Incredible Nothing!

No, I’m not rewatching Antique Bakery

Believe it or not, the misleading leading screenshot comes from the same show as this one

Halfway through the first episode of Cross Game, I wasn’t expecting to watch further than that one episode.  It wasn’t that it was a bad introductory episode, (on the contrary, it falls on the better end of this season’s 1st episodes scales where on one end there’s Eden of the East and on the other… Hanasakeru Seishounen)  it had that ‘wholesome’ slice-of-life vibe (’wholesome’ meaning there were no in your face gags or moe antics to support the show) which is good – but tends to not leave an impression after a few hours.

(And as much as I loved OoFuri, I really know next to nothing about how baseball is played, and I didn’t really think I could watch a show on the sport unless it had a lead character that was chickeny and voiced by Yonaga Tsubasa – yea, specific tastes =P)

But mistaken I was and I’m now up to the latest episode (5?). Guess that shows me to judge a show halfway through one episode. For those who haven’t watched it I guess I shouldn’t be spoiling what made the difference at the end (it’s nothing too surprising if you paid any attention to the OP, which I didn’t -_-”). So far Cross Game looks to be a strong contender this season at least on the slice of life front (nope, there hasn’t actually been much baseball so far a temporary plus point for a n00b like me)

Episode 4. If I’ve watched this far before cake is involved, chances are I’m sticking with the show

For me, what I enjoy most in Cross Game is a certain character strength in its characters  that seems curiously absent from other shows featuring a similar cast group (just compare with the school-going teenage crowd in the next show I’ll be blabbing about and you’ll see the big difference).

For one, there isn’t a trace of visible angst in sight (at least not the terribly dramatic BAAAWWWW exhibitionist type peddled out by other shows aimed at those at the supposedly emotional high of youth) despite there being a pretty decent reason for angst to be expected (None of that  “My parents are never at home and I’m expected to save the world on a giant robot??!!” crap). Without being too spoilerific, let’s just say there’s tragedy is involved, yet it’s never actually played as a tragedy nor treated as one by the characters even once thus far – which may seem unnatural especially when you’re used to shows that would milk it like crazy *coughsKyoAnicoughs*, but the way the characters are handled does put the story in a real enough perspective, neither being too light-hearted nor deathly serious.

I’ve never watched past Adachi Mitsuru works (Touch, H2) but I do hear that I can expect baseball to come to the fore of the series pretty soon. But from the character elements it’s shown so far (plus previous experience from OoFuri =P), I doubt I have too much to worry about even if I do  eventually get lost in the rules of the game again (which I’ll probably ignore anyways)

Plus points: The lead male character Kou is almost giving Eden of the East’s Takizawa (assuming it’s his real name) a run for his money as best young male lead this season (still years before either of them reach Ristorante Paradiso level though ;P). Kou’s just missing the air of mystery and a snazzy mobile, but at least there’s hardly the possibility that he once turned a giant mob of NEETs into his alien sex slaves whom he had to kill in a missile strike for being too aggresive before wiping his memory to get rid of the trauma. (Conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories…)

At any rate, Cross Game’s Kou is light years ahead of the pathetic bunch of guys on Hatsukoi Limited. Then again, who watches this show for the guys? Oh, and K-ON has no male characters, but from the looks of it none are going to be necessary anyhow.

Now, on the other hand, I’m not entirely sure why I’ve picked up Hatsukoi Limited. For one, they should just rename the show to Fanservice Unlimited, only Queen’s Blade is airing this season too so I guess JC Staff thought they had the liberty to utilize as many panty shots as they could without people like me whining -_-”

At the start it did look like Kimikiss with a bloated and more well-endowed cast , but so far the ‘first love’ stories have been coming in short one episode bites concerning different but connected factions of the entire cast and there hasn’t been an obvious single  potential coupling(s) that could potential take the centrestage of the series just yet. I suppose that underneath the not-so-subtle fanservice, the tales of school life budding romance served up have an acceptable level entertainment value without being too mushy or downright unbelievable. Yet.

Not as trappy as Cross Game’s Aoba (The only reason I’m using this screenshot is to make the title of this post make at least a speck of sense and not something I crapped up thinking it’d sound catchy. That and it didn’t contain an erroneous pantyshot)

The characters at best are naive in a way expected of them (as anime characters in this particular genre though, which I’d stress is a different level from RL) and even perhaps relatable to some. At worst though, they’re downright annoying and possibly retarded enough for me to want dead after K-ON’s Yui. I swear, if the show had started with the bro-con episode I wouldn’t have bothered watching it thusfar -_-” Fortunately for Hatsukoi Limited, I’m intrigued enough for now to see how these mixed bag of conventional and not ‘first love stories’ will pan out in the end, but my hopes are relatively low with this one. Low calorie watch for me this season.

Okay, now to spend whatever’s left of my Golden Week not indoors trying to restore my anime watching to some semblance of what it was before…