Seven days and counting...

Kara no Kyoukai DVD 6 releases in 7 days. Oh the wait...

Well, in the meantime there's Cross Game. What's that you ask? An anime I was very pleasantly surprised with. It's about baseball and how it brings some friends into an unlikely relationship. I went in to it half-expecting a Suzuka rage-fest, but it turns out that Cross Game is far more interesting and the characters are a lot of fun.

Cross Game is about a boy named Ko, whose family owns a sporting goods store. Ko shares a birthday with his best friend Wakaba, the second of four sisters that are friends of Ko's family. They also run a batting-cage and coffee shop, so Ko visits them often to deliver product. Ko and Wakaba are the very best of friends, and plan to get married when they get older.

Unfortunately, Wakaba drowns while away at summer camp. Before she left for camp, however, she tells Ko and their other friends of a dream she had of all of them participating in the Koshien (a major High School Baseball Tournament in Japan). Ko doesn't think much of this, but his friends are very much inspired by Wakaba's dream.

Ko happens to be a baseball prodigy, however, he doesn't particularly care for organized sports. Ko's disinterest in baseball is a contributing factor to Aoba's (the 3rd sister) disdain for him. The two of them have a very awkward relationship.

After graduating middle school, Ko is recruited by his childhood friends to join the high school baseball team. The story revolves around Ko's team of underdogs as the 'farm' team and the "first stringer's" that the acting principle of the school has recruited to make himself famous. Another part of the story is the slow relationship building up between Ko and Aoba. Aoba has spent a long time trying to figure out what her sister saw in Ko to make her love him so much. It should be noted that Aoba absolutely loves baseball, and Ko holds her in very high regard when it comes to knowledge and ability.

The animation on the show is well done, and the characters are fun and interesting. Some of the more minor characters are a little flat or cliche, but that's to be expected. The show is at its best when it's not focusing on baseball, but when it focuses on the lives of the characters and how the interact with each other off the field.

If you've seen Code Geass, you could say that Ko is to baseball as Suzaku is to Knightmare combat (and ass-kicking in general).

Needless to say, Ko is a god among baseball players. From a suspension of disbelief standpoint, his feats are rather ridiculous. However, it's nice to have a truly badass protagonist from time to time.

Cross Game is definitely one of the better shows aired last season in Japan (though it's still ongoing).