3-MINUTE HAND HOLDING, forkballs, confessions and more confessions, life-changing game, the amazing Tajima, batting order, arm breaking, these and a whole lot more coming right at you on…

Ookiku Furikabutte 03 – Practice Match 「練習試合」

After practice, Momoe finds out from Ren that the other pitcher at Mihoshi throws forkballs. Guilt washes over Ren as he recalls how his former teammate Hatake, often stayed after practice to work on catching forkballs with Kanou, yet they never got the chance to be paired because of him.

Back at the rest house, Momoe announces that they are going to have an exercise to train their observation and coordination, which will help them quickly process the things happening around them as they see it. She shows them a small board and explains that they must point numbers 1 to 25, which are randomly placed inside a 5×5 grid, in order as quickly as they can.

Tajima, as usual, is the first to raise his hand when Momoe asked for volunteers. Tajima clocks in at an amazing 7.9 seconds! Momoe is shaking out of sheer gratitude and happiness that Tajima decided to come to their school. She then instructs the others to pair up to do the exercise and that those with the best times get first dibs on the batting order.

Abe and Ren end up being partners for the exercise. Ren, however, is obviously out of it because he lacks sleep again. Abe wonders if Ren is having a good time being on the team, since it has been 4 days, but it seems that they have not bonded at all. On top of that, Abe is disappointed that despite his worry for his pitcher, Ren still manages to lie to him. Before Abe walks off, he gives a stern reminder to Ren that he should follow his signs tomorrow and not attempt to throw the power pitches or else they will lose. To Ren, everything he says only seems to anger Abe, thus he refrains from talking. He fears that if Abe will stop giving him signs, there would be no point in having left Mihoshi.

The day of the practice game has finally come. Momoe is slightly surprised that the rest of the team, except for Ren, does not look nervous at all, despite this being their first game. Abe notices that Ren’s is so freaked out that, even without using the power pitches, his control is way off.

The Mihoshi team slowly makes their way into the field. Kanou, Mihoshi’s pitcher, waves a friendly hello to a familiar face—Ren, who quickly escapes to the bushes. Hatake, Mihoshi’s catcher, did not expect Ren to be pitching still, much less come back to Mihoshi to play against them. He tells Ren bitterly that they will never forgive him for making himself an ace and for making them lose for 3 straight years. Abe walks in on them after Hatake tells Ren that it would have been better if he had broken his arm.

Abe approaches the sobbing Ren and tells him that he should not stay quiet about what just happened. However, Ren defends Hatake, in that he only wanted Kanou, who everyone in the team likes and is a better player, to pitch. Momoe’s words flash before Abe’s mind and he clutches Ren’s hand and tells him that he is a good pitcher. Ren’s initial reaction, though, is disbelief and calls Abe a liar.

Abe cannot believe how easily this worked on him with Momoe, his thoughts are momentarily disrupted as he notices Ren’s cold hand. He shifts his attention to Ren’s calloused hand, evidence of Ren’s hard work and self-training to fine-tune his control. Mihoshi booted Ren off the team without even knowing and realizing how hard he has worked. Ren’s sobbing stops as he looks at Abe’s trembling hand.

As Abe wipes his tears from his eye, he tells Ren, once again, that he is a good pitcher and that he likes him, not just as a pitcher, but, as a person because he has worked so hard. A feeling of wanting to help Ren and wanting to become his strength overwhelms Abe, “Is this what it means to be a catcher?” he asks. Ren’s hand begins to warm up as he finally pours his heart out to Abe, telling him that he loves being a pitcher and that he wants to win. Abe reassures Ren that they will win. Relief sweeps over Ren knowing that Abe truly acknowledges him. Ren goes on to say that he likes Abe as well!

On their way back to the dugout, Abe and Ren meet a tall Mihoshi player with a Kansai-ben. Ren shares that Mihoshi has athletics scholarships, thus recruits players from other areas. At the dugout, Abe promptly asks for Mihoshi’s lineup and asks Ren to pinpoint the players whom he does not know, which totaled to 4 players.

Kanou calls out to Ren and shows him his forkball grip, which gets the attention of the other Nishiura players, and proceeds to showoff his forkball pitch. Abe asks if Tajima could hit a forkball. Tajima, with confidence, answers that there has not been a pitch he could not hit. Momoe comes over and emphasizes how important this game is, as it will decide whether Ren will be part of the team or not. “Let’s win and get our ace!” she shouts at the team huddle.

Abe ponders on the impact of the result of this game. If they win, it means that Ren will truly become one of them, if they lose, then Ren will never be able to get over what has happened to him in the past. Consequently, Ren will not be able to take that step towards changing his personality and it will be too troublesome to handle him day in and day out. Thus, Abe pleads to the team to win this game for Ren’s sake. Hanai tells Abe that the team never had any intention to lose, but he also understands what Abe is trying to drive at—this game will decide their pitcher’s fate. One after the other, each expresses their intention to give their best during the game. Momoe looks on, happy that the team sees the bigger picture and the purpose of setting up this particular match up.

The game finally starts with Sakaeguchi first at bat. He bunts the first pitch towards third base after noticing the third baseman is too deep at the field. However, Kanou rushes towards the ball and throws the ball in time to the first baseman, thus giving Nishiura their first out. The Nishiura players are impressed at how calm Kanou is on the mound. Next at bat is Oki, who also retires at the first pitch. Abe is third at bat. After delivering 2 strikes and 1 ball, Kanou switches to his signature forkball pitch, which Abe easily misses. Nishiura switches to the defensive.

On the way back to the dugout, Abe silently admits that Kanou truly is a good pitcher, but he swears that next time he will hit his forkball. Ren is already waiting for Abe and offers to help him put on his catcher’s gear. While Ren assists Abe put on his shin guards, Abe tells him not to hide behind him because once he is on the mound, there will be no place to hide.

Thoughts

This was a very nice episode and we were treated to a lot of character development here (and *ahem* other kinds of developments, if you know what I mean). Once again, through the acts of the Great Momoe, we have come to know that Tajima is truly exceptional. He finished the exercise at 7.9 seconds, which is utterly amazing, since I tried to do it, but could not finish it in less than 20 seconds. I also thought that he sounded so cool when he declared that he has never met a pitch that he cannot hit.

Abe’s character matured so much as a catcher in this episode, even emerging as a leader that the other players are willing to listen to. He finally understands his role as a catcher. He even got the chance to employ the teaching of the Great Momoe on how to build up confidence and understanding (through the holding hands technique). I thought it was quite moving that he rallied the team to Ren’s side and even pleaded to the team to give their all for Ren’s sake.

I am really happy that Ren has gained some friends and even confessed his love for Abe in the process. I think that his personality will be better and we will be seeing a less whiny Ren come next episode. Even though, Ren would seem to be an annoying character at first glance, I do not feel that way about him at all. He does not cry for any reason at all, he had a painful past and was ostracized by his former teammates. Anyone with that kind of experience would be scarred and the result of that would be his submissive personality.

Again, I really, really liked the developments that happened in this episode. I got goose bumps when the team huddled up together and pumping themselves up. We even got a taste of the game, which will be the concentration of the next episode. I haven’t read far enough into the manga to know the outcome, so I am as excited as you are. Things are really starting to heat up, can’t wait to see the next episode!

BL moments

• Abe holding Ren’s hand for a good 3 minutes!
• Abe telling Ren that he loves him as a person!
• Ren reciprocating Abe’s love and the confession afterwards!

Episode 04 – Play 「プレイ」

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