DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
| The anime was great and all but I just can't get invested on any of these characters when they're drawn like that. I have a feeling that I would have liked it more IF only a studio like KyoAni, known for their cutesy animation, did this one as the story and character development is already there. I get that the character designs were taken from the manga but I can't help but be distracted by the ugly, wacky design of it all. One more thing to mention was that, I thought their relationship at the end kinda came out of nowhere? I might be the only one, but I thought both of them, especially Kou, had barely shown any interest towards Aoba with him being focused and all at baseball so the ending scene kind of didn't have any impact to me. Maybe I just watched this show with the wrong perspective thinking it would be focusing more on the romance aspect of the show that's why the AobaxKou relationship at the end was a little bit "unnecessary" in my opinion as it is the personal growth Kou had during the entire time and how it affected the people around him the sole, primary focus of the show. Aside from that, I think the ending was satisfying and all but I just wished there were a few more episodes left to fully develop their relationship as I personally felt its just forced and little to no build up was made that paved the way for them to suddenly like each other. |
 |
| This is what peak Adachi looks like. One of the best endings someone could ask for. 9/10 although some characters ended up getting wasted like Mitsuki, like he was introduced to be more than just a background character only to be forgotten. Was there even any reason to give him any background if his only role was to be the guy who's supposed to guard the house XD. Even the Nakanishi incident felt like something that could have been scrapped and would've changed nothing. |
EGOISTJun 13, 2019 5:22 AM
| Wow. Just... wow. I've been putting this show off for at least 4 years I think. I've always liked sports genre, but after reading synopsis for the first time it didn't seem like it was something interesting, also I didn't really like art style. Boy, was I wrong. It's 50 episodes, so obviously there was a lot of time to set up a good story and move with character development at the right pace. I am still impressed as I think that Cross Game is honestly the most complete story I've ever watched. Characters were believable and they all had their reasons to act like they did. They also weren't overdramatic, but they showed emotions when you would expect them to. I was satisfied with the ending, obviously we won't ever know how they did at Koushien, but that really was not the main point of this story in the first place, so I guess that's fine (I wouldn't mind some continuation though, you hear me, Adachi?). I was so happy we got some closure in the last episode, I was watching while looking at the time scared I wouldn't find out if they would finally be honest with themselves and show their true feelings. I'm glad they did. Thank you for this awesome story. |
HDVisionMar 8, 2020 7:10 PM
| Awesome signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| Recently it is very hard for me to watch anime where characters are being killed. It makes me depressed. For this reason, I started watching sports anime. I thought that at least in sports anime there would be no deaths, but no, in the very first episode the manga author kills the character and my mood deteriorates dramatically. I spent more than a day and a half and watched all 50 episodes in a row without a break, but the imprint of the first episode could not be erased from memory. I could not get pleasure to the full because sadness never let me go and even a happy ending did not improve my mood ... |
 |
| very satisfying ending. I enjoyed this show all the way through. |
 |
Ulquiorra said: It was a perfect ending, they got to the Koushien and they are officially a couple now.The wedding happened, that's great. Akaishi and Akane are a good couple too. I'm a bit sad that we won't see the end of Wakaba's dream but she never saw it herself so I guess it's alright. Well, they fulfilled it. They made it to the Koshien. In traditional Cross Game fashion we don't get to actually see the Koshien. It seems like Adachi will always tease the audience by never quite giving them exactly what they want, but that's part of what makes the show so good. It's such a tease. We didn't get to see the screen show "160km". We didn't even get the words "I love you" to come out of Kou or Aoba's mouth, except Kou after he said "Is it ok if I lie?" Of course, he wasn't lying about any of the three things he mentioned, he showed her that by getting the 160, getting the team to the Koshien, and then giving her a big hug right afterwards. But his only confession was in the guise of a lie. |
| I've watched this anime about 7 times and I love it as much as the time before. Its just so relaxing and fun to see. No regrets. :) |
 |
| THOSE LEGENDS DID IT KOSHIEN! MORE IMPORTANTLY KOU X AOBA SHIP HAS SAILED! Incredible journey with some great characters and end, definitely can see why many people see this as Adachi's best work. Even though the part between Akane's introduction and the final tournament was a bit too dragged out for my taste, the final match really kept me on the edge of my seat. |
 |
| aw, the last 5 minutes were so cute when they took a photo together and held hands kingw0rm said: Ulquiorra said: It was a perfect ending, they got to the Koushien and they are officially a couple now.The wedding happened, that's great. Akaishi and Akane are a good couple too. I'm a bit sad that we won't see the end of Wakaba's dream but she never saw it herself so I guess it's alright. Well, they fulfilled it. They made it to the Koshien. In traditional Cross Game fashion we don't get to actually see the Koshien. It seems like Adachi will always tease the audience by never quite giving them exactly what they want, but that's part of what makes the show so good. It's such a tease. We didn't get to see the screen show "160km". We didn't even get the words "I love you" to come out of Kou or Aoba's mouth, except Kou after he said "Is it ok if I lie?" Of course, he wasn't lying about any of the three things he mentioned, he showed her that by getting the 160, getting the team to the Koshien, and then giving her a big hug right afterwards. But his only confession was in the guise of a lie. i was very confused by all of this while watching so this helped, thanks. i still wish we got to see them at the koushien tho!! they teased it so hard the whole series T.T i wanted to see aoba on the field playing with everyone else, her talents were wasted so much still, i liked the show! it was a nice ride, pretty relaxing. i enjoyed the drama/interpersonal relationships far more than any of the baseball stuff, but there were a couple games that were very fun to watch. i think i'll rate it 8/10, it had a really slow start for me and i wasn't into it until maybe 15 episodes in. it reached a peak halfway through where i was obsessed with it for a good 20 episodes and then kinda lost its momentum at the end, it felt like the writers were dawdling or something for the last ten episodes also, i see some people complain about the art but i thought it was cute. in fact i am very glad it has its own unique art style, i would probably like it less if it didn't. i do wish the animation was smoother but it wasn't bad by any means. also the OST was SO GOOD in this anime, i almost never notice music in anime but this one really stood out to me. and the characters were really well developed imo. glad i watched it! |
laputiaOct 28, 2020 3:27 PM
 |
| Just finished my second run of Cross Game. I'm definitely looking forward to watching it a third time. It's seriously been a while since I've commented on MAL, but I really needed to after watching this sensational anime. This has got to be one of the best romance anime I have seen in all my years. I sincerely regret not seeing this sooner, but perhaps I wouldn't have appreciated it as much when I was younger because of it's subtleties. The subtext and visual cues draw out the anime in a way that I have never experienced before. It's the silent moments that give the most impact to the characters and develops them in such meticulously believable ways. Kou giving advice to Mr. Tsukishima and telling him to find someone else and that his deceased wife will forgive him. Then he tells Kou that Wakaba would feel the same way and that if he finds someone, let Wakaba meet her...and then Kou brings Aoba to Wakaba's grave to wish for luck for the finals and Akane's surgery. Perhaps there was another reason Kou wanted Aoba to come? All of the teammates also knew that Kou add Aoba loved each other. Remember that one scene with Aoba spraying the cicadas off and then Nakanishi asks her why. Then she says the cicadas are loud and Nakanishi says they're always loud. After, he asks where Kou was. Aoba tells him that Kou was seeing Akane and then Nakinishi says "I understand." This is exactly the sort of writing that brings this anime to a whole different level. Nakanishi doesn't explicitly state that Aoba was a bit upset from Kou seeing Akane but it's these sort of conversations that mesmerizes me and it happens all the time! For those asking that we didn't get a kiss or that there's no confirmation if Kou and Aoba are a couple...it's pretty obvious when you see these signs that they gradually fell in love with each other and are very strong in their relationship as Aoba describes: Kou understands and always understood her. Adachi, you've really created a timeless, sensational piece of work. Thank you so much for this wonderful ride. |
| And with that, I finally finished Cross Game! T_T It's been a hell of a journey but it was all worth it :) First I should say thanks to another one of Adachi Mitsuru's manga adaptation: Mix- Meisei Story. Its unsatisfying conclusion and one-note character personalities are what drove me to watch Cross Game in the first place. Otherwise I probably wouldn't watch this after watching Touch. I know Adachi Mitsuru-sensei authored a lot of manga but since I only experienced 3 of them so far I can't help but only compare these three. I think Cross Game was an improvement over Touch in almost every way. I still prefer Touch simply because I watched it first I guess? There's one thing that I think Touch does better than Cross Game. I think Tatsuya Uesugi is far better protagonist than Ko Kitamura. Tacchan's character arcs and development are much more complex and rewarding to watch than Ko's. I think Ko got overshadowed by several other characters in his own show, namely Yuuhei Azuma, Osamu Akaishi, and of course the deuteragonist Aoba Tsukishima. I remember Aoba being bitchy at the start of the show while she was still in middle school (and also earlier). But when I think of Aoba Tsukishima now I think of the one from the end of the series. That's the kind of development she received. I still think Ko is a strong main character it's just that the side characters are also basically all-stars (excluding Mizuki and Senda). I love Ko x Aoba pairing so much <3 I can't feel bad about Azuma. He didn't get the girl but he got his resolution by making it to Koshien without sacrificing his enjoyment of baseball which is where his aniki's true wish lied anyway. The series HAS to end on the same episode the team makes it to Koshien but we don't actually see them play in Koshien... Is Akane x Akaishi a thing now? Did Ko go on a date with Akane anyway? Are Ko and Aoba dating finally not just a silly rumor anymore? Not even a proper epilogue. At least we saw Junpei and Ichiyou get married. Congrats to them both (I could tell Junpei pretty much forgot about his wedding since he was so into the game). And Mizuki's climbing more mountains lol. I think Touch has a slightly more definitive conclusion. Still I'm not mad at the ending or anything cause I think it's written better and there aren't any real loose ends. There was no kiss scene but the way the confession worked was so unconventional but at the same time extremely fitting. So how can I be mad? Why can't other writers write endings that tie all loose ends if they can't write a satisfying ending at the very least? I love the insert songs in Touch. Cross Game barely had any insert or character songs but its soundtrack is soooo good. One of the most memorable and mesmerizing OST I heard in anime. I also liked that Summer Rain was the theme song throughout the entire 50 episode run. And the four-leaf clover became full again in this last episode. Some people complain about the character design but I don't think of it as a negative at all. But that might be because I'm already used to this style. People who say Mitsuru-sensei's artwork didn’t improve from the 70's should look at the pages from one of his earlier works and then look at pages from Mix. His art definitely improved and modernized in their own way without killing off the signature Adachi Mitsuru-style. Characters may look similar at first but it doesn’t take long for you to be able to distinguish them all. I hated love triangles (and polygons) in stories but Mitsuru's writing made me love them. Actually I think I still hate love triangles that are not written by Adachi Mitsuru. I'll still remember both Touch and Cross Game for different reasons. Both masterpieces in my book. I'm gonna miss both. Adachi Mitsuru works are pretty similar to one another. I'd still like to experience some more. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be many anime adaptations? I wanted to watch H2 but apparently it doesn't adapt the manga ending like Mix which pisses me off. I'm not really into manga so I'm at a disadvantage here. I'll probably watch Nine trilogy mainly cause I want to find out about the deal of Seishu in it. I know it's old and one of Adachi's oldest work so it probably isn't that good but that won't stop me. I'll probably watch Hiatarai Ryoukou! after I watch Kimagure Orange Road. My list keeps on expanding with no end in sight... Fun fact: it took me about 43 days to finish Cross Game. Comparatively I took 42 days to finish Touch which has 101 episodes. Funnily enough it took me 48 days to finish Mix even though it has the lowest amount of episodes at only 24. |
0451Jan 12, 2022 10:43 AM
| Positives: - Cross Game has that old-school caricature drawing of characters that you would see in many 70's and 80's anime, but with a more crisp-looking setting and graphics, since this anime is from 2009. This helps make the anime unique. - I loved the OST and the heart of the anime, and both combinations really helped you get immersed in the anime. - I also loved that the characters dont have too much "shounen" in them, with screaming and all that stuff. It was all nice and subtle. - I really liked the voice acting. - I will say, that out of all the baseball animes that there are since the time of this comment of mine, Cross Game might be the most entertaining anime that deals with baseball (i mean every aspect of the anime). Cross Game might not be the most baseball-leaning anime out there (that would be Ace of Diamond), but as an enjoyable experience. I do think Cross Game is the best. Negatives: - I never cared for the romance. I never really got invested in any possible romance. However, it would have been nice to see the pairing of Azuma x Aoba , and Akane x Akaishi, while Kou remains single to remain loyal to Wakaba. I NEVER felt any possible romantic connection between Kou and Aoba. - I REALLY do wish that this anime was much shorter than 50 episodes. 30 episodes would have been just right. -I cannot lie, many times I forced myself to watch this anime because I just didnt care for what was going on anymore, due to the long length of the anime, mainly when they were training or having their slice of life moments. This happens to me many times with watching japanese-dub anime with english subtitles, in that 30 episodes is my limit before I just stopped caring for whats going on anymore. But overall, Cross Game is a nice anime that anyone can enjoy, even if youve never care for baseball or know much about it. And I am very surprised that Cross Game has never been licensed nor is it available for streaming on any site. |
oooo3333Aug 3, 2022 9:03 PM
Truly climactic and incredible. I love anime like this. Ko x Aoba forever. I teared up when Ko announced his confession. |
 |
| show started and ended strong but there was lot of unnecessary lag in large parts of the middle. |
 |
| wow, there were some flaws but pretty enjoyable. Still shocked that it already ended. |
   » [The World's Continuation【世界のつづき】- UTA/Ado ♪] « 0:00 〇────── 4:55 ↺ |◁ II ▷| ♡ ✦ Come and Join us! ✦ Evil Club ψ FuwaFuwa Sanctuary ✿ ✿ DeaD Blossoms ✿ |
| Writing this several days after finishing the anime and just finishing the manga, but the staff at SynergySP really did a fantastic adaptation of the original source. While some material was cut from the manga, they also added in some anime original scenes as well, which I thought were a nice touch (e.x. showing the older sister getting married). Though, the art and animation is the usual SynergySP flair in terms of production, but at least the character movements, such as the pitching, fielding, and running motions seem to have been carefully researched and illustrated, which is a plus. The only thing I wish though was that while I think the character designs were fine, I would've preferred that Minoru Maeda had done them instead. Maeda had handled the character designs for Adachi Mitsuru's manga adapted by Group TAC, so it would've been cool if he had done them; since he was (or still is?) a board member (SynergySP stopped listing its directors, besides their representative director, following the site's renewal in around 2010-2011ish) and co-founder of SynergySP. |
ims-tokyoJul 12, 2022 8:41 PM
| Holy shit! This was absolutely incredible! Every single episode was a blast to watch! |
 |
| Such a feel good anime, just the whole thing about it is really enjoyable to me and those 50 episodes were all worth of my time. And to top it off I absolutely love everyone in this show especially Ko and Aoba, the characters are the reason why I love this series. |
 |
Mayuka said: I don't know whether I select Completed for the manga or anime. Technically, I read up to volume 16, then watched the last three episodes... Still debating if it deserves an 8 or 9. Loved the baseball and the first few volumes were excellent and worthy of a 10. kie_ said: Am I the only one who didn't like the ending...? You're not. I thought it was kind of predictable and not as great as I expected it to be. I don't really like tsunderes and Aoba definitely was one. The romance was kind of misleading and unnatural IMO. Having two really similar people get together romantically is kind of odd in my standards. I feel as if Kou and Aoba are more in a best friend relationship. My OTPs would definitely be Azuma x Aoba and Ichiyo x Junpei. I prefer Kou to end up with Akane. Either that, or alone as well. This explains my exact problem with Aoba and they even look similar. Man, going from Touch to this feels so different. It really feels like going from a soulful experience to soulless. |
FlamingMangosFeb 20, 2023 2:05 AM
| I honestly don't know how anyone could call this episode soulless. An unbelievable rollercoaster of an anime leading to one of the most poignant confessions in anime - Kou letting his actions speaking louder than words ever could. This anime deals with themes like grief, shared trauma and, ultimately, moving on to a better tomorrow in ways that blow my mind to this day. In calling it soulless, it only shows me that you never understood the deeper meaning behind the show and all you saw was the baseball. As for Kou and Aoba being similar, so what? Nothing better for a relationship than being with someone so similar to yourself, indeed, a best friend even. |
| Positives: - Cross Game has that old-school caricature drawing of characters that you would see in many 70's and 80's anime, but with a more crisp-looking setting and graphics, since this anime is from 2009. This helps make the anime unique. - I loved the OST and the heart of the anime, and both combinations really helped you get immersed in the anime. - I also loved that the characters dont have too much "shounen" in them, with screaming and all that stuff. It was all nice and subtle. - I really liked the voice acting. - I will say, that out of all the baseball animes that there are since the time of this comment of mine, Cross Game might be the most entertaining anime that deals with baseball (i mean every aspect of the anime). Cross Game might not be the most baseball-leaning anime out there (that would be Ace of Diamond), but as an enjoyable experience. I do think Cross Game is the best. Negatives: - I never cared for the romance. I never really got invested in any possible romance. However, it would have been nice to see the pairing of Azuma x Aoba , and Akane x Akaishi, while Kou remains single to remain loyal to Wakaba. I NEVER felt any possible romantic connection between Kou and Aoba. - I REALLY do wish that this anime was much shorter than 50 episodes. 30 episodes would have been just right. -I cannot lie, many times I forced myself to watch this anime because I just didnt care for what was going on anymore, due to the long length of the anime, mainly when they were training or having their slice of life moments. This happens to me many times with watching japanese-dub anime with english subtitles, in that 30 episodes is my limit before I just stopped caring for whats going on anymore. But overall, Cross Game is a nice anime that anyone can enjoy, even if youve never care for baseball or know much about it. And I am very surprised that Cross Game has never been licensed nor is it available for streaming on any site. |
| Still an amazing series for me even after a few years with one of the strongest finishes I've seen in all of anime. Still one of my favorites too, pure gold overall. |
More topics from this board
» Help: Cross Game filler episodes?JoNuttanon1994 - Dec 28, 2023 |
6 |
by zckfox
»»
Dec 28, 2023 5:51 PM |
|
Poll: » Cross Game Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 )BlowITA - Apr 12, 2009 |
66 |
by -mmdll-
»»
Oct 9, 2023 7:43 AM |
|
Poll: » Cross Game Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 )fanty - Apr 5, 2009 |
194 |
by Ethan348
»»
Jul 3, 2023 3:30 PM |
|
» Cross Game Soundtrackfalph - Apr 5, 2010 |
8 |
by StewedBeefHaunch
»»
Jun 18, 2023 2:04 PM |
|
Poll: » Cross Game Episode 35 Discussion ( 1 2 )tsubasalover - Nov 28, 2009 |
65 |
by EsieEyen
»»
Nov 6, 2022 6:37 AM |