I was really surprised by this, and after starting the first episode, it was impossible to stop. The emotions created by this anime were intense to me.
Ok, first it's good to know the rules of baseball, and even better if you like baseball. Then you have to like anime with no "shooting" and no "mekka", just little action. But lots of feelings. It's also about girls (and women) in a land (Japan) dominated by men, and if it were more popular, it might be able to change the minds of people a bit. But there aren't even many fanpages of this anime.
Each of the nine players (and 6 other main characters) is a believable person with its own background, hopes and feelings. Every emotion I could imagine is found somewhere in the 26 episodes, and there was one scene that made me see my own life in a way I never did before in my 34 years so far.
Of course the story itself is pretty predictable. If there's a threat that the team would be dissolved early in the series, I knew that it wouldn't be the end, because what would they do in the other episodes?
It's the way they go there that is interesting. There are little surprises, and when I thought, this is now getting a little ridiculous and like something that wouldn't happen in reality, the story turns again and makes it all very believable again.
I'll stop now, because anime like this will never be really popular. Most people only notice what they want to notice, and then it's just a Sports Anime, or some Shoujo. But keep the DVD set in mind when you don't know what to wish for your birthday, or something. Or when it's on TV, if that's ever going to happen.
One more thing, the music and voice acting are really good, always fits to the scenes. They have good voice actors with experinces from Gundam and more, and I just loved hearing "Nausicaa" again. She (Shimamoto Sumi) has also done the mother in Totoro, and is the mother of Ryo here.
I was introduced to anime just recently through Spirited Away, and until now didn't find any other anime that created feelings and emotions which felt real. And I've looked a lot. I'm glad I found this.
Ok, first it's good to know the rules of baseball, and even better if you like baseball. Then you have to like anime with no "shooting" and no "mekka", just little action. But lots of feelings. It's also about girls (and women) in a land (Japan) dominated by men, and if it were more popular, it might be able to change the minds of people a bit. But there aren't even many fanpages of this anime.
Each of the nine players (and 6 other main characters) is a believable person with its own background, hopes and feelings. Every emotion I could imagine is found somewhere in the 26 episodes, and there was one scene that made me see my own life in a way I never did before in my 34 years so far.
Of course the story itself is pretty predictable. If there's a threat that the team would be dissolved early in the series, I knew that it wouldn't be the end, because what would they do in the other episodes?
It's the way they go there that is interesting. There are little surprises, and when I thought, this is now getting a little ridiculous and like something that wouldn't happen in reality, the story turns again and makes it all very believable again.
I'll stop now, because anime like this will never be really popular. Most people only notice what they want to notice, and then it's just a Sports Anime, or some Shoujo. But keep the DVD set in mind when you don't know what to wish for your birthday, or something. Or when it's on TV, if that's ever going to happen.
One more thing, the music and voice acting are really good, always fits to the scenes. They have good voice actors with experinces from Gundam and more, and I just loved hearing "Nausicaa" again. She (Shimamoto Sumi) has also done the mother in Totoro, and is the mother of Ryo here.
I was introduced to anime just recently through Spirited Away, and until now didn't find any other anime that created feelings and emotions which felt real. And I've looked a lot. I'm glad I found this.