Cross Game - Major Baseball Boner I’m having a huge love affair with Mitsuru Adachi lately - marathoning the 101-episode Touch anime while tearing through his H2, Katsu and Cross Game mangas - so I’m excited that the new Cross Game anime is coming out in perfect timing with my obsession. For the uninitiated, Adachi is a much-loved master of his craft - creating powerful character dynamics that are as poignantly emotional as they are understated. He’s got an incredible signature blend of humour, tragedy and romantic drama in a sports setting that really gets under your skin and rivets you to the story. Not to mention he’s actually making me start to get interested in baseball… WTF. Now that’s talent. Cross Game is all about the snarky love-hate dynamic between pitching prodigy Ko and the talented tomboy Aoba (above), and the anime is doing this really well so far. All their interactions have been bristling with chemistry and sarcasm, along with heaps of that unspoken Adachi significance. Aoba has always disliked Ko - illustrated in episode 2 via flashback of her distaste for his lazy pitching in a neighbourhood little league game and her frustration at his ability to hit her fastball (thanks to lots of practice in her family’s batting cages). Ko, on the other hand, has secretly been following Aoba’s training regimen since they were in elementary school. The growing attraction between the two is haunted by the memory of Wakaba, Ko’s first love and Aoba’s beloved older sister. I’m looking forward to getting deeper into the sports side of things with episode 3 since the first couple of episodes have focused on setting up the cast of characters and their complex motivations. Watching these complexities interact in the intense environment of high school baseball is what makes Adachi’s sports mangas so much fun. I’m also looking forward to the introduction of my favourite character - Azuma, the clean-up batting star. God I love me a slugger, hehe. Hope he shows up soon~
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