Review: Ookiku Furikabutte (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 25
Vintage: 2007-01-11
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports
Animation Production: A-1 Pictures Inc.

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest for a moment and say that there have been times when I really wished I was born in a different place, a different time, and as a completely different person with a different nationality. The moment after I finished Ookiku Furikabutte was one such time, even if it was for a short while.

Ookiku Furikabutte is a baseball anime that shows how a group of boys spend their summer months preparing for baseball matches against equally hardworking teams across their prefecture. Every single one of them is tough, and every single one of them is determined to reach their ultimate goal — the Koshien.

Unlike many parts of the world, in Japan the Koshien is the single greatest sporting event of the year. Everywhere else, such as in the US, all the big dollars will go towards pro players making millions of dollars in baseball, amongst many other big budget sports. However, in Japan, the Koshien is open only to high school students. These are guys that spend their hard earned summer vacation in crazy concentration camp-like training grounds where they perfect their game, bond as a team and as friends, and ultimately better their chances to reach the promised battleground known as the Koshien.

When I think about how hard it is, and yet how awesome it is to be able to be seen on TV and rooted by everyone, I have to wonder what’s the big deal about pro sports. Sure, it’s difficult to become a pro player, make the big bucks, and win half the time, but there’s even more difficulty to reach the Koshien. You only have 3 years of your life to make it. You either make it as a Freshman, a Sophomore, or a Senior. Then it’s over. Sure you can keep playing ball and make it to a pro team and be admired by lots of people, but you won’t ever play at the Koshien. That’s what makes it so special in my opinion, and that’s what made me wish I had such an opportunity to spend a part of my life on. The way the show drew me in with how every character fought with high levels of determination, I felt as if I needed to be there. I needed to not cheer them on, but be on the field, keen on my position and supporting the team from within.

Ookiku Furikabutte’s main character is Mihashi Ren, a highly timid freshman that was his middle school baseball team’s star pitcher. He was able to take the ace number he wanted so badly through connections, since his grandfather manages the team. The players resented him, and although he was hardworking, he felt as if his selfish ways let his team down.

Now Mihashi is going to his first year of high school at a new school. He convinced himself he’d only watch the baseball club, and not join them, as he approached their field. As you might have guessed, he unwillingly got put up to try out for the team since the coach was having trouble getting a full team put together. The coach ended up being a very peculiar girl named Momoe Maria. She’s a very docile and caring woman half the time, but can turn into a scary and violent tough-girl when she wants to. When asked, Mihashi stated his name and his position, and surprisingly Mihashi seemed to be the only pitcher present. The only catcher, Abe Takaya put Mihashi to the test and he observed that Mihashi had an incredible amount of skill in his pitching. Although his pitches were slow, they were accurate, almost too accurate. Not only that, his “fastball” had an alarming backspin that not even Mihashi seemed to be aware of.

Mihashi eventually takes the ace number for his new team and tries to make up for the past, depending solely on his skills and hard work. As he learns to cope with his new team members and their aspirations, Mihashi takes it upon himself to battle his emotions on the inside and the game of baseball on the outside. Unfortunately, Mihashi is a first-class crybaby, and you’ll have to cringe at him crying at every little thing that happens. He worries a lot and is constantly aware of making mistakes. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s plain stupid, but it will always reflect who Mihashi really is — a hardworking individual. As a result, Mihashi’s personality can be a bit annoying at times, but thankfully Abe takes care of him for us. Even so, Mihashi will win you over from time to time on the field. Fortunately, everyone else on the team is fairly normal.

The baseball team eventually molds together little by little and they finally enter the summer competition. An entire team composed of freshman students coached by a girl is extremely rare, and everyone else underestimates Nishiura, Mihashi’s high school baseball team. You’ll need to watch it yourself to see how it all unfolds.

The end of Ookiku Furikabutte is incredible to say the least, and as a result it is the best baseball animation I have ever had the chance to enjoy so far. I loved the first season of Major, but this show is a lot more condensed and fair. The main story is much more compact, and therefore the details stand out more. Although the show ends abruptly without going as far as I and most likely others would like, the point where it stops is very symbolic. You can almost “finish” the show yourself with the pieces left behind at the end. You’ll soon find out Mihashi and his friends have what it takes to survive and that they’re “just starting.”

Review: Initial D: First Stage (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 1998-04-18 to 1998-11-28
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports (Auto Racing)
Animation Production: Studio Gallop

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest right from the outset. Initial D is praised by a lot of people for being a very good anime. That is far from the truth when you consider the major shortcomings that plague Initial D’s storyline. However, even with the terrible story Initial D is the anime that made cars and drifting cool.

The animation in Initial D is mostly cheap 3D car renders that don’t look that great, even for the time when the show first aired. The character designs are terrible, especially what are supposed to be women, which look ugly as hell. The “slice of life” in between the main attraction, the racing, is stale and forgettable. There’s some things to learn about the characters, but it’s all just fluff and not necessarily all that meaningful.

So if Initial D is so terrible why do so many people like it? Well, even though it does a lot of things very poorly it does one thing so well that you tend forgive the shortcomings of everything else while expecting to see some of the best drift racing anime can offer.

Initial D is all about car racing. Not only that, Initial D’s races have an effect on people, whether you’re a car buff or not. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening while the cars are being driven, but of course the animators make it all look so simple. Using heel-toe and clutch throws, changing gears at the precise moment, and steering and counter–steering in and out of corners performing the best high-speed drifts can be really very fun to watch. It’s very much about the skill of the driver and not about how flashy the ricer looks. Drifting is a lot more than showing off a car take on a corner with style, it can truly allow for a fluid high-speed motion through a corner that a grip technique would not be able to catch up with, especially on a downhill race.

In addition to all of the over-the-top drift action, Initial D has yet another layer of immersion — the soundtrack. As stupid as it sounds, cars and the super crazy EUROBEAT genre are the ingredients for making one of the most exciting racing anime you’ll ever see. Even if you’re not into the genre of music, the way the action and the songs are choreographed together alongside the sound effects of skidding tires and roaring engines really gets your heart pumping. By the end of the show you will probably want to start a EUROBEAT collection for your own driving. It’s great concentration music for racing games too.

It’s amazing how this simple mix can produce so many goosebumps and make you restless at every corner. The commentary during the races helps a lot too since it’s always over-the-top and over exaggerated but it flows well and builds anticipation for the next feat. A race that is supposed to last a few minutes may drag on for two or three episodes, but you’re not bored as long as they keep throwing new music and build the tension.

So while the characters unnaturally speak to each other to explain technical details about a race in a way that makes them seem overly condescending, when they do it in the middle of a race with the formula in place for high tension, you’ll get pulled in no matter how corny it is.

When you’re done with Initial D, you’re done with the races pretty much. You won’t remember who or what really happened, heck you may not remember any character’s name, but you sure as hell will remember drifting and EUROBEAT. Initial D’s story is forgettable, but the racing is down right a classic. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who’s seen Initial D is suddenly a better driver too — or not.

“No one sleep in Tokyo,” “Tokyo is on fire!” “Running in the 90’s,” “Night of Fire,” are just a few of the lines you may get stuck in your head after watching this show. Even if it can be considered a very long music video, this anime delivers all kinds of exciting moments when at the top of its game.

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