Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher.
Although unwilling at first, Mihashi realizes that this is a place where he will be accepted for who he is; with help from the catcher Takaya Abe, he starts to have more confidence in his own abilities. Abe, seeing the potential in Mihashi, makes it a goal to help him become a pitcher worthy of being called an ace.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
saimaisama
It's been almost a week since I finished Oofuri and it still lingering in my brain. Honestly, I just decided to try because a lot of my favorite seiyuus were in the cast (Fukuyama Jun, Nakamura Yuuichi, Shimono Hiro amongst others). I really wasn't expecting anything awesome but boy was I surprised. Story: I'm not one to enjoy sports anime much but the beginning of Oofuri was pretty slice-of-life-ish and by the time we got to the actual baseball I loved the characters too much to stop watching. The story is about Mihashi Ren, a first-year whose self-esteem was completely destroyed by the members ofhis junior-high baseball team. He ends up being "forced" to join the baseball team in highschool and from there starts regaining his confidence.
Art:
I have to say that I'm really happy with the animation in this anime. I've never heard of the studio but they really did a good job. Since this was a sports anime I was expecting for surreal effects during the matches but I'm glad I was wrong. Makes me happy how realistic the whole thing was. At first, some of the characters were pretty hard to distinguish but as the show goes on it becomes much easier to tell them apart because of their different personalities. Of course, Mihashi isn't very hard to recognize with how he's always blushing and making chicken faces.
Sound:
Sadly, I didn't have the opportunity to properly listen to the music but since it didn't strike me that must mean it was horrible to say the least. (I'm still hooked on the second ED "Arigatou" by SunSet Swish, though)
Character:
I guess an important element in anime like Oofuri is the characters. Though at first (I'll bet this has been said over 1000000 times) Mihashi can be VERY VERY annoying, as the series goes on you slowly find yourself thinking he's the cutest thing ever. When the self-esteem problem is (more or less) gone, Mihashi's just a really strange kid with strange mannerisms. Hard to hate someone with such cute chicken faces. Even the rest of characters, including the ones in opposing teams, were easy to love. With that kind of cast it's impossible to not like anyone. Personally, I loved all of them tho'.
Enjoyment:
The best thing about Oofuri is that even if you don't give a crap about baseball you STILL enjoy it. Hell, by the end you might even like baseball (I know I do). Part of the reason is probably the slice-of-life start which gives you time to enjoy the show before getting into the serious matches. The matches themselves, though slow, put me on edge every episode. Luckily I started watching this when all the episodes were out and I didn't need to wait long to see the results. The only downside is how slow the series is (covering two matches in 25 episodes) but the matches were so tense that I barely noticed it took almost 10 episodes to finish the game. However, if your expecting fast-paced baseball action look somewhere else. If your like me and watch an entire series straight without rest then your bound to be a little unsatisfied at the end. I, at least, was sulking and taking it out on friends how I needed "MOAR OOFURI!" ... but once you get pass that you'll think back on the anime and say "Man was that a great anime" (I'm still saying it even one week later) ... Hopefully we'll get another season one day.
Slash Factor:
Being a yaoi fangirl, part of the reason I started this reason was because I kept on hearing about it from other BL fans. Really, you don't need an eye for slash to see the homo undertones in this anime. If you know about a certain scene in episode three then you know what I'm talking about. The slash is quiet so it won't bother anyone who doesn't like BL (which I am guessing is a good thing)
Overall:
Despite being anime I wasn't expecting much from, Oofuri has ended in my favorite list. I don't know what to hate about this anime because there's everything to love. The tension after every episode makes up for the its slow pace and since Mihashi become a loveable little chicken I'll let the fact that he was annoying at first past. I highly recommend this anime. Really.
Suika
A True Ace in the Dugout I will admit that this show pretty much came out of nowhere for me. I was just surfing Nico Nico Douga and just happened to find an episode uploaded, 3 to be exact, and watched it out of pure curiosity. I happened to wind up watching the most famous scene in Ookiku Furikabutte, which is something you should see for yourself. Needless to say, I unintentionally laughed hard. I also mistook Mihashi for a girl because of his demeanor and voice. I actually started to pick up this show because I thought it would be a train wreck, and everyoneloves to look, and maybe laugh, at train wrecks. Boy is my face red now. Ookiku Furikabutte turned out to be my surprise hit of the 2007 spring anime season, and one of my favorite anime from last year.
Story - The story focuses on Ren Mihashi, a young man with such low self-esteem he makes Shinji Ikari look like Kenshiro, him joining the Nishiura baseball team as their pitcher, and his development as a person. The story also focuses on the newly formed and inexperienced Nishiura team members and their development into a true team as the show goes on. The story is simple enough that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, but also entertaining enough to keep people glued to the screen.
Art - The animation quality is pretty good. The art was done by a relatively new animation studio called A-1 Pictures Inc. , and I have to say they did a good job. They animated it without any noticeable screw ups and the art style is very pleasing and cute. They even added the tiny details to distinguish characters because it can be, quite honestly, hard to keep track of who's who in the show when you first begin because the character design is a bit on the plain side.
Sound - The music is pretty good. The beginning 13 episodes of the show, with its more slice of life-ish tone, has calm music that fits the mood. The second half, which is more focused on the baseball, has suspenseful music and the cheer squad's songs are also very good and references some theme songs in anime, like the Lupin the Third theme or the Battle Ship Yamato theme. The voice actors did a fine job voicing the cast and truly brought the characters to life, especially Tsubasa Yonaga (VA for Mihashi). Yonaga has the perfect voice for Mihashi. Whether it's Mihashi's cry baby side, his nervous side, or his confident side, Yonaga manages to potray Mihashi masterfully.
Character - This is the real heart of Ookiku Furikabutte. The characters are some of the best developed I've seen in anime. By the end of the show, I felt like I had a sort of bond between each character, including the opposing teams. It's really something when you root for both Nishiura and the rival team to win, even if there can only be one victor. Obviously, the biggest character development occurs in Mihashi. At first, you may hate him (Read: 90% chance of hating his guts) for his crybaby and no self esteem attitude, even if he does explain why he is like that. But as the show goes on you see changes, big and small, in his character and then he truly becomes a lovable dope. Also, we can't forgot the other characters. From the well endowed Momoe, the coach of Nishiura with the amazing power to crush pomelos with her bare hands and be devilishly sly, to Abe, the catcher with a chip on his back,the wiles of a weasel, and nothing to lose; to Tajima, the vocal lovable clean up hitter and a genius in baseball but not much else. You will find someone you like in this anime. I 99.99999% guarantee it. Another charm is that no one character in Nishiura is overpowered. Mihashi has pretty much godly control of his pitches but they are painfully slow. Tajima may also be a clean up hitter, but his stature prevents him from batting home runs. All the members of Nishiura pretty much have to work together to win games and it shows.
Enjoyment - Ookiku Furikabutte is really just a fun watch. The first half charmed me with its slice of life comedy elements. The second half kept me on the edge of my seat at every minute because despite the team having an excellent bond with each other, they're still just normal players, especially considering the fact that they're a new team and only consists of first year high school students, while the rival team is an experienced team you wouldn't want to go up with, especially in the first round. Also for baseball fans, Higuchi Asa, the author of the manga, pretty much did her homework in Baseball 101 and Sports Psychology. This is one of the most realistic baseball anime series you will see. Even for those who don't know jack squat about baseball, like me, will be able to understand the baseball terms considering that they explain quite well. Heck, you might even be motivated by this anime to try out baseball.
Cons - For starters, most of you will be put off by beginning Mihashi at the get go. I know I was. He might irritate the living beejesus out of you, but he does get much better later on. Heck, he even became one of my favorite characters in the show by the end. Another thing is that the show is slow paced. If you're looking for fast paced action, the action anime section is about two floors up from here. Even for a sports show, it's slow. The slowness helps in the development of the characters though. Also, if you happen to hate every character in the show, which is very very unlikely, you will hate it.
Overall -
+ Smooth animation
+ Good music
+ Endearing characters
+ A simple yet effective story
+ Quite funny at times
+ Very engaging
- Beginning Mihashi
- The slow pacing may bore you
Overall, a true hidden ace from the Spring 2007 anime season. Make sure to watch it! The subs for the show are a bit slow, but Central Anime is doing an OK job with it.
lowell
I've only seen 10 episodes so far as I'm writing this (edit: originally), but I couldn't hold back. I love this show. Basically, it's a baseball anime that focuses on the battery between Abe (the jaded catcher) and Mihashi (the pitcher with absolutely NO self-confidence) and their new and inexperienced team. It seems like we're going to see the team grow over the course of the show... as well as, hopefully, Mihashi's confidence and social skills. The art has it's ups and downs. The ups: Mihashi's exaggerated expressions and boneless postures really amuse me -- he's more of an anime muppet than an actualhuman being. And the color palette of the show is gorgeous and perfectly captures the spirit of the show and the sharp brightness of spring. The downs: I'm having some trouble telling some people apart. If they were background crowd characters it would be fine, but some of the people are on Mihashi's team, which can be confusing.
I normally don't spend a lot of time paying attention to the songs during the credits: here, I have to say that I actively hate the song at the end credits. Hearing the first line makes me cringe and I always skip to the next chapter immediately. That's probably just my own taste though.
On the other hand, I can't say enough good things about the character of Mihashi and the actor who voices him. Despite the fact that Mihashi cries and stutters and collapses more often than anyone should or could, he's somehow still sweet enough and endearing enough to make me really root for him. To be honest, I have no idea why I don't find him too irritating to watch -- it's just the magic of the show's chemistry or something! ;)
[Edit after episode 16: Mihashi is just funny and entertaining and endearing; he's a tremendous balance of pitiful, funny, pathetic and heroic. And, on another level, the character of Mihashi is a beautifully crafted look into one kind of angst/alienation. He exemplifies how perception and experience influence new relationships in life and how context can change everything: he's the same pitcher when it comes to technique and skill in high school that he was in middle school but the difference lies in the team, in the leadership and their attitudes.]
Abe grew on me more slowly, but as his character grows so did my affection for him. He's the rigid, straight man to the pliable Mihashi. And the cast is nicely rounded out by a few colorful teammates (almost everything Tajima does makes me laugh) and the slightly frightening manager.
If you can't tell by the fact that I couldn't hold back my gushing for longer than 10 episodes, I really do enjoy this show a lot. Some people might find it slow, especially if you need an action beat every 10 minutes or so, but I think the tension and the excitement of the games more than makes up for the relaxed pace of the story. And it's so interesting to see such a cerebral perspective on baseball -- the level of strategy and awareness comes closer to the level you see in a show like Akagi (mah jong) than what you normally see in a stereotypical sports anime.
[Edit after episode 16: I am so ridiculously charmed and delighted by and enamored with this show that it completely amazes me that more people here aren't watching it. The manga won the 2007 Kodansha Manga Award, grand prize, general category. It also won the Tezuka Cultural Awards New Hope Award for for showing new possibilities of expression in baseball manga. According to Yahoo Japan, Oofuri came in #4 in a favorite anime of 2007 poll by Vsist (over 2 million people in Japan participated in the poll). And while I'm not telling you to watch it just because it's getting some acclaim in Japan, I figure those opinions might carry more weight than mine (after all, who the heck am I? ;) ) But I am saying: watch Ookiku Furikabutte because it is a damn good show. XD]
It's the polar opposite of Major (another anime about baseball) in a way -- or rather Mihashi is the polar opposite of Honda/Shigeno in personality. I think one big plus for Oofuri is that it spends more time on the fact that baseball is really a TEAM sport -- unlike Major -- and how crucial it is that everyone plays their role and supports each other and balances out each other's strengths and weaknesses.
[Edit: P.S. Interesting note? According to a manga review here on MAL, the mangaka studied sports psychology -- which totally shows in the anime.]
[Edit after episode 25: Just fyi, my opinion hasn't changed. ^.^]
pleochroic
this sports anime is not based on a shounen manga, but on seinen, and it shows by having far more nuance than your average shounen. so far this is my favourite feel-good anime of the year (2013 in which i am watching this). and i learned some baseball from it -- now i wish every real game i watch had a sound track with the players' and coaches' thoughts for me, *wry grin*. it's hard for me to judge whether a person who is not interested in baseball would enjoy this show as much because i do like baseball, and in specific, i likeprecisely what this show offers: detailed analysis, strategy, and tactics. Oofuri excels at that, and does it better than any other baseball anime i've seen (and i've seen a whole lot of them). but if i were to wager a guess, then i'd bet that especially viewers who normally prefer to watch shoujo would like this show despite the concentration on baseball, because while it is technical, there is also so much character interaction and development that it never becomes boring. people who normally love shounen for the braggadocio action heroism might not enjoy it as much.
the premise of the story is nothing innovative: a newly formed high school baseball team works to develop skills so they can win against other teams in a series of tournaments (ultimately leading to Koushien, because that's what high school baseball in Japan does). Oofuri then goes to prove that a talented writer can take any shop-worn premise and create solid gold from it, a finely polished gem that's unique among its peers. the pacing is very, very slow which makes the development seem really organic and realistic; the show starts with some back story and the formation of the team, and we don't get to see any games until later. there is no filler here, every episode plays a role. overall the theme is predictable, but since everything that matters lies in the details here, it is always fresh. the games are highly interesting and suspenseful, despite not featuring high-faluting shounen action and special effects.
the characters are what makes this show so appealing far beyond its baseball know-how. they're all well-defined (even if we do not get to know all of them equally well (yet)), with their own strengths and weaknesses, and with one exception they're quite realistic. the exception is Mihashi, the pitcher and main character. Mihashi is pathologically shy and insecure, but he is also used as the main comic relief for the show, and that creates a strange mixture with which i wasn't immediately comfortable. there will be people who don't care for Mihashi at all because he is so exaggeratedly pitiful. i expect a lot of epithets to be thrown at him, such as sissy, loser, pussy, wimp, wuss, weakling. listen up: those are words used by bullies and people who enable them. pathologically shy people exist. deeply insecure people exist. people whose self-esteem has taken a beating, or who never got to develop any to start with, exist. people who have been hurt so badly during their formative years that they have a hard time coping with other people, they exist. and they've usually done nothing to deserve their lot. they're not "sissies"; they have to work much harder than the average person just to face the world. watch how very hard Mihashi works for every sentence he has to squeeze out past the stuttering. nobody who works that hard is weak.
Mihashi is actually a much better pitcher than his previous team thought, and than he gives himself credit for, and he works extremely hard at that as well and is adorkably eager to please. he is just difficult to deal with for anyone who's used to the much more rough-and-tumble interaction of normal high school boys. and while his new team quickly realises that he isn't as bad a pitcher as he says he is, they are frustrated by their difficulties in communicating with him. Abe, the catcher, a somewhat gruff boy with a large chip on his shoulder, has the most problems with it. i am quite in awe of the mangaka, because by also making Mihashi the comic relief, she's given us an immediate vent for our own irritation with him. and watching how the trust grows between Mihashi and Abe, how their communication gets slowly better, how the team learns to cope, is worth every bit of that irritation.
i enjoyed the entire cast, and i want to see much, much more of them, but i intend to highlight one person in specific, the coach. coaches always get short shrift in baseball anime; they're usually portrayed as strict drill sergeants who might even be abusive (but it's ok because abuse that doesn't kill you makes you allegedly a better player, *sigh*). we don't get any insight into what good coaches actually do for players, which is, frankly, ridiculous. here we get to see a real coach -- Momoe is not abusive, and she doesn't need to humiliate anyone to "motivate" them -- because she knows sports psychology, and her deft handling of these green kids to encourage them to grow and conquer their weaknesses is a beautiful thing to watch.
the other thing i love about the characterisation is that there are no antagonists. yes, there are other teams, and other players who're rivals, and they all want to win as well, but there are no villains. we get to know those teams and players a little too, enough to make us empathise with them, feel their triumphs and sorrows. this mangaka knows that the conflict between good and good is much more nuanced and interesting than the conflict between good and evil.
if you come from shoujo, don't expect hetero romance here. there is none. not even a little. there is the requisite female manager, but she does not join the team because she has the hots for one of the boys, yay. there's loads of bromance, however, and if you have the fertile gutter mind of a fujoushi, you might love all the subtext. but the show can be watched without letting your mind delve into BL; that's what good subtext does. i'm happy that the subtext is not played for superficial jokes either.
the art is pleasant overall, the colours are bright and happy. the character design is pretty but could be a little better -- it's sometimes difficult to tell certain characters apart when they're wearing hats/helmets. but the facial expressions are wonderful (especially on Mihashi). the animation isn't top-notch, but it's smooth and makes the show feel alive. the BGM fits the show very well, OPs and EDs are jrocky fun. the voice acting is superb, especially regarding Mihashi's seiyuu Yonaga Tsubasa, who did an excellent job with a difficult character.
the only thing i don't like about this show is that it is too short, and it's not fair to blame it for that. after having just crawled through 101 episodes of Touch i wish Oofuri got those episodes instead. i'm happy that there is a second season waiting for me, albeit a short one. and after that i'll probably watch it all over again. a definite buy and recommendation to my friends.
Credulous
I wasn't originally planning on writing a review for Ookiku Furikabutte or Big Windup as its called in english. Why? Because Ookiku Furikabutte was and is a good anime which I enjoyed and there were already a few decent reviews for it, when this is the case I rarely feel another review is needed unless I disagree with the other reviewers. As the anime progressed though it struck me, the one thing I hoped was going to change never changed and it annoyed me to no end, infact it seriously pissed me off. The main character is a sissy, a pansy, a wuss, a pushover, achicken. Don't get me wrong, I see the need for these types of characters as much as anyone else, they're there to provoke the viewers, to make us feel sorry for him, to make us angry with him when he's acting annoyingly much like a sissy. That's fine, that's good screenplay and character interaction, it makes for good entertainment value in most cases. There are of course reasons for his personality and actions, but this was an overkill. There has to be a point when the producers realize that it's enough. In Ookiku Furikabutte there is no such point, the main protagonist sticks with his annoying cowardly sissy personality and it's not entertaining after a while.
This was my main point of criticism, apart from this Ookiku Furikabutte was a good sports/slice of life anime. It's fairly slow paced but that's fine when screenplay is as good as it was. I also enjoyed the pastel like art and the varied character design. The second opening theme Seishun Line is performed by my favourite J-rock band Ikimono Gakari, I had no idea about this beforehand so it came as good surprise. I actually enjoyed all of the opening and ending themese to some extent aswell as the musicscore used in the episodes which I found to be very suiting.
M_A
STORY: 7 Ookiku Furikabutte is a shonen show about highschool baseball. Naturally, the storyline isn't shockingly creative or original, but it does not need to be in this case. We get some nice development, and an obligatory tournament, like in most sports shows. Even though the story isn't anything special, it progresses nicely and keeps a good pace. One aspect i liked was the actual baseball games, unlike other shows, the games in Ookiku Furikabutte are very realistic and don't have incredible techniques and unrealistic occurences. ART: 8 The art here is a bit different than most shows, mainly in the character design department, especially with the maincharacter. It looks odd at first, but i grew to like it as the show went on. Other than that, the animation is solid and smooth, it's not awe inspiring, but it works just fine. One thing that i found strange is the main character's mother's design, she looks a bit crazy most of the time.
SOUND: 7
Ookiku Furikabutte has very nice opening and ending songs in my opinion. All 4 of them are rock tunes that seem to fit the show well. I was partcularly impressed with the second ending song. The other music is solid, but this is where i had to take off a couple of points. While all the in-anime songs work well, none of them are memorable or interesting, really, it seems they went a bit safe with the soundtrack. Still, this doesn't affect the overall enjoyment much. The voice acting is spot on and, as far as i saw, perfect.
CHARACTER: 8
The characters in the show are all likeable and develop nicely throughout the anime. The one problem is that their development is quite predictable, since this is a sports/shonen show. The thing i liked about the characters is the lack of any kind of villanous figure, and a lack of an over-dramatic struggle between certain characters. The anime realises that this is just highschool baseball and doesn't submit to bombastic storytelling. This results in the viewer liking most of the characters, which is a plus. One character that can get annoying is the main one, Mihashi Ren. As a character, he is a really nervous and unconfident one, but this anime takes it to the extreme, so oftentimes i found myself frustrated with his behavior. Still, in the end, the anime makes you like him, since, as mentioned, he develops nicely over the course of the story.
ENJOYMENT: 8
Really, this should be a 9, but i could not help but feel dissapointed after finishing this, since the storyline just stops in the middle. Because the show takes so long to get through the actual games, we only get two of them in the whole anime. This would be fine if the show was longer, much longer, but as it is, the fact that it ends without reaching any kind of real conclusion storyline wise, takes away from my score. Still, the anime is incredibly fun to watch, the baseball games are intense, the characters are likeable, and the animation is solid and appealing.
Overall grade: 8(.5)
Aizen-Dono
[Sorry for my bad English, i'm not english... I used Google Translate for this review, really sorry...] Assuming that I'm Italian and therefore did not know the Baseball, I must say that it is a good Anime, because it made me understand, clearly and simply, the world of this sport, through the story of a boy who after many vicissitudes, due to its difficult past, finally manage to integrate with the team. Story 8/10: It 's very clear and well done, makes you live, in person, the effort and the joy of each new deal Inning, each time with a plus experience gained during training, not forgettinghowever, the story, almost in its own right, the main protagonist. Perhaps the only flaw is making just these endless games, in my opinion, it would be better to do more and shorter.
Art 8/10: The arts are very beautiful and well cared for and also the animation is done well.
Sound 5/10: As for the sound, I do not particularly like; For example, the song of encouragement, that during the games, fans opponents repeated by way of chanting continuously and irritated me a lot; Moreover also the opening and the ending were not exactly a masterpiece ...
7/10 Characters: The characters in this anime are well characterized, for example, Mihashi, the protagonist, is a very closed and shy boy that will have a positive evolution during the course of the anime; then Takaya, a figure that reflects, in itself, the values of loyalty and friendship, which will be very helpful to tide Mihashi to his difficulties in relating to others, and help him regain confidence in himself; and finally the coach of the team, that will not stop until the end of encouraging her boys, urging them to always give the best of themselves. However, many other characters, who could have had a more marked, are ends in themselves, which to me is a little disappointed ....
Enjoyment 7/10: As Anime it was not bad, also because, as I said at the beginning, not knowing the Baseball, was very enlightening for me; certainly it was not even funny because of the slowness of certain games, but for people like me who did not know the sport, I recommend it highly. Moreover, the presence of several jokes, and moments of euphoria, help to make the Anime sliding and pleasant enough.
Ultimately, an anime well done, nice to look at and very instructive, being rich in positive values; I recommend it to all those who prefer to see an anime that talks about a sport so clear and as close to reality as possible, without the exaggerations of typical shounen ...
Darkgreen12
Maybe I'm not the only one but as soon as I heard of 'Sports' Anime; I told myself to avoid the genre. It was mostly do to my idea that only way you can enjoy a sport anime..is well if you know the sport. I WAS SO WRONG, when sport anime do in fact focus on a sport there is more to it then that. There is the story of person non-stop hope in getting better, to get his dream, to win, friendships are formed, rivals are born..AND I been missing out on alot. I'm planning in the future to watch ALOTmore Sport anime..Why was my mind set changed? Well it has to do with Ookiku Furikabutte.
Ookiku Furikabutte is the story of Mihashi; the poor guy was bullied so badly that he doesn't believe in his pitching..and the thing is; he is REALLY GOOD. The anime takes off with Mihashi joining a team and his growth and relationships with team. WOW. If there is one thing I like MOST about Anime is CHARACTERS. It's characters that hold the fate of the series, and Ookiku Furikabutte is full to the top with amazing characters. I can't remember hating even one of them! They were human, and they all had growth to the point you felt you knew them. This is good because you care know and it makes the baseball games in this series more intense.
How intense? Let's say I was bitting my lips, had a heart attack, and cheered on Mihashi's team..OUTLOUD. My mother still wont look at me stright. When it comes to the games you never know what will happen next, this anime is good at bringing you back to the next episode..MUST KNOW WHO WINS!
The animation is good, the opening is awesome..Heck why are you still reading this?! GO WATCH IT XD It will make you like the sport gene..I SWEAR
Sidewinder51
Rate an 8 English Dubbed Story -if you suffered with guilt growing up in life this story had a way of reeling you in and connecting you to the main character. -what you would expect it would be, about the game they are shown playing. -Had a good intro -Conclusion, that is up for debate. On one hand they had the show complete with episode 24 but went with the 'final episode, 25' was the aftermath or could be seen as a review or sum up anyways. On the other hand, sure episode 24 was the closer but there were some questions that weren't answered in plot until episode 25 likehow the other game fared. Also, this story did have a decent amount of pregame time only makes sense to have some in post game.
Either way you slice it you are not riddled with questions and remained entertained. Even though the gags used were kind of repetitive.
Art - can't come to think of anything negative
Sound - same as art, aside from the voice casting was generally good.
Character- No question, each character had a background that was lengthy.
Enjoyment
Life, you can take in only once. Enjoy it. Having a story basing this fact in regards to sports is not an easy task. Face the truth, who wants to see a ball going back and forth other than in a hypnotic function? No doubt, meant they had to step up to the plate and provide a good game by pitching homers with a couple borderline hits thrown in. Their secret to winning this game was sticking true to the characters and providing elaborately intriguing insights to unknown matters that can make a difference in everyone's lives if they try. Such as how to have and keep a positive attitude. No, the answer is not to smile in this case. The answer is much more elaborate and effective. Putting on a smile anyone can do but any clown can tell you they still can get as red as their nose.
Margixx
"Believing" The Story... It has a slow paced and concrete story about connection, coordination, and trust between fellow players. It starts of with a fate of some high school students that gathers from a newly established baseball team which dreamed about the same one goal. It begins an introduction of having bonds on every character, continuing to the plot that brings hardship and good times. It is quite simple to follow the flow of the story even though it is baseball related. It directly points out to the cast around the sports itself. Strongly, the story moves along with having a simple life, development, and challenge thatwill put into their shoes.
Art & Animation...
Both art and animation are good. The characters are animated based on their unique traits, and designed simple enough with distinction. The backgrounds and scenery adds some nice colors and give life on every game and scene; cheering squads, extras, and minor details are done pretty well. The animation for each movement they’ve made inside and outside the field is also clear and nice enough.
Sound...
The sounds here truly intend to bring heat and excitement. Tension, cheering, and reactions are perfectly matched. The OP and ED songs are also a good thing as it becomes catchy and nice thing to hear. Definitely a suitable sounds to be heard throughout the series that increase excitement and thrill to the series.
Characters…
It has a pretty nice build of characters that presents different traits throughout the series. The series have characters which hold respect & equality among members, compete to become helpful from one another, and keep dreaming to reach their goal as a team. All their efforts and backgrounds behind is fun to watch as the main plot continues.
There is one quite odd thing that will catch your attention throughout the series, a pitcher that has a disturbing trait. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or not to continue this trait of his, but as I continue this series I just get used to it and it doesn’t give much enjoyment like at the first time rather it sometimes turns out to be annoying and overused.
Enjoyment…
Following the series is exciting and has a really good development of story and characters. The method of how they use to connect the baseball field between characters and story really shines at this series. This becomes a realization that one can change by knowing and putting some trust to the person who you believe. The show maybe quite a slow paced, but with the help of that it really shows the essence of being a part of a group which is shown well and gives a good vibe to the series. One thing I’m quite annoyed about is the pitcher, as his trait is being a pain or maybe it does intends to be that way just to give entertainment and comedy. Honestly I’m troubled to keep that way considering that it have a nice story and environment which is different and unique from the other same genre.
Overall…
It truly stands out from the other same genre which depends on one or few characters for giving entertainment, but this series isn’t working alone rather all the characters have a special role to contribute as it becomes a wonderful and thrilling to watch. Overall, it consists of a wonderful plot, sounds, and art & animation, but, on the other hand one or two things can ruin everything.
Magdalen
I don't normally watch anything other than shoujo. But I found myself with free time after finishing Ouran and wondering 'Okay, what next?' It's amazing, being a die-hard Shoujo fan, I found myself liking what is aimed at a Seinen demographic, anime. But like it I did. Having found this on FUNimation, I decided to have a shot at watching. And I'm so glad I did. Every aspect of this anime is amazing. The relationships running through it between the characters, the humour, the story itself, and the characters are all right on the ball. They couldn't get it anymore perfect. The story is one of Ren Mihoshi,a starting pitcher all his middle school life for Mihoshi Academy. Part of the reason for him getting the spot is because of nepotism. And boy, don't the other players at his school let him know on every occasion. Because of this, Ren and the failing-spirits of the team, never win a single game in their middle school career.
Moving to Nishiura, he promises himself he'll quit baseball, but ends up on the mound of a not-so-professional-yet-make-up-for-it-in-spirit team with his catcher being one Takehaya Abe - a fantastic and amazing character who you will love.
The characters are near faultless. Ren himself has no self-esteem to speak of, something which bugs his catcher, Abe, to no end. The coach, Maria Momoe, is a act-first-think-later type of character, but is crazy enough to be lovable. Although altogether, I hope they delve into the characters (especially Abe and Maria) much more in the second season.
The music is great. I found myself humming the opening song from time to time! It really matches the anime, the strings making tense moments even more so.
This is an outstanding, flawless anime which I loved from beginning to end. If you get a chance, don't judge it, just watch the first few episodes and decide then. I almost guarantee you'll be in love with it by that point.
minutemaid511
This anime was an underdog for me. I think baseball is incredibly boring and I had zero expectations of an anime all about baseball, so Ookiku Furikabutte had that in it's favour. It made my "To Watch" list though, so I thought I would give it a shot. And when I did, it delivered in ways I didn't think it could—above and beyond. I'm not sure what went through my mind to put an anime about *baseball* on my list, but I'm incredibly glad I did. Story: 9/10 The story has everything you could possibly want from this kind of anime, and it constantly keeps you wantingmore. It was done at a good pace and there weren't any parts that felt drawn out or rushed through. It was clearly progressing, but in an unpredictable way that made the journey and anticipation of what's coming next all the more exciting. It was well done and surprised me that they were able to make a generally slow game like baseball feel quick and exciting. The way they explain the sport through, the mindset of the pitching and the batting and gameplay of baseball in general, made it easier to follow than watching the actual sport, which I still think is boring, but can now appreciate.
Character: 9/10
Characters were all on point, and in an anime where there are easily 10+ of them to keep track of, it's incredibly difficult to give each of them their own uniqueness. I really got the feeling that they were all individuals playing this team sport, with their own hopes, dreams, and personality. There were some characters that stood out while others tended to fade in the background a bit more, but in the same way this happens in real life. The characters felt incredibly organic and allowed you to sympathize with them so much more because of it.
Overall: 9/10
Ookiku Furikabutte is a hidden gem for me—mostly because it's about baseball. I had my doubts in the beginning, but it was rated highly so I gave it a shot. In the end it fulfilled all the expectations I never knew I had for it.
KnightessKana
Compelling, but predictable. Ookiku Furikabutte is an interesting anime that caught my eye. If you like the game of baseball or are interested in the sports-themed anime, then this anime might be very enjoyable. However, the reason why I believe that the anime has flaws is due to its plot predictability, the underdevelopment of the supporting characters, and the over-centralization over the baseball theme. Despite finishing this anime in a mere two days, I found myself thinking behind all the enjoyment: what made this anime appealing to me? After much consideration, I found out that the reason why I enjoyed this anime stemmed simply from my interestin competitive sports and that a sports-themed anime was refreshing in an anime era driven by harems. But after detaching myself from that perspective, I found myself realizing that the plot setup was very similar to many other sports-related animes and that the characters are developed in a very predictable fashion. I found some parts of the scene redundant and found myself looking forward to the baseball scenes not because that was what the anime was about but rather because the underlying plot was mediocre.
Additionally, in this anime, the focal point was centralized on the main character and a few (1 or 2) other characters. While this is often the case for any anime, baseball is a team sport, and for a 26 episode series you would think the supporting cast would get more development. However, in the anime, I believe many characters were underdeveloped or their stories/perspectives were overshadowed by the extreme focus on the main character. Regardless of how much you like the main character, the plot cannot be great with a weak supporting cast just like in the game of baseball a team is no better than its supporting players.
Also, I found that the anime was not only underdeveloped in some areas, but it was overdeveloped in others such as its baseball theme. While many viewers might watch it simply for the baseball aspect, I believe this anime spent too much screentime on the actual games. This drew out the storyline and while watching a baseball game might be exciting, one can watch a baseball game in real life too. I believe the distribution of screentime was distributed poorly overall.
While there are more than a few things that are wrong with this anime, there are also some noteworthy features that deserve praise. For one, it has a lot of cliffhangers. This is important for an anime because it adds to the audience's curiosity. Despite the redundant and often predictable storyline, that is one of the reasons it draws viewers to keep watching. Also, it does do a very good and detailed job describing the game of baseball and depicting the personality of its main character. However, despite the allure, Ookiku Furikabutte is simply an okay watch. While viewers like myself might enjoy it, other viewers that have different interests would find the anime unbearable. To me, part of what defines a great anime is its ability appeal to viewers that are not specifically into that genre.
Take away the intended audience and Ookiku Furikabutte suddenly loses its luster.
nesterhoward
Ookiku Furikabutte, otherwise known as Big Windup is one of those series that might get overlooked because its considered to be niche by certain fans. After all, only fans of baseball would be interested in a baseball anime, right? And that's the thing about Big Windup, its a series that has enough appeal to carry over to fans not familiar with or interested in baseball. My little sister who doesn't like sports anime really enjoyed this one. In fact, she has since moved on to other sports animes as a result but I digress. The series centers around Ren Mihashi, a skittish individual who loves topitch above all else. He came to his new school to get away from anyone affiliated with his old baseball team. Needless to say, he's got issues stemming from past experiences. However, he still has a desire to pitch above all else. So much so, that he finds himself wandering towards the baseball field where he comes across Coach Momoe and the rest is ...well, you'll have to watch in order to find out. That said, the story does manage to explain the basics to the game of baseball; it does so in a manner that is interesting and fun to boot. All the characters even the minor ones are relevant and add something to the story.
Since the manga is ongoing, the anime had to stop at an early point. The anime understands this and it establishes a satisfying conclusion that leaves the door open to revisting the story at a later point (which it does). The story and the characters are strong enough to hold the interest of both the baseball and casual anime fan. Its definitely an anime worth checking out.
Koolag1
Ok I am not a sports fan and baseball so long winded, however I do like this show a lot so what is its that makes it so good to watch? Well for a start its more about enjoying something and the skills and having fun with major league baseball no longer has due to or other sports these days are all about money rather than a love of the game. Anyway lets get back on track the main core characters are great an the story is well put together if the end was a bit of a let down but there is scope to continue theshow provided they don't screw up if a second season is done.
Those of you who are think some of the character would slip nicely in to the Ouran High School Host Club then you would be right as at least two are have been picked look and sound like they have just been copied across. This is not a bad thing though as more shows re-use old characters from other shows and this is done well here.
Think of this like the Anime version of Field of dreams bad subject but great all the same. If you don't like sports or baseball I am sure you'll love this if you watch it it does what it sets out to do and is not over complicated.
So watch this show you might just love it.
shadowfireflame
So technically this series is about baseball (the title translates to “Big Windup”). But it’s actually a funny and sweet story about how a victim of abuse begins to gain his self-confidence and sense of self-worth back with the help of his friends. Mihashi is a ridiculously weak-willed high-school pitcher who has zero self-confidence and probably an anxiety disorder from past bullying and trauma; he’s constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown/panic attack, bursting into tears at the slightest provocation. (I loved him instantly.) He has no strength in his pitches, but he can place them very well, which is a major skill. Abe, thecatcher, likes him because he has superb control of his pitches and doesn’t assert himself on the mound, meaning Abe can just tell him what to do like a puppet. Obviously this leads to wonderful dom/sub moments between them as they develop their relationship, like when Abe grabs Mihashi’s hand and studies it, oh man, and the line “When the catcher devotes himself to the pitcher, the pitcher repays the catcher with trust.” Also some fantastic hurt/comfort elements with Abe repeatedly worrying about his pitcher’s health and becoming concerned (read: jealous and possessive) when other people stretch Mihashi out after a match. *fangirling*
I love the coach, Momoe, a strong-willed woman who is really enthusiastic and way smarter and more perceptive than she may first appear and who works physically intense part-time jobs to pay for the baseball team. Together she and Abe are master tacticians and strategists. You’ll probably notice right off the bat (ha, pun intended) that she has rather unnaturally huge breasts—but, believe it or not, instead of being there just to titillate, this becomes a minor plot point in season 2 and an important character theme of women being underestimated or misjudged. Color me impressed.
I really thought I didn’t care about baseball at all, but this anime made me become interested despite myself. It was also rather educational, teaching me things from baseball terminology to hormones involved in sports (thyrotropin, corticotropin, and dopamine, if you wanted to know). What I loved best was the emphasis on how much of a team sport baseball is (our players are known as “the Nishiura [High School] nine”) and how much strategy is involved in the calls between the coach, the catcher, and the pitcher.
And I can sincerely say I love almost all of the characters: even the players from different teams who at first seem not that likeable are shown to have interesting pasts that made them the way they are (like Abe’s former pitcher, Haruna). But they are clearly teen boys still going through puberty (and shaving!), and the anime goes farther in mentioning the sexual urges these guys have than in other anime I’ve seen. For example, on entering the training camp, Tajima, the star hitter, announces loudly to the world that he forgot to masturbate today. On learning their female coach (Momoe)’s age, the captain, Hanai, instinctively does some quick calculations to see if the age difference between 23 and 16 is too much for dating or if it’s “borderline” before he realizes what he’s done. They also all have mothers who love them and come to their games (though their fathers rarely show up, which is kind of weird. I guess they’re just busy. But when we do meet Mihashi and Abe’s fathers in season 2, it’s really cute).
But my absolute favorite thing is the character of Mihashi. Maybe you’ll find him annoying, and I guess your enjoyment of this anime hinges on that point, but I loved him to death from the moment I saw him. He shares many character traits with Sunako from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, i.e. has trouble getting out full sentences, frequently exists in strange anime-form (the chicken face?) while everyone around him is in normal form, still dealing with the effects of past trauma which results in severely low self-esteem despite his unusual abilities. The ability to tell these characters’ stories in a sympathetic and amusing light is where anime absolutely excels as an art form.
animimosa
now this is great. its about sport - baseball - and its great. Its so great that it dosent matter any more about what it really is. of course the very good manga is an easy start. a great story. its very good in itself. provides the material, the passion and the fun, but in this anime happened something thats very rare. the animation creates something even richer. story and characters are following close the manga. but the carefully improved artstyle, in details of the characters, but especially the surroundings and the backgrounds, supported with great sounds and voice acting, brings in what the manga hasnot on this level .... an esthetic quality and elegance. It makes the feeling for the different people, their passions, their hopes, their disappointments a true experience.
all is done very traditionally, but thoroughly. the animation is all drawn and delivers good and fluent movements. often we are surprised with interesting shots only an animation could give. but never this ideas are streched to far.
And this great esthetic quality is even further enriched with the stills used in the songs.
life isnt simple, baseball isnt simple and so this great show dosent waste time on silly concepts like good or bad, winning or loosing. It cares for details. it cares for humans. it cares for baseball!
what a great entertainment.
Truely a BIG WINDUP.
morphinup
This is a solid anime. Take it for what it is, a slice of life sports anime about first year high school students, and you will like it. I would categorize the feeling of it as "cute" in a young teen boys and their enthusiasm for a sport. The story is simple, it follows the main protagonist, a first year baseball club member, and his team. I like it because they act like first year students. The athleticism, isn't over-the-top completely, unbelievable (though of course it is not realistic, but what sports anime has realistic athleticism?). You will find out a little back story forthe main characters, but not too deep. It mainly focuses on them playing baseball. It's a simple, but enjoyable story.
Rytho1
Most reviews of a sports anime will include some statement along the lines of "you don't need to like [sport] in order to love the characters and the drama that the mangaka draws out of it!" But I can't evaluate this anime that way, because I love baseball. So let me say that this is the baseball anime for people who love baseball. So many aspects of the game are lovingly and realistically represented here, games take forever because they are action packed- realistic and thoroughly strategic. Abe, the brains behind the team, brings you along with him as he (and the writers) demonstrate theirknowledge of and respect for baseball. During some plays in games where I legitimately could not tell who would win, I found myself cheering for players on both sides making exciting plays and interesting decisions.
As others have noted-pacing can be hit or miss and the other main character Mihashi, while likable, can be annoying. The art is nothing to write home about, and the narratives are good but unexceptional.
Let the other reviews guide you through understanding those issues if you are not a baseball fan, but if you love the game, this anime will remind you why. For those people, this is your baseball anime.
