Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「Go EXCEED!!」 by (Tom-H@ck featuring Masayoshi Oonishi)
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「運命の一球」
“One Pitch of Fate”
So far, Fall 2013 has a distinctly old school flavor to it – at least the tiny corner of the schedule that overlaps with my tastes, anyway.
I love sports manga, and the anime that come from them. Not all of them, not by a long stretch, but as a genre it’s one of my favorites and one that gets almost no attention in the West. So naturally I was pleased to see a relative cornucopia of sports manga adaptations this Fall (much like the Spring featured mecha), especially given that this is a genre that’s become less prominent in anime even in Japan, while it’s maintained its powerhouse standing in manga. Among this season’s batch there are two that especially interest me as a fan of the manga – Yowamushi Pedal and this series, Diamond no Ace.
I’ve been asked many times “What series is Ace of Diamond Like?” People want to know if it’s like Cross Game, or Major, or Touch, or Oofuri. I suppose it’s natural to compare baseball titles, but the best answer I can give is that Daiya no A is like Daiya no A. If you will, this is a sports series for fans of sports anime. Adachi’s works (which I love) tend to focus on the personal stories, using sports as a mirror to hold up and reveal character. Major (which I love) is about the heroic exploits of one boy and man, Honda Goro. Oofuri (which I like a lot) is an idealized view of teenage ballplayers that accents the sensitive side of their nature. Diamond no Ace has elements of all of them, but the star of the show here is the team. This is a story of what it means to want to succeed with the friends you’ve fought and bled and cried with, and what it means to trust a teammate as much as you trust yourself.
What Ace of Diamond definitely is not is a Shounen Jump-style sports manga – or at least what that’s come to mean in recent years, with their straight-to-Comiket pairings and superhuman special moves. This is a pretty gritty story, though it certainly does contain exceptional talents. The series has been running in Japan since 2006, 37 volumes strong, and as a co-production of legendary studios Madhouse and Production I.G. it figures to be a high-profile show with solid production values. How long it will run is still anybody’s guess – five or ten years ago this is the sort of show that could go for a year or more, but given the realities of today’s Blu-ray and DVD-driven marketplace and the way non-fujoshi sports titles tend to perform in it, it seems more likely to me we’ll get two cours, maybe three – though boosting already strong manga sales are surely a big part of the equation.
I can say with some confidence that how you reacted to the first episode is likely to be a good measure of how you like the series as a whole. The premiere is very much in-line with Ace of Diamond both in tone and substance, a rough-around-the-edges story with a rough-around-the-edges hero, Sawamura Eijun (Ohsaka Ryouta, playing against type a bit). His middle school, Akagi, is about to be torn down and he’s just lost his last game as the captain and ace of the baseball club – just as he’s lost every other game he’s played for the no-name school. When the victorious opponent mocks his tearful lament about not making it to Koshien during the post-game bow (a pretty grievous faux pas in Japanese schoolboy baseball) Eijun loses it and goes off on the opposing team (and the umpire). In the process he severely dents his chances to get into a decent high school, especially a problem as he’s not exactly an elite student.
Eijun’s Akagi teammates don’t get much focus in the premiere, but they are a major driver of its story. Eijun’s plan is to go to the same high school as his teammates and do what they couldn’t do in middle school, so when a recruiter for an elite Tokyo school, Takashima Rei (Uchimiya Yumi) comes-a-calling, Eijun isn’t especially interested – much to the horror of his parents and Grandfather. This is a pretty classic sports manga scenario – the plucky kid from the sticks disdains the elite Tokyo school with their hired-gun recruiting and top shelf equipment – but it’s pulled off in very entertaining fashion here. Eijun’s trip to Tokyo to see the school leads to a confrontation with heavyweight slugger Azuma (what is it with sluggers named Azuma in baseball manga?) Kyokuni (Hiyama Nobuyuki). This encounter says a lot about Eijun – what bothers him more than anything at the school is Azuma mocking the young teammate throwing batting practice, because he believes in supporting teammates all the time, no matter what.
Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous to hear Hiyama-san playing a high schooler – though no more so than Sakurai Takahiro playing the snarky catcher Miyuki Kazuya who takes an interest in Eijun – but these guys are clearly having a lot of fun with their roles, and frankly I could listen to Hiyama and his trademark rising inflections all day long. There’s a lot of yelling in Daiya no A but there’s a lot of yelling in baseball too, and that’s the sort of series it is. Eijun gives the series its personality – blunt, direct, spirited and honest. There are elements of contradiction that will become apparent in his character (starting as soon as next week) – he, like several cast members, is subtly quite complex. But basically, this is who Eijun is – the kid who’ll take on the feared third-year slugger aiming for the pros despite still never having thrown a hardball in anger, simply to defend the honor of a kid he’s never met. Not his teammate, but someone’s teammate – and it’s the honor of being a teammate that Eijun feels compelled to defend.
Certainly, this is not going to be a series for everyone. There are other less traditional sports series on the schedule this season (and one equally traditional chestnut in Hajime no Ippo Rising), and my other top sports pick for Fall, Yawamushi Pedal, is a quirkier and more edgy show in many ways. But if you’re a fan of baseball, baseball series, or sports anime in general I don’t think this is a show you’ll want to miss. It’s a classic of the type we don’t often see make it to the screen anymore, full of plain-spoken feeling and GAR spirit, and with the studio and staff behind it (Director Masuhara Mitsuyuki is a good one, just having finished Shirokukma Cafe) I expect the excellent first episode to be a sign of good things to come.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「Seek Diamonds」 () by (Youko Hikasa)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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Admittedly I don’t usually watch sports anime in general, but decided to take a peek this time around and quite liked what I saw. Perhaps it might be due my love for baseball in general, but yeah, definitely something I’ll try to keep up with through the season.
They sure chose quite the place to leave us off at the end though. Shucks.
The next ep will surprise you, believe me.
We need to turn you into a sports anime fan. I can supply a list of backlog shows that will fulfill that purpose.
I personally would hope that Azuma ends up getting struck out, but the more logical side of me is telling me it probably won’t end well for our MC considering the age/exp gap. The way I see it, it might just end up that he gets blasted on like almost every pitch except like one or two near the end, and that’ll be the decisive thing that changes everything (though essentially that’s just feeding off the preview text, haha).
Well, I got Major on my list at the moment. Just… need to find time.
If time is the issue, maybe starting with a series that isn’t 12 cours might be a good idea… ;-P
Lmao yeah, that’s part of the reason I didn’t start. XD.
Watch Cross Game! Thats the point of no return for me on becoming a sports genre fan (I love/hate you Enzo for this). But I started with Ginga e Kickoff and by the mid episodes, I was standing up yelling YES YES YES, looking very stupid in front of the screen. It is really that good!
You should watch Giant Killing, it’s only 26 episodes.
Naw! One Outs is genius 😀
I’ve became a fan of the sports genre thanks to Enzo’s rave recommendations on Ginga e Kickoff and Cross Game, and thus I’ve begun reading some of the sports manga, this one included. Diamond no Ace is hot blooded, very shounen type of story but still restrained and not over the top which I really liked.
How many episodes will DnA be anyway?
I usually skip baseball manga and animes, but this one is an exception. 🙂
No one knows, really. It’s in the old H x H slot so maybe NTV believe it can hold out for a while, and it still has an active manga to support in terms of sales.
as Enzo said..we don’t really know.
however it’s clearly can’t be 1cour. at least 2-cour, and even that won’t be enough.
the manga is really long and it takes some time till the real sports tournaments will occur.
I hope it’ll remain unknown and continue “endlessly” as much as possible..but even that seems a bit odd. cause those two great studios has some other projects which will come next (spring probably)…so clearly these cooperation cant continue forever.
the more, the better (:
At least two, quite possibly three or more. I guess we’ll just need to play it by ear, but there’s certainly no dearth of manga material.
My sports anime viewings were limited to mostly Hajime no Ippo and Giant Killing. I’m not even a fan of baseball…yet I feel Ace of Diamonds will be worth my time. Already enjoying the 1st episode, can’t wait for the next one!
now that’s the spirit!
as Enzo said, DnA is simply DnA (sounds like DNA now :S), and it’s indeed have unique feeling among other sports anime/manga.
I love watching sports and sports anime is my favorite genre. They almost always deliver tense games, heartfelt emotion and personal development both in- and outside the sport.
I’d say that Ace Diamond is mostly similar to Major. Both have a cocky pitcher with the typical shonen hotheadedness, although Eijun is less egocentric and hasn’t experienced a heartbreaking personal drama (I think). I haven’t watched Touch yet but I couldn’t stand Oofuri’s wimpy lead.
One rather unique baseball anime that wasn’t mentioned is One Outs, a great mix between baseball and psychological mind games.
Loved this episode. The main character is a ton of fun to watch. Will definitely keep watching!
Haven’t watched a sports anime since Area no Kishi ended (I only read Kuroko)
Might check this out.
Actually, I did watch Free! That counts.
“I’ve been asked many times “What series is Ace of Diamond Like?” People want to know if it’s like Cross Game, or Major, or Touch, or Oofuri. I suppose it’s natural to compare baseball titles, but the best answer I can give is that Daiya no A is like Daiya no A. If you will, this is a sports series for fans of sports anime. Adachi’s works (which I love) tend to focus on the personal stories, using sports as a mirror to hold up and reveal character. Major (which I love) is about the heroic exploits of one boy and man, Honda Goro. Oofuri (which I like a lot) is an idealized view of teenage ballplayers that accents the sensitive side of their nature. Diamond no Ace has elements of all of them, but the star of the show here is the team. This is a story of what it means to want to succeed with the friends you’ve fought and bled and cried with, and what it means to trust a teammate as much as you trust yourself.”
THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS PARAGRAPH. I was debating if I should check out this show and due to what you wrote above– I’ll totally give it a try. I LOVED Oofuri and now I’m looking forward to Daiya no A! 🙂 Thanks again Enzo!
I see that this series has a lot of debts/inspirations from the all-time best sport manga “SLAM DUNK”.
I was a bit curious after seeing this first episode and took a peek at the manga and while I am not going to spoil, I can say that if anyone likes this series and haven’t read Slam Dunk, you’re doing yourself disservice. I urge you to read it -forget the anime version of SLAM DUNK, though, it’s an abomination compare to the manga.
Mind you, I am not saying that “Diamond no Ace” is just a copycat -and it’s clearly not and this one has way more GAR, for one thing-, but my point is how much “SLAM DUNK” literally changed and influenced every sports manga, good or bad, that came after it. There is a reason why SLAM DUNK is still the most popular sports manga in Japan even to this day -and is among my personal best top 3 manga ever. It may be a bit tough to read first 8-9 volumes of SLAM DUNK now as it looks slightly dated 24 years later, but after that as the writer improve his drawing, it looks as good as even now as it was in early 1990s. I consider this “Diamond no Ace” to be really good as well after reading the manga, btw.
Soon we will have a Thrown ball with Elements added. Like Fire (Power), Lightning (speed+power), Water (slippery) or Wind (speed). Not that is a bad thing.
that is the spice, some shows needs
The only sports anime I watched to completion was…BASQUASH! For some reason the anime version of a sports manga that I like to read just doesn’t capture the same feeling I get when I read the manga. Area no Kishi, Kuroko, Whistle!, Prince of Tennis, etc.
This episode was nice and all, but I’ll probably end up dropping the anime after a couple of episodes.
no one’s reviewing kuroko no basuke?
I’m sure someone will make an intro for ep 1.
We need Bakamochi for this job! He did an awesome coverage of the first season of Kuroko no Basuke. ;_;
this anime reminded me a lot of Major for the obvious reasons. The plot seemed borrowed too but I’ll definitely continue watching due to my love of baseball.
It’s anime that got me interested in baseball, and it’ll be anime that will keep me interested with stuff like this.