There are poignant moments in Cross Game I feel like capturing in some way, in any way possible, such that I will NEVER EVAR forget them even for the years to come. Time is fleeting, and unless we do something to capture the momentous events in our lives (or even the mundane, taken for granted special moments), they’ll be gone with the wind before we know it, or at least, they’ll be just there in our conscious/subconscious memories. Similarly, in watching animes, unless we do something to sort-of immortalize this whole ‘journey’, have it materialized to something less abstract, we run the risk of forgetting them, or forget what really made it so AWESOME or memorable in the first place — unable to pass it down or share with other people.

Add that to the list of reasons Why I Blog — to keep track of my ‘journey’, not so much to leave a legend or imprints in the minds of people, but for these to serve as “checkpoints” which I’d look back to years from now and see what has changed from that point onwards. Or just to see how I viewed things during that time, either for self-awareness or for pure ahh~nostalgia (or to answer future questions like “Why the heck did I give this series a 10 again?”). For me to… remember love, or something. Life would be a waste if we take it for granted, if we let it slip by simply unnoticed.

This one’s for you, Cross Game.

Episode 1

Episode 1 remains to be the most emotionally moving episode out of the series for me, and it becomes all the more BAWWSOME in a rewatch (after having seen the subsequent episodes) because then you’d be able to grasp the significance of what happened back then — the “bigger picture” behind it all. Everything happens for a purpose, and we’d realize that after a brief change of perspective to see things from an optimistic light. The characters in Cross Game are well aware of this, and it shows in their actions — how they’re living the said purpose.

Episode 5

Despite the pathos-inducing quality of the first ep, episode 5 remains to be my personal favorite, if only because of the number of “moments” it had that I want to capture and share about.

Basically, by the fifth ep, Akaishi and Nakanishi have already “discovered” Kou’s baseball prowess, and Akaishi agrees to train Kou in preparation for their entry into high school baseball club (which is a lot tougher than it sounds, given the whole scheme by the interim principal and his ambitious dream of Koushien for Seishuu High — which is also, not as noble as it sounds), but under one condition: that Nakanishi also get back to the baseball club together with Kou. Nakanishi left the baseball club sometime back due to an unfortunate event, but he still continued training on his own, and Akaishi knew that well (If I didn’t know any better I’d say Akaishi has ESP).

So one time during their little winter vacation practice game, Nakanishi wondered if there would be any place for them in their high school baseball club, considering they’re not really part of the “elite baseball team” especially gathered for the said Koushien ambition. Akaishi wasn’t the least bit worried, and I really like his take on this:

“If there isn’t [a place for us], we’ll just have to create one”, Akaishi said (and I’m assuming that ‘one’ = ‘place for us in the high school baseball club’, not necessarily creating their own baseball club). Easy as that.

Many times we think about “fitting in”, wanting to blend in a group, at times, compromising our very own principles, character, alienating ourselves in the process. And this little quote made me think… that perhaps it’s not really a matter of “fitting in”, but rather creating a place for ourselves in society (or in a group or any organization) where we can be ourselves, and be accepted for who we are. Of course we have to be aware of what’s socially, morally and ethically right, but that’s beyond the scope of what I’m talking about. “Fitting in” implies that there are requirements we need to fulfill in order to become part of something, and would more often than lead to us trying to create this whole new identity just for the sake of it.

I think I had this “fitting in” mindset back when I started blogging (I would’ve made my elementary/high school days as an example, but that would be too cheesy, and I think I already mentioned a bit about that here and here.), and found myself trying too hard and experiencing burnout in the process. In the end, it’s all about finding out what it is that you really want, how you want to blog, not simply because it’s the “cool thing to do” or that it’ll make you “popular”. Side comment: To those who watched Haruhi season 2, you need not follow the cool kids who rave or rage about it, you need not try hard not to do so either, if that’s what your heart tells you to do. Just don’t be affected by other people’s perceptions, look at it from your own point of view, and formulate your own opinion.

And now, back to Cross Game!

This collar-grabbing scene is yet another golden moment (pardon the exaggeration) in episode 5, and bateszi has summed this up pretty well (I hope bateszi doesn’t mind me copy-pasta-ing a big chunk of his post ).

When Aoba makes a typically thoughtless remark about her younger sister, Kou, rather than use his usual tactic of shrugging it all off as if it’s nothing, roughly grabs at Aoba’s sweater and glares straight into her eyes, freezing her with a look of utter disdain. No words are exchanged for a few seconds, Aoba is speechless; she was wrong and knows it, while Kou is just trying to say that she crossed the line. The moment passes and things go back to normal, but it was so surprising, and a heartfelt show of emotion for Kou.

A rustle of emotions captured with this simple moment of silence; behind the silent stare and exchange of glances, emotions are moving, characters are changing… simply beautiful.

Momiji knows exactly what she’s talking about

And last but not the least, is Momiji’s dream of a distant past, back when she was still in kindergarten.

Once upon a time, Momiji comes home from school, excited to tell her sisters that her drawing was chosen to be the best in class that day. She wanted to share her joy, make them proud, and a whole LOT more. But alas, they were too busy to even notice her Ichiyou-nee was busy with the cafe, Wakaba and Aoba were busy doing the laundry and cleaning the bathroom, respectively, and Momiji could do nothing about it. “It can’t be helped”, she probably thought.

Luckily enough, she found herself in the good company of Kou, who not only listened to her babble about her closest friend Ma-chan and the drawing activity they had in school, but was able to see right through her sadness — she was longing for her mother. Proud as Momiji was that her drawing won 1st place in the class votation, she felt as though it wasn’t really because her artwork was so AWESOME, but more like because of votes of sympathy from her classmates. “Momiji must be sad… let’s vote for her to cheer her up”

And what better way to cheer Momiji up but to make her see that there are people who care for her, or that Kou cares for her, and that it’s great to be alive. Playing around, fooling around (not *that* kind of fooling around mind you)… there’s a lot to celebrate about life. Momiji never felt so alive after having found someone who not only listened to what she has to say, someone to serve as a witness of her life, but also played wrestling with her in the park — have her very existence and worth as a person reaffirmed. “You’re more than just a person who lost her mother, you’re someone surrounded by friends, and have a family who loves you; you’re someone who could only gain so much more in life.”, is what Kou probably wanted to tell her.

Ichiyou, Wakaba and Aoba could only stare in silence as Momiji tells them how she spent her day with Kou. They’ve never seen her this happy TT___TT

Oh the healing power of listening… one simple act might be enough to change a person’s life radically, the very turning point of their lives.

No man is an island, no man can live all by himself, and having family and friends who are there to support you and hear you out makes life all the more worth living.

And now for a moment of self-indulgence. Just recently, I encountered a *little* stumbling block in my life, probably God’s way of opening my eyes to reality, or how foolish we can be when it comes to this one emotion many of us are tsundere about, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if my friends weren’t there to support me. I might’ve remained trapped in a limbo, unable to move on, if not for them (and their painful slap of reality check). Now that is over and done with, my friends are more than happy to see that I have moved on, and well, things can only get better from here!

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