One Outs

“Nobody wins, but I!”, the subtitle of the series, couldn’t be more accurate.

One Outs is the story of the extremist gambler Toua Tokuchi, his battle to completely crush his opponents in the Japanese Pacific Baseball League and, perhaps less importantly to the pitcher, earn a beefy salary while doing so. While advantageous, and likely to increase one's enjoyment of the series, a deep knowledge of the sport of Baseball is not required. Make no mistake; the series is first and foremost about the character, rather than the vehicle used to display his feats.

The story begins in the island of Okinawa, with the star player ... of the Lycaons, Kojima Hiromichi, training for the upcoming season in the hopes of leading the dismal team to the championships. It is here the title game is revealed to be a betting competition between batter and pitcher, with both sides attempting to overwhelm and suppress the other respectively. Tokuchi is revealed to be the undisputed king of the game, and through multiple matches with Lycaons members and Kojima himself, Tokuchi loses his first contest yet and agrees to join the Lycaons at the behest of Kojima, who believes he can lead the team to victory.

It is here that the primary antagonist is revealed, and the driving gamble of the series is set. The Lycaons team owner, Saikawa, is only concerned with money and the return he can get on stadium seating compared to his losses from expenses such as the players salary. As an all-too-intriguing prospect to Tokuchi and Saikawa, the One Outs contract is formed, granting Tokuchi 5,000,000 yen for every out he acquires as pitcher, but a deduction of 50,000,000 yen for every run he gives up. Thus the stage is set for a battle between the two, whilst Tokuchi also has to deal with the other teams in the league and the various methods he must dispel to win the game with a profit. A fun and smart little addition to the series is the revealed sum of Tokuchi’s current salary, usually given after every few games, to give the viewer an idea of just how much the strategist is escaping with.

Toua Tokuchi (And his very black & white view of winning & losing) is very much the star here, with even the over-lording antagonist being delegated to a role of being completely outwitted and shocked at each loss. In this sense, the series is very much like another oft-compared Madhouse anime, Akagi (In fact, both characters share the same voice actor, Masato Hagiwara). The spotlight is always on the overly-confident, cold-blooded genius, and you seldom if ever really feel like he’s going to lose, no matter what the predicament. If this isn’t your type of thing, One Outs might not be right for you, and another Madhouse gambling series, Kaiji, is likely more up your alley. Secondary characters such as Kojima and the catcher, Satoshi Ideguchi, essentially act as reasons for Tokuchi to explain his plans, though they occasional prove useful on their own, and the owner is always most concerned with ways to recoup his losses on the games with Tokuchi.

The rival teams all have various methods for victory, from star players to expert strategy to outright cheating, and watching these plans be revealed, falter, and be destroyed in kind by Tokuchi’s insight never gets tiring. The extents of the wild gambler’s methods are seen to truly reach their peak during the team’s third match with most powerful squad in the league, the Mariners. As if controlling puppets on a string, he turns the game into a farce just barely within the rules, with both teams striving for errors and various other foul plays in a race against time. Another example has him practicing the principles of “an eye for an eye”, responding to an intentional pitch thrown to injure him with throwing the bat at the pitcher during his swing. As all the teams have multi-layered paths to their own victory, the three-game series’ are never over too quickly, as both sides continually adjust in an attempt to corner the other. Many of the “tricks” aren’t easy to discern by oneself, and will paste a smile on your face or have you laughing manically upon the eventual reveal and Tokuchi subsequently using it against the opponents.

The series artwork is fairly realistic, with exception of characters like the Manager and Assistant Manager who are drawn in the fashion of comic relief. The series makes use of a few foreign (Essentially American) players as well, and draw then is somewhat stereotypical fashion, but still utilizing good designs. It seems Madhouse also wanted to appeal to female otaku in the series as well, with the OP housing continual shots of Tokuchi shirtless and looking aloof.

The audio work in One Outs is fitting, but the musical side never really rises above. It all fits great in the series and never feels out of place, but it’s also not really a soundtrack you would listen to outside of the anime. The voice acting is done really well, with Tokuchi’s voice actor, Masato Hagiwara, easily stealing the show thanks to his familiarity in the role (And gambling anime in general) thanks to his previous work as the title characters in Akagi and Kaiji. The Lycaons manager also performs admirably in his efforts at comic relief, making it a bit hard not to chuckle every time he calls for a “safety bunt-o”.

The series provides everything a viewer could want in a series based on mental and/or gambling, and the use of baseball allows all 25 episodes to remain fresh thanks to the numerous ways the rules can be warped and the loopholes that can be exploited. Anyone looking for series revolving around plans, schemes, and overall mental talent will certainly not be disappointed.

So, One Outs is an anime about sports, right? Hell no! Its about Tokuchi owning everyone and kicking their asses! Its very similar to Akagi, so if you enjoyed that the chances are VERY slim that you wont enjoy this one as well!

Story
Well, the story itself isnt really anything special, Its about Tokuchi Toua who is a genius pitcher. He kinda gets forced to join the lowly ranked Lycaons baseball team. Of course his goal is to make their team start winning their matches. So the basic story is pretty ordinary as you can see, but there are two things that makes the whole thing ... a lot more interesting. The first is how the matches are played. The Lycaons opponents always have better players overall, or some kind of ace up their sleeve and one team is even cheating. Now its Tokuchis job to destroy these opponents using his brilliant mind. Thats right, One Outs is actually more about strategies and mind games than actuall baseball.

The second twist is that Tokuchi gets 5 000 000 yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50 000 000 yen for every point he gives up. And the Lycaons manager cares more about making money out of Tokuchi than winning the actuall games, so he tries to make his own team lose! So outsmarting the other teams is not enough for Tokuchi, he has to fight on two fronts also preventing the manager from ruining the games with his interference. This puts Tokuchi in all kinds of impossible situations, but he always succeeds in coming up with a counter-strategy, and watching this is a blast! The best part is that all of Tokuchis strategies makes perfect sense after they are explained! You never feel like the creators are cheating and leaving out unexplained or logically invalid bits and pieces.

Art
Not a particularly interesting point. Its good, it does the job, it doesnt bother you.

Sound
Not that this matters or affects the score in anyway, but Ill still say it: The OP was pretty good, I actually watched it which I often dont. But of course the important stuff is the bgm and the voices. And well, I have no complaints, they were both very good. The music fit in great with the intense and exciting atmosphere.

Character
Ok, Tokuchi himself is awesome. He is one of the most badass characters ever. Nothing ever fazes him. Even if the situation is looking extremely bad he still remains cold and calculating, soon to be delivering his new plan that will eliminate all his obstacles. The thing is that the other characters are not even half as interesting. They are either tools for him to use, or obstacles for him to completely destroy, using these tools. And thats pretty much it. Of course it doesnt really matter seeing how the point of the show is watching when Tokuchi kicks ass.

Enjoyment
This show never really gets boring. You know Tokuchi is always going to win, but it doesnt matter, because seeing him in action is just too freakin awesome. Also, finding out HOW he will to get out of all the imossible situations and what kind of strategies he comes up with, is another important part. The only complaint here is that it is a bit slow sometimes, but you get so caught up in it that it doesnt really matter at all.

So, One Outs is a show about mind games and tricks more than baseball, and if you like that kind of stuff you must try this one. And yeah, if you like badass characters owning everyone then thats another reason to watch this. Even if you dont give it a try, because its awesome!

"Winner takes all. This is the universal rule of battle." - Toua Tokuchi.

One Outs, for the most part, only caught my attention after I was looking for similar titles to the recent sports anime, Diamond no Ace. After taking a look at the synopsis I considered it and put it in plan-to-watch only to start and end it months later but in a rather very quick time.

The story sets off in the island of Okinawa, where the pinch-hitter of the struggling and fictional Lycaons team, Kojima Hiromichi, heads off to form a training camp in hopes of reclaiming the ultimate prize that is ... the Japanese Baseball Championship. When a minor league pitcher who trains with Kojima gets injured, him and Kojima's trainer are forced to look for a replacement, but this is when they run into a group of people who seem to play a shady game of gambling related to Baseball, named "One Outs". It's apparently a one-on-one between the batter and the pitcher but with money on the line. After completely losing out to a mysterious pitcher named Toua Tokuchi, Kojima arrives at the scene next day to avenge his teammates and find this mysterious pitcher and defeat him. Things don't go as planned for him though as even he is completely beaten by Tokuchi and is forced to conceal himself from the people for a week. After some days, though, Kojima finally returns and seeks a rematch with Tokuchi Toua once again. This time though, he urges Tokuchi that he'd retire from professional Baseball at once if he loses, but then tells Tokuchi that if he wins he'd take an arm off Tokuchi in order to make sure he never gambles on Baseball again. Tokuchi promptly agrees to the deal and faces off with Kojima once again. Circumstances make Tokuchi lose his first ever "One Outs" game and readily offers his arms to Kojima, but he tells that he never said he'd "break" his arm but simply "take it" as he grasps Tokuchi's right arm. Kojima urges Tokuchi, who has exceptional potential in Baseball, to join his team Lycaons and help them to win the Championship. Thus beginning his first step towards professional Baseball. Not long after he meets the Owner of the Lycaons, who refuses to give up any significant amount of salary to Tokuchi for his yet unknown abilities, Tokuchi then proposes an unusual ordeal, he tells that for every out he pitches, he'd get 5,000,000 yen but loses 50,000,000 yen for every run he gives up.

Regarding the artwork of the series as we move on, I have come across a few criticism's that it's pretty poor and not aesthetically pleasing. I, however, believe it's the opposite of that where the art actually stands out on top. I'm not an avid reader of Manga's and haven't read the One Outs manga either, but I can say that the art is top-notch throughout the series. It was indeed the striking poster of Tokuchi Toua that got me interested in it, and it isn't any different in the anime either, full marks for that. And I'm not comparing the two by any means but if you see the artwork of Death Note, a similar and much popular psychologically-hit anime and One Outs, you could say that it's Death Note that lacked a bit in art. This is just my opinion though, anyway.

Moving on to the Opening and Ending themes of One Outs as well as the soundtrack, which are pretty okay in comparison to the whole anime. They both practically just do the standard work of an opening and an ending theme, that's pretty much how I'd put it. The ending theme however was pretty good and made me search for the full version on Youtube and it was pretty nice.

The show is fully centered around our mastermind Tokuchi Toua, and the Owner being the antagonist. In terms of enjoyment, One Outs never disappoints and it kept me in the edge of my seat throughout the entire series. Game after game you are left astounded by the various shrewd and astute tactics by Tokuchi Toua.

It was only long after since I actually came across this anime for the first time that I started watching. And I managed to finish it off in a week but was left astounded as to what a great gem of a show this is. Compared to its various psychological thriller hits, its highly underrated and mostly overlooked just because it's based on the concept of Baseball and not many people are aware of the game. That being said I can guarantee you that you don't need to have a deep knowledge of the sport.

Diamond no Ace is the only other Baseball anime that I've watched so far and before that and I should say that STILL I have not a very complex idea on how Baseball works. Though I have learnt a fair amount of things. If you seek a mind-bending anime with a sharp-witted and easily likeable character with godly skills, One Outs is definitely worth checking out. If it turns out the way as it did for me, you'll love it for sure.

Pen is mightier than sword, that is what we learn from one outs. From the synopsis one may be confused that Is this baseball? Is this chess? Is this gambling? The answer is Nope its not, its ONE OUTS. Bored of animes with cliche MC, who either suck at everything and gradually develops into a strong character or suddenly gets a powerboost to defeat all his foes, or in the name of friends brings out some kind of hidden power, and stuff, then u r definitely looking for this awesomesauce.

Baseball as a sports isn't popular in my country, as such I dont even know all ... the rules of the game. The ongoing anime Diamond no Ace which is also a baseball anime inspired me and got me into the game, and as such I was expecting One Outs to be a similar sports genre anime. But I was gravely mistaken, and had to eat my words, because it was much more than that.

The best picture of one outs is this-What would happen if someone with IQ 200+ starts pitching in a baseball game? The answer is you get one outs. "Cool" "Awesome" "Incredible" "Mindblowing" these mere words are just not enough. "One outs" the title of the anime cant exactly bring out its epicness, rather the subtitle fairly does "nobody wins but I". The main reason  for all this is the additional psychological genre which grills our mind.

Animation and sound 8/10
Considering this to be a 2009 anime, the animation is pretty decent, but obviously not at the level of present animes. But it is not something which will burn up ur eyes, so this shouldn't be a barrier for watching the anime. As for osts and opening, these were cool, and conveyed the atmosphere in the most appreciable way which fits the genre.

Story 9/10 :
For the story, it is the most difficult part to explain without spoiling a bit. Almost the whole story revolves around the protagonist tokuchi, and the antagonist the Owner. The biggest defect of the story is that the introduction part was a bit long, other than that it follows a steady pace. So there is a miser owner, who gets into a contract with tokuchi, if tokuchi gets someone out, he gets 5 million yen, but if he gives up a run, he pays 50 million yen. The story is plain and simple he plays against his opponents, thats all. The story is kept interesting by showing us his tentative salary periodically, after each game. That said how the matches take place is quite amusing, and most often viewer will be tempted to say something like brilliant, and may have no words left for what comes next. As such the story mostly develops around the single protagonist tokuchi and how he distinguishes himself with his keen observational skills and high intellect. It conveys that skill is not the only important thing in a game such as baseball. Another aspect of the story is that there is always someone smart in the opponent team and rivals tokuchi.

Characters 8/10
The only character in focus is tokuchi, all others are sidelined and get less screen time. Apart from tokuchi there is the catcher Ideguchi who mostly serves to display the thought process of a common man, and brings out what is going through tokuchi's mind. Also there is the batter Kojima who plays a similar role, but in a rather sophisticated manner. And ofcourse we are also shown what the opponents are thinking. There is always one smart guy on the opposite team who partially sees through tokuchi's acts but what happens..... u need to watch the anime. Moreover there is the owner, his personal assistant, and chief, and the manager who mostly add to the comedy part. Tbh, this anime doesn't have comedy genre, yet I was forced to laugh on many occasions, especially due to the character's caricature done by the narrator. In fact narrator has done a very good job explaining many things.

Enjoyment 9/10
I enjoyed the series fully, tokuchi's character itself is brilliant, his tactics, his mind and his cunning behaviour. It was fun to see how his tricks succeeded, and the reactions of his opponents, and also that of the owner. I laughed a lot, on the incompetent manager, as well as on his teammates. I didn't regret a minute spent on it.
In the end, I couldnt give it a perfect 10, because it lacked two things. First is something, something which I can't recall, it is a silly thing, yet I can't recollect, Ah! I now remember, this lacks a SEQUEL. To get 10 it really needs a sequel.

Read the next para only if u have watched the series else skip the para.

Second, and the more important fact is this-- For the first 10 eps we are not shown what is going through tokuchi's mind. But after that we are shown what he is thinking giving us many clues and made it uninteresting. No doubt logic is a must in these kinds of anime, but the explanation were a bit too implicative. As a matter of fact I was able to predict 80% of the story from the clues presented. One may call it a positive factor which because the author states facts in a lucid yet tricky fashion, but on the other hand it may be referred to as a bit of cliche, because if u can predict the outcome the anime become less interesting. Other animes of the similar genre like death note were much more successful because unexpected things happened but in this case most of them are fact driven and if someone pays close attention they can decipher the whole anime. I know it is not a mystery genre, but nonetheless it became bit predictable in the latter half. I like it when the unexpected happens, in fact I expect the unexpected, but this became a bit low in the latter half. Not that it was 100% predictable or something, only a bit predictable. Nonetheless this fact can be easily overlooked and above all it is my personal opinion.

Overall 9/10
Finally, this has something which most animes lack, that is its knowledge of scientific facts. The anime lucidly explains psycology, physics, maths and some baseball terms. Many episodes come with a piercing quote from tokuchi, and his perception of winning.

So it doesnt really matter if u r some avid baseball fan, or simone with no prior knowledge of the sport, because it explains every detail. Moreover the suspense is also cool and it has got some of the best cliffhangers. All in one I would recommend this to anyone looking for a cool anime.

Oh boy, where to start. Well, to begin, if you enjoyed Kaiji and/or Akagi, you can stop reading this right now and go watch this show. If not, well, let's get down to it. One Outs is essentially a gambling show revolving around baseball. This would seem boring normally but the production team is apparently able to make even rock-paper-scissors exciting, so baseball can't be too bad. Though a generic sports anime on the surface, it shines in its characters and extremely unique approach to creating suspense. Hell, there's an episode where both teams have to LOSE the game in order to WIN it. It's ... only 11 episodes in so far but it's by far my favorite show this season. Go watch it.

Hands down my favorite anime. I've rewatched it twice and if it were possible to erase my memories of what happens in this anime, I would likely rewatch it many more times. Now, without further ado...

[Story: 10]
The story revolves around a man named Toua Tokuchi, whose background is effectively unknown. All we know is that he excels in a form of gambling through baseball called "One Outs." This seems to be a theme in madhouse animes, such as Kaiji and Akagi, where the character's past remains a mystery and unknown throughout the story. Anyways, Toua is finally defeated in One ... Outs by a man nicknamed the "unlucky prodigy batter" Hiromichi Kojima, and due to the stakes of the gamble, Toua leaves the gambling world to lend his prowess to the weakest team in the Japanese Pacific League: the Saitama Lycaons. I won't post any spoilers, but basically the story from here on out is Toua's "conquests" of one team after another, using his sharp wit and gambling instincts to overcome star players, intelligent strategists, and even cheating on the opposing team's part to emerge victorious all while making a pretty penny off his special "One Outs" contract. A great addition is the current tally of Toua's salary due to the contract at the end of every few episodes and by near the end of the series, that number is scary huge.

[Art: 9]
Not outstanding but gets the job done. The way every character is drawn beautifully reflects their personality (i.e. Toua looks almost sinister at times) and as such really enhances the cinematic effect of the anime. It is also fairly realistic, unlike the weird style used in Kaiji and Akagi (although I found that style appropriate for those animes). Since, the story and character are so great, however, I'm not giving art much weight toward the final rating.

[Sound: 8]
OP and ED are decent (nothing special) and sound effects are accurate and well-executed. BGM is fairly limited but it does a good job setting the right mood. Like art, it's pretty overshadowed by the story and as such won't factor much into the final rating.

[Character: 10]
There are several "round" characters in the anime (characters that develop in terms of character and maturity), though surpirsingly one of them is not the protagonist (Toua Tokuchi). I'm referring to the Lycaons team as a whole. Throughout the course of the anime, they change for the better. But Toua, the protagonist, does not. So then, why do I still award a 10 for character? The answer is that Toua's character still works beautifully. He remains the cool, calculating, canniving SOB from begininning to end and while this personality doesn't change within him, it changes his teammates for the better. Through watching him win games with his cunning, you will see the Lycaons as a whole evolve from a downtrodden team that's last in the pennant race to one that is much more positive and has a better outlook on things by the end of the series. So what's amazing is not Toua's ability to change and become a better man himself, but rather his undeniable ability to lead and change every man on his team.

[Enjoyment: 10]
After everything I've said before, the 10 I awarded in enjoyment should be self-explanatory. If you don't care for baseball, or even dislike baseball, but have an appreciation of strategy and psychology among other things, I think this anime will still blow your socks off. This anime is easily addicting enough to make you want to watch the whole thing in one eight hour sitting.

[Overall: 10]
An outstanding anime and my favorite overall. Death Note, Code Geass and a number of other greats don't even come close to this in my book, although I enjoyed them very much.

"Winning a game is not dependent on surpassing your opponents with your strength or waiting for lucky breaks. Conquer the opponent, crushing them, and stepping over the fallen ones ruthlessly. Winning means dominating over countless dead bodies."

One Outs, I admit, was never on my radar. It only recently caught my attention when I found out that Hagiwara Masato, known for voicing Kaiji Itou (a dumb gambler with a crazy lucky streak and serious cunning known for crazy come-from-behind victories), and Akagi Shigiru (an insane gambler with a crazy lucky streak and serious cunning known for crazy come-from-behind victories), would be voicing Tokuchi Towa, a pitching ... gambler with a crazy lucky streak and serious cunning, known for crazy come-from-behind victories.

If I sound like I am mocking it, don't be fooled. One Outs provided for some seriously gripping drama that kept me from going to bed at decent hours, much like "Kaiji" and "Akagi" before it. Animated by Madhouse but not adapted from a manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Madhouse took the lessons it learned from animating both "Akagi" and "Kaiji" Season One to put out an incredibly solid thriller that stands out as a great introduction to the manga series, and to psychological seinen gambling series.

(Note: I will be making comparisons to both "Akagi" and "Kaiji," mostly due to the similarities in theme, storytelling, and because Madhouse and Hagiwara Masato were both involved. No spoilers for either of those series to follow, and this review will cover the basic storyline without getting into the major twists.)

Story - 8

The story is about a baseball team. The Lyacons are a team much like the Red Sox (before their awesome win in 2004), a losing team with a highly devoted fan base. The manager is a complete asshole, one who really doesn't care about if the team wins or loses, but if they can turn a profit with filling the seats. Kojima, the star player, goes to Okinawa for training, where he meets a mysterious pitcher who makes bets with people in a game called "One Outs," a pitcher vs batter duel in which the pitcher must strike out the batter. Tokuchi, who had won 499 bets beforehand, barely loses to Kojima, in which Kojima gambled his retirement against Tokuchi's pitching hand, and is signed onto the Lyacons under a unique "One Outs" contract.

Throw an out, earn 5 Million Yen. Let a runner score, lose 50 million.

What follows are the first few games of the Lyacon's baseball season, with the typical arcs going in a pattern of learning about the opposing team, how high the stakes have been raised for Tokuchi, what crazy tricks the opposing team has to their advantage, and then Tokuchi systematically breaking down every single opponent that even tries to match his cunning. This is the basic story arc from "Akagi" (and Kaiji to a certain extent). If you're not ready for it, you might get sick of how many gosh dang times people underestimate Tokuchi and his planning, and how he basically not only saw through your plan but is actively undermining it AND turning it against you. It can get annoying, but part of the appeal is watching a genius like Tokuchi actually planning and counteracting seemingly clever plans while generally acting like a bored asshole (more on his character in a bit). This isn't to say the story is predictable: it's just that some might be turned off by what can sometimes feel like deceptive tension for the sake of tension.

Regardless, even if you're not into baseball, the show more or less using baseball as the framing device for what are basically one-on-one duels of cunning and wits. You don't need to know a lot about baseball: just knowing the basic rules will help you get the most out of the show. It has a snappy pace that gives it the "just one more episode" feeling to every ending. The pacing is slow, for sure, but deliberately so. No episodes ever feel too long or short, with each story arc resolving nicely and carrying into the next one. The story ends around the end of the manga's first major story arc, and I can imagine the rest of the manga plays out much like the events that preceeded it. But thankfully, One Outs ends on a clean note; something that plagues "Kaiji" Season 1 and "Akagi" (Madhouse definitely took this lesson to heart for the end of "Kaiji" Season 2).

(Note - Yes, I know it's not Madhouse's fault for the ending of "Akagi." The duel with Washizu has been going on for 10 years. I went to a convenience store recently and saw the new chapter, and it doesn't look any closer to ending. Kubo Tite WISHES he could stretch out a manga like that.)

The drama works very well, and it is those intense psychological battles that carry the story through to the end. The drama, the dialogue, and the intense reactions to the events of the story work very well. The issue, I find, is when the story tries to be "funny." While Kaiji and Akagi were occasionally sprinkled with bits of dark humor, it mainly kept the tension wound tighter then the seams on a baseball. "One Outs'" problem is with the material it is adapting: the moments of humor, be it the goofy reactions from the players or the visual metaphor of the manager being a dog is inconsistent with the themes and tone that One Outs tries to achieve. Nothing wrong with the occasional joke, but when a super serious moment has a moment of goofiness just kinda thrown in, the dissonance is really hard to ignore. Shows like "One Outs," "Kaiji," and "Akagi" are at their very best when it has a deep look into the hearts and minds of the key players in games of insane chance, skill, and wits.

In the end, the bits of humor don't detract from the overall story. I can even see "One Outs" as being a great introduction to the style of storytelling present in "Akagi" and "Kaiji," while not being as deathly serious. Plus, baseball fans are going to get a nice kick at all the care and attention that goes into dissecting and understanding the complexities of baseball, without getting in the way of the main plot threads spun by the devilishly clever Tokuchi.

Art - 6

The art is my second-least favorite part about the series. They did a good job adapting the manga's look and style, but it doesn't help that the manga's style is not that great to begin with. It's just odd to see main characters with really strong, sharp lines and great design being placed next to characters that are outright comical. As I mentioned in the story, the dissonance is hard to ignore.

Tokuchi is the best designed character of the bunch, animating fluidly and really carrying the emotions and attitudes that come from a guy like him. While he may be stoic, even the most stoic of characters have traces of emotion, and Madhouse did a great job with him in general. The other character that make up the supporting cast work well along side of Tokuchi. While they are more "normal" looking, it helps make Tokuchi stand out more, which is a good thing (Bonus points to Madhouse for giving Tokuchi a long nose, much like the heroes in many of Nobuyuki Fukumoto's works). Tokuchi is a very weird, mysterious guy that you can't help but notice, even in a crowd; and the art design carries this well. Characters like Kojima and Ideguchi help complete the contrast: Tokuchi is a thin, stoic, and sharp mouthed punk. Ideguchi is an emotional, stout catcher who wears his heart on his sleeve, and Kojima is a serious minded and broad, imposing man who is still approachable and humble. Madhouse clearly put a lot of thought into this dynamic, and it works out well. The three take up the most screen time, and the animation helps carry out these character moments when they are not talking.

As for the other characters, they don't get the same love. Many of the faces on the Lyacon's team are bland, and comical in comparison. It's ultimately kind-of-distracting, as their faces enter the frame, and instead of remembering them when they leave it, you end up annoyed because they took away valuable face time from the three main characters. There are good details on Tokuchi's opponents, but not many stand out. But with some of the antagonists, they're designed well enough to carry the idea that these are the kind of people who would go against Tokuchi in a battle of some kind.

Backgrounds are the weakest part. Most of the action takes place in baseball diamonds, and Madhouse fell flat in this regard. While there are moments of intense action that work really well, they really don't capture the full excitement of a baseball game. They use strong visual metaphors, but they're not as clever or well defined as the ingenious metaphors found within "Kaiji" or "Akagi." One would think that all that time spent animating "Hajime No Ippo" would give Madhouse some ideas on how to make baseball, which is typically seen as a dreadfully boring sport to watch (never watch baseball on TV if it's not a Tournament game) into a heart-pounding battle of wills. Ultimately, it simply only works some of the time, and is merely the plate in which the meal is delivered on, not being as finely crafted as the other elements.

Sound - 5

Sound was... ok. The ED is forgivable, and OP is just better off skipped. Granted, considering how perfect "Kaiji" Season 2's opening was, I might be the wrong person to ask.

Background music did it's job without standing out. The show has wonderfully exciting moments, and has appropriate background music when needed, but other then Tokuchi's theme, no track really stands out. Madhouse did amazing work with "Akagi" and "Kaiji" in terms of OST; a forgettable soundtrack is a sin.

It's not bad, it's not great. It's like a part-time worker: just punches in and punches out without making an impression. It's a damn shame, too. Music is what makes shows like these so gripping and exciting, and they just did an average job.

At this point I've been railing against the show really heavilly. But the next part is what makes the whole thing worth it.

Character/Voice Acting - 9

I have no idea what it is about Hagiwara Masato, but the people who make important decisions at Madhouse have figured out that by giving this guy an insane gambler to voice, he will nail it so perfectly it will give you chills. It's one thing to be a one trick pony, but this pony can do a really freaking good trick. Masato captures the essence of this character perfectly, with a deceptively monotone voice that is filled with the cunning of a demon behind every syllable. He's assure of himself that seems like arrogance to people who don't understand him. He's a punk who plays the fool so well that his deception will trap you before you even realize what is going on. And when he delivers lines about putting your life into a game, or when he's says that he will take out the next batter in 3 pitches, it pierces you like an untarnished blade that looks like it has not drawn blood until the very last moment.

He's really good, that's what I am saying. While Akagi was a genius who seemed bored all the time (And Kaiji was just in a league all of his own), this character is one of a troubled man. A guy who knows he is smart, and feels like he is a giant among men. But the difference here is that once he gets with the Lyacon's, you get the idea that he genuinely cares about people other then himself. While he is motivate by money and thrills, he wants to make others better. He gives encouragement, gives credit for his ideas to others, and all-in-all seems like a guy who really wants to have this team win. Tokuchi feels like a more likeable version of Akagi, in which he teaches harsh lessons to improve others. Then he crushes his opponents like a man who can only feel pleasure in overcoming insane odds, and then rubbing salt in the wound. The quote at the top captures his mentality perfectly, and Masato's voice acting carries it beautifully. While many of the other characters might be one note, he manages to conduct a symphony and uses every single limited note to create a wonderful character piece into the mind of a man who lives on the very edges of luck and skill.

Just listen to Tokuchi. The other voice actors turn in great performances, but it's all Masato's show. So with the voice acting, character arc, and story, it all hinges on how much you like this guy's voice. He's a great voice actor, and his strength carries the show to new heights.

Enjoyment/Overall - 8

I marathoned "Kaiji" Seasons 1 and 2 in about the span of 2 weeks or so. I went through "Akagi" in a few days. Likewise, "One Outs" came and went quick, but was still a great ride. I was seriously pumping my fist by the end, and the tension often kept me from getting a decent night sleep before work. "One Outs" is a lot like the title character: Singularly minded; but extremely brilliant at it's one talent. The art and music may not do much, but the well told drama along with with great voicework puts "One Outs" over the top, and rarely strikes out.

4 out of 5.

One Outs is about a gambler named Tokuchi Toua who plays for the Lycaons baseball team with a different contract than other players. At first, I thought that this is just a typical sports anime wherein they train and strive to become champions but it turns out its not. Even if you are not a baseball fan, you will still enjoy watching this. You don't even need to understand baseball just to watch this. I'd say its more like gambling than baseball. I liked the way how he crushes his enemies under his feet so that they could not get back up. The characters are ... well-developed and the story is so great that it will make you watch for more. I can also say that Tokuchi is the smartest anime character. The sound effects fit perfectly for every situation the team is in. The art is not that commendable but suits this show. You won't find heroines or female characters here but so what? It is still a great show. Every episode will make you adore Tokuchi. I highly recommend it for all especially to those who likes dark and intellectual animes.

One Outs was an overall enjoyable series that was definitely worth the watch. It contained an interesting and rather original premise, and captured my attention from the early episodes. However, it was not without it's flaws.

Story 8/10:
The general concept of the show was great. It was original, enjoyable and entertaining. But there were some aspects of the writing that became somewhat repetitive about halfway through the series. It adopted a "Villain of the week" sort of approach, where each baseball team had some sort of unstoppable player that had to be taken out. There was also no sense of what happens outside of the ... stadium, and while I know that the series' main purpose is to showcase the psychology of baseball games, it would have been nice to see some of the world that the characters were living in.

Art 9/10:
Standard quality Madhouse animation. A bit basic, but no major flaws or anything. Nothing really much to say, as it is Madhouse.

Sound 9/10:
I loved the OST of this series. Everything fit the scene perfectly, whether there was supposed to be tension, conflict, or just happy times, the music that accompanied the scene was spot on. The opening song as well was really good, something I would listen to for leisure.

Character 8/10:
To me, this is where the series falls a bit short. Don't get me wrong, while the characters were good, entertaining to watch, and made me care about them, they were not as fleshed out as they could be. For instance, we never even find out Tokuchi's back story, and how he became the Japanese DemiGod of baseball. And while I know that the anime only contains half what the original source material did, and that it may not be it's fault due to lack of run time, it still is a detriment to what could have been some of the most interesting characters (Tokuchi in particular) for this sort of genre.

Despite it lacking in certain areas, One Outs really is a fantastic show, that is worthwhile and entertaining. If you liked the psychological mind games of Death Note and Kaiji, then it is almost impossible to not like One Outs

“Winning is about trampling over corpses… It's not something beautiful. It's brutal. If you want to make it to the top- Steel yourselves.”

I'll admit I may be one of the only sports fans who doesn't care for baseball. Knowing this, the mention of a baseball-centered anime “One Outs” did anything but grab my attention. However, through many friend recommendations and some quoted similarities to the suspenseful Kaiji series, I was ultimately drawn to it. Does it live up to its ranking inside the top 150 rated anime on all of MAL, or does it drown in its own hype?

The first thing I noticed about One ... Outs is that it was produced by Madhouse, one of my all time favorite anime studios. The 2000’s were some of their best years, so it's unfortunate but understandable that shows like this and RAINBOW were overlooked by the masses. We are introduced to the series with a description of the prestige regarding one of Japan’s greatest baseball players, Hiromichi Kojima. While training for the upcoming season, Kojima uncovers an underground gambling game infamously labeled “One Outs”, betting a single pitcher against a respective batter. It is here that Kojima meets the smug-faced Tokuchi Toua and his illustrious baseball career is transformed forever.

I wouldn't say there's much there as far as story is concerned. There's more or less 4 mini-excerpts involving Tokuchi’s introduction, and 3 game series between the Lycaon’s (Tokuchi’s team) and other teams in the Japanese minor league. In each of the mini-arcs, Tokuchi’s mental prowess is showcased as he seeks to outwit the opposing team almost entirely by himself. There's one catch though. As a pitcher, Tokuchi is bound to a secretive contract developed by the owner of the Lycaons. Each out he gets earns him 5 million yen, while each run scored while he's on the mound costs him 50. Is his intellect and swagger enough to keep him afloat? With all the sinister tactics and tricks up his opponent’s sleeves, One Outs lets a simple sport like baseball transcend into a chess match between the minds.

Tokuchi as a protagonist is undeniably refreshing, as he breaks the mold in almost every way possible. He's cutthroat, appears to not give a shit 90% of the time and is leagues above his competition in intelligence. The best part is the stark level of confidence he displays at every waking turn. Effortlessly outsmarting his foes into a stupor of shame and disbelief. He's living by the catchphrase of the anime: “Nobody wins but I!” Tokuchi’s focus on winning isn't always overtly expressed. I can't begin to mention the amount of times where he appeared lackadaisical, while the whole time plotting the enemy’s demise. For fans of Kaiji’s character, Tokuchi is almost a polar opposite archetype. To be honest, the two anime are almost completely different in terms of their approach to winning, but both somehow achieve a similar level of suspense that keeps you constantly pressing the button for the next episode.

As outlandish and unpredictable as Tokuchi’s schemes sometimes appeared, I never had the thought “there’s no way that would work!” Every strategy fabricated in the anime has a sense of plausibility in it. Unfortunately, the repeated successes Tokuchi reaped only highlighted how dumb everyone else on his team was. There were countless instances where Tokuchi even exploited it by not coming forward with his plan and instead called everyone an idiot. It's like the writers were saying, “look at dumb the Lycaon’s are, but look at how smart Tokuchi is!” I mean, even the blind mouse finds the cheese every once in awhile. At least toward the end of the series, Kojima and even the catcher Ideguchi began to sign on to Tokuchi’s way of thinking. I would argue that almost every other character on the show is irrelevant because of how character driven the anime appears to be. Tokuchi Toua makes or breaks the anime.

The only disappointing factor for me in One Outs was the lack of “high stakes” mind games. Unlike Kaiji where literally every game is life and death, this anime only encompassed a few series of baseball games during the regular season. Even the curveballs (pun intended) the owner tries to throw our protagonist’s way are easily thwarted without any real sense of urgency on his behalf. I would've rather seen the mind games take place in the playoffs or for a more “life-threatening” cause. In the end, the sheer amount of aha! moments and badass Tokuchi escapades made One Outs quite worthwhile.

The animation isn't the most flashy thing you'll see out of Madhouse, but given it’s almost 10 years old at this point, it holds up decent enough. The character models aren't my favorite, but the artists did a fine job making each one distinguishable enough from the next, given this is a sports anime where there's a large cast and plenty of room to blend some faces together. The action animation was also quite detailed. Whether through the illustration of the American runner Johnson’s spellbinding speed, or the dark moments when Tokuchi was dissecting his opponent’s brain, I was entertained by the animation throughout.

The OP isn't one to remember. Nothing like the soothing, grainy cliche 2000’s rock singer voice against the backdrop of our main protagonist shirtless and posing for the camera. Lol, wtf? I prefer when either the song matches the ambience or the theme of the show, and not some mishmash of genres just to appease certain demographics. At least that hair raising Deadman Wonderland OP actually tied into the anime somewhat. The ED is much more fitting, though nothing noteworthy enough to play through each episode. The background music is simplistic but effective. I actually liked the flow of the music into each scene as well. Masoto Hagiwara has a brilliant performance as Tokuchi, cementing him as one of my personal favorite voice actors.

As mentioned before, I thoroughly enjoyed One Outs, and I would rank it up as a pleasant surprise in the medium. It's certainly not talked about as much as it should be, given its similarities to Kaiji and the fact that it's a sports anime. However, unlike other sports anime such as Haikyuu or Ping Pong, One Outs focuses almost solely on one character. If you don't care for Tokuchi’s arrogance or conceited nature, One Outs may not be the anime for you. If you like a main protagonist out of the norm, and an intellectual game of tricks and twists, then I give it the fullest of recommendations. As always, thanks for reading and be sure to check out my other reviews!

OVERALL- 7.5

*Note* This is my first review, so any feedback on how I can make it better/more useful to the reader is greatly appreciated :), thanks in advance.

At first glance, One Outs may seem to be based around baseball, but that's merely the medium used to deliver the psychological warfare that is entailed within this anime.

Story (9/10):
The story is revolved around a pitcher named Tokuchi Toua (who has had no previous 'official' experience as a professional baseball playe) and how he 'joins' the Lycoans to help them increase their ranking.

The story in itself is nothing special, but there are 2 aspects to this anime that ... make it interesting:

Firstly, Tokuchi's pitching is actually pretty average, even arguably below the standard of a professional baseball player. However, it's not his pitch that is his weapon, but rather his genius mind that he uses in order to out-wit his opponents.

Secondly, Tokuchi's contract is not that of your average baseball player, he gains 5,000,000 yen for every person he strikes out but loses 50,000,000 yen for every run scored while he is on the mound.

Art (7/10):
The art was nothing spectacular but wasn't an eye-sore either. It did it's job.

Sound (8/10):
The voice acting was well done, each voice suited it's character - especially Tokuchi's. The way the actor speaks as Tokuchi is a perfect reflection on how Tokuchi is portrayed through his actions. The music used did it's job and enhanced the experience, but the soundtracks used aren't really what you'd listen to outside of watching anime.

Characters (7/10):
The characters you get are the characters you expect, Tokuchi is a calm and calculating genius while the others are just your average baseball player. One Outs only really focuses on a handful of people while the others are just hurdles to overcome or a tool to be used.

Enjoyment (10/10):
One outs doesn't get boring, it's not one of those shows where material is just reused and recycled. Each match played is unique to itself and the way Tokuchi manages to deal with every 'impossible' scenario never fails to impress eiether. There are also elements of comedy mixed in here and there aswell.

As a conclusion, i'll say that i rated One Outs as a 10/10 for it's entertaining set-up. The show also requires no prior experience in baseball to understand what's going on, making it an easy watch for all anime lovers world wide.

How nefarious can a main character get?

When one thinks of a sports anime, their mind doesn't even consider the fact that sports can be psychological. I finished this anime in 2 days, and I just have to say....Baseball meets Death Note. Tokuchi, Toua is in my mind the ultimate main character. He's just the definition of a bad ass and that's really what makes this anime so great. The supporting characters in my opinion were not that well developed but the performance of Tokuchi more then made up for that minor loss.

The score was simply beautiful when it was shown, the art was magnificient however ... like I said sometimes the supporting characters didn't seem like they had a lot of progress. The antognist was your typical greedy SOB which made you cringe when you saw him.

However the main part of this anime is suspense. You can't enter an episode and not wonder what is gonna happen next, that is how well this anime is made. It keeps you guessing and let me tell you, good luck guessing how Toua thinks, because it's damn near impossible.

Overall a 9/10, it's definetely an overlooked anime that deserves some light. You don't wanna miss this for one second.

Okay so ill summarize what this show is in two words, "PSYCHOLOGICAL BATTLES!".

The main character is a pitcher, but not in the way other baseball pitchers are. His fastest pitch is only about the speed a high school pitcher throws, and he doesn't throw super crazy unrealistic pitches either that like movie with his mind or anything.

What he basically does is play mind games against each and every one of his opponents. He throws the pitch you plan to not swing at, but then when you plan to swing at it, he throws the pitch you wont. Its almost that simple, but then again its ... way more complex.

The story is, this pitcher using his abilities to play in the majors in japan, but not being paid an annual salary like everyone else, instead he turns the whole game into a gambling match. He gains money for each out he gets, and loses money for each run he gives up. The big catch is, the amount he loses for a run much much higher then what he gets from an out.

The show is especially good, because you don't hear the plans from the main characters mind, but you hear the thoughts of the victims. So the whole time you feel as if you are a part of the struggle to get a hit off this pitcher that is playing mind games with everyone. Ill tell you right now, you may think you and your team are winning the battle, but in reality you are sinking in a deep mental trap and are losing the war.

If you like shows like Death Note, Code Geass, Kaiji and others that have a psychological aspect that feels a lot like intense action, you will like this show and be eager for another season of it.

If you like my review you can add me to MAL friends. This is my second review : )

"The only important thing about a low probability is... it's NOT ZERO." -Toua Tokiuchi

For short, If you like a strong character that is intelligent who is not wussy and annoying...then you will LOVE THIS ANIME!

*NO SPOILERS*

Toua Tokuchi:

-Ruthless-Mentally exhausts and scares the opponents with interesting psychology

... -Experienced =FINALLY nothing like the other anime where the inexperienced dramatically improves...>.>>>I could go on but if you want a refresher with no girls the main character is pleasing and sacrificing for e.g, Over drive, Naruto Shippuden (I love the anime but HATE Sakura) then this is an excellent anime!

"Winning is about making your opponents lose, making them taste defeat, crushing a fallen opponent, kicking them when they're down, rubbing salt into a gaping wound. 'Winning is about trampling over corpses. 'It's not beautiful, it's BRUTAL."

NO SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! READ IT FULLY!!!

One Outs is a perfect combo of pshycological and sports anime...each has equal importance and nothing weighs more in quantity and quality over the other, in other words it genuinely gives importance to both the genres in an intelligent way which makes this anime stand out of other sports anime...

It is a story about a non proffesional baseball player who gets spotted by a lyacons team legend hiromichi who needed a pitcher for his team desperately and getsgreatly inspired by tokuchi toua ... to a extent that he urges the owner of the team to sign him and thus starts the Mindfucking One Outs...

ART~ everyone in this anime is really well drawn , starting from tokuchi toua whose inspiration is surely taken from hisoka from hunter x hunter but that look is perfect for tokuchi as that surely shows how dangerous he is as a gambler and his captivating personality ...then other players are also well drawn, the stadium,the crowd,the streets..every tit bit is given ample importance...u will like the ART for sure... a 8/10 for me..

SOUND~ the opening is awesome....i really liked it...and the ost track for tokuchi is my favorite... this anime has simple yet spine chilling soundtrack and a super awesome starting track... the soundtrack adds the more captivating and mind playing aura of this anime..it enhances it to a great level... 8/10 for me

Charcter~ every one is given ample time for character development...and variety of characters are also included which not only adds upto the variety in sports genre but also adds upto the increasing level of psychology too...mind games just increase potentially with entry of new characters so is the excitement with their sporting skills...and each character has his aura which will greatly affect u too in a positive manner... tokuchi toua being also my top 10 great admiring characters too...he is on another level , even i felt he surpassed light yagami of death note[just a comparison, even i liked light a lot]

ENJOYMENT~ there isnt a time in this anime where you will get bored, even if you hate baseball or dont know its basics, i am challenging you after seeing this anime you will see baseball in whole new light and you will start watching it..every concept is well explained , even a dummy like me who dint even knew the ABC of baseball understood and enjoyed it to the fullest... the mindgames of tokuchi toua will take ur sheer enjoyment level to a new level and i bet you just cant wait after finishing an episode and will want to know what happens next... every character, every games, every stadium has a different feel and different charisma to it... i am 100% sure you will enjoy it to the fullest.. 9/10 for me in this sector

OVERALL~ I dint expected a lot from this anime as it had baseball as its sports area, but i wanted to see it because it also had psychology genre too...but after watching it i was awestruck and not only became the fanboy of TOKUCHI TOUA but also loved baseball... MINDGAMES are on
a different level ..never expected a SPORTS anime to have so much mindgames and psychology control in it.... IN one word i will say its SUGOYEEEE!!!!

FOR PEOPLE WHO READ MANGA ~ as it has the anime already, just watch the one outs anime first , its 25 epsiodes will cover the 82 chapters of the anime in a beautiful way.. you all can start reading manga after seeing the anime from chapter- 83... the 2nd half of one outs is even more thrilling and more captivating with new contract than the first one... PLS I URGE YOU ALL TO READ THE MANGA FROM CH-83 AFTER SEEING THE ANIME...

I AM DESPERATELY WAITING FOR 2ND SEASON FROM MADHOUSE...I KNOW WAITING FOR 2ND SEASON FROM MADHOUSE IS LIKE WAITING FOR RAIN IN A DESERT WHERE IT HASNT RAINED FOR MANY YEARS :P

HAVE A FUN RIDE WATCHING THIS ANIME... ARIGATO MINNA

One Outs is a sports anime based on the long-running manga of the same title by Shinobu Kaitani, one of my absolute favorite manga artists. To call One Outs a sports anime is a little misleading. While it does revolve around a baseball team, the anime is more concerned with the psychological workings of its main character, Tokuchi Toa.

Tokuchi is a gambler by nature. At night, he can be found playing a very popular game called One Outs with a platoon of stationed American soldiers. The rules of the game are simple: pitcher versus batter. If the pitcher manages to strike out the batter or ... make the batter hit the ball within the infield, the pitcher wins. If the batter manages to hit the ball outside of the infield, the batter wins. People place bets on either the pitcher or the batter, and major money is on the line.

Tokuchi is always the pitcher.

Always.

And he’s remarkably good. While he only pitches roughly 75 mph (slow in comparison to most major league pitchers), his record is practically flawless. He strikes out batters like nobody’s business and is an arrogant prick about it too.

Enter Hiromichi Kojima, a famous major league baseball player in Japan comparable to Sammy Sosa out here in the States. However, in all his long years of playing baseball with Lycaons (a fictional baseball team) he’s never won the championship, despite his individual prowess on the field.

Kojima challenges Tokuchi to a game of One Outs with “their arms” on the line. If Tokuchi wins, Kojima will give him a ridiculous amount of money. And if Tokuchi wins, Kojima gets Tokuchi’s arm. Tokuchi Toua will be forced to join the Lycaons.

Now I bet you can all guess that Tokuchi loses. After all, the show would be pretty damn boring if Tokuchi won a butt load of money and went off to buy a yacht or whatever. So now Tokuchi has been thrust into the world of professional baseball and is pitching for the Lycaons.

The main device of this story, however, is Tokuchi’s contract with the crooked manager. Tokuchi believes in merit equaling pay-out. To that end, he sets up this deal:

“For every batter I get out, I get 5,000,000 yen. But for every run I allow, I pay you 50,000,000 yen.”

The manager thinks he’s struck gold when it comes to this dumb rookie pitcher. But Tokuchi’s skills prove otherwise, and the manager has to think of dastardly ways to take down the miracle newbie.

The show follows Tokuchi’s adventures with Lycaons baseball team as he tries to protect his yearly salary and make a killing in the ultimate gamble. He comes up against a variety of tough opponents, each one needing to be outwitted or outplayed.

One Outs is an interesting series to swallow. First of all, you don’t necessarily need to like baseball to like this show. In fact, if you’re a baseball fan, you may find this show hard to stomach at first. (I know I did.) There are things about the way these guys play baseball that is just not realistic. In fact, some stuff is just plain ridiculous. But if you ignore the glaring flaws when it comes to the baseball logistics, you can actually really enjoy yourself.

Tokuchi is an interesting main character. Not necessarily likeable, as he pretty much is entirely self-driven and seems to only care about money. Still, his selfish motives end up helping a lot of other people out indirectly, so you can forgive him for that. He’s also disturbingly anti-social and kinda scary to look at. However, he is just a bit of a genius, and watching him take out his opponents one by one is both frightening and exhilarating.

The supporting characters are somewhat well done. Unfortunately, most of the time, they exist to simply explain Tokuchi’s genius and stare dumbfounded at just how damn smart he is. Kojima is redeemable in the fact that he’s the only one on the team who doesn’t positively fanboy over Tokuchi.

Ideguchi, the catcher, is another story. He’s pretty much Tokuchi’s number one fan, and while he’s certainly likeable (rookie catcher = kinda adorable), he hardly ever gets to do anything cool himself. Most of the time, he’s just following Tokuchi’s instructions. Then again, he arguably becomes Tokuchi’s best friend on the team (catcher and pitcher relationship for the win!) and you forgive him his initial ignorance as he matures and wises up over the course of the show.

There are few characters who are purely comic relief, but they do it well, especially considering the main character of the show is about as funny as a petting zoo catching on fire. After so much “bazball iz seriuz bzness!” you need a bit of a break, and these guys provide it just fine.

Tokuchi’s opponents are actually very well done. They’re not complete dopes at all. In fact, most of them are quite skilled and give Tokuchi a real problem to work his way out of. I wish the final opponent had been a bit more threatening and epic, but eh, twenty five episode anime is twenty five episodes.

The OST is generally pretty good, although the opening and ending themes leave something to be desired. The actual BG music in the show is pretty good though. I wouldn’t mind DLing it and giving it another listen for nostalgia’s sake.

Unfortunately, the anime becomes very “villain of the week-ish” after Tokuchi joins the Lycaons. Don’t get me wrong, the baseball games last more than one episode – in fact, some can span as many as five or six. But the formula is more or less the same for every single opponent and Tokuchi never really grows as a character. In fact, no one really grows that much. The Lycaons decide they actually want to win, but other than that, no single character really discovers anything about themselves. The main device of the plot is Tokuchi and his money. Which can get a little old after awhile.

Visually, the anime is pretty stunning. It followed Kaitani-sensei’s original designs pretty well, adding in a bit more detail and attractive coloring to make a generally great looking show.

The anime, unfortunately, is only one season long and cuts off before the original manga ended. So the ending is not exactly unsatisfying, but incomplete. Sports animes should end with the team winning the god damn championship. That’s how it works. Unfortunately, time constraints meant that this anime would have to settle for ending after a semi-important game.

Overall, One Outs is one of those shows that you watch purely for fun. If you enjoy puzzles/psychological thrillers/sports/blonds, then you’ll probably enjoy this show. I’m a fan of sports anime and of psychological stuff, so this one was a winner in terms of enjoyment for me. Is this one of my favorite animes? Eh, not really. But it was fun while it lasted. But having a main character who is hard to relate to can isolate audiences. If you can’t find a reason to like Tokuchi, you won’t like this show.

But I do like Tokuchi. It’s fun watching him pick apart his opponents’ psyches. So I really did enjoy One Outs.

Overall: 8/10

(But the OP really is ridiculous.)

This anime was very interesting because it was thought out and produced to a really good standard. I tinker this is better compered to other sport animes because when I was watching each episode I didn't feel like I was watching the same thing because usually most sports anime are all the same like for example the prince of tennis.that was a good anime but they kept on repeating them selves. However this anime one outs was different because the plot kept changing , and things would climax to a final show down . When watching this anime , I felt like I was watching ... a anime that was full of gaming and like gambling the unexpected always happens just like in this anime.

It’s almost a sin to call this a baseball anime, though I suppose that is technically true. But it’s really a battle of psychological warfare with one ultra-cool antihero. The Lycaons are a professional baseball team who won the championship in distant memory but have recently been ranked last. Tokuchi Toua is a pitcher whose skill is not so much in pitching as it is in gambling and analyzing his opponents’ weaknesses. Discovered in a gambling den, Tokuchi arranges a special contract with the team where he gets paid for each out he provides—and pays them for each point he allows.

Tokuchi has what may be ... the coldest, most calculating eyes in anime. He’s a conceited nightmare: smoking and sleeping openly in the dugout, not bothering to practice, wearing his cap backwards, seemingly bored with everything—and yet he manages to unite his team behind him and be a true ace. I loved him instantly. It’s a delight to see everyone initially fail to take him seriously and then slowly come to realize what a grave mistake they’ve made in underestimating him. This is truly an anime of epic mind games: Tokuchi vs. everyone, and the enemies can come from anywhere, including within the team itself.

I’d recommend giving this anime at least three episodes to get going, because once the street gambling ends and the actual baseball begins, it’s engrossing and kept me guessing what clever maneuver Tokuchi would come up with next to thwart rival teams and even the owner of Tokuchi’s own team. After a while, I even started to like that stupid overbearing infodump narration. The problem with this anime, though, is its lack of character development (partially because we never get into Tokuchi’s head and only see him from an outsider’s perspective). But maybe it’s more fun that way, watching Tokuchi psychologically manipulate his opponents. I found myself laughing aloud at his cleverness and sheer audacity. Needless to say, I’d love a second season.

It can be difficult to find a good mind game anime that doesn’t water down on the suspense. One Outs is a classic example of this.

The story follows our main character Toua Tokuchi who loves two things: baseball and gambling. After having been set to play for a professional team, he proceeds to demonstrate his skills in both pitching and out thinking his opponents. While this may seem like a rather simple premise on paper, there's actually quite a bit of depth to this setup. Tokuchi is more than just a generic badass mc. His wit and quick thinking are what keeps the show interesting. ... The ways and extent to which his opponents will go to win some of these games is truly mind boggling. The stakes continue to grow and it becomes more daunting to see how he gets out of these situations. He also knows how to make the most out of his teammates both utilizing them and giving them advice. I find this to be a nice character trait as it shows that he has a compassionate side as well instead of just being a blank slate.

Each of the games is just as enticing as the last featuring new ways that the game of baseball can be exploited. Now I’m not really big into baseball nor do I know many of the more obscure rules to it but after watching this show, I have come to witness just how far you can push this sport especially in a must-win situation. It’s honestly hilarious sometimes the crazy yet cleverly constructed ways they come up with in order to win. It doesn’t feel bloated and quite honestly, we as the audience can understand how these things work.

The gambling aspect of the show is what leaves a constant looming threat in the air as Toua is forced to comply with the demands of his organization’s owner. This guy is about as greedy as a person can get as he tries to foil our mc any chance he gets trying to put him into debt and raising his own profits. It really makes you hate the guy.

The pacing in this show is fairly consistent throughout. There are sparse moments of downtime as things usually pick back up as soon as a new inventive tactic is introduced. One thing I will give the show credit for is that each game introduces a different aspect of baseball that we have not seen before.

One Outs also makes excellent use of its sound and audio. From the windup to a pitch to the intense inner monologue these characters have, everything works well to build up tension and suspense. There was never a moment where I felt it was poorly timed or didn't fit the scene.

For a show that's essentially a psychological thriller, the tension is there and can leave you at the edge of your seat. It’s a shame that this show isn’t more popular and doesn’t have a sequel, however, it was satisfying for what it was. If you aren’t turned off by the art style or the fact that this is a 'sports' anime, give this show a watch. It truly is a stand out among the rest of its genre and demonstrates that psychological anime can be both fun and incredibly intense.

MY FIRST REVIEW OF MY FAVORITE ANIME

one outs is the best anime i have watched so far


a gambler pitcher named tokuchi toua how brillant this protagonist is. he is strategic, badass and cooler. i consider him like my brother i want the season 2 of one outs so much



story 8: good concept a pitcher like gambling and tokuchi defeat people
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art 7: pretty old animation of Madhouse but i love the animation on the anime

sound 9 : the op and ending was pretty good and all the ost are sick

character 9: just because i love tokuchi

enjoyment 7: the begin was really interesting but the middle was a little bit annoying but love it