Gurazeni Season 2

Gurazeni's first season went largely undernoticed and underappreciated, but it was a refreshing slice-of-life take on baseball with a likeable cast and very limited production qualities. With a break lasting only a single season, Gurazeni is back to...mainly do the same thing again, but ever so slightly better.

Production-wise, absolutely nothing changed. It's all passable but decent at best, including the CGI used for the (quite infrequent) action cuts during the baseball games, mainly Bonda's pitching. Even more telling is the fact that both the OP and ED have been recycled from the first season, albeit with different visuals. Now both of the songs are quite ... nice, but it goes to show that Gurazeni doesn't exactly have any resources to spare. Anyone making it past the first season will likely not mind that too much, but don't expect improvements.

That being said, story-wise Gurazeni only got better. While the first season perfectly got by with workplace slice-of-life, the second season builds on that and gives some payoff, though without any excessive fanfare or drama. Most characters from the first season make a return to build on their previous appearances, and usually they go a little deeper into the specific topic, usually regarding their future as athletes. Special notion should go to Yuki, Bonda's love interest that took up the entirety of season 1's ED despite only appearing in the final episode. This time around she's got a far larger role, and her perspective as an outsider is even cleverly used against Bonda's insider look a few times. On top of that she is cute as all hell.


In truth, Gurazeni season 2 really is just more of the same. It's a realistic look at the lives of athletes operating within a giant mechanism called baseball, with specific attention towards the monetary goals of it's cogs. It's neither overly optimistic or too cynical, and ultimately gets by on the down-to-earth and likeable cast. In a landscape filled with stories in which the athletes are heroes and their sport nothing less than their life, Gurazeni is absolutely a fresh, almost unique anime.

If you've ever watched a sports anime before, you know that they have some very unrealistic tendencies. There are plenty of non-sports fans who actually enjoy sports anime. The reason being that those shows are closer to anime than they are to the sport they are portraying in the story. Gurazeni does not follow that pattern. It's a sports anime that portrays the sport as close to real as one can in the medium.

Story:
The story follows a middle relief pitcher in a Japanese baseball league modeled after Japan's NPB. He plays for a team stylized after the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, with many other teams being ... modeled after other real teams in the NPB. The main point of the story is about the pitcher's pursuit of that big payday. His understanding that he must make as much money as he can playing baseball fuels his performance. This creates a very realistic story about a guy just trying to get what he can before his luck runs out. The story really caught me, as it wasn't the typical chase for glory, but the chase for stability. It mirrors how baseball works in real life, where the non-star players basically have to skate on thin ice 24/7, knowing that a few bad games can cost them their job. It's really captivating

Art:
The show isn't extremely impressive for the most part. It's mostly standard 2D animation, though they do use 3D animation during action scene on the field and with the usage of vehicles. There's nothing I would call "bad" from an art standpoint.

Sound:
The theme songs for this show are actually really catchy. The opening theme is called Merigo by Cypress Ueno to Robert Yoshino. The ending theme is called Shadow Monster by Asako Toki. Both songs can easily get stuck in your head after hearing them enough, and are not in any way annoying. The BGM wasn't super noticeable, but didn't suck either.

Character:
The main character, Natsunosuke, is a very great main character. He's not you typical anime protagonist with a hero streak. He's just a regular, everyday normal guy who just happens to play baseball. He has his insecurities in regards to his standing with his team, and is constantly thinking about the possibility that his baseball career could come to an end. This makes him very realistic and relatable. They was his friends and teammates are portrayed is also hyper-realistic. The struggles they all deal with in regards to their professional careers is what helps drive the show when it's not focused on Natsunosuke.

Enjoyment:
This show never felt overwhelming or over-dramatic. Each episode had a great story that helped you dive deeper into the lives of Natsunosuke and his teammates. The situations portrayed covered many topics of his life, and helped make the show feel diverse and alive. It's the easiest-to-watch sports anime I've ever seen.

Overall:
It's the best sports anime I've ever watched. This show does not have a single anime bone in it's body. It's all about the game. No long anime speeches. No fundamental moves with fancy names. No over-the-top reactions. Just the realistic portrayal of a middle reliever trying to get that bag before his career ends. As a big sports fan, I couldn't ask for a better show.

Gurazeni story line continues... (btw this anime won't give u baseball knowledge, wills, and great story. It's just about life of medium mc who is pro baseball player in Japan ). Compared to strong willed sport animes, Gurazeni is heart healing ones.

Bondo injured in end of season. After 4 months fully healing he climbs back to major. Some of his teammates ends their dream like bugs. That could be harsh if art were realistic. But Gurazeni's art kinda calms me. They just shows sad ending story with very calming animations. Also in this sequel romance punch lines were really good. They really enjoyed me ... :3.

They didn't changed op and ed's theme song. They just changed background video. That was really good choice. I really liked that.

Character developments was great. New characters with well roles in this season.

I can't type lot of this anime cause it's anime that you have to watch it and feel. btw really enjoyed and satisfied Gurazeni season 2.
Hoping there's season 3 in 2019.