Chiyo’s fanboys, strike outs, old Ren VS new Ren, hitting or not hitting forkballs, Tajima’s weakness?!, Hanai’s competitive side, pitcher and catcher getting closer and closer, and Kanou’s secret in…

Ookiku Furikabutte 04 – Play 「プレイ」

The Mihoshi players eye Ren intently as he takes the mound for the first time. For the first pitch, Abe calls a fastball straight down the middle to serve as a little wake up call. Abe wants the Mihoshi player to know that this is not the same Ren from middle school. Mikagawa swings the bat as he tries to evade Ren’s pitch. The Mihoshi bench starts to jeer, telling him that it would not hurt even if the pitch would hit him, not knowing that the pitch made a good sound with the mitt just now. Mikagawa knows that it would definitely hurt if he would be hit.

When Ren’s confidence is about to waver, Abe and the others cheer him on. Ren refocuses, realizing that Abe has already taken to account his limitations, thus he will just have to trust Abe’s judgment. A slight change in the batter’s stance catches Abe’s attention and he calls the pitch accordingly. Mikagawa makes his way back to the dugout after retiring at the second pitch. He shares that Ren is not pitching like he used to and he even has some speed to his pitch now.

Being told by Kanou, that he would have trouble hitting Ren’s pitches, bothers Oda. Oda finds it hard to believe that it would be hard to hit Ren’s pitches, because it is only due to the catcher’s skill that the pitches are giving out a loud sound and Ren’s maximum speed is only a mere 110 kph, moreover, Ren’s form is not good. He comforts himself with the thought that he might have a problem hitting the pitch because it is too slow.

On the way to the dugout, Ren praises Abe, who is the reason why he has been performing well thus far. Shortly after, Nishiura goes on the offensive. Up first is Tajima, whom Hatake eyes with curiosity because he is rather small for a clean-up hitter. Abe is surprised that Tajima refused to hit the first three pitches making the count 2-1. Abe anticipates that the forkball will be coming next and apparently, so does Tajima, who hits a double. “YES!” The Nishiura bench is elated and starts to cheer. Momoe gushes, happy that the guys are finally starting to look like a team.

With no outs and a runner at second base, Hanai prepares himself to bunt as soon as Momoe instructs it. However, Momoe tells him to hit as he pleases. Momoe wants to know how Hanai will do on his own, so she will know how to utilize him later on. The count comes to 2-1 again and Hanai has yet to hit the ball, which causes Momoe to think that maybe Hanai is just all talk. Hanai takes a swing at Kanou’s forkball, but misses.

A dejected Hanai takes off his batting gear. He thought he could hit the forkball after seeing Tajima do it earlier. Momoe instructs him to think of what he will do the next time he is at bat, as he missed out this time around. Momoe then calls the attention of the other players. She tells them that though Tajima is, without a doubt, an outstanding baseball player and clean-up hitter, he still has things he cannot do. Because of Tajima’s small built, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot hit homeruns. This means he needs everyone’s strength to score. After hearing this, Hanai realizes that he should have taken one for the team. He swears that he will do better next time.

Abe approaches the mound and tells Ren that since the bases are empty, he would like to collect some data on Oda, the tall guy with Kansai-ben. He warns that Oda might hit the ball, but not to worry, they will just have to deal with it when it comes. With Abe on his side, Ren knows that all he needs to do is to concentrate on his game.

Oda takes up bat. With no attempt to swing after two pitches, it seems to Abe that Oda was told to only observe Ren’s pitching. Having that in mind, Abe calls for a curve ball and the count goes to 1-2. Abe calls for another curve ball, though, this time Oda takes it, but ended up foul.

Startled that Oda hit the pitch, Ren recalls how he had faced far fiercer batters by himself. It is different now. This time, he is no longer alone. Abe’s analysis is interrupted when Oda tells him to give him a fastball and that if he does, he will not hit it. This confirms Abe’s suspicion that Oda was asked to observe Ren and as promised, Oda did not hit the fastball. Abe took that stunt as a sign that Mihoshi is not taking them seriously and with that, handing them the win.

After striking out, Oda quickly goes to find Kanou to talk about Ren’s “floating” ball. Meanwhile, Hatake gets ready to bat. Seeing Hatake causes Ren to remember painful memories. As he looks to the catcher, he is relieved, knowing that no matter who it is, Abe will always be there to lead him. Hatake retires after the first pitch because he misread Ren’s screwball for a straight. Though Hatake might be the most troublesome hitter, being a catcher and playing with Ren for 3 years. He will not pose a threat if he keeps on belittling Ren’s abilities.

Kanou divulges the secret to Ren’s pitch, which he was able to discover after practicing with Ren back in middle school. Apparently, the speed and angle of Ren’s pitches are an unusual mix and causes many players to miscalculate and thus, causing them to miss. Back in middle school, Ren managed to strike out many players using it. However, they always attributed it to be the batter’s fault. Eventually, the players would connect with a hit every time once they got the pitch down pat.

Oda is puzzled that their players are missing. Kanou promptly replies that it is all because of the catcher. The catcher has been reading their hitters perfectly and accurately predicting their actions. Oda shares that since he knew he could not hit Ren’s pitches, he casually asked Abe to give him a fastball. Hearing this, Kanou’s mood quickly turns sour and asks if Oda intends to win this match or not. Kanou never believed that Ren became an ace as a favor and he knows that he can never win against Ren. Alarmed at the possibility of losing to Ren again, Kanou desperately pleads to Oda to help him win this match.

Ren receives a flood of praises from his teammates after successfully striking out three batters. At the dugout, Ren expresses how he enjoys being a pitcher and being on the mound. Abe gives Ren the good-guy-pose and tells him that he is enjoying being the catcher as well. Momoe interrupts this heartwarming scene to tell them that it will only get more interesting from here as the game is only just beginning. Ren looks back at the mound and silently tells himself, “Yes, she is right. I still have a lot of pitching to do on that mound… a whole lot more.”

Thoughts

I was hoping for more progress in the game and maybe a homerun or two being scored. That was not the case, but we were treated to some solid developments.

I think Ren did not cry at all in this episode, that is a big improvement. With each episode, we are seeing a stronger and more confident Ren. Also, we see the Nishiura players slowly becoming more and more like a team. One of the more exciting scenes was when Tajima was at bat. He intentionally waited for the forkball to prove that he could deliver as promised. I really enjoy Tajima’s character. I think it is great that he was not only made to serve as a comic relief, he was also given mad baseball skills. But even though he is quite talented, he still needs the help of other players. This makes Tajima a very likable character because his situation is not so farfetched from reality.

Abe was also very exceptional in this episode with him perfectly reading the batters’ body language. At this point, Ren is still being used as a puppet and just throws as instructed. I wonder if there will come a point where Ren will start calling the shots and whether Abe will give him enough liberty to do so.

Although not mentioned in the summary, I found the part where Chiyo’s fanboys came to the announcer’s booth, to give her refreshments, quite amusing.

Kanou surprised me the most in this episode. I always thought that he was like the other Mihoshi players in that he also looks down on Ren. From what I can see, Kanou is an excellent pitcher himself, so I am really curious to know how Ren managed to beat Kanou. Hopefully, more of that will be explained on the next episode.

As many of you might have noticed, my thoughts are more on the character development side because I am not familiar with baseball. Baseball is not popular from where I am from. Thus, to fill that void, I have requested somebody from Animesuki to share his know how on baseball science, so we may be enlightened. So, expect some input on that soon. Alternatively, if anyone of you would like to shed light about it, please feel free to do so. I am sure some readers would be interested in knowing the mechanics and details behind Ren’s pitches and the other core baseball stuff going on.

BL moments

• Ren admiring Abe for being a great catcher
• Abe and Ren whispering to each other on the mound when Oda was about to bat
• Near the last scene where Ren tells Abe how he is enjoying being a pitcher

Episode 05 – Don’t Slack Off 「手を抜くな」

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