For all intents and purposes, Cross game can be seen as an alternate world retelling of Anohana. In this world, instead of slice-of-life we have baseball as the focus of the show and instead of angst ridden characters of Anohana you have more grounded, well rounded characters deal with the same themes of loss, lonliness and identifying one'e self worth. Watch if you like slice of life. As a sports anime it works, but its mostly about the characters and less about the sport itself.
Full review:
I liked Anohana for what it was, a story of loss and coming to terms with missing your first love. However I was almost turned off by the ludicrous characters on display. Cross Game does it miles better as its characters arent prone to self-pity nor do they burden themselves with needless regret just to add drama. The characters for the most part simply move on as most people would do in such ciscumstances.
The plot of Cross Game in 5 mins is essentially lead character Ko and neighbor Wakaba both of whom were born on the same day like each other a lot. This causes a lot of anger on the part of Wakaba's younger sister Aoba. A tragic accident causes the death of Wakaba and the anime deals with how Kou moves on with his life while still interacting with the rest of Wakaba's family namely her 3 sisters, Aoba, Momiji and Ichiyo. The characters all are fairly realistic in that they still miss Wakaba but dont wallow in self-pity but rather choose to look towards the future. Along the side there is baseball which is a big passion in Aoba's life. Why Ko decides to take up baseball as a sport and how his relationship with Aoba progresses forms the crux of the story. Make no mistake about it, Cross Game has elements of baseball in it and it has tropes used in other similar sports anime, however the focus here is on the relationship between Ko and Aoba and the other characters from the baseball team. The baseball story is more of a side arc rather than the major focus.
I love the characters of Cross Game for the most part. The one character I didnt like was Wakaba. She is potrayed as this perfect girl who is loved by all the boys and idolized by everyone. Noone had beef with her, she was universally loved... essentially the same garbage we were fed about Menma in Anohana. The difference is that in Anohana, Menma returned as a retarded ghost whereas here Wakaba stays thankfully dead for most part of the anime. I say most part because Wakana returns towards the later part of the series as clone-trooper 6191 AKA Akane. Apparently another girl who just happens to look exactly like Wakaba with the exact same character traits like Wakaba just happens to move next door to Ko and Aoba. I will let the mathematicians in the house calculate the odds of that happening. This clone-trooper also gets her own "Your lie in April" arc at the very end to add some needless drama. Wew lads.
Thankfully the rest of the cast for the most part are fun. Ko is very grounded for a sport anime protagonist. He isnt a whiny, loud-mouthed, never give up, thug-life guy with massive hidden potential (looking at you Shoyo Hina-fart!!) He didnt start playing baseball to become the best in the world but rather for reasons much closer to home. He plays baseball simply to fulfill a dream Wakaba had. Even towards the end, he wants to be the best pitcher in the world not because he wants to be the best but its the only way he knows to get closer to Aoba. Aoba is another star in the show. Classic tsundere type, fighitng desparately to be part of the dream Wakaba had all the while hurting inside coz she knows she would never be part of a boys baseball team. She loves baseball but she wants so badly to part of the Wakaba's dream that she puts her baseball dreams on hold so she could atleast cheer on Ko from the sidelines. Great character growth throught and the banter between Ko and Aoba is generally of a very good quality. Some of the side characters themselves are very well rounded with a good example being Akaishi. Another guy who had a silent crush on Wakaba, reforms himself from being a bully to become a catcher so he can help make Wakaba's dream a reality.
The visuals are good. The character desings are a bit umm.. You take Ko, Aoba and Wakaba/Akane and shave them all bald, they all have the same face. The backgrounds are serviceable. The animation however is very good. The music is entirely forgettable. It does its job of staying in the background. Not a single track was actually memorable.
Conclution:
Cross game is easy waching. Its not a bad thing. There are no complex multi layered characters. The biggest takeaway is the undeniable feelings of positivty one gets from watching this. Anohana was mostly negative with a positive ending. Here the tone of the anime is by and large positive and the life potrayed here is charming and brimming with childlike innocence. The message is of hope, to cherish the memories of those you lost but to move on and not be held back by your loss. Lovely anime, not the most original story and some characters and the drama they bring (aka Akane) was uneeded but overall great.
