Yeah, this was by far the best baseball match of Cross Game, in which Kou and Azuma finally get a real threat posed to them. The matches still are nowhere as intense and exciting as in Touch, but it’s getting there. If the second half of the series can further develop the fact that Kou and Azuma aren’t perfect then we’re in for a great series.
For once, Kou didn’t give away a point because he was playing around, lazy or otherwise intentionally not focusing. The way that Keitaro just whacked a home-run out of Kou’s pitch caught him completely off-guard and Azuma too for once just hit a regular pitch, instead of a home-run. I also like that Senda, despite his portrayal as a seemingly useless character actually gets to bases at times. That’s more to say from Akaishi: there’s this theme with him, never being able to score any sort of solid hit: he either hits very hard, only for the ball to get caught, or he just completely fails to hit the ball in the first place.
Aoba again acted completely different from how she usually does, and turned into a bit of a fangirl for Kou, which of course clashed a bit with her tsundere-side. Yeah, at this point the arrival of Wakaba-lookalike seems about right to develop their relationship a bit more.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Yep, I’m really counting on Wakaba 2.0 to shake the dust, otherwise this is going stale.
I don’t really understand why I’m following this series… Baseball bores me to death, and the relationships don’t evolve much from episode to episode. Disturbingly, at the moment my favorite parts about Cross Game are the clouds (it’s always good weather, with glorious cumulonimbus soaring into the stratosphere), and the upbeat crescendo music that often plays in the middle of the episode.
Nevertheless, I eagerly anticipate each new installment 😉
I don’t think this series is going stale at all. I think it is absolutely wonderful. Yes there might not be huge plot twists but I feel the development that does happen is more true to real life which is what this series is depicting. I guess I just love slow slice of life series like this. I even enjoy the baseball episodes because I feel the characters do grow from them (and I am not a baseball fan either).
I started to read the manga for Touch and I am loving that series too.
@Kim
To be clear, I also enjoy Cross Game, or I would have dropped this series long ago. But this does not prevent me from seeing quite a few significant flaws in it, that go beyond simple differences in taste.
But I think that the best way to make myself clear is to compare Cross Game to the best slice of life series I know of, Koi Kaze. Although Koi Kaze is only 13 episodes long, 90% of the time is devoted to the relationship between the two main characters. There are few characters in total, and all but one are present from the beginning. Anyway, they play very secondary roles. There are no distractions such as baseball in Koi Kaze, so the interest of the anime rests solely on the psychological development of these two characters.
I don’t mind that a slice of life develops slowly, in Koi Kaze for more than half of the series nothing concrete happens. Nevertheless in this series each episode deepens the psychological description of the characters, and there is a relentless evolution of their feelings that brings about a huge tension to the series. Each episode counts in the characterization and development of the characters. In Cross Game it’s very different. In terms of character development I think watching one episode out of five would be sufficient, and some episodes really don’t bring anything new (like episode 27 had nothing that episode 28 also showed). That’s not good… For me life is constant change, even if apparently people are still in the same situation.
In Cross Game, the characters are basically cardboards that have very little development. From the beginning we know that Aoba likes Kou, but the guilt associated with Wakaba’s death blocks any initiative. In the same vein, it’s clear early on that Kou is not indifferent to Aoba, but is equally blocked by Wakaba’s shadow. The same applies to basically all other characters, like for instance Aoba’s cousin (likes Aoba, but has no chance), the team captain, the ace, the goofer, etc. All were quickly defined, and then just replay their antics throughout the series. What I don’t like in this setup is that not only the characters do not develop (they only deepen their proclivities), but also they interact very little with one another. Even without developing, the characters could have created a dynamic narrative simply by rubbing each other. A case in point is Aoba’s cousin, which is totally underused. Now I know that Kou and Aoba are always barking at each other, but it’s totally repetitive and without enrichment.
In Koi Kaze, you have two characters rubbing against each other. Their relationship does not evolve at all for more than half of the anime, but there’s a lot of diversity in the situations, with happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, etc. In Koi Kaze the characters seem to have an inner life, because different emotions flow out of then as they dynamically interact with each other, whereas in Cross Game each character remains static and continuously replays a stereotyped version of its own role. It just feels cardboard and shallow.
Now I know that Adachi likes to build attachment to the characters through extensive repetition. It’s very efficient, and I have nothing against that. Also in Koi Kaze there is a lot of repetition. What annoys me is that in Cross Game this repetition is extremely stereotyped. So you get more and more used and attached to the characters, but they don’t feel deep and credible.
In fact, the thirty episodes that we have seen so far are nothing but an overdeveloped introduction. The real meat of the story will start when finally Kou or Aoba make a move, consider making a move, or at least AGONIZE about making a move that will blow up Wakaba’s lock (instead of flatly resting in denial, as they do for the moment). That this happens by personal initiative, or because Wakaba 2.0 disrupts the deadlock is irrelevant. The characters will then feel emotions, guilt, uncertainty, etc. I don’t see Aoba nor Kou suffer at all about their situation, and this annoys me, because it’s just not interesting. The ultimate quality of Cross Game will depend on how well the real story goes, not at all on this very long prelude, so I will reserve my judgment until then.
The other criticism I have about Cross Game is the baseball part: Cross Game is really a slice of life series, and cares very little about baseball. In fiction sport is always used as an excuse to show character development and create tension. But you can create tension by flipping a coin, this does not mean that you care about the coin, or about the technique of flipping coins. I feel very little love of baseball in this series. The games have no intrinsic interest and consistency beyond showing something about the characters (the breaking of the ace’s hand in this episode was a good example, it felt really forced), and very little attention and detail is given to what it means to train and play baseball. I think manga like Ookiku Furikabutte are much better at this.
But since what I like is slice of live and not sports, that’s pretty much secondary for me.
Now there are things that Cross Game does very well. The screenplay of the episodes is excellent, it’s a pleasure to watch them. The characters are likable (if only they could get out of their stereotypes), and their spoken and unspoken dialog interesting. And I just can’t get enough of those cumulonimbus clouds 😉
I am sorry Alex S but I have to respetively disagree with most everything you said. I have never seen Koi Kaze (maybe I will check it out) but I do feel there is development in every episode. The issue is this series is not just about Kou & Aoba’s relationship. So no I don’t need development on that front every second. And for the record I do see plenty of development since the early episodes, where you now have Aoba outwardly cheering for Kou. Perhaps she still won’t admit it herself but that does show signifigant changes in her interaction with him (sure part of it is she is caught up in the moment but it’s important nonetheless).
But again the series is not just about Kou/Aoba. Baseball is also a very important part of the story and how this effects the characters especially Kou, Aoba and also Azuma. As this participate in this team sport they learn to rely on each other and grow as characters. Kou, Aoba and Akaishi are trying to make Wakaba’s dream come true but isn’t it becoming their dream too? It’s the same for Azuma who began to play for his brother.
Sometimes the development is subtle but it is there is every episode and I prefer the subtleness than to being beat over the head with it.
The only thing I will agree with you is so far the cousin character seems a bit useless but for me that is a minor complaint. Of course we all have different opinions.
The production quality took a huge dive this episode. I could barely recognize the characters…and that’s when the faces are actually drawn.
@Kim
“I have to respetively disagree with most everything you said”
Don’t worry about it, we don’t have at all to agree for the discussion to be interesting. However, I think part of the disagreement comes from a different understanding of terms we both use
“The issue is this series is not just about Kou & Aoba’s relationship. So no I don’t need development on that front every second.”
That’s perfectly fair, the problem is that no character seems to develop at all. They are what they are, and stay that way, even if they show it in different ways. To try to bridge your position I would say that Cross Game does “development by exposition”, instead of “dynamic development”.
Imagine you discover a statue buried in the desert. As you dig out the sand, your ideas about what the statue is evolve. However, the statue itself remains static. This would be “development by exposition”.
What I intend by development would be “dynamic development”, in which people change because of their interactions with others and context. This is what I think is missing in Cross Game.
Let’s take the Aoba’s example you mention: we know early on that Aoba loves baseball and takes it very seriously. We also know that she is a forceful perfectionist. Finally, we know that she has strong team loyalty (she did not want to play with the girl’s team because she was part of Seichu).
Putting all of this together, Aoba’s behavior is expected: this is the first challenging game that her team plays, and she does what she can do in her position: cheerleading. It does not take any change in her personality to explain her behavior, it’s simply a new situation that exposes a new behavior, “development by exposition”, if you will.
Now real change would be if she behaves like a fan girl towards Kou once the game is finished. I would be very surprised if that happens.
The remaining baseball games should be pretty interesting. Aoba’s reactions do seem a bit different from my recollection of the manga. She really seems to be outwardly expressing her feelings for Kou. It’s refreshing to see.
I am looking forward to the introduction of the new supporting character. It will bring a new dynamic to the story. To say more would be unfair to the anime only fans. We’re going to have alot ot talk about next week.