The Results Are In
Spoilers for the second season of Ookiku Furikabutte beyond the cut.
You know, Angel Beats! was awesome and all, but that show definitely was not as tense as the final moments of the game that transpired between Bijou Dai-sayama High and Nishiura High. For that, I commend the second season of Ookiku Furikabutte — it delivered a pretty damn solid showing in half its original run. The best part is that even though the second season was more fast-paced than the original season (ANN made a pretty good point about how Nishiura vs. Tousei in the first season took longer than what a regular baseball game would), it didn’t let up on the tension; in fact, it’s twice as exciting.
Admittedly, it’s probably because they’re sorta top 16 by the time they face off against Bijou, in a tournament with 100+ schools registered. It might also be because of the fact that both teams are on an even playing field (due to the fact that Nishiura now has data for Bijou to study, as per episode 1).
But perhaps most of all is the fact that the Nishiura team is the star of the show; they’re presented as an underdog team for us, the viewers, to follow, to cheer on, to root. It certainly didn’t matter to me that they were at a five-run deficit by the time the least experienced batter is up to hit — I gave myself to the show, screaming with the team, believing that somehow, Nishihiro could do it, maybe even crack a home run, keep the game going. Delusional? Sure. Maybe it’s the Gurren-Lagann influence: to hell with the odds, we’ve got this.
I do hope the series gets picked up for a third cour. I mean, sure, I could read the manga, but a good chunk of the pacing and the effect thereof would be lost on me.
Oh, and Nishihiro wouldn’t have epic music in the background as he stepped up to the plate, which totally killed me. As though Mihashi’s ridiculous character growth spurt wasn’t enough!
Maybe I should just sit down and watch — how many seasons of Major exist now, six…? Or maybe I should watch Giant Killing. I hear that’s good, too…