I will not go into full detail of the story, and will try to make this review nice and short.
This series is typically about an honour student Maruo Eiichirou, (also called Ei-chan for his exceedingly high grades) and he is living an unhappy life. A life of studying, to make his parents happy. But what this really making him happy? He decides to take up tennis, with having no prior experience in sport whatsoever. This is when his love for tennis, started to begin. It is also really provoking to see how, Maruo takes notes in his practices and how he involves his studying and note-taking into his matches. This is such a different character, to what we are used to seeing and Maruo’s potential as he trains and takes notes is infinite.
Story 10/10:
Baby Steps does not follow the routine of every other cliché sports anime. It is such a rarity that you come across an anime with such an engaging story and cliffhangers that make you rushing to finish the next episode. As Maruo starts to play tennis, he finds that his lack of fitness is making it hard for him to improve and get better. He trains indefinitely to improve just hitting the tennis ball at first and then he gradually gets better as his fitness level rises. Baby Steps does a really good job engaging its audience, by taking a realistic approach on a sports anime. Maruo does not have super-human powers and gets professional instantly. You watch him grow on his journey from becoming a straight A student, to a person who finds passion in his life, that he never knew he has before.
Art 8/10:
Has anyone ever told you to not judge a book by its cover? The same thing can be said for Baby Steps. The art style for it can often be misunderstood and make people score this series a lot lower score than it deserves. Once you get used to the different approach on the art, then you will sure be in for a surprise!
Characters 9/10:
Baby Steps does a magnificent job portraying all of the different characters, especially the relationships between Maruo, and his classmates and family. As this is a slow pacing anime, do not get turned off if it takes a while until you feel engaged. After every episode there are only more positive things to come and as you are watching Maruo grow as a tennis player he also grows fundamentally as a person in all aspects. The relationship between Maruo and his mother also grow throughout the series, as she sees how much Maruo is enjoying his studies and has finally found a hobby that peaks his interest.
Sound 8/10:
The soundtrack in Baby Steps is not “ sensational “, but the sound does a great job in adding different atmospheres in certain situations. The opening song “ Believe in Yourself “ by Mao Abe fits the series just perfectly. It reinforces the idea that even though Maruo had never held a tennis racket before in his life, the amount of dedication and love that he had found for this sport would astonish, not only those around him, but himself as well. The soundtrack fulfils its job well as setting the mood and tone in various settings. It can make a regular tennis match turn, intense and thought provoking in a matter of seconds.
Overall 10/10:
I highly recommend this Anime to not only people who enjoy watching sports anime, but to everyone as well. Baby Steps takes a very different approach on a sports anime, and it deserves more recognition for how well the series went.
