"I used to think Maruo was the insecure type who isn't capable of having big dreams. But that's not right. He's the type to have countless smaller dreams that he can achieve perfectly, one by one. They may be small individually, but as they keep coming true, they quickly become one huge dream."
Baby Steps is a realistic, mentally engaging sports anime. It's well paced and subtle in its delivery of drama and romance, preferring to focus on the physical and mental aspects of playing tennis. The show has a good use of inner-monologues to display realistic and intriguing thought processes of each character throughout the
...
matches.
This second season of Baby Steps introduces slightly older and more mature characters. They start to think about their futures more seriously, whether that be going to University or pursuing tennis as a career. Consequently, the outcomes of the matches carry a greater sense of risk which makes them even more exciting to watch.
Baby Steps is very good at making us empathise with Maruo's feelings of excitement and determination; especially in those matches when his future depends on whether he wins or loses. Even when we already know what the outcome should be for the story to continue, the tension is kept high as in the past, Maruo has not been an automatic "plot-armour" type of character. He has lost many times, but he learns from each failure.
The pacing of the story is arguably a little on the slower side, but I feel this reflects Maruo's patient, strategic playing style. Of course, his skills have improved quite a bit since season 1 (he even learns some new shots) and he's getting one step closer to playing at the professional level.
One might think his progression is too fast to be realistic, but there do exist prodigies who are natural at their sport, even becoming pro after starting relatively late. And when you consider Maruo's rare work ethic and unusually good eyesight, it's certainly not impossible. Baby Steps does an excellent job of balancing a fun, exciting story with enough realistic elements to keep fans of the sport happy.
My favorite thing about this show, which I feel is unique compared to other sports anime I've seen, is the way the psychological aspects of the sport are explored in a surprising amount of depth. Anyone who's played tennis competitively or recreationally will recognise how your mental state plays a big part in how well you perform. With the margin for error so small in tennis, a slight shift in your mindset even on a subconscious level can make the difference between your shots going in or out.
This season also explores a concept called "the zone". I believe the author of the manga has thoroughly researched tennis psychology to describe this as accurately as possible, because it matches surprisingly well with my own experiences as a racket sports player. The zone is an ultimate state of mind where one is so focused that they are completely unaware of anything else. They are focused only on the present moment without worrying about what will happen, or has happened in the past. The result being, the player's best physical and mental performance is achieved.
Of course the show also deals with the physical and technical ability of our main character, which improves even more from the first season. One of the only things I was disappointed with in the first season was a lack of focus on the serve; considered one of the most important shots in the game, but very difficult to master. This season does address it, as Maruo tries to strengthen his body and improve the efficiency of his movement to improve his serve drastically.
One minor criticism I have of this season was the lack of general training scenes compared with season 1.
And if I'm being ultra-critical, I noticed one or two technical errors such as players serving to the wrong service box at the start of a game. It's a minor thing that would hardly be noticeable, but it does bring into question the lack of attention to detail by the animators/director.
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Production values:
Art - Much fewer mistakes compared with season 1, for the character designs, though there are still a few derp faces present on a few frames.
Animation - Improved over season 1, though it could be a lot smoother and fewer still frames. However, during important matches the animation quality is significantly boosted which really adds to the entertainment value.
Sound - A few new OSTs are added since season 1 which sometimes adds a some more excitement to the matches.
However, most of the time we have the same video-game-bgm type of soundtrack which isn't very noticeable. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it does it's job well of being "background" music.
The opening song is the same catchy tune from season 1 ("Believe in yourself" by Mao Abe) but now the song is timed perfectly to more dynamic visuals that really gets you pumped to watch the show.
For the ED, I didn't care much for the song, but has nice visuals.
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Finally, the romance that was hinted at towards the end of the first season has more development in this season. It's still not enough to distract from the main story line but it manages to be more satisfying than even a lot of romance-genre shows.
A big difference between this show and other sports anime it has no "drama" in the genres. This actually is part of why I love this show. There are no over exaggerated reactions, crying, etc. The emotions of the characters are subtly portrayed which helps you empathise with them better and keep a sense of realism.
In conclusion, I fully recommend Baby Steps to anyone, even if you're not a fan of sports anime in general. It has intelligent strategies, realistic development, like-able characters and even a touch of romance so there's something for everyone to enjoy.
Side note: You don't need to have any prior knowledge of tennis to enjoy this anime. (Just remember to start from season 1)
Story: 10/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall rating: 10/10.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Baby Steps Second Season
Japanese: ベイビーステップ 第2シリーズ
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
25
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 5, 2015 to Sep 20, 2015
Premiered:
Spring 2015
Broadcast:
Sundays at 17:30 (JST)
Producers:
NHK
Licensors:
None found, add some
Studios:
Pierrot
Source:
Manga
Genre:
Sports
Theme:
School
Demographic:
Shounen
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#6002
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#2190
Members:
90,667
Favorites:
308
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 12 / 14
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Your Feelings Categories Oct 17, 2015
"I used to think Maruo was the insecure type who isn't capable of having big dreams. But that's not right. He's the type to have countless smaller dreams that he can achieve perfectly, one by one. They may be small individually, but as they keep coming true, they quickly become one huge dream."
Baby Steps is a realistic, mentally engaging sports anime. It's well paced and subtle in its delivery of drama and romance, preferring to focus on the physical and mental aspects of playing tennis. The show has a good use of inner-monologues to display realistic and intriguing thought processes of each character throughout the ... Jan 27, 2016
Baby Steps oftentimes gets praised for being one of the most realistic sport anime out there. This point stems from the fact that all the moves MC pulls out are thought out and explained in a rather elaborate manner, and we see everyone, not just main character, struggle to get better match after match. Yet, everyone seems to forget that Eichiro - as talented and as gifted as he may be - has only been playing tennis for so long. If you wish to thread the line of realism, it's impossible for him to beat people who have been playing tennis their whole lives.
On ... Sep 20, 2015
I've only done review for poor shows so now here's a good one. After the experiencing the incredibly strange and very disappointing Prince of Tennis, I was hesitant to pick up another tennis series. But after marathoning a slightly slow but promising first season, I continue into the even better second season of Baby Steps
Story and Characters: Maruo Eiichiro continues on his path to professional tennis, having only just started playing 2 years previously. Maruo goes to THE LAND OF THE FREE, to do some training and improve. The show keeps things interesting and continues to show how he grows and improves at the sport. In ... Oct 20, 2015
An Almost Too Deep Vision of Tennis Hinders Character Development.
Story - 8 Story and characters go hand in hand. What helps or hurts one can also help or hurt the other. This story follows a "I must get better to win" concept that is at the competitive heart of most sports anime. What it tries to do, it does well, but it doesn't try to do enough. The knowledge of tennis I gained from watching is really incredible. I went from knowing almost nothing to really understanding on a deep level what actual pros might think about during a match. There are enough surprises and changes of pace ... Sep 24, 2015
First time review, and I'm only doing this to get something off my chest, really.
Baby Steps really pulled me in during the first season. It was great to see a sports anime that had a more realistic vibe to it, unlike some I've seen. The characters are all likeable; protagonist, antagonists, supporting characters. The plot is clear, and easy to follow without it getting too convoluted by sub-plots and the like. A very solid story. The reason I'm giving it an overall score of 7 is because it left me feeling like more needed to happen. Story: 9 The story gets a solid 9 from me. Mauro ... Nov 15, 2015
I am not a native english, but i will try my best to express my thoughts.
To be honest, I thought I wasn't going to like this anime as much as i did. If you have seen some sports anime, you know that generically the MC is overpower from the start or maybe he has a great capacity of growth, and eventually he will accomplish his main goal in a near future. Don´t get me wrong, it doesn´t make them bad, and some of them are really amazing. However, baby steps´s main character, is weak and loses frequently, which makes this series REALISTIC. Besides, it isn´t ... Dec 18, 2015
There are some things in my Baby Step's 1st Season that I am not going to mention again here. If you haven't seen this show, I recommend you read my first season's review here:
http://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=205243 This season is way better. Comparing this season to it's previous season, you can see a vast improvement in terms of story and character development. The beginning of this season shows the start of Maruo's training in Florida. It starts of slow, but the thrill of tennis kicks in this season. The first season tennis matches weren't that thrilling, but the thrill is really found on this season. I am impressed on how ... Mar 7, 2016
Yoshi!... Is what I like to say but I can't. The second series is a total fiasco in my opinion considering how good the first series was. So what made me decide that the anime is a letdown? First of all, a lot of things happened in this series that you wish they didn't do through out the story. They gave short back story to all the supporting characters except for the female MC which I find very boring since they decided to put romance on it. They should at least put an episode for the character instead of giving them all to the male
...
Sep 24, 2015
Baby Steps is my favorite pure sports anime.
I really do not write reviews ever (this is my first time writing a review on MAL as well) so I am just going to do a short write up talking about why this is my favorite one. Baby Steps is about big payoffs, watching the show you start slowly. With each step of progress the main character (Maruo) makes you can feel the weight of that step immensely because of the time and buildup leading up to that moment. The title speaks for itself, it's about Maruo's journey from being a novice at tennis to getting better through ... Feb 6, 2020
Paced quickly, nothing ever lingers or over stays its welcome. This season maximizes the set-up and progression of the main characters to it's fullest, putting them in situations where they bounce off nicely each other or where they can show growth that feels earned after season one. It's everything a second season should be.
But apart from how it relates to the first season, it's own achievements are worth mention. For a 25 episode show, characters never looked off model and animation remained smooth in most all moments. The season introduces many new characters, some that feel like are set up for a third season. ... Oct 20, 2017
Who knew tennis could be so riveting? The first season of Baby Steps was pretty good but I found season two even better. Ei-chan has a great character progression from a boring reserved teenager into a passionate tennis player and we really see the fruition of it in this season.
The side characters are also endearing and I found myself rooting for man. The tennis battles are fantastic and created tension in me I haven't felt since I last watched Kaiji and the almost every player Maruo faces is well developed and feels like a real character with their own goals. Perhaps the strongest aspect ... Sep 13, 2023
As an avid tennis fan and player for almost twenty years now, I stayed away from tennis anime like the plague, for fear of anticipating constant cringe in an anime, from a sport that I know and love. Let's just get one thing out of the way, I REALLY like tennis and have been pretty obsessed with it in the past. I mean, absolutely balls deep into the game, following the professional tour every tournament, playing down at my local club 3-4 days a week (used to me more back in my School days), learning and studying the techniques, the grips used, the rules, the
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