Major Season 4

[VivisQueen]

Originally Posted by vivafruit

Episodes 19-20:

I'm surprised you're as taken with Gibson jr. as you are. Maybe I've just seen too many of them, but tragic flashbacks of antagonists seldom work for me anymore. In this case I mainly played gameboy, looking up occasionally to see if Gibson Jr. had stopped whining yet. Before I knew it, the episode was over >_>.

With the tedious backstory out of the way, episode 20 is great. I agree, ridiculous bets are where it's at for shounen anime. Looks like my prediction of an epic final battle between Gibson Jr. and Goro will end up being true.

Tedious??? Come on, it was far more interesting than the tripe they've been serving so far. The reason I like Gibson Junior is that he seems to have a genuine grievance. Wonderful cliche combination of messed up parenting and family death. Honestly, though, the best thing about him is that he finally gives Goro a REAL challenge. All this internal agonising and 'I FAIL AT BASEBALL!' shit was getting on my nerves.

And that was hardly the prediction of the century, viva...

[VivisQueen]

Eps 21:

Goro is injured (oh noes!). His pitching speed increases. He wins. The circle of life continues.

But where's the gyroball when you need it?

Ep 22:

Strange as it may seem, I've always had more sympathy for Toshi than Goro (well, since the second season, anyway). Toshiya is far more the reluctant hero who carries the needs of his grandparents first, and I love that a lot about him. Goros more ME! I'M THE HERO ME ME ME! which, in season three, got on my tits, and in season four just proved an impotent attitude considering he keeps losing... or winning predictably. This change to Toshi, in my view, is very welcome. He presents a genuine inner journey and I look forward to seeing whether he learns to think of his desires now that he's brought his grandparents to a place of pride and security. Moreover, his development is the only original and interesting one thus far. Go go Toshiya! ^_^

Also, isn't Mayumura awesome?! Didn't realise I missed his stony expression so much.

[vivafruit]

Ep 21:

Is it just me or are they using the "OMG injured" plot device waaaay too often? It seems like every season Goro has some injury that he has to overcome. Granted, this time it plays a relatively minor part, but it's still a little irritating that they haven't found a new way to inject excitement into a boring sport. I sometimes wish for more of what made Ookiku Furikabutte entertaining; that series had terribad characters but made up for it with amazingly detailed strategy. Major is usually "let's pitch 3 fastballs," which certainly has it's place, but gets tiring when repeated ad nauseum.

Yes I realize I just whined for an entire paragraph but this was a pretty good episode. Unlike most of the episodes this season, this one was actively entertaining instead of just passively watchable. I'm glad the season has found its niche again; wussy crises of self-identity are for the girly shoujos, not the manly sports shounen. :P

Ep 22:

This wasn't actually that bad, especially compared with the previous Toshiya episode, which was boring as balls. I'm not exactly sure why I liked this, but I will admit that Toshiya apparently can carry an episode better than I thought. He's better than KOMOORRRRIIII, that's for sure.

[VivisQueen]

Oh, so you DO like the wussy search for self-identity. I mean, it's not like Toshiya was spending the entire time going YEAH LET'S KILL SHIT WITH MY BAT!

I don't think the series has completely found its niche, in all honesty. The problem is that it'd take something fairly spectacular to make me fall back in love with this season, because the damage is done. I just expect every episode to be shit, and when it isn't, I just feel relieved, not excited.

And yes, the injury thing is probably the most overused gimmick in this series. You know, I miss the interesting enemies. Do you remember the Black Triangle of season one? Hahaha. I keep thinking 'Where the hell are the awesome enemies that make you go "oooooh! Goro will NEVER defeat them! Oh wait, he just did!!!!!"'

[vivafruit]

Man, you're totally right. This series needs like 200% more Black Triangles. Anyways, yeah, the Toshiya episode was substantially more entertaining than the other "who am I?" episodes. I think as a whole it just had better execution than the others.

[VivisQueen]

I am totally lost. I think I've missed out an episode somewhere, but after ep 102, I have a little rant I'd like to get off my chest:

OH MY FUCKING GOD GIBSON IS A FUCKING DICKSHITE BASTARD FUCKER!!!!

*grunt grunt grunt*

As well as murdering the best dad of all time (*sniff* Shigeharu Honda *sniff*), he just tramples all over his own son like he's insignificant. WAY TO FUCKING BE A SHIT FATHER YOU WANKER!!! Oh... my... God... I haven't raged about a character like this since Gendo Ikari, and even then, at least you knew Gendo was evil and would lose.

I have this horrible feeling Goro's gonna win and poor Junior's never gonna get what he wants. And I don't give a shit about Goro right now - he's getting on my tits with his cliches and general 'Why would I quit with this injury? I'm Goro! I never quit!' I swear the guy hasn't had a serious problem since his dad died. Urgh. Just... so angry.

I hope you die, Joe 'Fucktard' Gibson!!!

[vivafruit]

Yeah, the Toshiya ep is 23. Your confusion caused confusion on my part, domino style >_>.

Anyway, 24:

I don't get your hatred for Joe Gibson; it's simply not the reaction I have at all. When I hear Joe Gibson Jr. whining all I can think of is, "man up!" Anyway, this is another good episode. Joe Gibson continues to be awesome.

[VivisQueen]

Originally Posted by vivafruit

Yeah, the Toshiya ep is 23. Your confusion caused confusion on my part, domino style >_>.

Anyway, 24:

I don't get your hatred for Joe Gibson; it's simply not the reaction I have at all. When I hear Joe Gibson Jr. whining all I can think of is, "man up!" Anyway, this is another good episode. Joe Gibson continues to be awesome.

Joe Gibson is a shit dad. Jesus, what more do you need to be the filth of the earth?

When i think of the most awesome character, I think Shigeharu Honda, and he was an awesome father. He'd never treat Goro like that. Honestly, young Junior had a point - the guy split up his family for his own selfish emotional needs. Then, as he grows up, Gibson just completely blanks him. I don't see Junior as a whiner, I see him as a bitter, angry guy. And I like angry guys - I always want them to win. Which they don't, because Goro always wins. And that just annoys me. A Goro win means a Gibson win, and Gibson is shit on my shoe. -_-

[vivafruit]

25-26:

A good ending. Goro didn't really even win, so don't feel too bad about the whiner losing. :P Overall I'm excited to see what season 5 offers.

[VivisQueen]

-_-

Wow. Goro won because the bat broke. Not because his pitch failed, but because the bat broke. That was such major fail, or, more appropriately, such Major fail. I actually cannot believe it. In the final few minutes, it got as intense as some of the best parts in previous seasons, but then the bat broke and I just rolled my eyes.

This season on the whole left me feeling very frustrated. I didn't like anyone, not even Goro. I think the most emotional I got was feeling rage at Joe Gibson. Heh.

There was just a whole lot of losing on Goro's part followed by a whole lot of winning, again on his part. Not even a training montage to explain it.

Considering that by the end I wanted Junior to at least get some kind of smug win, and knowing that Goro would never lose because the story's already decided he's a winner all the bloody time, I seriously lost interest.

By the way, unless there's a promise of Joe Gibson dying painfully in the next season, I will keep my expectations low.