Ranked #2406

Moshidora

What if the manageress of a high school baseball team had read Drucker’s “Management?”

This is the question imposed at the very beginning of the anime and is at the same time its very long original title. As it might look as a form of endorsement for Peter Drucker’s book of Management with baseball fans as the primary target, it’s not all about boring philosophy as there’s something much more to it. So what would really happen if someone who doesn’t even have a slight bit clue about management read about a book of it? Want to know the answer?

Say hello to Moshidora.

First of all for baseball fans, don’t expect too much dirt-hugging and some over-the-audience ball hits because you might just get disappointed. Moshidora’s theme is baseball no doubt but what it really wants to present is the essence of team building and human interrelationships; baseball was just used as a channel to express all these. Although it is does not contain as many ball movement as what other baseball anime could present, it still has its fair share of running and batting which could get somewhat exciting at times; though most of the time predictable, it is still fun to watch.

The story of Moshidora rotates around a girl who hates baseball. Hating baseball ironically, she is actually the manager of a high school baseball team as the replacement of a sick friend. Here she’ll meet different kinds of people with different problems and as their manager, she’s the one in-charge to fix all these. Here she’ll use the Drucker’s book as a guide to each and almost every problem that she faces. It has a lot more talking and crying and is undoubtedly somewhat very dull and boring at the beginning, but given some time and when it gets going, there’s just no stopping.

Moshidora has a huge cast of characters but not all are to be named and to be remembered necessarily. Given the number of people in a 10 episode anime, it is very unlikely that character development is mastered however, with the various situations that the characters face, they act as if they were real humans and not as other variations of anime stereotypes. As real as the characters are, of course the situations that they meet are also common human problems in which the way that they respond is logically humane. They deal with problems by consultation, cheering others up or by facing troubles head on as a whole team and of course with the manager as the center. I might sound like a genderist here but most of the male characters are rather dull or just so plain that made them look boring. Nonetheless, the female characters are there to back them up which made them look more interesting than what they should’ve been. Not minding other features of Moshidora, the characters alone would be enough to get it going. However, if there’s something that bugs me about the characters would be the fact that they are too over dramatic in which calling them “emo” would be an understatement. They cry and despair at almost everything but aside from being too emotional, there’s nothing more that I could hold up against them. They are too realistically human in a way that even calling them as anime characters would sound unfair.

Albeit the character interactions are very human, the designs are not. Character movements are very minimal; most of the time, they’ll just be standing there not moving except their mouths. Sometimes when from afar, the facial borders would change and would look more angular. The background too isn’t really something spectacular. Although it is light and refreshing, it is just too plain that it looks like simple sketches added with some watercolor palettes and some colored pencils. Most of the scenes too look like picture clips in which the camera just does the trick by scrolling through it might be vertically or horizontally. Even when they are playing baseball, some scenes look like it was already shown a couple of minutes ago. Basing with what I have said, it’s very obvious that the company went cost cutting with its production.

As the animation definitely needs some more time thinking through, the music of Moshidora is just eargasmic. The opening song entitled “Yume Note” of Moshidora is just “wow.” Even if listened to repeatedly, I could never get bored by listening to that very adorable voice and light xylophone strikes. It is no surprise as the owner of this lovely voice Azusa is already reaching fame because of her two very cute opening songs for AmagamiSS plus this. Compared to the ending song, the latter is not bad but it seems somewhat generic. The background soundtracks however are very energetic and lively. From simple upbeat tunes to parade trumpets, all is very lovable. Not to mention that the main characters’ seiyuus did an awesome job portraying their roles. Well, from two hardworking seiyuus namely Kana Hanazawa and Youko Hikasa, this is to be expected.

As the story goes, Moshidora does not waste any time by presenting scenes or introducing characters for some random entertainment. No, it is a very straightforward anime. All events that happen in Moshidora are all part of the plot development. Given at the very beginning that it might look too campy, try to watch a few more and it transmutes from bad at the beginning, to average at the middle, and to good at its ending. With the characters’ powerful standpoint in Moshidora, no wonder that the ending though a bit too dramatic is still great.

Overall, I think you should just watch Moshidora. It is a relaxing and a down-to-earth anime that could put smiles and a positive outlook in the lives of everyone. It is just 10 episodes so why miss the chance? And for a 10 episode anime, it sends its message to its viewers clearly. If you miss out on this one, I suppose you'll be forever haunted by a question like this:

“What if I an anime enthusiast who is reading this right now have watched Production I.G.’s Moshidora?”
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One thing you may notice about anime today is that everything is, the way I put it, "fantastical." Characters with supernatural powers, mythical beings from other worlds, magic. Even straying from the realm of supernatural, there are prodigies, psychological masterminds, and characters being pushed beyond realistic limits. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I think it's something that makes anime in general a great medium. But what happens when you get an anime series with none of that? A series with completely normal characters, no sudden plot twists, and no limitless boundaries. Just pure, normal human drama. Can a series like this still manage to be good?

Moshidora says "Yes."

Moshidora is the story of how a young high school girl, Minami Kawashima, takes over for her sick friend as the manager of the school's baseball team using Drucker's Management as a guide with the goal of getting the team to the nationals. You may have read from other reviews and/or recommendations that Moshidora is not really about baseball, but about applying the ideas of Management to something other than just starting a normal business using baseball as the medium. This is not exactly wrong, but it is a bit misleading. Baseball is still a very important aspect of the story, it just isn't used in the way you may expect it to be. There is not a whole lot of focus on the actual games until the later episodes. That's not to say it moves slow; the first couple episodes may seem that way, but one must remember that Moshidora is still more about Management applied to baseball than baseball itself. The show isn't afraid to take it's time detailing the strategies being implemented in many ways, from asking each team member what they want to get out of the team to going out to other clubs and using their methods in a way that can be applied to various members of the baseball team.

Moshidora is, quite simply, a fairly normal story. There are no sudden plot twists as previously stated, and there is a certain amount of predictability, even cliches to the execution. However, at the end of the day, I believe that's what makes Moshidora such an enjoyable show. You don't need fantastical entities or magical worlds to have a compelling story and likable, believable characters. Moshidora is here to tell us that normal people still have goals to be reached, new ideas to try out, and stories to be told. Early on there is a lot of tension in the team and things seem to be falling apart, but by the end they've all learned how to work together, cover up each others weaknesses, and magnify their strengths through their motivation to push forward.

There are easy times, there are hard times, and there are sad times, but at the end of the day, Moshidora isn't throwing any curve balls; it knows what it wants to say and it says it well.

It may go without saying, but you don't need to be a fan of baseball to enjoy Moshidora. After all, I've never been a fan of baseball, but I loved this. Even Minami herself claims she hates baseball. read more

As the person who wrote the recommendation for bartender so cleverly recognized, this anime is not really about sports or baseball. Baseball is simply the medium in which the main message is conveyed.

The plot of the story: "What happens when you apply business management strategies to baseball"? A normal highschool girl who wants to help her friend achieve the dream of taking their baseball team to the koshien picks up a book on management, and uses its principles to managing the team.

Unlike other anime that draws excitement from having one or more "godly" protagonists who are somehow able to always pull through by luck or some mystical force, Moshidora focuses on real principles that can really be applied in real life, with characters that don't have any special abilities other than hard work.

This anime is unique in that one looks not towards the ending of the anime, but the process. While the viewer is curious whether the team made it to the koshien, it is not the most important part of the anime; what is important is how everyone changed and improved by living with the principles of "Management". Indeed, the principles of "Management" not only changed their baseball team, but also their perspectives on life.

As explained in episode three, a key concept in "Management" is to allow the consumers to understand professional jargon; this anime does this perfectly. It explains principles in business in a simple and light manner by expressing it through anime.

If you're looking for a dramatic sports drama, this may not be for you. But this anime is wonderful in that it is not only pleasant, it also teaches valuable principles that everyone should apply in their lives. read more

As someone who almost never watch anime, my perspective might be very different from anime enthusiasts, so please bear with me.

For those who are currently contemplating whether they should pick up this series, let me offer a few words of caution so you can maximize your enjoyment out of the entire experience. Moshidora is not about baseball. It is not about the thrill of winning.

What Moshidora offers us is a likable female lead and sage advices on how to be a leader. You will find that the advices given apply to us as well as to managers and world leaders: leading with integrity, what does it mean to innovate, what is an effective communication, what is a failure, focusing on the results but not the effort, and marketing not just what you want to sell, but also what people want. I heard that this anime is intended for those in their 30s and 40s. If true, then those of us who fall into this age group are no doubt facing these issues daily.

Let's get to the plot: This is a straightforward affair. Minami Kawashima, the female lead, becomes the manager of a mediocre baseball team. Having no managerial experience and is aversive to baseball, she accidentally picks up Drucker's Management, thus embarking on a journey to self-discovery while unleashing her hidden potential as a manager. The first 8 episodes offers numerous quotes from Drucker that I have mentioned are highly relevant to those of us who are now in the "real world." The final two episodes contain more drama and if you stick with the series to the end, you will be rewarded with an emotional (or melodramatic) ending.

You might now wonder if this series is as bland as I presented. The answer is yes. But you have an endearing female lead who does not fit the stereotypes of your typical female leads in teenage anime series. Minami is not a tsundere or a smart female but for some reason is fallen madly in love over some clueless guy and is fighting for his attention. Minami is compassionate and kind, but she never lets emotion influencing her judgments. She has a razor sharp eye for talents and is not afraid to cut you if you suck. She is results-oriented; excuses like "but I tried very hard" will not work on her. Traits that mark a highly capable manager.

A word of criticism: The art is far below what one might expect from Production I.G.

In summary, you can get a lot of mileage out of this series if you approach this not as a baseball drama, but as a short crash course on what you should do in life. You don't have to be a manager or a leader to use the advices and lessons offered in this series.



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'Moshidora' is based on a best selling Japanese novel (translated) 'What If the Girl Manager of a High School Baseball Team Read Drucker's "Management"?' I am not making this up, the title really is that long. The anime title is an abbreviation.
The novel may have swept No.1 spot in every major book ranking chart in Japan with over 2.5 million copies sold in less than a year and half, but the anime adaptation is nothing but complete and utter failure.

One can tell how badly this show was neglected within minutes. Almost all the characters and backgrounds are nearly frozen! Not only that, there is absolutely zero creativity in art direction, as almost every single scene is either a standstill medium shot, standstill full shot, or moving long shot. It's like watching a slideshow.
Voice acting is almost equally lackluster. All the characters talk in an unusually slow pace, completely devoid of emotion. I don't know about you, but this is what I call "reading the script".

Of course, not every series is going to get 'Seirei no Moribito' or 'Dennou Coil' treatment and get showered with taxpayer money, but daily broadcast with production value lower than that of 'Anpanman' is no way to treat a No.1 yearly best seller. Just because it's an educational show on NHK doesn't mean it has to be garbage as an anime, and more importantly, it should not be teaching wrong things.

*Spoiler begins here*
The concept of running a baseball team like a business is nothing new. Actually, it's a pretty common theme in coach/management side of sports drama. 'Moshidora' is unique in that it specifies a single book and focuses on select concepts, but this presents a new set of problems. What happens is that the protagonist basically picks up Peter Drucker's "Management", then becomes a mindless drone who literally follows every single teaching on the book as if it really was the life's Bible. Last time I checked, management was an art that has best practices, but not an instruction manual!

Peter Drucker's book for a high school team is a very poor choice, because his books are written mainly for large corporations and nonprofits (like the Red Cross), whose ultimate goal is profit (or raising funds). That's why the concepts introduced in this series are like "organizations should be socially responsible", or "employee responsibility fosters morale/motivation" etc, that large corporations often neglect. It's also why the book focuses a lot on importance of marketing, because raising customer awareness and building lasting relationship with customers ultimately accomplish large organization's objectives. On the other hand, high school baseball team is a small organization, and their success is not measured by number of fans and revenue generated, but how far they advance into the tournament. This organizational objective was defined in one of the earlier episodes by the protagonist, to win. Marketing is not required to achieve that goal.

There were some interesting application of theories to a baseball team, but also stupid mistakes like confusing marketing with internal marketing and HRM (Human Resources Management). However, there were also many instances where things went way too conveniently just to prove the concept works. Especially, the application of "Innovation" was absolutely retarded. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that guessing the type and location of the pitch is more than half the challenges a batter has to face against a pitcher. By pitching nothing but strikes, you're voluntarily abandoning the location aspect of guesswork, essentially allowing batters to swing every pitch without hesitation. Such a strategy would never work, unless the pitcher was a prodigy who throws at 100mph or nasty breaking balls with startling precision (he was not). And the opposing team is still surprised at the regional semifinals that they don't bunt? No, they would send scouts to spy on opposing teams way before reaching that far.

Baseball aside, it didn't even make sense from business management perspective. "Innovation" from management and HR perspective is not telling your employees never-seen-before strategy and have them to follow that. It's about creating an environment for employees that encourages innovation. 3M's Post-it Notes and Google's "20 percent time" are probably the most famous examples. Creation of strict employee guideline by upper management, and blindly following a single book as a manager is not "innovation" from the management perspective.

While excessive fantasy is acceptable, sometimes even preferred in sports drama, using inconceivable scenarios to demonstrate a business concept is not the way to educate. The thing with business concept is that it must be used on a case-by-case basis, a strategy that works for one firm does not work for another. There are hundreds of theories and many influential business theorists around. A manager's job is to determine which strategy should be used for their own organization, and how it should be implemented. By forcibly twisting the outcome in order to demonstrate a theory, the lesson becomes invalid.

I was actually watching this series with a faint hope that the protagonist would eventually decide to abandon the book. To my surprise, it actually happened, but in the most undramatic way imaginable. No matter how you think about it, she should've strayed from the book after the eye-opening event of a best friend's death, at the very climax where she ended up pointlessly trying to convince the coach not to change the batter. That would've been solid drama, maybe even teach a real lesson from the story. In the end, the show severely underplayed the realization of the book's limits, and missed the chance to show that one must choose what she believes is right rather than blindly following a manual, or should I call it "innovation in management". As it stands, the choice of keeping the batter who eventually hit the winning run seems like yet another convenient scriptwriting. It also appears to be done on her whim, as they were still living by the book after regional finals. It didn't even make sense they're trying to play the way "customer" wants, when they're not even a professional team that plays for direct revenue and fan base. Apparently the producers of this show didn't understand the concept of organizational objective because they only read "Management". The climax, that fake swing sequence was extremely clever and dramatic, using canny plot device in earlier episode. Unfortunately, it's too little too late by this point.

Characters in this show are just puppets. Their emotions are limited, their behaviors are fabricated to advance the story (I mean, what was with the protagonist's reaction in front of the team after her friend's death? "Can't read the atmosphere," as the Japanese call it, beyond belief). To be honest, I forgot all their names already, because I simply was not even close to connecting or caring about any of them.
*Spoiler ends here*

OP by Azusa stood out as the only good thing about this series. 'Yume Note' is an extremely touching and catchy Jpop song perfect for what little atmosphere this series had. She's definitely setting herself up to become the next anime song princess in my opinion, with three consecutive solid theme songs in row, previous two being 'Amagami SS' OPs.

I do sense some clever writing by the original author, but I am going to single this one out as the worst anime adaptation attempt ever, and the worst sports anime I've ever encountered. Not only did it lack entertainment value as a sports anime, it failed miserably as a tool of business education, and serves only as the glorification of Peter Drucker and his book. I suspect the novel is nowhere as pathetic as this anime, and I'll be waiting to see the live-action movie adaptation as the better interpretation of the novel.

"What If the Educational Adaptation of a High School Baseball Novel Had a Proper "Direction"?"

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One big question in deciding whether to watch Moshidora or not is to ask yourself if you like realistic anime. There are no "power ups" and the characters are very human.

Story (9): A key concept to this anime is applying business theory to managing a baseball team. For example "Marketing" is useful to the team because people can find beneficial interactions (e.g. joint practice with track team). I think this concept is executed well enough though. It is slow but every development makes sense. The pacing actually reminds me more of cross game than one outs or major although there is little if any romance in Moshidora. Perhaps this is a side effect from being an adaptation to a novel. Nonetheless, this plot driven anime accomplished so much more than most anime do in a full season.

Art(7): The art is average, nothing good or bad really drew my attention.

Sound(6): I did not like the strange soundtrack played when the anime explained Drucker's theory. The ED was soothing albeit a little forgettable. The OP is similar in style, but by the end of the anime, it will really grow on you.

Character(8): The main character has a sense of depth as of the 5th episode. We don't really get too close to any other character, but the anime does a good job of characterizing all more important characters, and they are all likable enough. It reminds me of Ookiku Furikabutte in a way, although it definitely does not have as much focus on the actual mechanics of the game.

Enjoyment(7): I liked this anime to be honest. It is a breath of fresh air to action oriented or gag/comedy anime.

*Edit* I've finished this anime since I wrote this review, and I have to say the latter episodes have been much better. The slow buildup in the introductory is paying off. We see the fruits of the team's efforts as they dukes it out in the summer tournament. In the end though I think this anime sends out a message that Drucker's business philosophy isn't complete by itself. We are human beings and the memories we make during our lives are just as important as the results we see.

This anime was quite enjoyable to me. If you didn't mind the meticulous pacing in Cross game and a focus on plot and the characters, chances are you'll also enjoy this anime. read more

So far, I am unimpressed and disappointed.

Perhaps it is because I am a fan of two other baseball animes, Oofuri and One Outs, both of which I thought were really good. I have a preference for Oofuri, though a friend of mine thinks One Outs is better.

I think I was expecting a hybrid of these two animes for Moshidora. The atmosphere of Oofuri and the initial "unique" idea applied to baseball of One Outs (psychological for One Outs, economics for Moshidora).

Anyways, moving on.

Story
The initial idea is good, interesting, though poorly executed. I feel that there actually is no clear goal for the baseball team, even though it is stated in the first episode that it is "Koshien"... the feeling is just not there. Furthermore, yes, as a previous viewer mentioned, there was an attempt to make scenes dramatic, but it was unnecessary and questionable. I feel that transitions between scenes are not as smooth as they could be.

Art
Personally, I have a hard time reconciling the art style with the subject/theme of the anime. It's not that the art itself is bad or anything, it's simply that I think something more gender neutral would be better suited to it, because even though the art style is geared towards a female audience, the content itself seems totally unisex. I did notice however that the background tends to look flat... I'm not a 100% sure how intentional that is.

Sound
There could be a better soundtrack. Scenes could potentially become much more moving and smoother if there was more background music. Already in the first episode, I noticed a lack of sound.

Characters
For now, a 3 for the characters. Kawashima, the female lead, currently appears to be very 2D, shallow. Viewers don't know much about her past, her relationship with her best friend is also pretty obscured, and the whole thing about her "hating baseball". We don't know anything about that. Plus, what's so great about her? Props for making the mistake of buying the management book and actually reading it, but the people who are actually furthering the team along are all the people around her, and not her herself. Nikai is my favorite character so far, we see him struggle and we can actually understand his thought process (spoiler episode 4???) All characters are all more or less underdeveloped.

Enjoyment
Uhh.. I'll push along and see if this gets any better. I can't help but compare it to Oofuri and One Outs though. There is that lack of excitement though, generally associated to sport-based animes.... ahh... disappointing...

Overall
It's decent,I've seen worse (in general terms of anime, not necessarily sport genre) and I don't think I'm planning to fail this anime. Afterall, I get the feeling I'm going to finish this anime, so if I do, it can't possibly be that bad afterall. read more

Moshidora was not very exciting I have to say. Yet, after the slow start this show finally made a connection with me right before it finished. It also made the list of very few shows to have made me cry. Actually the concept of the story is rather original - what happens if your manager read Drucker's book on management?

Despite Minami's dislike for baseball she decides to become the team's manager until her hospitalized friend gets discharged. Unfortunately the story is rather average starting after she buys the book, but the execution is done rather well and it is still rather enjoyable. Our horrible team is essentially on a losing streak and out of shape so our heroine comes to the rescue to bring them to Koushien the goal of every single baseball anime out there.

Of course you all pumped to see how applying a business book onto baseball will work out. However, you realize that in the end it can't be anything over the top and it isn't - A new strategy, a new training menu, or motivating the team. It is still cool in a way, but it is an 'oh' moment when in the end it seems as if the book wasn't needed to come up with these things.

There are a few games that are shown, and while I usually stay away from sports in real life and in anime I found them rather fun to watch. It does a good job of making things rather suspenseful and occasionally funny. Sometimes the episode focuses on a specific team member, and generally this works out well with their condition on the way to being fixed.

It takes a while to get to know all of the cast, at least around episode 6. This is where things start to turn around and the drama begins. It isn't very hard to figure out what will happen, and at first I didn't really show any empathy for the situation. As I mentioned before however, they executed the following time of the show so that by the end I couldn't help but shed a few tears.

Moshidora was a relatively short watch that fully captures the story it is showing. The ending is pretty satisfying which is nice to see in an anime for once although is does suffer from a rather dull start. In the end I am glad I stuck with Moshidora and didn't drop it, but it definitely wasn't anything above a Fair/Fine.

Questions and feedback on my reviews are welcome and very much appreciated!
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Moshidora has an interesting concept; that of applying business and management methods to school sports teams in order to improve their performance. In theory this can work, since both a firm and a team require the same elements to be successful; trust, motivation, innovation, planning, and so on. The difference is that firms are in for the money while teams are mostly for the fame and glory but let’s not get into that. If I am to stretch it, it is not a secret how parents in Japan motivate their kids to take part in sports and other activities. I mean, which other country has made THAT many sports series? It is means to learn how to cooperate and antagonize; useful assets for when they later become workers and business men. Thus Moshidora is probably the first to almost directly admitting the ulterior motive of all those sports anime out there.

One must not make the mistake of considering this a sports anime. This is not really about a bunch of guys clubbing other peoples’ balls and then running home so they can be safe (joking). Although it does concern training, and matches, and championships, down to it it’s closer to a slice of life with lots of interesting life messages around teamwork, hard work, goals in life and so on. It can even be seen as a fighting shonen … without the fighting.

On the other hand this is not a highly realistic show. I know many who were fooled to like the show because it didn’t have superpowers or huge robots for a change and that it also dealt with existing issues in daily school life. Well sorry boys and girls but you were trolled. Although it attempts to be down to earth and deal with existing problems all teams face, it is still presenting everything as WAY too simple to be overcome. My father is a member of board in the local football team and I see first hand many of the problems he faces daily. Some of them escalate to very violent and even friendship-shredding situations. Moshidora is going way too light in the issue and despite its linguistic sophistication at times, it is still only good in theory. People don’t solve their issues so simple.

Another thing that further shows its light nature is the obvious fact that all the main characters are cute girls. Not moe material but close. I mean, jeez, first episode and we are already introduced to the naive girl with high ideals and its sick frail female friend. And they all wear cute school uniforms or gym clothes; I could almost picture a date sim in my mind with so much material. And although women are part of every sport today, very few would actually choose to have a teenage female manager in a male team. It is very… distracting if you know what I mean. Especially when all the girls are drawn cute. And let’s face it, the story is about a girl reading a book and applying its simplistic context in an existing team. When was that ever practical?

But it’s ok, I understand how this can work for most people even if it’s not realistic although it supposed to be. Just a month ago the same fuss was done in Bakuman, which was supposed to be about cartoonists yet the plot was hardly realistic there as well. How many noticed or even cared about that? Not that many. Moshidora is like that; it can be good at fooling you to thing it is real.

Even if realism is not an issue, that still does not take away the fact that the story is quite simple and there isn’t much going in it. I mean, it is just 10 episodes and it still felt slow and simple to me in terms of story. And the characters, as realistically as they seem to act, they are still average anime characters bordering moe and date sims you will forget right away, exactly because there are no superpowers, some important plot twist, or anything worthy of standing out from the lot. Same for the production values, both artwork and soundtrack are not doing a great job in any way; they are just average looking character models and backgrounds with lots of stills and a few hints at good, while the music score is forgettable pop songs. This show is so simple you just get over it fast even if you liked it.

So is it a good show? No, unless you fool yourself to think it is realistic and you expect to see something light and simple for a change. read more

Note: This is one of my works from Sekijitsu

Art

The art itself wasn’t anything special and the lighting was fair as well, yet it’s the scenes they execute in the series which makes it all worthwhile. You can’t have one thing without the other and that is also why the music was such a powerful aspect in this series. Though I have to say I liked Yuki’s character design the most out of the rest.

Music

I can easily say that Moshidora had great soundtracks playing in the background for whatever the mood. Though it’ll never beat Maeda’s work it really fitted in well for a baseball series. As the OP is sung by the lovely Asuza, her soothing voice lifts you up into a fantasy and might I say that ED accompanied by those screenshots were all so powerful emotionally. A job well done Producton I.G

Story

The story itself started off at a low note and this caused a few to drop Moshidora but you can’t really conclude how good the story is in a few episodes. As I saw it, episode 1 to 5 consisted of character development while episode 6 to 10 consisted of serious baseball and many, many powerful emotions. I really enjoyed it and I can’t find anything to hate about it yet a story can only be great with a good flow and Moshidora had a great flow.

The flow in Moshidora appealed to me the most, especially when accompanied by the music and story together. Ever since episode 1, it’s been ascending ever since but once it reached episode 6, it sky rocketed so high that even I didn’t expect such a result! It wouldn’t top TTGL but it was still great. The lead up from getting to know about everyone gives you a sense of understanding. I couldn’t really ask for more from a baseball series.

Overall

I really want to give this show a 9 out of 10 but staying as un-bias as I can be. I truly think Moshidora deserves an 8 out of 10 at least. As the art wasn’t as special, once the flow of events started to play out with a magnificent soundtrack in the background, you can’t help but reveal that deep emotion that’s welling up inside of you. A great flow, a great story (especially considering it was only 10 episodes long!) and a magnificent execution of music.

As for recommendations, I highly recommend Moshidora to those who seek powerful emotions, great character development, magnificent music which will sway your heart and an outstanding flow of events from start to finish. Plus if you love tearjerkers then look no further!
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Seeing a business management book used in coaching a high school baseball team for Moshidora seemed like a strange premise for this anime, though it proved to be quite original. Drucker's management book proved to be quite effective in helping with Minami's managing of the team as she was able to implement business strategies that helped restore morale to the team and improve their skills as they were originally in shambles before her arrival. For a 10 episode series, Moshidora does do a decent job in its pacing with showing the slow improvements in the quality of the teamwork, coaching and playing coming from the high school team thanks to Minami's advice from Drucker's management book. It also devotes some time in focusing on some issues faced by individual members of the team, whether the players or the coaching staff, over how they desire to help improve the team and the weaknesses they carry.

However, the show is plagued with a couple major issues that keep me from wanting to rank it higher. First would have to be the cheese factor from the show's more serious moments. Moshidora is mostly pretty grounded with its mood in seeing the improvements of the baseball team. However when a more serious moment from any of the team comes up such as Sakurai ditching practices or a shocking event from a prominent character in the second-to-last episode, the series has a bad habit of overly emoting on said moments and the cheese is especially prominent in the final two episodes of the show. Another issue with the show is that the show suffers the stigma of being a sports-themed anime which aren't too receptive with many Western anime fans. The show focused enough on the improvements of the team and if you anticipate the outcome of the baseball games, then you can see what will be happening from a mile away and it prevents you from having any attachment to the successes brought about by the team.

Visually, Moshidora does sport scenery and character designs that have a decent amount of detail and bright colors, though it seemed apparent that the show was on a tight animation budget as there were quite a good number of still frame shots one could see at points throughout the series.

Moshidora's premise was quite original with its implementation of business management with coaching a baseball team and it was well paced enough to see the improvements of the team and get enough sense of what some of the individual players desired from being involved with the team. However, the show's more predictable moments and its moments of cheese did enough at bogging down any potential enjoyment I would get out of this series.
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First thing I have to say, in Japan, this anime is adapted by a book I read. I just love it. So I decided to watch the anime and I wasn't disapointed.

At first you can think it's a boring anime just about baseball (it's not like I don't like baseball) with a girl who'll do the management of this club. But this anime is more than that. The characters a very good and you can watch the changement in the characters. It's more a anime about the Characters than the baseball. I love the ending song, Daisuki dayo which I think was very good for the final. The final was really good. But I'll recommend you this anime which is just wondeful. I was really touched by the anime even if I had known the plot.And there is so much anime I was so touched. It's not a tragedic drama but it's so perfect like this.

Watch this anime is the only things I have to say you. read more

Before I begin, I want to point out that baseball is my least favorite sport. Also, after working on starting a business, I found management to be less than enjoyable. So, why did I enjoy this anime? It was mainly because of their desire to revolutionize. Have you ever sat around with a few friends or colleagues and plotted to do something bigger than you are? And then, you work your best to carry out your goals.

Story: The plot is very basic; girl mistakes a business management book, Druckers, for a baseball management book, then she uses Druckers to manage the baseball team to go to nationals. A problem I had was they recited the whole plot at the beginning of each episode, so there was no surprise or suspense for the very end. Another problem I had was it seemed like they overused the management book; after a few times quoting from it, it just felt like they were advertising it.

Art and Sound: Nothing too special here. The art was simple. No complaints on the sound. The songs were fine, but forgettable.

Character: They did focus a lot on the development of a lot of players on the baseball team, but it didn't seem that important to me. Each player had a problem and the manager used Druckers to solve their problems. For the most part, it was just a bunch of regular teenagers on a baseball team. They probably could have developed Yuki, the sick girl, a bit more to make the ending more dramatic.

Enjoyment and Overall: Despite all of the shortcomings, I still enjoyed it. It was different and refreshing; it was also realistic. The problems each person had were believable and it was fairly easy to relate to at least one of them, especially if you have played on a sports team. Above all, it made me think about things where I could innovate to make things better. read more

I started _Moshidora_, thinking I couldn't care less about the cliched characters and the application of Drucker's writing is strained, to say the least. _Moshidora_ doesn't have great production values - for example, the stock sick-girl-in-hospital is a clear rip of Chiaki in _Minami-ke_ except for the green eyes. The animation is mediocre and the music completely forgettable; the OP and ED are nice, but that's about it.

I did appreciate how they brought in good examples for Drucker's stuff (I was afraid the first two episodes would be representative), which was a definite strong point. I was angry when I realized the twist people had talked of was the lame trope of the sick-girl getting worse, but mollified when she actually *died* and they didn't pull the EPIC LAME stunt of having her get better after the victorious game. Then they used her death well and tied it all together! This shouldn't be impressive - an honest end which plays straight? - but it is. Overall, while I feel like this is a 7.5, I had to round it to 8 - I didn't expect to like a baseball anime at all, much less one with a business theme. So, well done _Moshidora_, well done. read more