For those who are currently contemplating whether they should pick up this series, let me offer a few words of caution so you can maximize your enjoyment out of the entire experience. Moshidora is not about baseball. It is not about the thrill of winning.
What Moshidora offers us is a likable female lead and sage advices on how to be a leader. You will find that the advices given apply to us as well as to managers and world leaders: leading with integrity, what does it mean to innovate, what is an effective communication, what is a failure, focusing on the results but not the effort, and marketing not just what you want to sell, but also what people want. I heard that this anime is intended for those in their 30s and 40s. If true, then those of us who fall into this age group are no doubt facing these issues daily.
Let's get to the plot: This is a straightforward affair. Minami Kawashima, the female lead, becomes the manager of a mediocre baseball team. Having no managerial experience and is aversive to baseball, she accidentally picks up Drucker's Management, thus embarking on a journey to self-discovery while unleashing her hidden potential as a manager. The first 8 episodes offers numerous quotes from Drucker that I have mentioned are highly relevant to those of us who are now in the "real world." The final two episodes contain more drama and if you stick with the series to the end, you will be rewarded with an emotional (or melodramatic) ending.
You might now wonder if this series is as bland as I presented. The answer is yes. But you have an endearing female lead who does not fit the stereotypes of your typical female leads in teenage anime series. Minami is not a tsundere or a smart female but for some reason is fallen madly in love over some clueless guy and is fighting for his attention. Minami is compassionate and kind, but she never lets emotion influencing her judgments. She has a razor sharp eye for talents and is not afraid to cut you if you suck. She is results-oriented; excuses like "but I tried very hard" will not work on her. Traits that mark a highly capable manager.
A word of criticism: The art is far below what one might expect from Production I.G.
In summary, you can get a lot of mileage out of this series if you approach this not as a baseball drama, but as a short crash course on what you should do in life. You don't have to be a manager or a leader to use the advices and lessons offered in this series.
