Had I stuck with my initial “plans” for Sunday — writing backlogged blog posts, tweaking the blog theme, or studying for the upcoming JLPT — it would’ve turned out dull and boring (and totally geeky =P). But I slacked off, and got enticed to watch the last two episodes of One Outs instead (despite the lack of english subs for episode 5), turning my day a bloody GAR-awesome-filled one. And now I feel like leaping through time to watch episode 6… fast!! (episode 6 is out by the time I finished this post lol) Though I ended up neglecting my “plans”, I have no regrets~!

One Outs may have started on a seemingly depressing note, but it took a turn from episode 3 onwards, as it finally steps out of the shadow of its misleading predecessor Kaiji. It’s at par with Akagi in terms of the badass awesomeness, and could very well outshine it, as it’s shaping up to be its inspirational yang counterpart. That I can assure you, Sasa. One Outs has the same effect on me as Skip Beat, it seems, in terms of making me brim with energy and optimism to face whatever adversities I have atm, or that I will encounter in the near future. The screencaps down below serve as proofs of this. These pictures might not paint a thousand words, but they are powerful, unless you’ve grown tired of seeing these words of wisdom.

Toa certainly has a way with words, just like his brother Hiruma, making both of them GAR and BADASS charisma-filled.

Yes, we all need the drive to succeed — the drive to pass JLPT, for example, which should be reminding us JLPT takers to go cram mode as the exam is less than a month!! Hopefully, I’ll enjoy the “cram ride” as I pressure myself to memorize more kanjis and vocabs, yeah! I’ve already come up with various ideas to make this fun, details of which I hope I can delve into in another post.

Underdog stories always provide much room for GAR-ness.

You’ve probably heard this line a thousand times already, but I believe it’s something you shouldn’t get tired of. It’s a timeless mantra!

There were more quotable quotes in episode 5, and I was forced inspired to translate them due to the lack of subs:

“…you haven’t been thinking of trivial things like ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ in this game, have you? There’s only one thing you should think of right now, and that’s whether or not you’re fit to call yourself an ‘ace pitcher’. This game does not concern the team, the batters, or the spectators. Pitch for your own cause.”

Reassuring words, enough to rid a team-mate of his doubts and fears.

“The ones we’re up against are not the Mariners of the past, but that of the present. What you’ve simply been doing is looking at the Mariners as they were yesterday, and cowering in fear at the sight of them now… If you think that past data can predict the outcome of this game, then that means our team […] is bound to lose against [them] […] If you want to win against the current Mariners, you’d have to rely on nothing else but what you see of them right now.”

Past data isn’t necessarily useless, but if you get dwell too much on it, you’ll most likely end up overlooking opportunities at present and in the future, and the results will become predictable even before the game begins. ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER!

Despite the lack of attention One Outs is getting, it remains a solid watch for me. Sports anime bias aside, perhaps one of the reasons why I’m enjoying it so much is because I’m a baseball noob. That way, I’m able to look past the “stupidity” of the series which baseball fans like omo are able to notice and find off-putting. Then again, seeing how baseball fans (in the person of sho, who’s been playing the sport ever since he was a little tot) could actually enjoy this series makes me think that we can’t simply arrive at the conclusion that “knowing less about baseball will make you enjoy this more” nor can we say “you’re less likely to enjoy this if you’re a baseball fan“, though it can be a good pessimistic forewarning to whoever you’ll recommend this series to.

The biases must lie somewhere else, outside of the whole baseball realm, outside of gambling, even, seeing how those who’ve come to like this series aren’t really “gambling fans” per se. While the common remark about One Outs that “It focuses on the gambling aspect rather than the sport itself” is valid for the most part, I don’t think it quite captures the essence of this series. If you care to dig deeper, you’d see that apart from “baseball” (or “sports”), apart from “gambling”, or the “mind games” — at the heart of it all — is a team, unable to escape their fate as ‘losers’, until finally, after years of living under the shadow of their past, they find hope in Toa — the harbinger of their long-awaited comeback.

The gambling aspect makes this all the more COOL and SPICY. You have the Lycaons team all set for the much-coveted championship title, on one hand, and the team owner who’s now doing everything he can to prevent that from happening, all for the love of money, on the other (stupid as he is for thinking that Toa is stupid, heh). A pretty exciting tug-o-war, if you ask me.

You need not be a fan of baseball, sports animes, or gambling (or otherwise) to like One Outs. In fact, all you probably need is a thirst for excitement (or for GAR-ness), a penchant for underdog stories, and most importantly, eyes and a heart that hasn’t become jaded and is still able to enjoy a show for what it’s worth, despite the borrowed archetypes and the “been there, seen/know that” ‘clicheness‘. I guess this really is shaping up to be the TTGL of sports animes, as Owen speculated.

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