[+] I didn't like the opening theme. It sounds kinda emo or something and flaunts a half-naked Tokuchi. The ending theme didn't catch my attention, so I didn't watch/listen to it even once.
[+] Hearing Kaiji's voice from Tokuchi was a little weird, but I think I mostly disliked the lack of emotion in Tokuchi's character.
[+] The art was fine for the most part. I thought it was annoying and unfitting how they'd sometimes make it seem a little bit like a gag manga, throwing in some "THAT'S THE JOKE. LAUGH." moments. I was also annoyed when two players were getting excited and shouting with some "exciting" background, both of them remaining rather still... it wasn't very convincing.
And now for the main course of my review, the characters. I probably already spoiled your appetite, but you're still reading this, so let's proceed.
K O J I M A
I never imagined myself to be someone that would enjoy sports anime (other than Hajime no Ippo), but I really liked Kojima. He was introduced as a man aiming for the top through hard work and dedication. When he faces Tokuchi for the first time, you don't feel like cheering for Tokuchi, the unstoppable pitcher. You want Kojima to win since he's just such a great and respectable guy. This was the only real moment in the series that felt suspenseful to me. Would Kojima win or would he lose? We all know this anime is about Tokuchi just by watching the opening theme, so how will things turn out? Indeed, a very interesting moment made possible by Kojima's character.
I D E G U C H I
This guy is pretty useless, but he's smarter than the other team members. Tokuchi pretty much treats him like crap, but Ideguchi doesn't let that cloud his judgement; he can see that Tokuchi is an incredible man and he has a deep respect for that. In fact, when Ideguchi isn't busy taking up 5 minutes to think of a scheme that turned out to be 100% useless, he often likes to think to himself "Wow, Tokuchi is really amazing!" We come to like Ideguchi since he's in the know and Tokuchi trusts him, plus he's probably the only other player on the team that's really in it to win it. In the end, I don't think he really added that much to the story, though.
T O K U C H I
I'm a bit disappointed, really. He's unstoppable and has virtually no weaknesses. He's unrivaled. This makes things a little boring since there's never any sense of danger. He's never really cornered. Everyone else is always freaking out, but Tokuchi knew everything would come to that moment and he already knew the way out. Sometimes he needs a little more evidence to come to his conclusion, in which case he sends out a few pawns to be sacrificed, then all is clear. He's definitely put into some tough situations, but the problem is that Tokuchi is too perfect and that nothing is ever a challenge. One nice thing about his character is how he improves the team and gets those losers to actually show some spirit, though that should probably be Kojima's job.
Overall, this was pretty enjoyable, but Tokuchi ruined most of the suspense.
