| I'm not convinced. There's no way that women of all ages, (guys as well, but especially the women) are just always going to batting cages for fun. You could do a MILLION other things. At least in the US, there's not a chance in hell that would be the case. Are they seriously that popular in Japan? Has anyone been there that can confirm this? Is this just an easy route for the authors, or is this actually a thing? I've seen this literally dozens of times in anime and manga. I need to know. I will say though, I've never wanted to go to a batting cage in my life up until now (aside from my 13th birthday party lmao). I don't even play or watch baseball. It just seems like it would be a good time to rip a few.  |
flowstateApr 21, 2020 10:35 AM
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| Yes Japan loves baseball, another reason is Japan is a very small country, and batting cages don't take much space compared to a regular playfield. They also have very compact cars, bathrooms, etc. |
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Kasumi_Akamine said: I just looked it up, baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, that could be why you might see it so often Right, and that's fine. The question is though, if I'm out in Japan and the dinner date went well, if I ask her "hey, want to hit a few balls?" is she going to think I'm out of my mind. It's more a question of if it's actually a popular social activity. |
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| its a big thing in Japan. if you live in Japan you might understand. uh, not really anymore tho. Coronavirus. |
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." |
Nefelupitou said: I don't know, but I gotta say that Yagate Kimi ni Naru is a terrific story Ummm it's one of the best of all time. I was more emotionally invested in those two (Touko and Yuu) than in any other story of its type. Its execution of the emotional development was so mature and complex. It was a thrill and is forever a favorite of mine. |
flowstateApr 21, 2020 10:34 AM
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| To be honest, every town in Japan has at least one baseball field and it is always occupied. It's really a proven stereotype just like karaoke and pachinko. |
| Baseball is arguably the most popular sport in Japan, a lot of cities are also quite compact so there aren’t a lot of big parks or fields in the bigger cities which means those few parks will be crowded. It’s equivalent to kicking a footy with your mates. It’s also not like batting cages are only popular in Japan either. Here where I live in Australia we have batting cages for cricket out in the open at some parks, it’s way more convenient hitting balls in a contained area than on a big field. |
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| I see no problem when teens or salarymen do this but there's a scene in shirobako where regular skinny animator girls go there, they don't even watch baseball or talk about it, I found it very weird. Why not go to karaoke and scream your fav anime song lyrics? but no, they go batting and of course, the skinny non talkative lolita fashion girl is the best batter Glad you exposed this ridiculousness |
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Catalano said: I see no problem when teens or salarymen do this but there's a scene in shirobako where regular skinny animator girls go there, they don't even watch baseball or talk about it, I found it very weird. Why not go to karaoke and scream your fav anime song lyrics? but no, they go batting and of course, the skinny non talkative lolita fashion girl is the best batter Glad you exposed this ridiculousness I referenced this exact scene earlier with an additional image (that I since took down). That's exactly what I was talking about. |
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| now that I think about it, maybe miyazaki was right, those batting cages are some sort of a wet dream for the animators, so they include it whenever they get the chance. Miyazaki said that animators these days are bad because they don't go out, they don't do stuff, they just hole themselves into the anime world and obsess about situations and weird scenes. That's why we see even skinny girly girls go there, of course, just a thought |
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| Baseball is practically level with Sumo, so yeah, it's a pretty big deal in Japan. Also, I'd argue a batting cage would make for an easier place to draw than most other places a teen could frequent. |
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ickx said: flowstate said: Right, and that's fine. The question is though, if I'm out in Japan and the dinner date went well, if I ask her "hey, want to hit a few balls?" is she going to think I'm out of my mind. It's more a question of if it's actually a popular social activity. Implying that's ever going to happen Hey man, I'm social and I enjoy travel so why wouldn't it? (～￣▽￣)～ |
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| Baseball in Japan is actually pretty popular with all ages and both genders so I'm not surprised to see at least some stuff about baseball in animes. |
erikkamirs said: Now that I'm thinking about it, even considering how few anime I've seen, a lot of them feature baseball. BNA, FLCL, Gakuen Babysitters, Just wait. I'm telling you there's dozens, if not probably hundreds. |
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| It's a big thing in both Japan and Korea Stress relievers like that and karaoke are really popular in both countries due to the dogshit corporate lifestyle |
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| I guess that's what you call cultural differences |
| It's in Persona 5 and Yakuza so yeah. |
| Previous posts already say how popular baseball is and that animators just like to draw it, but I think something were missing is that something like a batting cage (if your not an athlete) is usually meant just as a social engagement. It's something to keep the group busy because just sitting down and talking can get awkward. I imagine even a Japanese person wouldn't go to a batting cage if they were on their own |
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