Major Season 4 Review

story 6.5/10

From the start, Major has provided non-stop excitement by alternating expertly between gripping sports clichés and more-than-decent character tragedies. On top of this, it offers one of the most phosphorescent protagonists to date, Goro Shigeno, whose adventures have been blessed with the kind of golden streak other long-running shows would kill for. Now, having faced all the challenges Japan has to offer, Goro takes his ambitions to America, a country which nurtures big dreams and baseball with equal fervour. For Goro, and the series as a whole, the setup just couldn’t be better, right?

WRONG.

In this season, Major morphs into an uncomfortable combination of aimless nostalgic flashbacks and tedious character studies, all presented without any galvanising focus. The story jumps from mini plot to mini plot, recounting the lives of characters that never meant that much to begin with. In one episode Komori struggles to bond with a little league team he coaches, and in the next, Taiga tries to step into Goro’s shoes as Seishuu captain. Fans with a lingering fondness for the previous supporting cast might find catching up with several of them a delightful experience. However, without Goro motivating them to perform miracles, their listlessness will just frustrate most.

Regrettably, Goro’s personal development – when the story eventually meanders back to it – makes for poor compensation. In contrast to his previous adventures, his glory-seeking in America lacks much of that relentless positivity fans have come to expect and is only intermittently enjoyable. With events proceeding in fits and starts and him struggling more than usual to attain his goal of the Major Leagues, his trials are often painful to follow.

This throws up the customary question: what does this season lack that the others did not? And the answer is: decent enemies. There are no Black Triangles here, no Kaido Highs, but merely fuzzy dreams of the Major Leagues and the disconnected personal dilemmas of mediocre characters. As a result, the external baseball conflicts have become less important and are tacked on to the end of each episode more out of tradition than genuine purpose. Providing Goro and his adopted team a distinct external enemy to defeat would have done much to focus the story and avoid these problems.

In a more general sense, Major also needs an injection of fresh, exciting plot ideas to reinvigorate the stagnating pace. In the great tradition of long-running series, Major seems to have used up all its best reserves, and recycled themes that once felt intense now appear trite and ham-fisted.

animation 6.5/10

The colour palette is bolder, but that appears to be the only difference between this and the preceding seasons. The character designs and environments still lack detail and retain that childish sketchy appearance; however, Major continues to show high regard for movement, and the baseball games still look smooth, well-timed, and highly convincing.

sound 6.5/10

The musical score, used mainly to catalyse the tension, is just about functional. Only two themes stand out on their own merits (or lack thereof): the first is the ear-grating opening theme, whose lead vocalist sounds like Mickey Rourke with a phlegm complaint; the second is the cheesier but highly addictive stadium rock chant used for Goro’s climactic games.

The voice acting, on the other hand, is decent overall, and Goro’s voice actor continues to perform well despite the less engaging script. Only the mangled Engrish used during Goro’s first few weeks in America mars the cast’s otherwise enjoyable performance.

characters 6/10

Once, Major constituted an inexhaustible store of loveable characters, but not anymore. Instead of new, eye-catching teammates to explore, Major S4 prefers to dredge up the tired heroes of the past. Considering the series has tended to leave characters behind whenever Goro embarks upon new challenges, this sudden onset of nostalgia feels unnatural. Moreover, apart from Shimizu and Toshiya, whose catch-up episodes remain somewhat involving, few of the others provide anything other than tedium.

The characters that do represent newness tend to suffer shallow development and corny problems like racism, injury, and flagging careers. Either that or, in the case of Gibson Junior, they’re just not sympathetic enough.

overall 6.3/10

With substantial portions of the story chronicling the banal lives of characters best left behind, and Goro being less than dazzling, Major S4 feels as though its creative engines have become sluggish. Worse, rather than taking the central protagonist in exciting new directions, it dredges up the past in order to bask in its dimmed reflected glory. One hope remains, however: after a disappointing effort, Major S4 eventually gains some momentum in the last few episodes. Hopefully Major S5 will prove a full return to form, making this instalment a temporary blip in an otherwise excellent run.