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So I have got to say that this episode is one of my favorites so far. It really show how Sawamura has improved as a pitcher, and also mentally. Though it is frustrating to watch how biased both Miyuki and Kataoka have become towards Furuya as is obvious the first half of the episode.
It is really thrilling to see Sawamura pitch when he gets in the zone like that, though this episode he has turned in a completely different beast. And it is so satisfying to see the shock on the coaches face as he realizes the level of pitching Sawamura has reached.
And that apology was something else, for me it seemed even everyone at the bench was surprised by it. I think it surprised Sawamura the most. He never lost respect for Kataoka i think, as he still calls him 'boss'. During the spring tournament Sawamura screwed up, and I think he realised that and never really questioned being put on the backburner, even though what miyuki did when he promises to catch for him and then decides to catch for Furuya.
this episode really feels like where all hard work is finally really paying off.
It didn't really pained me to see Furuya struggling, i actually hoped/thought he would be able to turn it around. Not because i like him or anything, I am a big Sawamura fan, but because it was the first time Furuya was really struggling since a long time.
But man to see Sawamura pitch like that was so awesome. I can't stope watching this episode. ^°^
Oh yayyy!! This is the type of episode I've been craving for since the past seasons!!
Sawamura's emotion is being delivered really well. Deep down initially, he probably wasn't really hurt with Furuya getting all the attention from his teammates and coaches. He wasn't sincerely angry as well, just frustrated. After all, Sawamura himself recognizes Furuya's strength and understands that he's important. However after seeing how horrible Furuya performed even after all that attention he has gotten, and that he's still allowed to pitch after countless amount of horrible pitching, it probably snapped into him how bias everyone were being.
Honestly I was refusing to believe that it was because of a mere diary entry that led to Kataoka's bias decision. After all, in the past, he always does what was right for the situation, being very pragmatic and realistic, and had almost never falter in that sense (even the coach from Teito said he used to switch pitcher very quickly without even batting an eye). I guess I was wrong =/. Felt really unreal to me haha.
Great episode; the way Sawamura took out 2 guys with bases loaded was mind blowing-had to happen soon. Felt bad for Furyura but TeamSawamura o.o. The ending with coach and Sawamura... Oh Boy.
jrShark said: Oh yayyy!! This is the type of episode I've been craving for since the past seasons!!
Sawamura's emotion is being delivered really well. Deep down initially, he probably wasn't really hurt with Furuya getting all the attention from his teammates and coaches. He wasn't sincerely angry as well, just frustrated. After all, Sawamura himself recognizes Furuya's strength and understands that he's important. However after seeing how horrible Furuya performed even after all that attention he has gotten, and that he's still allowed to pitch after countless amount of horrible pitching, it probably snapped into him how bias everyone were being.
Honestly I was refusing to believe that it was because of a mere diary entry that led to Kataoka's bias decision. After all, in the past, he always does what was right for the situation, being very pragmatic and realistic, and had almost never falter in that sense (even the coach from Teito said he used to switch pitcher very quickly without even batting an eye). I guess I was wrong =/. Felt really unreal to me haha.
Feeling so hyped now!
reason being kataoka himself was also an ace pitcher so obviously that position holds great significance for him. thats why he is biased.
One of the best episodes of the series and the best episode of Act II yet. Finally, we get to see valuable playtime for Sawamura. He really is the driving force of the series and following his development process in this long span of time was a really satisfying experience. I myself complained a lot about the Furuya's heroics and his exaggerated amount of spotlight time, but I guess when Sawamura eventually overcomes that kind of player and becomes the ace, it will be much more satisfactory.
Like Miyuki, I got goosebumps while watching Sawamura dominate...
Miyuki and Kataoka were useless, their bias were showing and yet they were not being helpful at all to both Furuya & Sawamura... in the end Furuya was still perform badly and Sawa was getting frustated by them. Idk why the sudden turn of attitude, maybe for the plot to be progressed so Sawa being more spirited to take the ace number, it's just... lmao even in that fat coach's eyes (flashback to i-won't-sacrifice-everything-for-Furuya) Kataoka (and Miyuki) are the hypocrites, it's ironic.
Reading all these (previous) discussions, there sure are lots of angry Sawamura fans. Like so many people take it as a personal insult if Sawamura doesn't shine or some characters not doing always what he wants. I know it's frustrating considering he's the mc and all, but calm down.
But good for Sawamura, and hope Furuya can grow up from this.
Edit: I forgot to mention it, but props to Ochiai. If he hadn't said anything, Kataoka probably wouldn't have realized how dire the situation was.
Got so hyped up after Eijun's amazing performance in saving the team! I replayed the outside fastball so many times and everyone's reaction to it. Striked out with only fastballs, and then the first pitch to the next batter was a change-up. They really had a nice pace going.
As for the discussion thread, it's a bit sad to see some people say that the Seidou doesn't respect Eijun much, aside from first-years. I love the team as a whole, so it's uncomfortable to see other people seeing the team that way. The second-years definitely respect Eijun (Kanemaru, Haruichi, Toujou), and of course even the third-years like Kuramochi, Kawakamai, Maezono, none of them seem to favor Furuya in any way. Of course it'll seem like Eijun doesn't get respected in comparison to Furuya, that's just how it goes with having the Ace title.
Kataoka definitely made a delayed decision with switching Furuya out, but it's nothing on Eijun (or any other possible relief pitcher). He, like Miyuki, wanted to try and get Furuya back into shape. Ultimately, it was also for the good of the team I suppose, since they wouldn't want to let everyone see Seidou's ace performing so unfavorably. But it was a gamble, and again, Kataoka shouldn't have let it escalate to that point to sub in a relief. Kataoka actually treats Eijun quite favorably, if he didn't have an ounce of belief in Eijun, he could've subbed in Kawakami, who is the more reliable relief pitcher when under such a stressful situation.
it's been four weeks, but I still always return to this episode. Really, this is the best episode of Diamond No Ace I've ever seen, I don't forget how I got goosebumps when I saw Hero Sawamura.
I'm sick of Seido's bias in favor of Furuya. After giving up 2 runs the way Furuya did, Sawamura would have been switched out; he wouldn't even have been given the opportunity to lose all those runs. Instead they allowed Ichidai to play home run derby. Literally all Furuya has is power, he is behind Sawamura in literally every other aspect of pitching. They're functionally equal, but only Sawamura's mistakes seem to be acknowledged while everyone is too busy looking at the radar gun results when Furuya pitches. The only time Furuya ever gets switched is when he completely falls apart, whereas Sawamura gets shitcanned if he gives up a run or two and then doesn't get to play for 3 games. I swear to god if they metroid Sawamura AGAIN I'm done with the show, sick of him finding his stride only to be set back again and again just because the author doesn't know how to write power progression.
Idk why some of you are angry to coach kataoka and Miyuki where in fact I think they made the right decisions. (in the beginning I think) Furuya is the current ace so he's really important to the team, as Miyuki said he wants him to recover. He was more trusted (bcs he's the ace) but the fact the they really need to switch a pitcher is more important (bcs of the situation). There goes Sawamura, he's really a badass in this ep.. I waited so long to see that. It's just that, it's so sad at the same time bcs he's right. When he realized the difference of being an Ace and a reliever of the game :( I cried loud. But you know what at ep 16, I realized it's good that they lost Haha.. Everything really happens for a reason. And I really love the characters development . Grow more Sawamura ๐
For the first time, I got annoyed with Furuya and Coach now!! What happened???!!! He gave up so many run!! Coach takes too long to decide to switch him! Grrrrr
Good job Eijun!! I hope he pitch more now!!! He's ready to become ace!!
I really love how Sawamura shines and shocked everyone at the field.
About time he gets the acknowledgement that he deserves. They are always bias when it comes to Sawamura and now they're probably changing their minds hence, trusting him 100%
Ace Sawamura is the best
It's cute that the first years are commenting and praising Sawamura~
bzzrkd said: The real question is: What did he mean by, "damn it, don't apologize"? What do you guys think? I am thinking he said that because he don't want the coach to appear weak. I'm not sure.
Its because Kataoka knows he made the wrong decision by not switching out Furuya earlier and the result of that is Seido currently losing. Basically Kataoka admitting his faults made Eijun frustrated because he was on the receiving end of it but also they’re losing the game because of it
Damn, Eijun was so intense. He really is the mood maker - I went from passively watching the match with mild interest to feeling my heart thumping as I couldn't look away. All on all, this episode was a total vindication for him and proves that he has all of the qualities of an ace.
Edit: As for Kataoka headpatting Eijun, man that was the real jaw dropper.
Made him seem like a father figure for a moment.
Just wanting to pen out my thoughts somewhere about this episode and the following few~ Thought it will be a good way to destress lol~ (stress from real life, not the anime)
To avoid displaying a long post that probably have no discussion value, I shall use the spoiler tags, but there really isn't much spoiler~
Well just a rant and some thoughts, don't open the spoiler tag, is not worth~ hahaha
This is like my favourite episode (along with the next few where Sawamura shines). This episode is literally the beginning of a much more fun story plot as compared to the last 2 seasons. I am so hyped for the next season that is almost painful to wait.
Strictly this episode:
I was so disappointed with Kataoka and Miyuki (my ultimate favourite character, i rewatch the series mainly for him too. He's like the MC to me, it will be tough to watch this show w/o him). Kataoka not substituting Furuya off soon enough even though he was consistently bad with his pitching, thinking (consciously or unconsciously) that Furuya can just get back on his feet, waltz over his slump, in the middle of an official match when they have no idea what kind of a slump (mental/ psychological wall) he is currently facing. Like is that an expectation for the Ace? That the child can just rise above his challenges in the middle of a match? Is an official match and I do not know how Kataoka can be unaware that he is literally sacrificing the team's win for Furuya's revival. If it was an unconscious decision, then he really relied too much on Furuya's ambition (and tenacity), which I feel he really got a little too sentimental when he used to be much more clear headed, he needed the wake up calls from Ochiai, and Sawamura's excellent pitching. If it is a conscious decision to risk the game for Furuya, then is really just outright disappointing that he is going back on his own principles that I respected him for.
Miyuki, oh how I wanted Furuya to pitch the ball into his face. He just said in the previous episode that if the catcher gets complacent and thought what worked in first half will continue to work in the second half, then the batters would have gotten used to things and be able to counter. AND here he is, not helping Kataoka understand Furuya's condition, and continue the bad pitches all the way to the second half of the match. For someone so shrewd, I didn't think he would also be so obsessed with getting Furuya back to his feet that he fails to see the bigger picture which is that they are not in a practice match, but in a real tournament here. As the person who interacts most with Furuya, I really thought he would be clearest on the situation at hand, OR at least try to talk and understand Furuya more before assuming that he can just bad pitch his way to recovery.
Well, but this disappointment is what I love about this episode too~ really love the realness in the characters where not everyone will stay perfect and cool, there are times where they make mistakes and have to be taught a lesson too.
Out of this episode (slight spoilers):
Really wanted Sawamura to be pissed at the team as a whole. Even though I think having faith in the ace is not wrong, but the circumstances are obviously not supporting that faith. Both Kataoka and Miyuki shouldn't have neglected Sawamura's existence and skills to that extent. And as for the rest of the team, like I have previously mentioned in the Koshien game they lost, how can they bat so badly?! Precious Sawamura actually got on base TWICE, and didn't get to go home! What exactly happened before the Koshien, during the Koshien, and after the Koshien... How can their batting skills dropped and not improved for so long. I know the other team's pitchers are talented and strong, but can't they actually foul a bunch, put up a fight, before going down? The previous third years would probably have an intense batting fight even if they don't score.
Furuya:
Just wanna say that I don't dislike him~~ In fact I love Furuya too~ He is the most relatable character for me in the whole show~ Hahahaha~ I am like introverted, reserved, and used to be very shy (now I am not as shy, but yet completely jaded). The ideal formulae of getting left out (like how Furuya's grandpa was aware of when Furuya was young).
I feel so bad for Furuya with all the hate he gets, even though he is like the same as Sawamura, except they expresses themselves differently. They both have passion for baseball, obsessed with pitching more than other aspects of the game, willing to put in the work to grow their own skills and value as players, adore the team and Kataoka (can't say much of Ochiai, there's hardly any scenes of him interacting pleasantly with the players), are both aware of each other's skills and potential, and both are complete air heads.
I think the hate for Furuya is so unfounded and so unfair~
Though I absolutely think that the focus on Furuya is too excessive. Even if both Furuya and Sawamura are the main Characters, the creator feature Furuya wayy too much. And the glaring discrepancy of character depth and development the creator put in for both makes the difference in focus more jarring.
There is almost no development for Furuya, yet he keeps getting the focus, while Sawamura has like a ton of areas pointed out all the time that indicates development and underlining story plot going on.
There have been people saying that the creator favours Furuya more than Sawamura, but I think is the other way around. The creator gave Sawamura so much room for growth (just no limelight), and treats Furuya as an accessory to Sawamura's growth. Is like the creator just uses Furuya to entertain the audience to cover up for the laziness in really telling the story of Sawamura's development. We only got the story of Sawamura's struggles, then him getting fueled by Furuya, then next is he got better.
Like where's the extensive training and devotion of him polishing his skills (or mental fortitude)? There should be more to his training than just running with a tyre, and him running with his tyre is like regular training anyway, similar to how the other players have to do field practices. After so many episodes, and in addition to me rewatching, I have always wondered how did Sawamura grew stronger and better, like I know is implied, but there really were so many chances to focus on Sawamura in the midst of getting better, and not just somehow got better after some time lapsed while looking at Furuya pitch. Like the only training of both Furuya and Sawamura ever did in this story is to run like they are on the track and field, and pitch to Miyuki (Is like pitching to other catchers ain't training for them, just warming up and getting used to their existing pitches, only Miyuki (and Chris) is ever shown giving them technical feedbacks). Even I feel like the batters all worked harder than any pitchers in the team, since we actually get to see them train their batting in various ways. Like at least show them pitching (to the net or catchers), with more monologue relevant to technical skills like that one time Sawamura practiced with the towel. Well the story just throw around some dialogues implying that Sawamura "trained" and can do a number of pitches, a slide step, pickoff etc.
The worst writing is Furuya, I know he has talent, to pitch with that speed and intensity, but every time he takes it up a notch, is attributed to his talent and ambition??? Like he practically does the same thing as Sawamura in terms of training. Why can't the creator develop Furuya with more effort.... Arm strength training? Posture changes? Something more solid than just talent man~
I am glad that now Furuya is able to get some form of development as a character from this psychological wall that he is facing.
Even though I relate to Furuya's behaviour, it really would be better to have more monologue coming from Furuya other than Stamina-rol and pitch pitch pitch. He's such an airhead and also really pure, if only the creator could at least expand on those qualities instead of emphasizing his drive and passion every single time he's on screen. Maybe balance out the comedic characteristics across the characters a little.
And also, I think Kataoka have unfounded expectations on Furuya~ When Tanba was in a slump, he strip him off the regular roster (which is why there was the 2nd-3rd years vs 1st years match in season 1). When Sawamura got the yips, he also immediately put Sawamura on a different set of training to "clear his mind". With his experience with pitchers and their psychological barrier, I thought he would do something for Furuya ASAP too. But no, he decided to let Furuya overcome it on his own, alone, on a mound, with an official match on the line.
Whelp ended up with a full essay of my rants and somewhat a review~
I'm so disappointed in Kataoka for no longer sticking to 'Team before the ace' as he didn't switch Furuya even after giving away 5 runs until Ochiai of all people had to step up. Felt good seeing Eijun performing fantastic but terrible with how his own team heck even Miyuki was so shocked in the sense of them not expecting anything from him.
Apologizing is basically admitting that Kataoka never rated Sawamura and never really expected much from him. This is what made Sawamura upset. That even in this situation, the coach just made it clear that he really didn't believe that Sawamura would perform so good.
On the other hand, Miyuuki should be the one to apologize to Sawamura. The way he treats Sawamura is really unprofessional for a captain. Need a Chris-senpai short return to give everyone a reality check.
In general the whole Seidou has little respect for Sawamura.
Even Ochiai, although he advised (rightly) to replace Furuya, is prejudiced on Sawamura.
Just look at the face he made when Kataoka said that Sawamura saved the team.
Besides the fact that later he says he expected to lose more runs
On Miyuki I have little to say, I have never liked at the beginning of the manga / anime, but I know that it is the most loved character (in Japan at least)
It should be noted instead that the boys of the first year, unlike the others, feel a lot of respect for Sawamura.
It's not a casuality
Yeah, the whole team really doesn't think much of him. But the first years respect him for his work ethic and spirit. They see him as someone who made it into the first team.
This is why I love this 3rd season the most. The presence of the new first years admiring Sawamura is very wholesome to see, pleasant to the eyes.
- NOT your usual shounen anime - Pure comedy? DEAD WRONG - Treat Gintama as SoL/weekly sitcom especially earlier seasons - Ep 1 & 2 are for manga readers - BIG patience for its 'slow' start
This could’ve been easily avoided if Eijun had started the game and Furuya played second part of the game. Which was the plan before, but Coach Kataoka just randomly decided to change his mind at the last minute. What's going on with coach Kataoka, he's allowing his emotions to influence his decision.
I like the serious Eijun! Eijun is fire up, he’s ain’t playing around no more. He’s so much mature now.
HELL YEAH INSIDE PITCH. THAT WAS PERFECT!
Finally people are acknowledging Eijun. They even noticed how they needed to switch pitchers. Even though he has been saving Seido all this time.
Best episode of Diamond no ace till this day.
Finally my boi Sawamura get his tike to shine.
Fuck that Furuya and Coach.
"When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice."