In 1925 (year 14 of the Taisho era) baseball is still quite unknown in Japan and there are only a few male teams. After being told by a baseball player that women should become housewives instead of going to school, 14-year-old Akiko invites her friend Koume to start a baseball team in order to prove him wrong. During this time, when even running was considered too vulgar for women, baseball is known as "what the boys do" and they face many difficulties when having to find enough members, to get permission from their parents and also when learning about the sport itself, which they soon discover to be more difficult than expected.
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drf
Taishou Yakyuu Musume was a nice surprise in this Summer 2009 season. While most "moe-oriented" shows nowadays tend to let their own cuteness take over and steal the spotlight, Taishou avoids this pitfall by not letting go of the baseball focus but few times when to flesh out their characters. As a slice-of-life show, the most remarkable aspect in this anime is the setting, which takes place in Japan’s 20s, providing an interesting background for the story to unfold. The cultural differences between now and then are definitely the show’s greatest highlight, because it not even once stops being interesting. This show is a great look onthe uprising of feminism, which even if I can’t say it’s historically correct in the context of this decade, is deeply associated in this case with the girls’ interest in baseball. This theme is handled with subtlety.
You aren’t required to know the rules of baseball to enjoy this anime, but if you’re a baseball fan you should definitely check it out as it certainly has a different approach than most sports shounen anime… it is more similar to that of slice-of-life/moe shows, but without losing the focus of what it is all about - of course, the "train and and you'll get better" aspect is still present. If you’re joyed by all things cute you can get into this blindfolded, as you’ll go crazy in the very first minutes when Koume sings us a song to introduce old Tokyo. Additionally, this is can be very interesting for anyone who’s into pre-World War II Japan.
The characters in this show aren’t really anything special, and they mostly fit the common moe stereotypes. In the short spam of 12 episodes, it’s impossible to flesh out and develop all of them, but it manages to be satisfying at least for the main lead Koume. Although you may be lead into thinking this anime is full of yuri undertones, they’re non-canon... well, maybe except for one or two characters taking "friendship" a bit too far, and real fangirl for her Onee-sama... so I guess it manages to satisfy both shoujo-ai goggles addicts and not, with such it's large, sympathetic cast. Meanwhile there are some romantic developments here and there too (not between girls), so this really is a show for anyone who just finds the girls to be adorable. The side-characters are very interesting too, due to the setting’s influence – I especially enjoyed Koume’s interaction with her parents, since she hid her hobby from them, while they hold expectations common of that era. I’ll leave this unspoiled to not break down your enjoyment of the series.
J.C. Staff did a nice job with the production. The animation is pretty colorful without being too hard on the eyes and fluctuates from basic to very fluid, when they're playing baseball, for example. The soundtrack doesn’t really shine but it’s fitting, and the OP/ED themes are especially catchy, sung by the golden cast of voice actors who all perform top-notch...
What could be overlooked as terribly generic, manages to be very entertaining overall, even if a bit simple and formulaic. This is a great show for anyone looking for a short, fun, cute and yet thrilling experience and doesn’t mind if the characters don’t undergo some deep study or development, even if they’re doing something supposedly groundbreaking.
maybelletea
I loved the idea of Japanese girls forming their own school baseball team in 1925, and I wasn't disappointed. Though the show is sadly short (and it could've done much more with a longer run), the 12 episode series was still very enjoyable by itself. The feminist vibe ran through the whole course of the show; it's true they were not met by obstacles they couldn't eventually overcome, but it wasn't completely unrealistic. The girls still struggled to be taken seriously. There are few intense baseball moments as it is mainly a slice-of-life type of show with very tiny hints of romance (with orwithout boys). You get to watch all the girls progress and grow, though, and the end is quite satisfying.
Of course, as it is 12 episodes long, there isn't a huge amount of room for character development. But the characters are still likable and fun to watch. The historical aspects of the show are interesting, definitely, and that was a part of it that drew me in. I liked to see the effects of the transition from the Meiji period as Westernization began to invade Japan.
I found the art lovely; the backgrounds especially are beautiful. The character design is cute and eye-catching. The music wasn't always amazing but there were some tracks that really stood out to me. I loved the opening and ending themes as well. The voices are generally good, despite the fact that some of the higher pitched ones yelling out baseball cues could be rather obnoxious.
At any rate, if you're a fan of baseball, history, or are in the mood for something light and relaxing, Taisho Yakyuu Musume is definitely the way to go.
fresh_blankets
This anime is a wonderful thing, and I was incredibly happy to find and watch it. I personally loved the idea of girls playing baseball, especially in 1925, where they would no doubt be told they couldn't. The first few episodes were pretty slow-paced as they tried to gain permission from the school and find members, but once they do the plot picks up straight away as they practice and become a greater team. The story was interesting and kept me hanging for what happens next. The art was fairly good, not my favorite style, but nice nonetheless. I didn't pay much attention to the soundtracks, but theOP and ED were wonderful.
The characters are incredibly cute and you can obviously see great character development throughout the whole show.
I enjoyed this anime so much, it became one of my favorites the moment I finished.
I highly recommend this anime for all, espescially sports anime lovers.
pleochroic
Taishou yakyuu musume had the misfortune to be on my schedule soon after Ookiku furikabutte, and since the latter shone brightly, the former paled rather severely. well, in some ways that's the fairest way to judge a show, in comparison to its peers. the story's premise is quite promising, a show about girls playing baseball in the early taishou period (1920s) could be very interesting. alas, this anime doesn't strike a blow for realistic feminism, indeed it doesn't even try. some lip service is paid to resistance by others, but in fact there are no real difficulties to overcome, even the 11th hourdrama lacks urgency. the show feels mostly like an excuse to have cute girls run around in short uniforms, giving it some legitimacy by setting it in an interesting period, but ultimately failing to actually use the inherent tension. despite the uniforms most fan service is blessedly absent, except for some dreamy shoujo-ai action; the show goes for cute over sexy. we also get some hetero romance, but that's not a major factor either. i didn't really care for any of the romance, there is just not enough development. that could be the epitaph for the entire show: there is just not enough development.
as for the promising setting, i am not the most knowledgeable person about japanese history, but even i could recognize many anachronisms, so i gather the writers didn't actually do any research on the period. the artists did a little more research; early baseball gloves looked like that, and some backgrounds show verisimilitude, though it's still not much.
the characters are flat. cute, vaguely likeable, but so generic that i didn't really warm up to any of them, except maybe koume, but even with her, i don't miss her now that i am done with the show.
the anime does manage to concentrate on baseball instead of milking the romance and/or moe aspects, and there is some realism here in that the girls have to work hard to get anywhere (though the uniforms remain spotless). but this is not a show for baseball fans; not enough time and effort is placed on the intricacies of training or the games, and in the end realism leaves the ball park entirely (never ever will a group of 14-year old girls who started playing a few months ago be able to legitimately challenge a team of 17-year old boys who're training for the national championship).
the show's art is as pale as its story -- everything feels washed out. the character design uses ye olde hairstyle and wild hair/eye colour tricks to let us easily distinguish the characters, which works within the show, but makes the characters impossible to tell apart from those of another thousand shows with this style. the only good character designs are for older side characters. the animation is so-so. there is a lot of simplistic repetition of the same actions. some of the baseball action is animated decently, which comes as a relief.
the BGM often does not fit the period, except for a parody song koume sings. the OP and ED don't just not fit, they actively clash. the voice acting is a mixed bag. some of it is good, some is overacted, and some doesn't fit the character -- 24 year old seiyuu do apparently not always manage to sound like 14 year old girls. which surprised me. i am in general not a big fan of female seiyuu because of the hyper-cutesy affect so many of them sport (not really their fault; it's what the industry wants), but as a result anime girls often tend to sound younger than they are supposed to be. not here.
short verdict: inoffensive milquetoast, slightly above average, too short and undeveloped to be worthwhile.
LegendAqua
The Year is 1925 The General Election Law was passed and the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925 was enacted to combat socialism and communism. Taishou Yakyuu Musume being an all girls cast about them essentially being the underdog team in an era where baseball is seen as "too vulgar" for women, Akiko voiced by Mai Nakahara with the help of Koume voiced by Kanae Ito to prove such statements belonging to Akiko's "boyfriend" wrong. To say that the premise of Taishou Yakyuu Musume is endearing is saying itself lightly let alone this being an all girls cast at the same time, but LA was interested nonetheless(well that and LA likes the all girls cast animes anyways).
For characters, we have Akiko Ogasawara voiced by Mai Nakahara the one who wanted to form an all girls baseball club with the help of Koume Suzukawa voiced by Kanae Ito help gather 7 more plus an advisor. Akiko and Koume both form a friendship over baseball, that of the pitcher and catcher and how they both improve in baseball (Akiko through pitching and Koume through knowing the opponents batter and how they will swing). Koume out of the main cast gets the most of the focus of this anime, from getting to know her family life, her getting into an arranged marriage and the hijinks and misunderstandings from it along with her baseball endeavors at the same time. Akiko gets something similar with her arranged marriage but it's not as focused as Koume, most probably because Koume is our narrative main character for the anime. Noe Kawashima voiced by Kana Ueda is our resident strategist of the club with the help of the Newspaper club leader Noriko Owari voiced by Ayumi Fujimura they help the majority of the main cast with their strengths and weaknesses, besides Akiko and Koume, LA thinks she gotten the most screentime through all this. Tomoe and Shizuka Tsukubae voiced by Yuuko Kaida and Eri Kitamura respectively are sisters both with contrasting personalities, with Tomoe being the tomboyish carefree to Shizuka's ojou strict minder to Tomoe. Shizuka quickly becomes a satellite character to Tomoe as we don't really get to know her besides her base personality and as for Tomoe, she had a thing for homerun swings and is a good batter, well she gets some interaction and development mostly as she has a small crush on Koume while at the same time Kyouko Sakurami voiced by Yui Makino, a long range catcher ALSO has a MASSIVE yuri crush on Tomoe. Kochou Kikusaka voiced by Saori Goto gets an episode to herself as it's merely her admittance to the club as a fast runner and her problems with running however she later on becomes a satellite character to Kyouko by the end of it unfortunately. The TWO characters LA saw had the least screentime were Yuki Souya voiced by Mamiko Noto and Tamaki Ishigaki voiced by Ryou Hirohashi who both have contrasting personalities similar to the Tsukubae sisters (one being tomboyish, the other refined ojou, but this time their not blood related and are more or less friends in this regards), the only other characters to note are Anna Curtland voiced by Satomi Arai, the baseball club's advisor and Saburou Kitani voiced by Satoshi Hino, Koume's fiance. LA's favourite characters were Anna Curtland (Satomi Arai!!!) and was Yuki Souya however with how little screentime she got overall, LA kinda switched over to Noe due to this (plus she had some comedic one-time moments in the anime).
With the character interactions, there is some yuri undertones, from the aforementioned Koume to Tomoe to Kyouko love triangle to Koume to Akiko's pitcher and catcher relationship. Akiko and Koume's yuri undertones are there but it's mostly business with this relationship by them trying to improve their game. Tomoe and Kyouko on the other hand is purely for the yuri undertone factor in which Kyouko gets an episode for her about wanting to spend time and help Tomoe.
Ok let's get the elephant out of the room and LA really didn't want to get all serious in this review but there is the sexism shown in this anime and it's in the 1920's, sexism would be prevalent in that era and most of the men are straw man at times (and it's kinda how the catalyst to the anime in the first place!), what LA does see from this however is that the men aren't necessarily straw man to the main cast playing baseball as most of the male characters realize the entire "staying in the kitchen" stereotype is proven wrong by the main cast's group by the end of it additionally it's not just the men that are the straw man in this as even some of the female teachers and parents becomes this as they are just opposed the the very notion of an all girls baseball club. LA gets it, but not all of the opposition of an all girls competitive baseball club aren't exactly straight up a straw man to the situation, call it either "they don't know much better" or blame the era for this and thankfully they more or less "gets" it by the end of it dissolving their straw man beliefs (for the most part, the entire arranged marriage was custom in Japan at the time so that didn't really change as much, well that and it's not exactly a huge focal point in the anime as it is more of a romance sub-plotline with Koume and the catalyst for Akiko for the anime) that and coupled with the Taishou era where Taishou Yakyuu Musume is set in as well with it's Westernization movement, the main cast as a whole is something of defying expectations from an underdog team both in terms of culture and character.
In terms of animation by JC Staff, the animation quality makes it "look" like the 1920's by using a sketchbook and pastel style of backgrounding for the most part, the character designs are also given the aesthetics of the 1920's with half of the cast wearing kimono's while the other half goes Western (or the typical anime school attire). Now the animation for LA is probably the least interesting thing about the anime besides the interesting style of the backgrounding and the unique character designs that doesn't make this rather large main cast to be distinct at the very least (like LA won't confuse Souya with Noriko).
As for voice acting, well this is an impressive voice cast, from Mamiko Noto, Kanae Ito, Satomi Arai, Mai Nakahara, Kana Ueda, Eri Kitamura, Yuuko Kaida, Ryou Hirohashi, Ayumi Fujimura, Satoshi Hino and Aya Hisakawa to name a few. Kanae Ito and Mai Nakahara easily gets the MVP's for this anime if not for screentime alone. Again like LA said about the characters, some of these characters don't get the screentime they needed thus the voice actors also suffer as a result (Mamiko Noto, Eri Kitamura and Ryou Hirohashi being the prime victims of this).
If there were however some flaws in Taishou Yakyuu Musume, then it would be that some of the episodes are somewhat...fillery in a ways and it mostly consisted of Koume going through some misunderstandings or hijinks where other characters roped her into it...that ALMOST has nothing to do with honing the casts' skill. LA says ALMOST as there are certain episodes that does be it through increasing the team's morale or particular skills or just getting to know the characters more through the hijinks. This flaw isn't absolutely horrible per say but it is something LA just found as a small nitpick.
Taishou Yakyuu Musume is a rather underrated gem from the Summer of 2009 when animes such as Bakemonogatari and the second season of Spice and Wolf were running at the same time and like Taishou Yakyuu Musume's place in the Summer of 2009. Taishou Yakyuu Musume for LA at least was an underdog in it of itself in which it took a simple premise of an all girls baseball club in the 1920's when those circumstances in Japan at the time was looked as odd to LA's own flaws with Taishou Yakyuu Musume of the narrow character development and some fillery episodes however the main cast defied those expectations and LA really did find the anime endearing from the characters improving their skills and teamwork at baseball while going about their school life along with Taishou Yakyuu Musume's own strengths of an interesting premise, underdog characters you want to root for and some decent production value to back it up.
Scheveningen
Taisho Baseball Girls is a sincere and lighthearted love letter to the period. While there is undoubtedly a focus on baseball, much of the story also involves the experience of 1920s Japan. The show really works to earn its title as a Taisho era piece of fiction despite its bubbly, upbeat tone and themes. Though mildly anachronistic, with some of its character's attitudes being closer to what you would find in modern Japan, it is hardly an issue since the show does not aim to be in-depth historical fiction. The series aims to explore the relatively straightforward story of girls pushing the boundaries of sociallyaccepted gender roles in 1920s Japan through sports. It does not do this in a particularly deep or complex way since its format follows a high school sports club, yet it does not skimp on the historical details.
The Taisho era was the height of modern and western influence in Japan. A fascinating crossroad in Japanese history which the show characterises with small elements of cultural tension. Taisho baseball girls, as is expected, takes the perspective of the "modern girl", focusing on more progressive ideas and appearances. This can be seen at a surface level in Koume's desire to wear a seifuku instead of a kimono and her criticism of her family's only surface-level modernity despite running a yoshoku restaurant. What is impressive is the setting itself subtlely adds to this flavour of the Taisho era. The school Koume attends is subtlely established as a middle to upper-class girl's academy, which would be more western in this era with its missionary education roots. Notably, the push back against the girls playing a 'rough' sport like baseball is not solely from the traditionalist Japanese position. Much of the push back comes from other "westernised" sources like teachers and parents. It is left ambiguous if Koume's parents are even against her playing baseball. Despite the Suzukawa's being ostensibly framed as more traditional parents, there is still a strong undercurrent of modernity since they chose to send their daughter to a Christian school. In fact, all the girls are distinctly middle class or outright rich with varying levels of western and modern ideals.
The show accordingly does not examine or dive into the cultural tension, using it more to build up its atmosphere and setting. While mildly disappointing for someone interested in a good period piece, the show quickly clarifies it has no aspirations to go there. It celebrates the Taisho era and the modern Japan that could have been instead of truly delving into the 1920s that was. Characters like their English teacher, Anna Curtland, are an unambiguously positive influence on the girls despite being a foreigner. This results in Taisho Baseball girls feeling earnest and rich in its setting yet hamstrung by a rather by the book story. The girls never receive much push back societally on their path to forming a baseball team. This is partly due to the show's tone, going for something fun and sweet instead of more drama ladened. Accordingly, only undercurrents of gender expectations drive the opposition of family and teachers. All of which is never discussed in detail. This limits the shows thematic punch to an implicit message which we have long surpassed in the 21st century.
The characters themselves are nothing spectacular. Because of the direct and simple approach of the show, there is tremendous missed potential in establishing more complex character conflicts. There is little exploration into their family's thoughts on the girls playing baseball, and their own motivations remain unexamined. There is no internal conflict within or among the girls on if they should be playing baseball or what that entails. Their inner conflict is the standard of every sports anime, self-doubt and the difficulty of training. While perfectly acceptable, it does not utilise the historical setting to its full potential to give the show a unique identity. This is also further exacerbated by the large cast which places pressure on the amount of screen time available. Despite the show's choice to focus on our protagonist Koume and Akiko, their depth still hits a distinct limit since they never really distill or digest why the larger conflict exist or what it means to them specifically. With the rest of the cast noticeably under developed relative to the implicit theme and conflict of the show, it is hard not to call it missed potential.
Although not in the spirit and perhaps too complex for this show, the lack of a real "traditionalist" barrier to overcome or reconcile with leaves a distinct feeling of hollowness at times. Of course, this begins to stray into the territory of a more dramatic and "serious" show (for lack of a better term) which is unfairly to penalise Taisho Baseball girls for. Despite all this, the story is robustly executed, delivering an above-average but by the numbers narrative. The art is again nothing spectacular. Of note, the more washed out watercolour style for the background fittingly gives the show an appropriate atmosphere for something set in the past. While the opening and ending songs were also satisfactory, they sadly did not commit more to the period setting with their music, choosing to go with standard modern J-Pop.
Overall, for what Taisho Baseball Girls is and aims to be, it is a solid above average show. The characters and central conflict beyond skill at baseball feel distinctly underdeveloped. Yet this problem rests squarely on the shoulders of avoiding the more complex issues to maintain the lighthearted tone of the series. This is very much an impasse which leaves the show few ways to excel further aside from additional polish or more robust dialogue and writing. Where it does succeed is in integrating the historical setting into its story to create a superb, almost nostalgic, atmosphere. With that, it is hard to give Taisho Baseball Girls more than a 7 out of 10, carried mainly by its excellent historical setting. While tempting to score it higher due to its charming simplicity, the central premise of the show is tied too heavily to greater issues of the period that need some kind of debate. Without some measure to tie it in, even through a debate among the adult characters, there is a distinct lack of carry through. While none the less still a sweet, lighthearted and well executed period piece, there is tremendous missed potential.
