MIX

Franconator Oct 17, 2019

6

You’d think the era of old-school baseball action was stuff produced by an era long done, but then a show like Mix comes along and upturns all your expectations entirely. This is a show that looks like something that should be told only in sepia tones or black and white-colored flashbacks. But stand back, let the creators blow the dust off this thing, and marvel at how fresh this bygone can be, if you just let it. This is a baseball story that focuses on a main trio of characters: siblings bound by name, but not entirely by blood. Much like the show itself, the kids are bound to a past that was not of their own doing, even if practically everyone around them expects them to live up to the expectations set by this weight. Baseball runs through these siblings’ veins and America’s favorite pastime is all these three Japanese teenagers ever think about. It’s baseball in the membrane, at all hours, every day, and for the average sports nut, it’s a deal that sounds pretty much like heaven on earth. But the look backwards can only go so far, so don’t be surprised if all the references to an earlier manga series or the previous years get ahead of you and leave you in the dust. Mix is a show that likes to bask in its own nostalgia, and it’s a trait you could forgive at first, but it’s also a novelty that runs out quick. Everything about this is easy and soft, and while this is a good refresher from all the typical manic-paced sports anime, there comes a point where laidback can roll over and give way to something much lazier. Like the old man at the bar who never shuts up about his glory days, Mix can never seem to stop stroking its own ego by bringing up a bunch of things from the past it expects you to remember. The show does a lot of talking and does so in the most chilled-out, unassuming way, that sitting through an episode can almost make you feel the sweat pool in your pits, as you sit through a hot summer’s day that brings you all the way back to simpler times. Which is such a shame too, considering its baseball action is some really top-notch stuff. When Mix decides to sit up and flex its baseball muscles, there’s little else you can do but sit back and admire the spectacle. All of this show’s money shots can be found on the baseball field, right in the thick of cheering bleachers and the tense shoulders of teenagers bearing their own dreams of making it to Koshien. Too bad all that stuff grinds to a halt when Mix thinks of doing a little more somethings for its characters – set to unnecessary fanservice and the occasional chuckle-worthy fourth wall breakages.  All in all, there are worse places you could go to watch baseball. Mix sure loves its origins and doesn’t really make a secret out of it, but when it goes all baseball on you, it really means business. I’m just not sure if I’ll still remember any of this in the long run, however.