As the year is coming to a close, we decide to bring you some of the good series that has passed us by for the whole year. Most of us, with our hectic schedules, miss out on some gems of 2007 that should be watched. With the festive season coming soon and the finals away from sight, it is time to pick up a few anime that should be watched if you somehow missed it.

This will be a feature that will be ongoing until December 31st, and we hope that it’s an useful guide to bring you 2007’s top series (at least according to the bloggers here at THAT Anime Blog). Look forward to all of the bloggers’ personal choices, and we will attempt to convince you why a certain anime deserves to be watched. The first anime that will be presented in this feature by Impz is Ookiku Furikabette, a series that is released in the Spring 2007 season.

---

Story summary

Ookiku Furikabette is a baseball series in high school. Mihashi is an extremely shy and lacked confidence over his pitching after a horrendous time as a pitcher in his middle school. He was hated by his peers then as he is seen as the pitcher that costs everyone games. It is rumored too that he only became the starting pitcher as his grandfather is the principle of the school, rather than his potential to play. As such, he went to a high school supposedly without a baseball team.

However, in his new high school, a budding baseball team formed from the frame of the softball team awaits him. He is reluctant to join but it is there he met Abe. Abe realizes that Mihashi is special in his own way. He is not a fast pitcher like most, but he has excellent control for a high school student. This baseball series entails the friendship between the baseball players in Nishiura and brings a realistic touch to the often-exaggerated sports genre.

Why this show must be watched

One thing that strikes out in this series is the fact that none of the players in the Nishiura team is exceedingly strong. There are no superheros. In fact, their best batter, the clean up Tajima, does not have the ability to strike a home run due to his small physical size. The rest of the players are good, but they are basically normal players without any huge star quality. Ookiku Furikabette breaks the common mold of stereotypical sports anime that is a refreshing take on the genre.

The stereotypical sports anime has so many special powers that are out of this world. Some examples are Eyeshield 21 where the wide receiver can spin around like a monkey, Prince of Tennis where players can fly off to the stands with a powerful forehand hit and Captain Tsubasa where he shoots from within his own half. Even though it can be impressive at times, there is just this lack of realism that I feel makes a mockery of sports anime. The issue I have with this portrayal is that sports anime is given a shounen treatment and blows out of proportions. There is no sign of that here.

In addition, the unique characteristics of the main character in the show is another interesting twist. In most sports anime, the main character is often one that is extremely talented, with great natural attributes for the sport. Mihashi, the star pitcher, is nothing of the above. He is not confident of his skills due to a really bad experience as the starting pitcher in his middle school. He is not naturally endowed with fast throwing speeds, but is good in control due to intensive training imposed by himself. He is a talent of hard work. As much as you can hate his wimpy attitude, he is really someone you wish to support as this is one of the few series where you can only appreciate the amount of hard work the main player does in order to get to where he is.

One more thing about Ookiku Furikabette that breaks the sports anime is that it never throws any huge jargons at you, so much so that you have no clue what the hell is going on. They often explain even the simplest terms, yet not detracting from the flow of the story. That is a huge plus for someone like me who has no clue about baseball. There are no barriers to entry to understand baseball in this series at least. It assumes almost zero knowledge from the viewer.

Lastly, the huge plus that I can take home from this series is the amount of pleasing characters and character development in the show. When the anime can make you root for even the rival teams, it is clear that the characters that have been created in this anime are throughly given some thought rather than thrown to make the main characters look good. The “evil” team is not at all evil, and I am glad that they did not go with the common stereotype of an evil devious team. All the characters are given ample time to be fleshed out, and you definitely feel for the players when they have a match.

That makes this show a well worth watch, even if you never bother about sports anime. Will you give Oofuri a chance to shine?

Browse Timeline

• « Ef ~A tale of memories~: The love triangle between Miyako, Hiro and Kei
• » Looking back at 2007: Hitohira

Comments (9)

Add a Comment