved and insecure. Zono’s concerns about Miyuki being unable to relate to most of the team are well-founded. But like you said, because he’s not perfect for the captain role, it won’t be easy and he’ll be forced to work on his weaknesses. He’s already trying by the end of these episodes with Nori in his own way lol. I’d argue he wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t captain and Miyauchi didn’t tell him it’s part of his responsibilities now. Miyuki’s the most “imperfect” captain in sports anime I’ve seen, but it’s so interesting seeing someone like him grow into the role. I found Sawamura’s thoughts throughout these episodes and his conversation with Jun incredibly interesting. He told his friends that he wasn’t thinking about nationals and just wanted to play more with this team and we see here that he was completely honest. Unlike the others, I think he’s not as much upset about not making it to nationals as he is about the previous team losing and dissolving. He respected the third years so much and still believes they are just as good as Inashiro. That’s how Sawamura’s always been, he only played baseball to have fun with his friends and while meeting Miyuki made him want to challenge himself as a pitcher at a high level, I’d say he was still transitioning into the mindset of a “serious” baseball player. It’s always nice to dive into Sawamura’s thoughts and I think his confusion and contemplation about why players want to make it to nationals so badly, what makes nationals special, what the mound is like there, etc. is great development, and watching Mei’s performance along with what Jun told him has made him start truly wanting to pitch on the Koshien mound. It’s a nice concrete goal to work towards instead of being ace of aces king of ace hahahaha. As for the ace position, I personally think it should be based on performance. Furuya, despite his stamina and control issues, is currently the most dominant pitcher, pitched the most in the summer with good results and has a clear goal on what he needs to work on, so I’d say he’s the best pick for ace. I think Sawamura did just as well result-wise but because his pitches are much slower and thus hard-countered by sluggers like Raichi, Furuya currently has the edge. I don’t think either of them are an “indisputable ace” like Mei yet though. Our boys are still rough diamonds. I’ve come to like Nori but if the coaches give him the ace number at this point in time, it’d be for reasons such as seniority, and I’d lose a lot of respect for them lol. Speaking of coaches, Kataoka and Ochiai….. I have a lot to say about these two but I’ll wait until more is shown in the show. I’m starting to ship Kataoka and Rei because of you though hahaha. You keep your man here girl! Great reactions and discussion again Romania! Glad you’re enjoying this transitional phase in the show so much. It only gets crazier from here.

Kelsey

I love this transitional period honestly. I'm with you and often times in sports animes during this period I can get a little wound up because it's all so rough and messy and hard to see a clear end point but I love seeing this show really showcase the amount of players they have that are gunning for a spot. It's the perfect chance for those that haven't yet made the roster to really show off and I love that. Character names, that blonde first year that called Sawamura Sawamoron (bakamura) is named Kanemaru and he plays third base, the 3rd year catcher who blows steam out of his nose is Miyauchi, and that Sawamura look alike who was sitting on the bench while the other third years were commenting on Seidous defense is named Fumiya lol he's very handsome and I imagine Sawamura to look like him even more as he grows 😂 Kariba is a first year catcher by the way. You're right that Ono is a second year. Both of them you've seen before. Kariba was a catcher who played with Sawamura in the 1st year vs upperclassmen game at the beginning of the season and Ono is on the second string and he's the catcher who couldn't catch Sawamuras pitch as he was trying to sort out his new form. He's the catcher that Chris replaced in the game against Zaizen. I think the fact that they keep reminding us (and themselves) that Inashiro keeps 5 core players after this year is really interesting. Seidou themselves keeps 3, Miyuki, Kuramochi and Shirasu, but having your CORE be second years sets them up very well for next year (and probably not so great the year after lmao). But I think its good that Seidou has veteran leaders in all points of the field. Infield, outfield, and battery. The fall tournament is really interesting actually. It's similar to the summer tournament but there's more teams. So in the summer tournament for Seidou, they're only playing against west Tokyo teams. Every team you saw was part of West Tokyo. In the Fall Tournament they open that up and combine the West Tokyo teams with the East Tokyo Teams so you actually have a bigger pool of teams that you could match up against. And then the Invitational (Nationals) at the end of it all isn't until Spring. The winner runs the tournament in the fall but they don't play Nationals until Spring. Kataokas resignation hurts me a lot. I understand completely why he made that choice and I think when your heart is so out of it, it's almost more of a disservice to keep pushing into it. Especially if your players could tell you're over it. But you can tell how much he still cares about them by him staying on through the fall to see that the new team doesn't land on their ass. Like he said in his speech, he had never had a group grow as much as the third years had. He had a very special bond with that year and you could tell they were his pride and joy. He was so proud of the players they became and we saw how desperate he was to take them to nationals. To feel like it was your strategy that cost the game would feel awful, even if the strategy isn't bad at all. I understand why he resigned. I hate it but I understand it. Especially when you think about how other coaches all season have been saying he's too green and he trusts his players too much and this that and the third you know. He's had a lot of criticism as a coach and I dont think he had ever really doubted his style until the third years had to retire without seeing Koshien. I always feel really heartbroken for Nori here. His heart and his confidence are just non existent right now. Especially when he looks at the first year's it must feel so defeating. But I do wonder if Nori hearing Sawamura take blame for their loss helped him or hurt him. He looked shocked that he said it but I wonder if he felt like "oh someone else saw the same game in a completely different way than I did" and the fact that he probably didn't ever blame Sawamura for their loss but full blames himself, I wonder if the thought of that is making him realize that other people probably don't blame him the way he blames himself. You're always your harshest critic after all. Also Tanba was the one who said he had only scheduled 1 tryout and that he was probably just going to write the exam to get into university. He mentioned that he didn't really do much in the summer tournament so he's not overly hopeful or optimistic. Toujou and Jun I had never thought about in the way you did. Toujou came in as a pitcher, wasn't bad (got destroyed by the upperclassmen), and psyched himself out of pitching past that point. He agreed to change positions because he wanted a chance to climb into the roster but seemingly doesn't think he fares as well as Sawamura or Furuya on the mound. Jun came in as a pitcher cocky as hell and was asked specifically to change because his shoulder was so strong so he moved to center field but his pitching lacked skill lol. Their stories are quite similar. Both great at batting though. Komadai is the team that beat Inashiro, not the same team Ochiai coached. Well this starts the list of more names for you to remember haha. There's quite a lot of new people but you do know most of the starters already and have their names down. It might just be the backup players that you struggle with for a while but there's time to learn them lol. Next episodes are good and I'm excited to see how you take them in 🥰

Kelsey
>>70643334

I actually loved your comments on Sawamuras thought process during these episodes. It brought up a lot I've never thought of before with the fact that Sawamura still after losing doesn't regret not going to nationals as much as he's mourning the loss of the third years. And it absolutely was his first taste of serious baseball where every loss means something really big. He didn't have that in middle school ever since they lost constantly. But I also agree very much with the idea that Sawamura still is just kind of floundering and not focusing on a goal or a movement towards anything in particular. It's an interesting dynamic to see how differently Furuya and Sawamura work during this period of time.

Alien
>>70643334

Aww thanks! You and the others always writing long comments here actually inspired me to do the same haha. Sawamura’s a much more interesting MC than I expected going into this series. True to his “boy picked up from of the country side and brought into the big leagues” backstory, he wasn’t nearly mentally or physically ready for this powerhouse baseball environment, and just as his teammates/coaches are constantly baffled by his words and actions, it makes complete sense that aspects of this new environment, like how desperate people are to reach nationals, continue to confound and even scare him. Everyone around him thinks of him as this brazen and fearless “no thoughts head empty” sort of guy but he’s honestly very contemplative? Look at him even looking up Koshien facts in his dictionary to try to figure out why it’s so special lolol. Boy’s still fumbling every step of the way but I love how earnest he is. And yeah I didn’t phrase it the best but I mean, Sawamura wants to go nationals now and I think it’s a good goal for him to work towards. Don’t think he’s actually made it his goal yet though. To be honest, I couldn’t quite pin down Furuya’s mindset here because we aren’t privy to his thoughts and he barely talks lol. But I think he has a very straightforward way of thinking: improving means being able to stay on the mound longer, being the ace means getting to pitch more. I think Furuya also loves his team, it’s the team he finally has after going without one for so long after all, but his biggest priority is being able to pitch more. I can’t say for sure that he desperately wanted to go to nationals specifically either but he certainly hates the feeling of not being able to be on the field in crucial situations and pitch his and his team’s way to victory. As simple as it is, coupled with his skill, I think it makes him more suitable for the ace position than Sawamura at this point in time. It’s an interesting rivalry to watch and I think they’re both really lucky to have the other on the team. After all, it was what Furuya said to Sawamura that actually got him out of his post-game depression this time!

Kelsey
>>70643334

Yeah i think Furuya and Sawamura both went into the finals and came out of them with very little understanding about what going to Nationals really meant. I think, as you said, Furuyas goals are mainly encompassed in the general thought of "must stay on the mound. Do not give up the mound to anyone" so watching from the dugout as 3 other pitchers take the mound after him and them losing while he wasn't even able to do anything clearly got to him but I doubt it was because they didn't get to nationals. More in a "if we lose again I don't want it to be while I'm in the dugout not able to do anything" type of way. It's interesting how similar yet different they both are. Sawamuras fearlessness to me has always come from a place of enjoying the fight with batters, and the almost ignorance of bad things that could happen. Like he has a fearless inside pitch that he enjoys throwing because it's a direct battle with the batter but doesn't acknowledge that that same inside pitch could also hurt someone. And only when it came forward did it click for him along with everything else.

Alien
>>70643334

Great comment on Sawamura’s inside pitch. Made me think that Miyuki’s also guilty of a similar fearlessness, as he enjoys calling for those in-highs as much as Sawamura enjoys throwing them. That could explain why he didn’t notice how much Sawamura hitting Shirakawa in the head rattled him. As far as Miyuki was concerned, Sawamura was pitching aggressively for the win and that’s a good thing. I love how bold their battery is but you’re absolutely right about it being dangerous. I get why they’re emphasizing the need for control even more now.

Kelsey
>>70643334

Oh for sure. Miyuki and Sawamura, while desperately needing better communication, are on the same page almost always with being aggressive. Miyuki clearly loves having a pitcher who's a bit of a wild card who doesn't back down from challenges because Miyuki is like that as well. He even says in the game that although it was a high pressure situation, they just kind of all thought he could do it. Himself included he saw Sawamura as a fearless pitcher. Miyuki was definitely tense at the end there as well which explains why he didn't notice Sawamura was tense himself but it was likely not even a possibility in his head with how fearless and ballsy he'd been up until then.

Alien
>>70643334

I could ramble on and on about this show, but I’m scared I might go into minor spoiler territory now. Thanks for the discussion Kelsey! Communication 👍

romaniablack
>>70639314

EXACTLY! I couldn’t believe when we saw the letter of resignation! I was floored – I definitely want Kataoka to be convinced to stay on as coach. And yesssss, Miyuki has the talent I think to be as good as Harada…the question is whether he has the communication skills and ability to connect with all the players like Harada. Yuki’s making a bold assertion and I want it to pan out – hopefully, he’s able to get some support from Zono and Kuramochi. It’s neat that you point out how different he and Yuki are: The prodigy vs. the Workaholic. ^^ I hope Jun’s speech gave him some motivation, too, but that’s interesting the contrast between Furuya and Sawamura that you bring up – it makes me a little nervous for our sunshine boy! I want him to improve and be the ace…but I’m not sure he’s ready. And YES! Realizing just how hard this is hitting Jun was so heartbreaking! It’s sad he doesn’t have that same support system, either. Give our Seido Spitz a hug! Oooohhhhh, wow, what a callback with Tojo! @.@ I had forgot about him! It would be cool if he became the 4th pitcher for their relay – you’d have Kawakami (the balanced one), Furuya (the loner prodigy), Sawamura (the workaholic wild card), and Tojo – who has potential. Hmm… And Kanemaru! That’s his name! 😊 Thanks!

romaniablack
>>70651521

I love these types of episodes, too, because they’re a nice character-developing breather in between the games! 😊 And thank you! Kanemaru! I need to remember his name...along with Miyauchi! And Fumiya!! Yeah, Sawamura, we can hope you look like him as you get older! :P And ahhh, Kariba is a 1st year, too! Gotcha! And yeah, so we have our 2nd years staying on – we can put Kawakami in with that core, too, right? Oooh, so the tournament dynamics are interesting…that opens up for some intriguing matchups we haven’t seen before, especially with teams from outside West Tokyo! Cool! Kataok’s registration hurts so much! I can see your point; it’s just so sad, especially when you see how much the 1st years like Sawamura look up to him – I want to say, “But you can build bonds with theseeeeee kids, too, like you did with the third years!” I’ll have to talk about this in the next reaction, but I still feel so conflicted over it. T_T I’ve given Nori a hard time, but I really did feel bad for him in these episodes! I’m curious his perspective about Sawamura’s admission, too; I hope we get him talking in the next few episodes – he was so quiet this set; I wanted to hear what he was thinking! I felt bad for the 3rd years, too; Tanba who’s down on himself, Jun, who’s frustrated – I definitely want to see more of Tojo after this set of episodes! And that’s good confirmation on who beat Inashiro! Thank you! Ahhh, yes, I’ll do my best to keep the new names straight, haha!! I’m excited to see what’s in store with this new team; thanks so much for the kind words and comment! :D

romaniablack
>>70643334

@Alien, YES! I really came to like Zono in this set of episodes; his argument for the fight for the roster is totally valid! Yeah, unlike other sports anime I’ve watched where they barely have enough players to make a team, here it’s an active competition, and I like that! I DEFINITELY have given Nori a hard time, but I really felt bad for him in these episodes…you could tell he just felt AWFUL about it all, and I just wanted to give him a hug. I kind of love the idea of a team captain that has to work for and adjust to the position – it would be like if **HAIKYUU MANGA SPOILER** if Kageyama had become team captain…he’s not the best communicator either…**END of HAIKYUU SPOILER** It’s going to be VERY interesting watching him work to become a better captain. I agree; Sawamura is more concerned about the team morale than he is about making it to nationals, which makes sense – he’s a first year who never had a victory prior in middle school playing – that thirst/hunger to go to nationals and win isn’t embedded in his system like some of the other players. I’d argue Furuya is probably similar – he just wants on the mound. I do like getting into Sawamura’s thought process, too, and seeing who he pays attention to, like Sanada and Mei. Yeah, I don’t see it for Nori as the Ace – as much as I want Sawamura to be the Ace, I think it’ll go to Furuya right now. But Yesssssss, I cannot WAIT to see more with Ochiai and Kataoka, and YAY! I’m glad I’m influencing the Rei x Kataoka ship – badass recruit and smexy coach shenanigans, FTW! It’s the non-office office romance for the ages! Thank you for the kind words and comment! And it only gets…crazier? Hoo boy. @_@

romaniablack
>>70643334

@Kelsey, agreed! Sawamura isn't focused like Furuya is in this case -- which as much as I want him to be the ace, is what I think is going to keep him from it right now.

Melanie Marie
>>70639314

YES! Give some love to our Spitz!! Also, I forgot to mention! You were saying how Tojo and Jun look alike, they also have another thing in common: they both came to Seido to play pitchers and switched to fielding to increase their chances to get on the team. They truly are alike and I have no idea how I didn’t see it sooner 😅😅

Alien
>>70643334

Yeah definitely, Sawamura and Furuya are both novices to this hyper competitive baseball stuff haha. I guess the main distinction between the two now is that Furuya has a very single-track mind when it comes to baseball but Sawamura’s thoughts are all over the place? I doubt Nori is even considering vying for the ace position, he’s so down :( Ahh I already miss the old pitcher-catcher squad, their little meetings, CHRIS-SENPAI. Miyauchi appeared for one practice and he already pushed Miyuki in the right direction with Nori TT Oh god I can imagine how terrified underclassmen would be of Captain Kageyama or even Tsuki hahaha

romaniablack
>>70639314

Yesssss! That is CRAZY! I really hope to see more Tojo in the future episodes -- if Jun isn't going to be there, I can only hope Tojo steps up to become a bigger player! :)

romaniablack
>>70643334

@Alien, right?! Yeahhhh, glad Haikyuu went a little different direction with that..but YES! I miss the pitcher-catcher squad meetings...I just finished Episodes 67-69 tonight, and wanted to pull my hair out and cry. UGH. If we've ever needed Chris-senpai, it's NOW. Your comment on Furuya and Sawamura seem SPOT ON...I just....*frustrated cry*

Kelsey
>>70643334

@Romania oh no lmao episode 69 is one of my most difficult episodes to watch 😂

Kelsey
>>70651521

@Romania yes yes we can put Nori in the core too i just didn't include him because he's not always on the field like the other 3 are. Yeah the fall tournament opens a lot of chance for new teams and characters I understand so many sides of Kataokas resignation lol. I felt so betrayed my first time watching because I really love him as a coach and you can tell he had such a soft spot for Sawamura and Sawamura in turn respects him so much and wants to impress him. I just hate the idea of a coach staying on to coach a team while his heart isn't in it or while his confidence in himself as a coach is so shot. It almost makes sense to let him go and sort his head out but it's very hard and you never really know if continuing to coach a new team would end up meaning more to you than you thought or if your initial hesitations would've been right. It was a problem I didn't ever anticipate coming into with all the other sad post loss things going on lol. Nori needs more confidence. Asap lol. Desperately that boy needs some confidence and I'm glad Miyauchi pushed Miyuki into helping. Even though his "fix" was more of a catcher to pitcher fix than it was a captain fix, he's still working on it lol and its something so we can't blame him too much.

Kelsey
>>70643334

@Romania it's really sad lol. And just hard to watch in general

zeroantizero (edited)

Comment edits

2021-11-14 19:37:17 Before I go into anything else, as an advisory: if you're planning to watch the OVAs, you can only watch OVAs 1-3 without being spoiled about Season 2. I've actually never seen them in English myself since they're not officially licensed/translated, so it will be a new experience for both of us! I agree that Seido vs Inashiro is one the best animanga sports match I've seen. But would only the "the" best if Seido had won, because there's nothing more gratifying in sports real or fiction than your team winning. That they lose at the end of such a good game makes it hurt all the more (and doubly so because it was so narrow; a shut-out would have hurt less). But we're working our way to another chance; although, I'll say this as a purist - I don't consider the Spring Koshien to be a real "nationals", primarily because participants are selected by invitation and not by merit (yes, the regional tournament winners are all-but certain to go, but others are invited despite their standing), whereas the participants of the Summer Koshien are the winning teams of each prefecture (with both Tokyo and Hokkaido divided into two - East/West and North/South respectively). But to get there, Seido now has to rebuild in time for the Fall Tournament. As is mentioned, having a small core of returning second-years might be an initial disadvantage. However, it also gives greater flexibility in building the new core. But as was mentioned, it's not like everyone outside the first-string were sitting on their heels. And taking that into consideration, it really was kind of Maezono to pull Haruichi out of his funk, because it was potentially fatal to his own chances. Although we haven't seen much of him (by the way, him and Kanemaru aside - and you had to have been looking very closely - all the new first-stringers were in the stands during the games and Tojo pitched in the second-string v first-year game), from what we've seen Maezono would have been a good choice as captain - especially when it comes to leadership and communication - if it weren't for the fact that the captain really should come from the old first-string. I think Miyuki is going to be in over his head being captain. First, as Maezono said, he's been on the first-string since practically Day 1, so he can't really empathize with players who have struggled for a spot on the first-string. Whereas Yuki was one of the ones who had to struggle. Second, while Yuki was mostly a man of few words who mainly led through his play (kind of reminds me of Furuya, actually; they even both have the fiery aura), he had no difficulty in leading with his words when they were needed. Conversely, we know Miyuki has trouble communicating, mostly because he doesn't want to. And when he does communicate, he's matter-of-fact (to the point of cutting with Furuya and Sawamura) and almost never friendly for the sake of being friendly (which I think this comes from being talented above his "station" and being bullied for it because he won't defer to seniority rather than having only been around adults - he really hasn't). Lastly - even if he can come up with the words - as we've seen multiple times, his competitiveness and impatience to win often blind him to the emotional state of his teammates. If he fails with people with whom he should have the best rapport - Furuya, Kawakami & Sawamura - how badly will he fail with others? He really has a mountain to climb when it comes to leadership, but his growth if he climbs it will make him an even more amazing player than he already is. I wish him the best! I agree that the struggle for being ace is between Furuya and Sawamura. Kawakami seems to be good guy, and he's a good pitcher technically, but his issues with his confidence preclude him from a leadership position like that. The other second-years might prefer him as a matter of camarderie and seniority, but he just doesn't have what it takes. And to be honest, if his confidence doesn't recover, he shouldn't even be on the first-string anymore (I wonder if that's what Miyuki thinks too, and that's why he didn't help him until he was chastised by the third-years). As for Kataoka...I understand the feeling of failing and wanting to resign to take responsibility (I didn't go through with it). (Also, I find it ironic that - at the beginning of the series - the principal all but said Kataoka would be fired for another failure to reach Koshien, but that he tried to talk Kataoka out of resigning when it actually happened). But it would be really disappointing if this turns into the conflict you said happened in Haikyuu (I've never seen it - I couldn't get through the first episode because of the art/animation style). I don't care for melodrama or pointless conflict; and him being convinced to stay by the team winning the Fall Tournament and a spot at the Spring Koshien would make this conflict pointless. I'd feel cheated for sympathizing with him. ( I feel that, the longer my comments are, the more critical I am of the series; but I really do love it...)
2021-11-03 13:46:33 Before I go into anything else, as an advisory: if you're planning to watch the OVAs, you can only watch OVAs 1-3 without being spoiled about Season 2. I've actually never seen them in English myself since they're not officially licensed/translated, so it will be a new experience for both of us! I agree that Seido vs Inashiro is one the best animanga sports match I've seen. But would only the "the" best if Seido had won, because there's nothing more gratifying in sports real or fiction than your team winning. That they lose at the end of such a good game makes it hurt all the more (and doubly so because it was so narrow; a shut-out would have hurt less). But we're working our way to another chance; although, I'll say this as a purist - I don't consider the Spring Koshien to be a real "nationals", primarily because participants are selected by invitation and not by merit (yes, the regional tournament winners are all-but certain to go, but others are invited despite their standing), whereas the participants of the Summer Koshien are the winning teams of each prefecture (with both Tokyo and Hokkaido divided into two - East/West and North/South respectively). But to get there, Seido now has to rebuild in time for the Fall Tournament. As is mentioned, having a small core of returning second-years might be an initial disadvantage. However, it also gives greater flexibility in building the new core. But as was mentioned, it's not like everyone outside the first-string were sitting on their heels. And taking that into consideration, it really was kind of Maezono to pull Haruichi out of his funk, because it was potentially fatal to his own chances. Although we haven't seen much of him (by the way, him and Kanemaru aside - and you had to have been looking very closely - all the new first-stringers were in the stands during the games and Tojo pitched in the second-string v first-year game), from what we've seen Maezono would have been a good choice as captain - especially when it comes to leadership and communication - if it weren't for the fact that the captain really should come from the old first-string. I think Miyuki is going to be in over his head being captain. First, as Maezono said, he's been on the first-string since practically Day 1, so he can't really empathize with players who have struggled for a spot on the first-string. Whereas Yuki was one of the ones who had to struggle. Second, while Yuki was mostly a man of few words who mainly led through his play (kind of reminds me of Furuya, actually; they even both have the fiery aura), he had no difficulty in leading with his words when they were needed. Conversely, we know Miyuki has trouble communicating, mostly because he doesn't want to. And when he does communicate, he's matter-of-fact (to the point of cutting with Furuya and Sawamura) and almost never friendly for the sake of being friendly (which I think this comes from being talented above his "station" and being bullied for it because he won't defer to seniority rather than having only been around adults - he really hasn't). Lastly - even if he can come up with the words - as we've seen multiple times, his competitiveness and impatience to win often blind him to the emotional state of his teammates. If he fails with people with whom he should have the best rapport - Furuya, Kawakami & Sawamura - how badly will he fail with others? He really has a mountain to climb when it comes to leadership, but his growth if he climbs it will make him an even more amazing player than he already is. I wish him the best! I agree that the struggle for being ace is between Furuya and Sawamura. Kawakami seems to be good guy, and he's a good pitcher technically, but his issues with his confidence preclude him from a leadership position like that. The other second-years might prefer him as a matter of camarderie and seniority, but he just doesn't have what it takes. And to be honest, if his confidence doesn't recover, he shouldn't even be on the first-string anymore (I wonder if that's what Miyuki thinks too, and that's why he didn't help him until he was chastised by the third-years). As for Kataoka...I understand the feeling of failing and wanting to resign to take responsibility (I didn't go through with it). (Also, I find it ironic that - at the beginning of the series - the principal all but said Kataoka would be fired for another failure to reach Koshien, but that he tried to talk Kataoka out of resigning when it actually happened). But it would be really disappointing if this turns into the conflict you said happened in Haikyuu (I've never seen it - I couldn't get through the first episode because of the art/animation style). I don't care for melodrama or pointless conflict; and him being convinced to stay by the team winning the Fall Tournament and a spot at the Spring Koshien would make this conflict pointless. I'd feel cheated for sympathizing with him. ( I feel that, the longer my comments are, the more critical I am of the series; but I really do love it...)

Before I go into anything else, as an advisory: if you're planning to watch the OVAs, you can only watch OVAs 1-3 without being spoiled about Season 2. I've actually never seen them in English myself since they're not officially licensed/translated, so it will be a new experience for both of us! I agree that Seido vs Inashiro is one the best animanga sports match I've seen. But would only the "the" best if Seido had won, because there's nothing more gratifying in sports real or fiction than your team winning. That they lose at the end of such a good game makes it hurt all the more (and doubly so because it was so narrow; a shut-out would have hurt less). But we're working our way to another chance; although, I'll say this as a purist - I don't consider the Spring Koshien to be a real "nationals", primarily because participants are selected by invitation and not by merit (yes, the regional tournament winners are all-but certain to go, but others are invited despite their standing), whereas the participants of the Summer Koshien are the winning teams of each prefecture (with both Tokyo and Hokkaido divided into two - East/West and North/South respectively). But to get there, Seido now has to rebuild in time for the Fall Tournament. As is mentioned, having a small core of returning second-years might be an initial disadvantage. However, it also gives greater flexibility in building the new core. But as was mentioned, it's not like everyone outside the first-string were sitting on their heels. And taking that into consideration, it really was kind of Maezono to pull Haruichi out of his funk, because it was potentially fatal to his own chances. Although we haven't seen much of him (by the way, him and Kanemaru aside - and you had to have been looking very closely - all the new first-stringers were in the stands during the games and Tojo pitched in the second-string v first-year game), from what we've seen Maezono would have been a good choice as captain - especially when it comes to leadership and communication - if it weren't for the fact that the captain really should come from the old first-string. I think Miyuki is going to be in over his head being captain. First, as Maezono said, he's been on the first-string since practically Day 1, so he can't really empathize with players who have struggled for a spot on the first-string. Whereas Yuki was one of the ones who had to struggle. Second, while Yuki was mostly a man of few words who mainly led through his play (kind of reminds me of Furuya, actually; they even both have the fiery aura), he had no difficulty in leading with his words when they were needed. Conversely, we know Miyuki has trouble communicating, mostly because he doesn't want to. And when he does communicate, he's matter-of-fact (to the point of cutting with Furuya and Sawamura) and almost never friendly for the sake of being friendly (which I think this comes from being talented above his "station" and being bullied for it because he won't defer to seniority rather than having only been around adults - he really hasn't). Lastly - even if he can come up with the words - as we've seen multiple times, his competitiveness and impatience to win often blind him to the emotional state of his teammates. If he fails with people with whom he should have the best rapport - Furuya, Kawakami & Sawamura - how badly will he fail with others? He really has a mountain to climb when it comes to leadership, but his growth if he climbs it will make him an even more amazing player than he already is. I wish him the best! I agree that the struggle for being ace is between Furuya and Sawamura. Kawakami seems to be good guy, and he's a good pitcher technically, but his issues with his confidence preclude him from a leadership position like that. The other second-years might prefer him as a matter of camarderie and seniority, but he just doesn't have what it takes. And to be honest, if his confidence doesn't recover, he shouldn't even be on the first-string anymore (I wonder if that's what Miyuki thinks too, and that's why he didn't help him until he was chastised by the third-years). As for Kataoka...I understand the feeling of failing and wanting to resign to take responsibility (I didn't go through with it). (Also, I find it ironic that - at the beginning of the series - the principal all but said Kataoka would be fired for another failure to reach Koshien, but that he tried to talk Kataoka out of resigning when it actually happened). But it would be really disappointing if this turns into the conflict you said happened in Haikyuu (I've never seen it - I couldn't get through the first episode because of the art/animation style). I don't care for melodrama or pointless conflict; and him being convinced to stay by the team winning the Fall Tournament and a spot at the Spring Koshien would make this conflict pointless. I'd feel cheated for sympathizing with him. ( I feel that, the longer my comments are, the more critical I am of the series; but I really do love it...)

romaniablack
>>70651521

Ahhh, I missed this comment! @.@ I feel the same way you did about Kataoka! I hadn't anticipated Kataoka just wanting to resign already...it definitely left me with a bitter feeling this set of episodes...and poor Nori. I like his character a lot and I hope that others work with him besides just Miyuki, since Miyuki...is just figuring out this whole "communicating" thing as well, hahaha!

romaniablack
>>71088724

Yessss, I’ve been told to only watch the first three for season one! Thank you – I’m not sure where to find them, so I’ll have to start looking for them; they’re probably on a sketchy site, but we’ll see! 😊 That game was SO good…it definitely hurts that Seido lost, so I can only hope that they can redeem themselves in a future game…that might make up for it…and if it’s not spring nationals, then in future summer nationals, even. That’s interesting to know about the Spring Koshien being by invitation instead of merit…hmmm…but yeah, Seido has a ways to go before worrying about that! I like that Zono helped Haruichi and pointed out that they’ve been working behind the scenes, waiting for their chance to rise up! That was really cool! And I have a feeling I’m going to like Zono and Tojo in this; I hope we see more of both of them! I agree that Miyuki has his work cut out for him…he doesn’t communicate well and lacks natural empathy for those that struggle (he’s a prodigy after all) and Yuki was a workaholic that led by example…Miyuki is sort of a shut in, so it’s going to be VERY curious to see how his character has to develop in this show…I’m kind of glad for it, because it’s going to force his character to grow, being the captain, and he’ll have Zono and Kuramochi there with him, so that’s good. Yeah, it’s a tossup with who will be the ace at this point in the series…I do feel bad for Kawakami in all this, though. And ahhh…Kataoka…it’s so funny that the principal tried to talk him out of resigning after threatening him with just that at the start of the series, like you said! I get why he wants to leave…but I hate it…I just want him to stay with our boys and take responsibility by being a stronger coach…but alas…I guess we’ll see how it pans out, eh? 😊