Anime: Cross Game

Review
Cross Game. This show stuck by my list for far too long. Impressive fan scores and the use of baseball as its starting point have always kept me in check. I am a fan of sports in general, but damn, I find it as hard to enjoy watching baseball as I do with golf. Don't get me wrong, playing baseball is fun, my issue is with watching it.

Anyway. Years passed and so here I am, giving Cross Game a run. Looking at promotional artwork and reading headlines about it would give the impression this may be perhaps more of a romance with some shoujo spice than a sports show about your average shounen dreaming boy. Yet, when given the chance, Cross Game ends up being a somewhat interesting mixture of childish sports show with some charming mature relationships and backdrop. For that reason, my introduction to this show will spoil the events of the first episode, so bear with me.

Kitamura Kou and Wakaba Tsukishima have always been more than common friends. They were born in the same day, same hospital, and lived in the same neighborhood. They have enjoyed life together until a deadly accident during a school trip takes Wakaba away. With only her memory and her last dream left, it falls to Kou to honor them, along with everyone else the charming Wakaba befriended, especially her younger sister Aoba.

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1. You get it?
   Notice how I simply didn't mention baseball in my attempt to contextualize the show. There's a reason for that: it doesn't matter. In Cross Game, baseball is just a tool, not the heart of the show. The heart is Wakaba's memory, her value in forging what Kou and Aoba are during their high-school period. Her memory and her last dream fuel the narrative of this tale, and baseball gets to be the tool used for that. The last dream of the young girl is seeing her lover, Kou, and her lonely friend, Osamu, playing together in a championship match, and thus the real story begins.
   
   A tale for children and adults alike
   Cross Game's presentation is a double-edged knife. It is brimming with identity yet it may look far more childish than it truly is. As mentioned, the heart of the show is shrouded by the memories of a dead girl, the aspirations of a few teenagers, and a somewhat complex and intriguing love polygon. At many points, however, the events kick in fairly simple ways, as if digested and presented to a very young audience and not your everyday shounen fan. It gets more evident with some very stereotypical bad guys and even more with Momiji's quizzes and musics at the start, yet at many points the drama takes away any childish atmosphere the show tries to create.
   
   And it's a light romance
   Dead characters are fairly intriguing in any tale. It is hard to put the right amount of drama, remembrance scenes, and keep the show going while focusing on the living. If there's a point where Cross Game gets a deserved praise, well, here it is. Wakaba is not present right from the first episodes onward, yet you know she is always there. With little context many scenes featuring Kou, Aoba, and Osamu can be filled with emotion and tension because you know Wakaba's memories are behind them. The show also smartly steps away in trying to make romance evident from the start, slowly picking Aoba and Kou together, putting some new players into the polygon, and never getting into annoying territories of blushing and stupid tsundere behavior.
   
   The cast
   Well, Aoba is a tomboy with a dose of tsundere, yes, but she gets to be more complex than that. Kou also gets a big thumbs up because he is far from being the annoying lead of shounen sports, instead being a dedicated guy that is just a bit relaxed with his free time. Joining the duo and Wakaba's memory are a bunch of schoolmates, each based on somewhat simple tropes yet with many getting a good deal of development on their own, smartly spread through many episodes instead of dedicated ones. As you are slowly presented to these guys they get more and more charming, adding enough spice to our romantic leads.
   
   A childish take on emotions though
   Bad guys and good guys. Sadly, as if trying to get its way into a very young audience, Cross Game keeps its cast crystal clear in who is the bad guy and who is not. There is no grey area here. No character manages to mix being mean and being nice. Evil coaches, greedy directors, snob girls, and many others make it sure you know who needs to be punished, while the rest of the cast is incredibly okay with each other and rarely even get into real fights and conflicts among themselves. It's as if the good guys had no place in their hearts to any degree of jealousy, anger, mistrust, and so on. The only rare exceptions to this rule are those tasked with the comical relief role, which simply takes away any power those darker feelings would have on the rest of the cast.
   
   And baseball
   Baseball is that type of sport that can be a lot of fun playing yet can get kinda of boring when watching. Things happen just rarely and for most of the game you see the pitcher throwing balls and batters hitting the wind. Cross Game knows that and for that reason it rarely gets into the core of the game. Besides a few major games that get some headlines, most other matches are simply skipped. For a show running through fifty episodes, it's interesting when not even six matches are presented in a major way.
   
   Unlike most of your shounen sports shows, the opponents are not as overly trash-talked as well, which keep us locked into what truly matters in between major tournaments: how the hell Kou and Aoba will overcome Wakaba's death and move on with their feelings. Yeah, it's good to see a sports show that knows how not to waste time.
   

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Comments
Okay. I can mention Cross Game's scores may be a bit inflated, but this is a damn fine show indeed. It's intriguing how such a show can be so childish yet so powerfully emotional at the same time. This is a light, fluid experience that never gets stuck with annoying parts and always manages to keep us in check, waiting to see how the memory of a dead girl will influence her lover and sister in the near future.

There are many moments where the show gets Wakaba's memory just right, making you remember her as someone really important even if she was just shown for a few minutes early on. These moments may make your eyes teary or not, but they work on making her important and reminding you that this is NOT a sports show, instead a slice-of-life where people happen to play baseball. If the sport of choice was basketball, football, tennis, or anything else, it would rarely affect the overall experience. You would still get Wakaba, her dream, Aoba and Kou's relationship, and strangers entering their high-school life.

Yeah. This is fine stuff.

I have to say, the art and sound is fairly good in the show. It brings out a natural and lively yet peaceful environment in the anime. However, I have to say the enjoyment was a total failure for me. I fell asleep on nearly watching all the episodes and realized that even if I watched 1000 episodes, this story would never reach or even hint on the climax. The characters are alright, but they are boring in their own way. The female protagonist is your normal average good looking tomboy girl, and the male protagonist is a little strange by being clueless but being reliable at times, however its not so extreme as to be "interesting". Both are fairly normal characters. The story was pretty average too. There is no thrill, but only a boring attitude that stays much too calm in the entirety of the show.

*Oops, accidentally delete the review while trying to edit... "delete" review needs a confirmation prompt -_-

My throat is dry, my vision is blurry, and my heart is still pounding hard. I just finished watching 50 episodes of anime in 2 days.

The show is based on a manga series by the same author as "Touch" and "H2". 「クロスゲーム」(Kurosu Game), the title is a Japanese baseball term for "Close Game", with wordplay of "Close" and "Cross", both of which have identical pronunciations in Japanese.

Background of high school baseball in Japan
"Cross Game" tells a story of a baseball prodigy and his friends' long journey to Koushien. National High School Baseball Championship in Japan, or simply Koushien, is held every spring and summer. Thousands of high school baseball teams throughout Japan compete to become the champions in their own prefectures first (Hokkaido and Tokyo get two representatives), in order to get a spot in the national championship tournament played in the Hanshin Koushien Stadium. To be able to participate (and win) in Koushien is the dream of every Japanese boys who love baseball, and it is undeniably the most prominent school tournament in Japan given the popularity of baseball, and since many players graduate and sign with professional teams without playing in college. The summer tournament is especially competitive (spring tournament is invitational, with highest seeds), and national TV broadcasts for the finals often gather viewership ratings rivaling that of professional baseball playoff broadcasts.

Animation 8/10
The animation at a first glance has a very orthodox sports anime feel to it. Character designs are almost identical to that of "Touch" and "H2". With exception of blurring some lesser important scenes, the background images had a lot of detail and it's clear they put a lot of effort into it. The characters were very simply drawn with standard fill and shadows, but they were extremely consistent, and had a smooth and fluid motion. Nothing really stands out in the animation department, but generally pleasing to the eye.

Sound 9/10
While none of the pieces in musical score were particularly memorable, they were of exceptionally high quality overall. Many of them were fully orchestrated, some were very inspirational climax instrumentals that supported the scene without distracting from conversations. What was amazing, was the flow of music in the background, which suited every scene so well that I couldn't tell when each musical piece started or ended without paying close attention to it. BGM seemed to continue forever as one piece, even though they consisted of shorter instrumental songs. Voice acting was pretty standard, but I found none of the character's voices to be annoying, which is quite rare. OP/ED weren't very catchy my opinion, but the sound and even lyric fit the series perfectly despite being sang by non-cast singers. I do question the use of same OP for all 50 episodes, but I guess it's rare for an Oricon charting band like Kobukuro singing for a non-prime-time anime series.

Story/Character Development 9/10
Plot twist in the very first episode totally took me off guard, but otherwise very standard sports drama plot of underdogs working hard to reach the biggest stage though hard work and friendship. Despite the relatively short 50 episodes for a sports anime, I feel it covered a lot of material in developing the two main characters. The story focused more on slice of life rather than the actual games, and all the seniors in the final season were developed thoroughly, and all of them serve a significant role in the development of the story and the protagonists. I also liked the use of flashbacks, which really exposed their current state of mind and motivations for certain actions. The story was very well-construed and built up anticipation for every upcoming episode. I would've liked to see more episodes and rival schools though, as there were very few notable opposing players and matches other than Ryuuou.

Value/Enjoyment 10/10
"Cross Game" is a 160km/h fastball down the middle. Other than the first episode, there are no major twists or surprises, doesn't try to do anything special, but it delivers exactly what a sports anime is supposed to deliver, and does it very well. The two main characters are somewhat stereotypical genki and tsudere, but you really connect with them after a few episodes. There were countless memorable lines (often used as episode title, which emphasizes them even more) and touching inspirational scenes, plenty of comedy, and sweet seishun romance moments. If you like drama or baseball, you'll certainly enjoy this series.

Cross Game Review – (94/100 – Classic)

Story: 9/10

Cross Game is my first Adachi anime, and I was thoroughly impressed by its storytelling. The whole series is slow paced and filled with tension. Despite being somewhat predictable, Cross Game is well executed. There is only 1 filler episode out of 50, and even that episode tied pretty well into the main story. My only criticism is Adachi could have fleshed it out a little more, adding some more episodes. Yes this show already has 50 episodes, but it feels shorter than that.

Animation: 8/10

I really liked the art from this show. It feels like an old school anime, and the nostalgic atmosphere it creates serves it well. There were a few points in the show where the animation quality dipped. However, the no non-sense/frills animation was pretty consistent throughout its entirety.

Characters: 10/10

Cross Game’s cast is one of the most memorable in all of anime (that I have watched at least). Each character is developed so well that there isn’t really a character that you won’t like. In fact, you will really sympathize with the main cast’s struggles, hardships, and triumphs.

Sound: 10/10

I loved the OP and the first ED. The next few ED’s are great, but not as powerfully moving as the first one. The first ED “Koi Kogarete Mita Yume” is a beautiful song in its own right, but coupled with this anime, it really could not be more perfect. The OP “Summer Rain” is another song that really speaks volumes about the show and instantly feels like a classic. Finally the soundtrack is wonderfully arranged and really adds to the tension/excitement of the show.

Enjoyment: 10/10

I’m not really a big fan of baseball and when I started this show I was a little hesitant, but I had heard great things about it. From the start, the show hooked me in and never dropped the ball. Easily one of the best slice of life shows I’ve seen (one of the best anime’s I’ve seen for that matter), so I highly recommend this show to others. If you can get past its animation (for some, that’s the weakest part of the show), you will be rewarded with a classic.

Average Series Rating: 9.4 - Classic

Animation: Cross game uses a very old-school type of animation which fits in quite well in a series that features a large amount of flashbacks. The nostalgia factor has the double benefit of conveying the past of the characters and of reminding viewers of past sports series. It's also refreshing in the CG era of anime to watch a series that doesn't put all its budget into overly-slick but recycled modern graphics. All that being said the animation in Cross Game won't blow anyone away with detail despite not coming off as a dated production.

Sound: The OP/ED feature somewhat cheesy yet satisfying songs. The overall score suited the subject matter quite well but felt overused at times as more variety would have been appreciated. Voice acting was well done. None of the voices was irritating or mis-cast.

Story: The main story of an unlikely group of high school baseball players making a run to Koshien takes a backseat to the rich backstory shaped by the accidental death of a young girl many years before. The story begins with a substancial flashback detailing the relationships between the girl, her boyfriend, her sister and their families and friends. This tale is an emotional and well-told setup. Even after the present day story begins, these flashbacks are selectively reinserted to help the viewer understand the behavior and feelings of our main characters. The boyfriend and deceased girl's sister have quite a rich and complicated relationship which is the main vehicle of the present day story.

Character development: The use of flashbacks has been used in other series to help enhance character development and Cross Game makes full use of this method. All the main characters are good people who development was vastly impacted by the same event, yet their current dispositions, attitudes and actions are different from each other. The development is further enhanced by the fact that many share a long past which gives them insights into the personality of others, if not themselves. Character development is easily the greatest strength of Cross Game

Value: An overall solid production which survives its attempts at catering to a large demographic (a series that encourages children to send in their drawings and which features overly easy quiz questions tackles the difficult and complex subject of death in a very mature way). Cross Game is sure to be a series that bridges the gap between drama and sports for viewers who would traditionally shy away from either and will probably please both. It is by this perspective that it is most clearly a success.

Enjoyment: While 50 episodes can be considered quite long for a series, Cross game's length can actually be considered restrained for a sports series. Many sports series have gone into triple digit episode numbers without coming close to Cross game for content. Whereas most shows in the genre stretch their content as much as possible with slow pacing and repetitive sequences and themes, Cross Game manages to dodge this trap completely by presenting a series ripe with character development and rich dialogue. I recommend this show to anyone as Cross Game is as good of an investment you can make in a sports series.