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We all have ghosts. And if yours are of the variety that come from losing someone you love, this anime is about to take you on a ride you'll not soon forget. Don't let the younger characters and apparent focus on baseball catch you off-guard: This is a coming-of-age story about how a young ensemble cast reconcile themselves with a tragedy and their memories of what was lost, while finding themselves and each other along the way. Their quest for the Koshien masks this deeper goal, but the baseball provides a fitting context to drive the character development, which is the heart of this series.
The plot itself is not overly complicated, and the slow pace of the series might frustrate viewers who are more accustomed to action or plot-heavy series. This is definitely a slice-of-life anime, but it nevertheless manages to inject significant suspense elements, and balances its more serious themes with a healthy dose of comedy. However, unlike many series in the genre that tend to drift or take a lot of time to ground their characters and story elements, Cross Game front-loads its first episode and sets up a scenario that pulls at a viewer's heartstrings, drawing them in. The most significant criticism that can be leveled against it is that if you've seen Touch, you will find that Cross Game borrows heavily, even if it ultimately carves out its own path. On the bright side though, those who have not had the pleasure of enjoying Cross Game's older predecessor from the 1980s will have 101 more episodes of beautiful storytelling to look forward to.
With a *very* significant exception, the soundtrack is not particularly remarkable. The OP does invoke the feeling of lazy days of summer, and the quality of most of the ED's is pretty hit/miss. Having said that, the first ED is absolutely stunning and instead of feeling "tacked on," integrates itself beautifully into the first episode - it's probably one of the most emotionally powerful uses of music you'll ever come across in an anime.
The art style is simple and clean, but if you're looking for spectacular lighting effects or incredibly detailed designs, you won't find them here. At the same time, the style fits the series like a glove and the strong character development mitigates this to the point where you may not even notice the absence of flashy graphical effects. My experience was that despite its simplicity, small but significant art details had a strong effect - notable examples include the rusted-out and cold appearance of the Clover cafe/batting center contrasting with the warm personalities that inhabit the place, or the inherent symbolism in the series' trademark four-leaf clover with one petal colored a slightly lighter shade of green.
What's the bottom line? Cross Game will make you cry. Then it will make you laugh. Then it will make you cry again. Along the way, you might find that you liked baseball a lot more than you thought you would. Most importantly, you'll love every minute. A must-see.
