Ookiku Furikabutte: Natsu no Taikai-hen

This will go over the series as a whole.

Coming off of Diamond no Ace, I really didn't have too much expectation in this show after seeing how jank the animation was half the time, especially with how the movement was choreographed. How do I say this? Balls just felt fast in Diamond no Ace because of how the trajectory was mapped and the angles that the ball went through. When a ball hit the outfield, you had a clear indication of how the ball falls. When a runner gets onto base, it feels like he's running fast. The framing, choreography, and movement in Diamond no ... ace just perfectly capture the essence of the baseball plays.

There's not too much of that in this show. In a way, this disparity seems to be apparent in the other departments of this show. In this show, the pitcher throws 100 km/hr balls, and 120 km/hr balls are his limits. The team is full of freshmen, and some of the team members are not very good since they're complete newbies. Their batting lineup is alright, but they only have one all-star batter. The catcher's great, but still has lots of room for improvement. The practice fields and training facilities are what you expect from a public school's all-freshmen team: they're sharing the field with other teams, and don't have exclusive batting facilities or arrangements. This show is like the antithesis to Diamond no Ace, which is just a lot flashier, with great players being scouted across the nation, exclusive facilities, a controlled diet, and dorms just for baseball players. The team in Diamond no Ace is renowned, and the senior players are also great. Yet, if you take a look at the performances between the two teams, it's not too far.

In the end, Big Windup is a story about a grassroots team. The David that slays the goliath. They're underestimated. Their players aren't scouted. Their school isn't ranked. Yet, they try and succeed at playing well in baseball. And the show does a good job of portraying it.

For a baseball show, there aren't too many characters. There are only one or two characters that are actually relevant outside of the actual baseball team. Of the baseball team, I only remember Abe, Izumi, Hanai, Tajima, and Mihashi. Well, because of the smaller character cast, you do definitely get to get to know them better. Mihashi's obviously the most developed, the show having a lot of focus on his personal journey as a person as much as a pitcher. He's shy, lacks confidence due to past experiences, and can't string words together. He backs away from confrontation and tries to resolve the issue by sidestepping it. He's overly conscious of other people's opinions of him, and he always thinks of the worst situation. Surprisingly enough, there's a basic psychoanalysis of him that was done on him by another player, and I think it's quite apt. Abe's a great catcher but had bad experiences with an arrogant, but good pitcher. He initially plans on controlling Mihashi for his own desires but realizes that a battery is more of a two-way street than anything else. Tajima's the all-star player that probably could have been on any team, and acts as Mihashi's friend and somewhat of a "guardian" of sorts. He's hyperactive and talented but also cares for the rest of the team, especially Mihashi since he needs it the most. I would go over the rest of the characters, but I think you get the idea. The characters that do matter or get screen time have depth, and you get to see a lot more monologuing from them since there are not too many characters that get a lot of focus. You won't be disappointed with the cast, and Mihashi certainly isn't a generic protagonist-type main character which is a very welcome surprise.

You won't see the scale of Diamond no Ace, where there's a bunch of characters that you know from rival teams that have their own personalities. There are not too many side characters in this show, but when they show up, they matter and aren't just thrown away. There are so few side characters that half the matches, even the official ones, don't get any screen time in Big Windup, so the games that the show decides to feature are quite long. Games usually last 5 or 6 episodes, and the play-by-play in these games is quite entertaining to watch. Each game is done in-depth, and you get to see the thought processes and monologues of each player present. You barely get to know any of the rival teams' players too well, but you usually get to know one or two in-depth in terms of their personality monologuing. And well, despite the animation not being amazing like Diamond no Ace, the plays do feel like you can see the movement, and it's not all that bad. The animation isn't so stiff that it's a detriment, and you get to see how the plays turn out in a satisfying manner.

I like how Big Windup tries to do something a bit different, despite how unrealistic some of it is. Like how an all-freshmen team is this good, but it's a good change of pace, and the characters and games are fun to watch.

Its a great seinen sports anime. You'll somehow learn about the rules or techniques playing baseball. The characters hardworks and efforts. The opponents perspective too. You'll learn how baseball works and how the players plays and reacts to various counter attacks. It's an interesting show. It made me realize baseball is interesting game.

I don't play baseball but watching the character's everyday life as baseball players is heartwarming. Doing their best in the games.

The characters are great too and funny. Even if it's serious there's comedy.

And i cried a lot.

The seiyuus are great too. The music everything is great. I love the art ... style too is great.

It's a 9/10 for me.

I have mixed feelings with the ending and in general.
On the one hand, it was a very good and interesting series, but on the other hand, it undoubtedly generated great discomfort in me due to the little content that was adapted, since if we add both seasons, they were a total of 38 chapters and we agree that for a "Spokon" it is a number small enough to be able to be carried in a way that leaves a satisfactory ending for everyone, that is a true closure and not an open ending of which we will no longer know more about it. The animation ... is more careful than last season, the soundtrack is very good. The development of characters in this season is there and I liked that a lot as the protagonist begins to show that small and at the same time giant steps to improve. The only thing I don't like is that there are no more seasons. I liked the ending because it kind of closes a stage in this anime but never starts another one because there is no continuation so. I recommend it if you want to see a spokon.
En español:
Tengo sensaciones encontradas con el final y en general.
Por un lado fue una serie muy buena e interesante pero por el otro me genera sin dudas una gran desazón por el poco contenido que resulto adaptado, ya que si sumamos ambas temporadas fueron un total de 38 capítulos y convengamos que para un "Spokon" es un numero bastante chico como para poder ser llevado de una forma que deje un final satisfactorio para todos, que sea un verdadero cierre y no un final abierto del cual ya no sabremos mas de el. La aniamcion esta mas cuidada que la de la temporada pasada, la banda sonora muy buena. El desarrollo de personjaes en esta temporada hay y mucho eso me gusto como el protagonista comienza a mostrar eso pequeño y a la vez gigantes pasos para mejorar. Lo unico que no me gusto que no haya mas temporadas. El final me gusto porque como que cierra una etapa en este anime pero nunca comeinza otra porque no hay continuacion asi que. Lo recomiendo si quers ver un spokon.