Battery

[Munsu]

http://i.imgur.com/6w9wr2T.jpg


Takumi Harada moves to a mountain town in Okayama prefecture during the spring break before he enters middle school due to his father's job transfer. Takumi is a pitcher, and after the moves he loses faith in his own talent, when suddenly his classmate Kō Nagakura appears in front of him. Kō has a strong desire to form a "battery" (a combination of a pitcher and catcher) with Takumi.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=18153

Battery is easily one of my favorite series this season, and also has a potential to be one of my favorites sports animes, though the tops are hard to break through regardless. Now, what puts this series apart from the rest is that it's more seinen and more focused on slice-of-life and drama aspects. So on that regard, it's standing apart from the rest.

Not saying that all's great and the drama that has been presented so far is all that compelling, but it's a refreshing series for me and I honestly can't wait for the next episode to come out week after week. It's slow, we're 4 episodes in and we've barely started the first practice and such. Not sure what the goal of the series is either, but so far I think it's providing for a good atmosphere for a plot that carries some weight with it.

So, worth a shot. I really like the main character, love his attitude, though in some instances he can come off as a bit annoying and irrational (but understandable given his personal make-up). He won't be for everyone.

I hope we get more female characters as it progresses, particularly characters of their age. He's like 12yo, but given how this series is handled, the characters seem like seniors in high school, so easily to forget how young they are. The little brother is awesome as well in my opinion.

I hope it ends up being a long series.

Four episodes out currently:
Episodes (http://tokyotosho.info/search.php?terms=horriblesubs+battery&type=0&size_min=&size_max=&username=)

[shinta|hikari]

Sigh, the coach vs player thing again..!

What I loved about Ookiku Furukabutte is how the coach and players are so in sync. And the coach's boobs. Why does there ALWAYS have to be some juvenile conflict between the coach and players? The coach is a fucking adult, for crying out loud.

[Munsu]

Sigh, the coach vs player thing again..!

What I loved about Ookiku Furukabutte is how the coach and players are so in sync. And the coach's boobs. Why does there ALWAYS have to be some juvenile conflict between the coach and players? The coach is a fucking adult, for crying out loud.

Yeah, and always the bullies.

But the coaching conflict seems like it'll be quickly stamped out, seemed quite evident at the end of the last episode.

[MFauli]

I miss Ace of Diamonds :/

Not saying Battery is bad, but it´s clear that its focus is on human drama instead of baseball.

[Edort4]

I actually think this show is bad. And I say its bad because is boring. It fails on the most basic, entertaining.

I was going to write that it fails giving "action" but maybe the truth is that it doesnt even try to begin with.

Papier mache boring characters and frivolous "drama".

[Munsu]

Yes, this is not a shounen action series.

[Edort4]

Yeah its more like a watered down Shojo. Not that the genre has anything to do with it being bad and boring for me. Art is good by the way.

[Munsu]

Yeah its more like a watered down Shojo. Not that the genre has anything to do with it being bad and boring for me. Art is good by the way.

I'd say this is the equivalent for baseball anime of what Grimgar was for MMORPG anime in some regards.

I do think the sports action will start picking up soon though. We'll see.

I wouldn't say shoujo, it's seinen... but certainly there's definitely a feminine touch here that's bound to entice female viewers. One has to wonder if the series is targeting the demographic it classifies itself as to try to target.

[shinta|hikari]

Don't you guys find it weird how huge these kids are for being 12 yr olds?

[Munsu]

Don't you guys find it weird how huge these kids are for being 12 yr olds?

Nothing out of the ordinary, particularly for athletes. But easy to forget how young they are.

http://i.imgur.com/Z3j2qd9.jpg

Not the best, but you can at least see some contrast there from another adult character, another athlete, and their difference.

Part of the problem is that most of the time we're seeing our main characters by themselves.

The other, there's a bit confirmation bias from what one usually see on the entertainment media, which is the opposite. Most of the times we see characters looking younger, shorter, and acting more adolescent than what their age would suggest.

So I don't see anything particularly wrong here, other than indeed it stands-out from the norm in this regard. Their interaction is more adult-like than the usual as well, which doesn't help with the perception.

[MFauli]

Don't you guys find it weird how huge these kids are for being 12 yr olds?

I found it weird ever since they mentioned that those kids are 12. It´d like Japanese cannot ever get it right. Either we end up with ridiculous heights like in Shigatsu wa kimi no uso, or they look way too adult/hot, or they look too young.

[shinta|hikari]

I think most high school anime out there have it right, though. Look at K-ON. Even their flabby legs look like a JKS's. Naturally, faces are not in any way indicative of age in anime. They all look like babies if judged by facial features alone.

The kids in this show look at least 16, especially because of the proportions. I'd get it if it's only Go or a few of them who matured quickly, but all of them look, talk, and act like highschoolers, not middleschoolers.

My wonder is, why didn't they just start in high school? To avoid having to include breaking balls for the pitcher (because he's too young and blablabla)? BTW, is that even true? Will throwing breaking balls at an early age hurt your body?

[Munsu]

I think most high school anime out there have it right, though. Look at K-ON. Even their flabby legs look like a JKS's. Naturally, faces are not in any way indicative of age in anime. They all look like babies if judged by facial features alone.

The kids in this show look at least 16, especially because of the proportions. I'd get it if it's only Go or a few of them who matured quickly, but all of them look, talk, and act like highschoolers, not middleschoolers.

My wonder is, why didn't they just start in high school? To avoid having to include breaking balls for the pitcher (because he's too young and blablabla)? BTW, is that even true? Will throwing breaking balls at an early age hurt your body?

Yes, it's true, particularly because it's hard for them to keep proper mechanics consistently on an undeveloped body. So while technically, the risk is about the same, but the reality is the lack of youth discipline exacerbates the issue.

Regardless if it's really scientifically true or not, it's a real concern in practice and in reality.

[shinta|hikari]

I see. In that case, does that mean it's possible for a gifted individual with great discipline to use it without hurting himself? It just seems like such a cheat move, one that you can't help but take advantage of, if everyone but you isn't doing it.

[Munsu]

I see. In that case, does that mean it's possible for a gifted individual with great discipline to use it without hurting himself? It just seems like such a cheat move, one that you can't help but take advantage of, if everyone but you isn't doing it.

It's not about being possible or not, it's about it being risky or not, disciplined or not. Being disciplined simply reduces the risk, but even the mere act of using the pitch constantly is problematic.

But most is anecdotal, it's been hard to show it scientifically as in what's really causing the injuries.

Also, not sure in Japan, but in the US young people throw it. Many get injured as well.

So it's more of a philosophy of protecting kids, arm fatigue is very real, and throwing curveballs and the chances of improper mechanics in any which throw is a problem.

Anyways, for the context of this show, it's not something they threw out there out of their ass.

[MFauli]

I mean, guys, real baseball is shit, anyway. In reality, a pitcher is happy when he manages to throw the ball into the mitt of his catcher and not 10+ meters elsewhere. It´s only in anime where we have flashy, fancy breaking balls and shit that make a sharp turn inmidst air, like Captain Tsubasa and football.

[Munsu]

I mean, guys, real baseball is shit, anyway. In reality, a pitcher is happy when he manages to throw the ball into the mitt of his catcher and not 10+ meters elsewhere. It´s only in anime where we have flashy, fancy breaking balls and shit that make a sharp turn inmidst air, like Captain Tsubasa and football.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0b4Q1Ddm-o

[MFauli]

video not available in my country

[Munsu]

Post the video URL here:
http://www.unblockyoutube.co.uk/

And see it it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0b4Q1Ddm-o

[shinta|hikari]

Breaking balls are real, Mfauli. That said, I'm usually bored to death watching baseball.

[Munsu]

Breaking balls are real, Mfauli. That said, I'm usually bored to death watching baseball.

It's not a sport one can enjoy unless real fan.

[shinta|hikari]

But I really like baseball manga and anime though lol. I think they are far superior to their soccer, tennis, and basketball counterparts. Baseball just seems much more tactical.

[Edort4]

I get the feeling that baseball is easier to depict. Each round is uneven. Full team against 1 to 4 guys at most. Usually action only affects 2-3 people who are stationary to being with. If no hit thats all and if hit you usually forget about battery and action shifts to runner, the guys 1-2 chasing ball and the stationary base guy. Again 3 or 4 ppl with 1 or 2 stationary. 90% of the action happens in the homeplate and infield triangle.

[Munsu]

But I really like baseball manga and anime though lol. I think they are far superior to their soccer, tennis, and basketball counterparts. Baseball just seems much more tactical.

Have you read Happy!? I haven't finished it (fuck I just noticed it got fully scanlated), but it's a tennis manga I really love. It's quite depressing, as the main character can't catch a break. But I'm a huge fan of Urasawa Naoki, so that might play a bit into it as well, but I think it's worth checking out if you haven't.

But yeah, in general baseball has been handled much better than any other sport in manga/anime. I think also each out, each pitch, each event in a baseball game carries a lot of weight vs what other sports might generate.

We've also haven't seen a lot of talented mangakas, as far as I've been able to tell, handling much outside of baseball. And if they've been, they've been pure pure shounen for the most part.

From soccer, maybe Whistle might be worth looking into, but again, shounen. I recall Giant Killing being pretty good if not mistaken.

Man, now I want to go sports manga hunting. I know I've read most that Adachi has put out, probably everything that has been scanlated, but he's mostly baseball (with a lot of common factors between his series). I liked his swimming and boxing ones as well.



I get the feeling that baseball is easier to depict. Each round is uneven. Full team against 1 to 4 guys at most. Usually action only affects 2-3 people who are stationary to being with. If no hit thats all and if hit you usually forget about battery and action shifts to runner, the guys 1-2 chasing ball and the stationary base guy. Again 3 or 4 ppl with 1 or 2 stationary. 90% of the action happens in the homeplate and infield triangle.

Just the same, it's the easiest to animate. The other sports require actual action, while in baseball it's more subdued and can get away with plenty of still shots if need be.

In general, there simply hasn't been a good variety in the stories in other sports anime as they've been in baseball.

[shinta|hikari]

It's also possibly because baseball is so big in Japan compared to the other sports. More attention also means more mangaka are actual fans, and can therefore create more interesting stories. I'm less concerned about the animation but more about the story and depiction. Kuroko no Basket, for example, is terrible ball magic, while Slam Dunk is all about the players and drama, not the tactics.

I find that the really good baseball shows are just simply more realistic and have better stories, such as Cross Game, Ookiku Furikabutte, and yes, even Major. The one show I think contends with the baseball domination is Baby Steps. Unfortunately, the anime has horrible art.

[Munsu]

It's also possibly because baseball is so big in Japan compared to the other sports. More attention also means more mangaka are actual fans, and can therefore create more interesting stories. I'm less concerned about the animation but more about the story and depiction. Kuroko no Basket, for example, is terrible ball magic, while Slam Dunk is all about the players and drama, not the tactics.

I find that the really good baseball shows are just simply more realistic and have better stories, such as Cross Game, Ookiku Furikabutte, and yes, even Major. The one show I think contends with the baseball domination is Baby Steps. Unfortunately, the anime has horrible art.

Oh yeah, it goes without saying that baseball in Japan is bigger than the alternative. Just didn't want to make an excuse of why that'd be a reason for them to have better sports animes about it, though certainly a factor. I guess it also plays into having more at bats, forgive the pun, to get some of them right.

There's also REAL for basketball, I think I read it, but I'm not sure... I completely forgot about it.

There was a shoujo manga that I liked way back when called Girl Got Game (Power!).

There's I`ll/CKBC. I thought I had read, now I'm not sure. I'm going to hunt it down again.

Dear Boys I recall liking.

But regardless, I forgot about what aspects each of these focused for the most part. Been a while.



Tennis wise, I've only gone through Prince of Tennis... loved it way back when, but thinking back I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it as much now. But it's in the superpower mold of things.

Baby Steps of course, and the aforementioned Happy! which I think you should check out at least. More drama oriented all told.



For soccer, Aoki Densetsu Shoot! I think was good and more grounded. An oldie though. I really liked
Hungry Heart: Wild Striker, it was fun but more in the super power mold of things. I really liked the main character, kinda Slam Dunk ish.

I saw Whistle!, enjoyed it at the time, but don't recall much of it. It was charming and had a good feeling about it. Giant Killing already mentioned.

And of course, there's now Days. More out there, but these have been my experiences.


Just the same, you can get Adachi with Cross Game, Touch, H2, etc., etc., and you're already at a disavantage against baseball from the get go. And that's only one author and only using 3 of many others he has.

[MFauli]

I wasn´t saying that breaking balls are a made-up thing. I´m saying that in reality, pitchers use whatever throw and rather than being tactical, are simply happy when the ball manages to hit the catcher´s mitt. I´ve seen some of Japanese baseball, and you can see how slow/lame they throw compared to the dramatic, energetic anime-throws.

Also, I cannot agree on Cross Game. Cross Game imo focused too much on human drama, like now Battery, or also Haikyuu (which had lots of actual matches, but all the emotions distracted from those matches´ importance). When I watch a sports anime, I want to see ... the sports! That´s why I´m a fan of Captain Tsubasa, Kuroko, Ace of Diamond, Baby Steps, Giant Killing, and so on. Of course I want *some* human component, it´s necessary for character development. But when an entire season ends with only maybe one proper match, something went wrong.

[KrayZ33]

I wasn´t saying that breaking balls are a made-up thing. I´m saying that in reality, pitchers use whatever throw and rather than being tactical, are simply happy when the ball manages to hit the catcher´s mitt. I´ve seen some of Japanese baseball, and you can see how slow/lame they throw compared to the dramatic, energetic anime-throws.

What would you know about what a pitcher or the battery does? You might as well say that Soccer teams don't use tactics "and just play soccer or whatever worked before".
If outfielders can throw balls to a base like lasers, which are like ~100m away, you can bet your ass that pro pitchers can throw into strikezones regulary.

I don't think you understand what baseball players think and do well enough to form an opinion about their abilities.

[Munsu]

What would you know about what a pitcher or the battery does? You might as well say that Soccer teams don't use tactics "and just play soccer or whatever worked before"

Yeah, seems quite ignorant about sports competition all told.

[MFauli]

What would you know about what a pitcher or the battery does? You might as well say that Soccer teams don't use tactics "and just play soccer or whatever worked before".
If outfielders can throw balls to a base like lasers, which are like ~100m away, you can bet your ass that pro pitchers can throw into strikezones regulary.

I don't think you understand what baseball players think and do well enough to form an opinion about their abilities.

I´m not knowledgable about baseball outside of anime and Kevin Costner-movies, yeah. But I watch football, and indeed it´s the same: these pros would shoot cross passes from one side of the field to the other. And often enough, those passes fail. It´s not about the absolute "can they", it´s about "can they every time". And they cannot. In anime, when the pitcher would make a bad throw or completely miss the catcher, a whole episode would be spent on the resulting drama. In real-life baseball, bad throws happen all the time.

That´s all I was saying.

[KrayZ33]

first of all, no.. that's not "all you were saying" in fact you were saying something totally different.

in addition to that:

Soccer players are under physical pressure ontop of mental pressure (unlike a pitcher who'll use the same windup over and over again because he has all the time he needs to do exactly that), they do most of their passes in full speed and they use their feet instead of their hand, which makes it harder to aim precisely to begin with. Yet most pros can probably hit the aluminium 4 out of 5 times from 16-20m away.
And even if they can't, because not all baseball players can pitch or hit properly either, they know how to play soccer tactically. That's something you don't actually see from "watching" football, because the cameras don't allow you to appreciate the exact positioning and timings.

You know... "counter attacking" is not as broad as the word suggest, when a situation like that arises, it "clicks" in every single one of their heads and player A knows what B should be doing and C will open up space for D and E so that B can make use of that if he needs to etc..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6eVvp99eNo
Same applies to Baseball. The fielders probably know where they should position themselves and how likely it is for the ball to go either infield or outfield and so on.

and to come back to your previous post, baseball pitches aren't slow either, they reach up to ~150kmh... Do you even realise how much time they have to swing if someone throws that fast? The mound is ~14m away or something. 150kmh is ~41m/s, which means they have 1/3 of a second to react, aim, swing and hit. I never played baseball myself but it's probably so fast that they start the swinging motion before the ball left the pitcher's hand if they expect a fastball and adjust it mid-swing.

Just take a look at the big windup they do while throwing pitches and the huge step they take when throwing it and then consider the accuracy they actually have with all that going on.

[shinta|hikari]

What the hell are you talking about Krayz???

Everyone knows professional athletes are just fucking lucky. Training and talent are all meaningless in front of sheer fortune. That's why they get paid the big bucks. Why exactly? Because they just do something and it happens NOT every time. It's practically gambling! No, it IS gambling!!!

[MFauli]

Hold your sarcasm, shinta.

Training and talent aren´t meaningless - they ensure that professionals will always be better at their sports than an amateur or beginner. But that doesn´t change what I said. Actually, it´s completely redundant to mention. I´m comparing anime to reality. Why is it so hard to accept that there´s a significant difference? I´m honestly a bit perplexed by your aggressive counter-postings. You´re accusing me of "having no idea about sports" and "being ignorant" and whatever else. With no posting of mine did I intend to downplay the required skill of professional players.

That doesn´t mean what I said isn´t right: Compared to anime, a lot more luck/accident is involved in real life-baseball. Compare that to a videogame if you have to. To do a good throw, all you have to do is hit a button when a scale on-screen is within a green area of some meter. As long as you keep in the green area, which is easy to do, you will throw the ball safely into the catcher´s mitt. Reality: You don´t have a "green area". You have an infinity of possibilities to throw your ball towards. Turn around 180° and throw the ball - it´s possible, but your team will probably hate you forever. In real life, nothing guides you. Everything depends on your throw, on yourself. That´s why real baseball isn´t as fancy as in anime. In anime, you have a near 100% hit-catch rate. In anime, you have close-ups and slow-motion. You have authors who wrote a compelling, dramatic path for the game. Real baseball is missing all of that. You have a human being throwing a ball, hoping that the ball hits the mitt. Professionals, thanks to training and talent, have a higher success rate than amateurs and beginners. But even they pale in direct comparison to anime-baseball players, even when it´s just a bunch of 12 year olds. That´s all I claimed. And I stay firm by that.

[shinta|hikari]

I was just kidding around, unlike them lol. I thought you didn't get hurt by stuff like that.

I think Krayz was saying that wasn't your original point. You said in the first post "I wasn´t saying that breaking balls are a made-up thing. I´m saying that in reality, pitchers use whatever throw and rather than being tactical, are simply happy when the ball manages to hit the catcher´s mitt."

I think you were being hyperbolic here, but Krayz thought you actually did think that tactics didn't matter at all and that pitching was mostly a random thing. Those aren't true.

If you compare reality to anime, well of course reality is a lot less clean and planned out. Sports (arguably) weren't made for drama, but for competition. This I believe was your main point: "I´ve seen some of Japanese baseball, and you can see how slow/lame they throw compared to the dramatic, energetic anime-throws."

So guys, it's all just a misunderstanding! Now we can proceed with the love quadrangle harem fias-, I mean discussing the actual show.

[Edort4]

Dont stop them its amusing reading it. Where do e-sports fall in all this discussion? Is gambling an sport?

[Buffalobiian]

I´m saying that in reality, pitchers use whatever throw and rather than being tactical, are simply happy when the ball manages to hit the catcher´s mitt."

So like drunk, gay sex really.

This show's been good. I feel a little bit for the dick head that resigned, but he's still a cunt.

The story was revolving around drama and the little brother so much that I feared it would kill off one of the siblings and make the other fulfill their dreams. Thank heavens that didn't happen.

Giant Killing started out great from it's unique angle but grew stale quickly because not enough soccer happened. This is strictly an anime-only impression.

[shinta|hikari]

Too much forced drama. These are middle-schoolers, not high schoolers. Their worries don't fit their age group, just like their looks.

This is the biggest disappointment of the season for me. I was expecting awesome baseball from the first episode, so I forgave the overly dramatic and emo 2nd one, but the emo just never ended.

[MFauli]

This was the most boringly presented baseball game I´ve ever witnessed in all of anime. Wow.

[David75]

This was the most boringly presented baseball game I´ve ever witnessed in all of anime. Wow.
Because as Shinta reminded us, this anime isn't about baseball... It's a young male teens drama, in a highschool baseball setting.
And I still fail to see where the MC is so exceptionnal, except maybe in how precise are his throws: snowball on the tiny tree branch first ep, pebble on window structure (and not through glass) this ep.

I also felt a drop in visual quality, but maybe it's because I was bored.

[Munsu]

Because as Shinta reminded us, this anime isn't about baseball... It's a young male teens drama, in a highschool baseball setting.
And I still fail to see where the MC is so exceptionnal, except maybe in how precise are his throws: snowball on the tiny tree branch first ep, pebble on window structure (and not through glass) this ep.

I also felt a drop in visual quality, but maybe it's because I was bored.

The MC is exceptional with control and fastball speed.

But yeah, this has turned more boring by the episode, the over-drama is killing it for me as it's not even interesting drama. It has a nice atmosphere that had potential, but hasn't really come through.

And yeah, the presentation for, finally, a baseball game came off quite dull. Hopefully that part improves as it goes along. But I was certainly hoping for better for this series.

[Buffalobiian]

How can you fault this? It's an exact depiction of how boring real baseball games are!

[shinta|hikari]

That's the point!

We don't watch Free to see boring swimming crap. We watch it for gay ero!!!

EDIT:

Okay, I've seen the episode. WTF is with the catcher? He punches the pitcher because the pitcher didn't throw a ball he couldn't catch? How can the catcher complain if he completely fumbled the previous ON SPOT FAST BALL?

This show is ridiculous. Or for 12 year olds.

And... these kids are surprised they could play baseball... WITHOUT... THE... SCHOOL'S... PERMISSION!?!? WOW!!! Revolutionary!!!




Trash.

EDIT2:

Finished the episode. Cocky obviously taunting enemies! Of course you're gonna bite!!!



Trash.


Adachi! Hurry up and finish Mix so we can get a good baseball/drama anime!

[Munsu]

How can you fault this? It's an exact depiction of how boring real baseball games are!

Err, no.

[Buffalobiian]

I guess cheerleaders do make real games more entertaining.

[MFauli]

Ace of Diamond remains the best baseball anime.

[Munsu]

I guess cheerleaders do make real games more entertaining.

There are no cheerleaders in baseball.

[shinta|hikari]

WOT. Really??

No sexy girls in that sport at all!?

@Mfauli - Have you seen Ookiku Furikabutte and Major?

[Buffalobiian]

There are no cheerleaders in baseball.

I thought Americans put cheerleaders in everything because they liked cheerleaders.

Now baseball's as boring as cricket.

[shinta|hikari]

Latest episode whatever:









Probably dropping this. This is pure melodrama. Not even drama. It's melodrama. Baseball is meaningless in the story. It's just an excuse. Utter shit.

Again, the strange incongruity between the appearances, supposed age, and actions of the characters are extremely jarring.

And who the hell takes a pitcher out after 1 fucking point? The enemy is a monster team. You expect a crappy pitcher to do better than Harada in the long run..?

Bullshit.

[Buffalobiian]

A baseball anime that abandons a baseball game?

:s

The little brother should be the MC. His ED skills will solve all dramas.

[MFauli]

did they forget the music? what a shit show

[Buffalobiian]

Stupid autocorrect. I meant EQ skills.

[shinta|hikari]

...WTF, I actually did read that as EQ. Context FTW...

[shinta|hikari]

Latest episode whatever:

I'm not even gonna leave any spaces before spoiling because... guess what? MOAR POINTLESS DRAMA.

Who the fuck cares about these guys? And why is that kid, who is like 13, annoying enough to be considered a smarmy midboss in an evil company bullying a new hire?

And the part about "this is violence! your scholarship bla bla gets canceled!" made me LOL. This kid does know that there are only 3 of them there? And if the 2 others got their stories straight, he'd have a broken nose, ribs, teeth, face, eyes, life, and no one would penalize Shugo, right?

Unbelievable.

This is like the worst concoction of unnaturally mature kids doing the most unnaturally immature things in all of fiction.

Again, trash.

[Buffalobiian]

I liked this show initially because it wasn't just baseball. I've since realised I want more baseball.

I skipped through the second half of this episode.

Dropped from the watch-when-it-comes-out pile