Taisho Baseball Girls - Reviews

Disclaimer: This is not a site review. If you're reading one of these, it's unlikely I'll ever write a site review for this anime. Probably because I don't want to pick it apart. ^_^

Already smothered during the summmer 2009 season, I picked up Taishou Yakyuu Musume on the recommendation of therik, and I have to admit, I loved it. This touching little tale about driven high school girls fell short of greatness because it left so much unsaid, but at the same time, I wondered if continuing the story might have broken the beautiful spell it cast on me.

Taishou Yakyuu's plot focused on the development of the girls, highlighting frienships, their physical hardships, and their struggle with their identities in very gender-deterministic 1920's Japan. I found myself caught up in Ouka-kai's firey spirit and constant application of strategy. The anime succeeded as a sports story, with the girls inventing or learning about special pitches, official scoring, and ground ball drills, all the while examining the relationships between the teammates, their families, and their school. The final game of the anime--against their boys' high school rivals--culminated in a realistic and satisfying manner that had me excited despite the fact that I could have predicted the outcome before either team set foot on the diamond. The only failing of this show comes from the fact that it didn't have nearly enough time to showcase it's entire massive cast. I loved all of the characters, but only learned a lot about Koume and Akiko.

Typically of J.C. Staff, the animation and voice cast were top-notch in execution. The light, natural feel to the visuals which featured muted colors of animation over vibrant watercolor backgrounds fit the time period perfectly and allowed the blending of the old (many of the girls wore kimonos to school) with the new (street cars, baseball fields). On the aural side, Takahashi Mikako formed the heart-and-soul of the show as the super-moe Koume. The song she performs in the opening episode alone is worth the entrance fee.

Overall, I found a lot to love here. An engaging cast, a cleverly executed plot, and relaxing visuals made this the perfect summer anime: light, fun, and enjoyable watching from start to finish.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume's story starts off  and ends with a sweet innocence for a game that I love very dearly, baseball, and puts a love story into the mix as well. I didn't find any real dull moments with the story, I did how ever find a good sense of comedy which to me really helped out the story. The animation feels a bit dated, but it's not as bad as many might probably think. The sound wasn't too bad either, hearing the crack of the bat, ah what a sweet sound *.* (sorry again, my love for baseball). The characters were also unique, even though a huge portion of the cast did seem to be variations of characters from other anime. (not naming those anime for various reasons). Overall Taishou Yakyuu Musume gets a nice healthy 8.5 out of 10, and yes mostly because of baseball, but also the fact that I have a huge love for women who play baseball. But the other main focus of me giving this anime an 8.5 out of 10 is the fact that our main character's story was done very nicely. I was actually expecting something different, but there was a huge sense of uniqueness that was put into Komue-chan. Well that's where I'll stand on this anime, if you're a fan of baseball and love girls who play, well this anime is a good fit.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume may not be the greatest series of 2009, but deserves more attention than loads of last year anime that sound loudly.

A creative plot well developed, simple but good, gave you a whole new perspectve. There's no much anime with the course of the women in history and all the taboos they had to challenge for freedom and equality.

The characters aren't as deeply as we need, however, they work with the story. More emotions and a strong social context could work better. The music doesn't captivated me, but is fun and goes fluidly with all the cherry-blossom atmosphere.

Not as deep as Versailles no Bara, more for moe fans, this anime is a good option to see something different and cultural.

It must have been the MLB start-up which inspired watching of Taisho Baseball Girls.  Taishou Yakyuu Musume is a neat Japanese take on the American game of highly modified English cricket.

The story takes place in Japan of 1925.  There have been some marked touches of modernity, but there is a strong reverence for tradition.  In the high school where the baseball girls attend, half wear modern school uniform with its nautical touches, half wear the kimono.  Such is the case of the two main characters, upper class Akiko and lower middle class Koume.  Noting that girls have little hopes in life other than training for housekeeping and child rearing, these two prove that girls can shine in sports, in this case baseball.

The characters who make up the team are diverse.  The pitcher, Akiko, has recently gotten into a tiff with her boyfriend Iwasaki, pitcher to the high caliber boys' team.  He questions Akiko's abilities in the game where he excels.  The catcher, Koume, works in her extremely traditionalist father's restaurant.  How traditional, you ask?  Talk about being pledge for marriage at the age of fourteen to the cook, Saburou!  Not a bad fellow, a tad on the shy side, but totally dedicated to the 'Young Miss' he's pledged to marry.  The team is coached by Anna Curtland, an American beauty with relatives in Japan.  She's savvy to the game and great at getting the girls in great physical condition before they even get to touch a bat.  Bespectacled Noe is a strategist who can analyze a team and develop a game plan.  She is usually down on Tomoe's plans to belt a homer; the tomboy Lady T dreams of a grand slam ... and she could do it!  She is adored by clumsy Kyouko who offers the story a touch of yuri.  Shizuka remembers the early years when girls and boys could play baseball together, but maturity does mean things to people.

The storyline is predictable.  The girls are hardly taken seriously, and when Iwasaki agrees to play Akiko's squad ... it wasn't pretty.  Mercy rule enacted in first inning, 11-0.  Soon, all the competition the Baseball Girls can get comes from a crew elementary age boys ... who beat the girls effortlessly.  Downer!  But with Ms. Curtland's coaching and the girls' hard work, the games get tighter, until the girls blank the pint-sized sluggers.  A second game against Asuka Boys' School is in the offing.  But the parents of the girls learn of their baseball team, and some freak.  Akiko is imprisoned in her room on game day.  Koume is disowned by her enraged father.

This game is a contest between respectability and domination.  The girls would love to crush the boys to revenge the previous drubbing, and with a little tactics and 'magic pitches,' they amass a small lead and could hold on by solid defense.  But the boys are smart athletes and figure out a strategy to rally and grab the lead back in the middle innings.  But bolstered by Tomoe's much dreamed of 'grand salami,' the girls battle back.  The climax comes with Koume at the bat with two outs and two strikes against her ... and her father suddenly cheering her on in his own hard-nosed biting manner.  She gets on, and in one last blast, she rounds third in a desperate try to tie the game.  She slides home, and ...

Interested in how the game ends?

The theme of girls proving themselves equals reveals the plight of womanhood in Japan in the days prior to WW2.  Akiko bows to a man she believes to have offended in the opening theme ... with a sardonic smirk afterwards to show her sincerity.  Koume's engagement at age fourteen is but one side of the coin.  One boy on the other team insists on winning Koume as his bride if the boys win.  We are never privy to what caused the argument between Akiko and Iwasaki, but Iwasaki is extremely repentant over what caused the riff.  The lesson to learn is never to underestimate a girl in whatever endeavor she puts her hand to.

However, the animation is standard, and of a duller hue than most other anime I've viewed.  Perhaps symbolic of the position of women in 1920’s Japan.  The music is not all that riveting nor memorable.  The plot is solid, though the girls are often off-task as they get past their clumsiness to be that well-oiled machine that gets the job done.  For the lesson’s sake, Taisho Baseball Girls is worth a look.

Story: 7.1/10

I don’t usually like movies and series set around this time (1925), but it didn’t seem to care much about being historically accurate and instead focused on being an entertaining light and adorable series which is something I’m really grateful for. And damn did I find this adorable! Besides Chi’s Sweet Home, this is probably the cutest series I’ve seen. The general story is in fact pretty weak, but worked really well, probably because it focused more on a light, cute & comedic touch here as well, and they certainly succeeded with that. It works great and doesn’t need to be anything more. What story it has also comes to a sweet conclusion. Although I would’ve wanted to see more screentime for Koume and Saburou since it was those scenes that were so incredibly sweet.

Animation/Artwork/Visual Effects: 7/10

I can start of by saying that visual effects (basicly what I call special effects in anime) are non-existant here. Both the artwork and animation instantly reminded me of Kamichu. The design of the female lead especially reminded me of the female lead from Kamichu. Although Kamichu’s artwork is on a much higher level if you ask me because of it’s fun creativity of the gods and spirits.

All the characters have very generic designs but it didn’t bring down the enjoyment of the show the slightest bit for me.

The animation is above avarage, though not far above. It doesn’t need to be higher here, but I guess it could’ve added a bit more excitement to the baseball games if it was.

Sound: 5/10

The BGM was avarage at best and there were some songs I really didn’t like. Below avarage for that. The voice actresses were generally unimpressive as well, but never any bad.

Characters: 7.25/10

While several (nearly all) characters possess some incredibly cliché qualites, it didn’t bother me at all. I mean, some characters have some more solid work to them, but definitely not all. I don’t know why it didn’t bother me. In fact, I liked them all. It may just be the because I like show overall, or it may be something like it’s directed more to my liking, although if that’s the case then I have no examples for it, because it’s just a guess. Bottomline, I liked them all.

Overall: 7.5/10

Besides loving how adorable this show is, I have no real idea why I liked it as much as I did. I didn’t laugh at it very often, although I did break out in laughter a few times. I did sat with a big smile on my face almost the entire time I watched it. So while breaking it down into pieces and slightly analyzing it, it doesn’t seem special at all (I may in fact have given it too high score in some places), but my overall enjoyment of this show is huge. To be honst, it’s one of my favorite shows this year, but because I can’t really figure it out I won’t give it too high of a score.