Ace of the Diamond: Episodes 70-72 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2021-11-10 14:01:02 +0000 UTCOooooohhhh, *in tune with The Good Place meme* Seidou, we're in it now, aren't we?
Sawamura hits his lowest point in the series so far, as his fellow upperclassmen and Coach Kataoka try to do whatever they can to get him out of his funk (CHRIS SENPAIIIIIIII)...but Coach Ochiai just doesn't see the point in this "useless pitcher" (when I tell you my jaw DROPPED -- well, you'll see, anyway)!
Ochiai has his OWN agenda for taking the team to nationals...and...well, if Furuya was the MC, it'd be perfect! Now, with three episodes left of the season and the truth about Kataoka looking like it's about to hit the fan...I'm not sure what to make of where this season finale is going...hoo buddy.
LINK: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/NCDRfxBysJMnQUwQPczUwJ?
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Yeah, I was not expecting the pain of these episodes in addition to what we got last week! @_@ At LEAST there’s the hopeful moment with Chris, Kataoka, and Miyuki all watching over him! 😊 I agree! Watching 3 episodes at a time definitely helps with the cliffhangers, at least! It was definitely hard to see Sawamura in such a low state, and to see Ochiai write him off at first…I’m glad that Kataoka and the others don’t give up on him – they’re just trying to find a way to help Sawamura that doesn’t hurt his pride or make matters worse…our sunshine boy is pretty delicate at this point. It’s good that there’s a possibility it’s NOT the yips; it’s just Sawamura being psyched out extremely…you’re right, maybe PTSD isn’t the “best” term for it, but he definitely has anxiety and trauma from the entire incident. That’s a good call about Miyuki’s conversation with Kuramochi about the whole thing. And yeah, Ochiai has only seen post-Inashiro Seidou – it’s like someone coming into this anime after Episode 63, hahaha! Of course, he’d think certain things about Sawamura and Furuya at this point; it’s just frustrating because we know the “bigger” picture at this point. And yes, speaking behind Kataoka’s back…that was just not cool at all. ☹ Furuya I’m indifferent at this point, because he seems a little oblivious to it all, but the moment he asked for the ball on the mound from Sawamura, I got a twinge of dislike for his attitude, and the ace status has definitely inflated his ego a bit. I’m curious going into Season 2 how his character is going to be handled. And YES! Kanemaru was so good in these episodes! I see him as a Kuramochi-like figure for the first years; I definitely want to see more of him in season 2! 😊 hahaha, watch out Kuramochi, indeed! 😊 Thanks for the comment!
Romaniablack
2021-11-16 16:57:00 +0000 UTCNow you know that when someone says "it can't get worse", it always gets worse! >_< To be honest, it wasn't as painful watching these episodes as I'd thought it they would be. Maybe because the set ended on a hopeful note? Sawamura's not fully recovered by any means, but he has Chris, Kataoka and Miyuki all helping him in their own ways. I guess that is a benefit of watching them as sets. Of course, it's still hard watching Sawamura struggle. I just hate it. And not only is he struggling, he's struggling while Furuya becomes Seido's ace and Ochiai has written him off completely. However, maybe by seeing it again, I'm re-interpreting my opinion of the situation somewhat. When I watched this the first time, I was so consumed by Sawamura's trauma, I was like you and everyone else, wanting to scream "why aren't you doing anything?!". And while I'd like to think I'd be more proactive in their situation, I can see now that Kataoka and Miyuki are helping in their own ways. Both of them have faith that Sawamura can recover; if they thought he was useless like Ochiai, then Sawamura would have been dumped from the first string and Miyuki wouldn't have even bothered going to Chris for help. Kataoka in particular seems to know exactly what he's doing in modifying Sawamura's training regimen - he probably doesn't even need help from those conspiring kids! - and it's the best coaching/mentoring I've seen from him in a while. Now, I've given it a lot of thought and - despite what Ochiai puts into their heads - I don't think Sawamura has the yips. The key is Miyuki's remark after reviewing the video of Sawamura's form, "maybe he's being overly conscious of the inside pitch, and it's preventing him from throwing his arm down". I could go into a long and boring and diatribe about the nature of the yips based on everything I've read about them, but nothing I have read indicated that the yips are a result of conscious actions. At least as far as baseball is concerned, they seem to be despite any attempt at control. We also see Sawamura replay of either Raichi's first home run off of him or his dead ball to Shirakawa before any attempt to pitch, making in a stronger case of him /over-thinking/. While I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's PTSD, which I think would do a disservice to PTSD sufferers, there is definitely an anxiety issue at work. Finally, Miyuki would know that the yips are all but career-ending, and he wouldn't be able to say to Kuramochi that his "expectations for him are high" if Sawamura actually had the yips. As for Ochiai, I can understand him logically. Like Coach Todoroki, he's simply a coach for hire; he's not there to mentor the players or help them reach their potential, but to take take the team to Koshien regularly. Results are everything, and we've seen the power of the indisputable ace (although we've also seen him fall at the last hurdle) in bringing results. It's unfortunate that he's seen Sawamura at his worst and Furuya at his best, and made a decision off of that. But if we were in his shoes, and weren't all-in for Sawamura, would we really make different decisions? The only thing I can't forgive him for is being underhanded and speaking to Furuya and Miyuki with a clear intent to undermine Kataoka. I don't have as kind words for Furuya. I'm always somewhere between disregard, not like, and dislike when it comes to him; and it has nothing to do with being Sawamura's rival and pulling ahead and everything to do his self-centeredness. Even when he's "playing for the team", he's playing for his own self-satisfaction. That's why he's incapable of doing anything put pitch with full force; he's not satisfied doing anything else. At least earlier in the series, there were glimmers that he could actually prioritize the team and take satisfaction in leading the team to victory; but now that he's in that position of leadership, the team isn't on his mind at all. I've tried - I really have - to feel otherwise, but it's exhausting. Lastly, shout-out to Kanemaru. With the first impression that he gave us, who would have thought that he'd turn-out to be a such good comrade and a good guy. But he's been there actively helping Sawamura when even Miyuki, Kuramochi and Haruichi haven't been. Watch out Kuramochi, someone's coming after your position as best bro! :D
zeroantizero
2021-11-16 08:17:56 +0000 UTCBahahahaha – Chris did look like Robin Williams from Hook, just wanting to play ball with his son. :P But of course, I fangirled! I’m going to miss Chris-senpai soooo much. -_- And YES, I agree 100%; Furuya didn’t know the harm it did, but that line telling him to get off the mound was just HARSH. And Sawamura this unraveled and desperate; yeah, we haven’t seen him this far gone, and I really don’t want to see him like this again, if I’m honest. And yessss, no more bags under the eyes! I’m starting to get traumatized seeing them in this show because of their implications! @_@ May Carlos never feel the urge to keep a shirt on in this series. Hahaha, it’s one running gag that never fails to get me! I LOVE that Kuramochi is revealed to be so supportive of our sunshine boy, and so is Miyuki! Miyuki can be hard to read in how he feels about Sawamura, but these episodes definitely shows he CARES – he’s just trying to balance everything with being a captain and having to communicate in a different way than he’s ever had to…and I agree, it’s sad he had to bring in Chris-senpai to get the strategy to work, but at this point, Miyuki’s tried everything and Sawamura just needs his comfort coach, which happens to be Chris. Hopefully, one day, Miyuki can be a force to Sawamura like Chris is to him, now. Start taking notes, Miyuki!!! And Kanemaru becoming supportive of Sawamura, especially with how he’s been so far in the series, is really good! I definitely want to see more of him and Tojo in this series! And OOOOOH, so okay, Sawamura is #18 right now…that’s so cool! I love the subtle foreshadowing with that, perhaps? Considering they moved him up from #20, I think that’s intentional on the mangaka’s part! @.@ #tinfoilhattheorytime And yes, it’s a little too early to discuss captains when these are still first years, but thanks for the kind words about the sports anime comparisons! And YES! It’s clear that everyone in the staff is playing favorites at this point! Speaking of which… Ochiai definitely proved he was quite the opposite of Kataoka in these episodes. You can tell they’re walking on eggshells around each other because of how different they are and I agree, I’m not really on board with Ochiai’s style, here. Especially with a team like this. YES! Kataoka standing up for himself and his team and saying he’s not going to sacrifice everyone’s chances to make Furuya grow solo was so powerful…and then Ochiai went ahead and told Miyuki and Furuya his strategy?! Hmph. Yeah, I was staying neutral about Ochiai for a long time, but I’m not a fan of his moves this set of episodes, especially where it concerns Sawamura. And YES! You can tell Kataoka either sees himself in Sawamura or the potential in Sawamura that sometimes others can’t…he clearly cares…so when Ochiai calls him “useless,” Oh, that strikes a nerve. >.< And yesss, if anyone is like Mei stamina-wise, it’s Sawamura. Furuya may be like Mei in terms of being calm under pressure and having power in his pitch, but personality-wise, Sawamura is the less cocky version of Mei…though right now, it probably wouldn’t hurt Sawamura to be a little cockier. Hmm. And the yips sound TERRIFYING. Ahhh, that makes me nervous for Sawamura, definitely. ☹ But YEAH, next set of episodes, the OVA’s, and then we’re at Season 2! I can’t believe it!! ^^ Thanks for the comment!
Romaniablack
2021-11-12 22:12:56 +0000 UTCSawamura, I can see him being a “secret prodigy” – he’s not outright one that realizes he has natural talent, but yeah, now that you mention it, I remember Kataoka talking about his potential. Yeah, Furuya’s talent is easy to obtain but can become predictable – Sawamura’s the opposite; I think it’s going to take him a while to get it where it needs to be, but once he does, he will be a force to be reckoned with. And don’t worry, I’m a BIG Sawamura fangirl, so I just want to see him succeed and prove himself as the Ace. Of course, since it’s a long series and he’s the MC…it’s not going to be easy, is it. *sighs* I appreciate that view of him you laid out, though!! OOOH, that’s a REALLY good point about the Indesputable Ace theory, that I hadn’t even considered! Yeah, what if Furuya gets hurt? You have to have backup pitchers that are just as good…as we’ve seen with when Tanba was injured! Oooh, that’s a really good point to make, there. ^^
Romaniablack
2021-11-12 21:55:40 +0000 UTCYeah, I didn’t have a problem necessarily with Ochiai until he talked to Miyuki and Furuya behind Kataoka’s back. Not cool. And yesss, Baseball is a TEAM sport, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this style works if he’s put in as coach…hmmm…Mei was raised as an ace, but not at the expense of everyone else, indeed. That’s a good note about Miyuki’s opposite statements having to do with him being a captain vs. being a a catcher – now Miyuki needs to find a way to merge those two roles so he’s not saying contradicting statements, as Kuramochi points out. I’m glad we got that focus on Inashiro, in hindsight, as well. And ooooh, nice catch (pun intended) about the new battery catcher for Mei being introduced earlier! ^^ And YES!! This! Furuya’s only had to worry about staying on the mound to pitch, but as the Ace, there’s soooo much more to it! @.@ And I agree, his ego is inflated a bit and Ochiai hasn’t helped with that at all…I’m so nervous for this next set of episodes to round out season one, but we shall see, won’t we?!
Romaniablack
2021-11-12 21:51:30 +0000 UTCMan I knew you'd go crazy for Chris showing up 😂😂 he's so reliable and I love that scene so much. Shows up looking like a dad that just got off work and trying to bond with his son lmao. Ugh the beginning of these episodes when they show Sawamura being taken off is such a hard moment. Furuyas line there is probably the only time in this entire series I've ever been mad or annoyed at Furuya. I'm sure he didn't mean it to come across so harsh but it was just the worst thing to say to someone who's having a full mental breakdown. Like a little bit of tact would be nice lol. But Sawamuras face was just heartbreaking. It was so desperate and unraveled and you can tell the team has never seen him like that and it shook them a lot. I hate seeing him like that. I hope we never lose the naked Carlos storyline. It's a shining ray of light and laughter to me 😂😂 he's ridiculous. Imagining half naked captain Carlos is amazing. One of the hardest things for me is seeing Eijun with those same dead eyes that Chris had. Just no light in them while he was reading those books. Those paired with the crazy eye bags is just haunting. He should never look so torn apart. The Miyuki and Mochi scene in the classroom cracks me up every time I watch it. It's so confusing but funny. It's such a good moment for the brotherly bond between Mochi and Sawamura too since it really shows how far Mochi will go to bat (no pun intended) to help Sawamura. He knows nothing he says will help a pitcher since he's a short stop but he will try his best to make the captain and main catcher work harder to help him and I love Mochi for that. Miyuki being contradictory really just shows the war he has in his head about what a captain should be vs what he actually feels as the captain, the catcher, and someone who genuinely loves catching for Sawamura. Even to Chris he said there aren't many pitchers who are as appealing as Sawamura for a catcher. He wants that knucklehead back in business. You're right about Sanada being 18 and from what I know, in Japan professional baseball, 18 is actually often considered the best pitcher number. In high-school it's the #1 but up higher they use 18 which I think is really interesting. Ochiais coaching is so different to Kataokas and I think its shown pretty obviously in these episodes. I hate the sacrifice your team for 1 player approach regardless of who the 1 player is and I think you can see Kataoka hesitating with Ochiai a lot because he knows this will be the coach that takes control of the team after him but he doesn't agree with him for a lot of this. Sacrificing the team for any singular player removes an entire chance to make nationals left for the second years. At this point, Miyuki, Mochi, Nori, Zono, all of them only have 2 chances left in their high school career: Spring Nationals and Summer Nationals. To completely destroy one of their only chances left for Furuya is so unacceptable. The stand off where Kataoka says he won't sacrifice the team for Furuya alone is just so powerful and he sounded like papa bear right then lol. Yes Kataoka. Stand up for your boys. There's other ways to develop an ace and I think Ochiai purposefully sticking to one route and being so stubborn about it is such an ugly trait. Not to mention how slimy it is to undermine the head coaches choices to the players themselves. It's gross. Miyukis strategy for helping Sawamura was kinda sad to me lol. I love that he asked Chris to come in and help and that Miyuki recognized that he's not as good at being gentle about this stuff as Chris is especially with Sawamura and I think he knows that Sawamura would listen better with it coming from Chris (even though I think Sawamura would also have loved that advice coming from Miyuki as long as he was genuine about it but alas). Finally one of his strategies to help worked to give Sawamura some motivation and a goal to work toward. I like your comparison of sports animes and I think this one is the most realistic. It shows all these aspects and avenues that the rest of them don't show and it makes it just so much better to watch. With the captain discussion I think its important to remember that these first year's still have a whole year to grow mentally and physically to grow to be captain ready so even players who don't seem like they could lead, by the end of their second summer tournament, could be completely ready and set up to be captain. Kunitomos decision to have Mei not pitch was basically because of how much be pitched at Nationals. If you remember, the article title for them losing was about how Narumiya ran out of gas. He played majority if not all of their games at Nationals, probably all 9 innings on games he started. His muscles need to rest or he could hurt himself so I think its important to show that he's resting and taking a break after working so hard on the hot mound of Koshien. I also think looking at where Furuya and Mei came from background wise is important when comparing them as an ace. Ochiai wanting to raise Furuya to be a Mei wouldn't work. Mei always had a team. He knew how to blend in with his teammates and lead his teammates as a pitcher so he carries the ace number differently than a kid who's never had a team or been comfortable around teammates would. To only have Furuya pitch all 9 innings of all games would absolutely break him and break all functionality on the team. I love how much Kanemaru has developed. I dont know if you remember Kanemaru at the beginning but he was the one in class with Sawamura who told the teacher that Sawamura wasn't part of their team, that he was a trainee and he was also the one fighting with Sawamura in the 1st year vs upperclassmen game about literally everything Sawamura said lol. But they've come quite far. Now Kanemaru worries about him and wants to help as much as possible. He's grown and I'm glad he did. I love their friendship. You're right in that Kataoka is very fond of Sawamura. It's very obvious when you really watch how he responds to Sawamura. I've long thought that he saw himself in Sawamura and that he appreciates Sawamuras spirit and his heart. I think he has to be quite impartial as a coach but he does have a soft spot for him and wants to help him as much as possible. This is like the second or third time that he's personally gone in the batting box with Sawamura to see his pitches to help him and you don't see him do that with any other pitcher. I love it lol I also think it's hilarious that the coaching staff all have their favourites. Ochiai is a Furuya fanboy, Oota (the manager) is a Nori fanboy, and Rei is a Sawamura fangirl. Adorable. Last I wanna touch on the yips a little better. The yips are absolutely a real thing and they're dangerous for athletes. It's not just in baseball either. They also come out in golf, cricket and gymnastics (though they're called the twisties in gymnastics). It's basically an intense psychological issue that results in loss of ability to execute certain skills in athletes. They lose fine motor skills and the psychological issues impact your muscle memory and your decision making. They're very serious and in a ton of cases they're career ending. There is no sure fix to them and doctors still struggle with explaining them or treating them. Pitchers have fully lost their baseball careers to them so its really bad that Sawamura got them. Just wanted to give some context to them since they're so serious. Anyway, I'm excited for the reaction next week. Almost to season 2 and I'm very excited about it 😊
Kelsey
2021-11-11 03:33:23 +0000 UTCEven though none of the characters have said it in the show I'd say Sawamura is a prodigy too like Furuya IMO. Like other sports anime, they also portrayed/hyped up Sawamura as a really talented MC when they first showed his pitching style (natural moving fastball). There was this episode too (I'm 100% sure about this btw I just can't remember which ep exactly XD) where Kataoka pretty much said that in terms of potential alone, he might have has the most of them compared to all the other Seido pitchers. There's this thing too that I've thought about this show for many years now when I first watched it is when considering Sawamura's and Furuya's strength when it comes to pitching, I'm no expert in baseball but Furuya's way of pitching on how he just tries to overpower his opponents with the fastballs is something that can be developed easier compared to Sawamura's control oriented pitches. You guys might say that Sawamura has a really bad control but I disagree when you compare him to Furuya, He already had better control than him during the summer tournament considering he can consistently throw inside pitches and not just "throwing randomly everywhere and hoping to get the batter out because they can't hit your very fast pitches". Lastly, Sawamura didn't have proper baseball training too like Furuya prior to going into High School so just imagine how high up their skill cap is when they already proved that they can perform well against higher year opponents during their first year. I know my comment comes off as a huge Sawamura fanboy but hopefully, I did point out some logical and said some justified things too XD Also, I almost forgot to say, there's a huge flaw about the "undisputable ace" strategy, and it is when considering Injuries. No matter how good a player is, being injured is something that you just can't do anything about and also will be unexpected. It is always good to have someone as backup ready just in case, better yet that backup is just as good if not better than the one that he/she replaces with.
John Smith
2021-11-10 17:21:50 +0000 UTCI hate that little gollum coach so much. Talking bad about the Coach’s choices behind his back to the players is so childish and disgusting. Undermining the Coach’s decisions to the players is not good no matter which way you see it. Plus I hate his coaching style of only dedicating time to the players he thinks have the greatest potential to the point of sacrificing the other players. Baseball is a TEAM sport & his coaching style doesn’t foment growing and playing as a team. Instead, his style is to make his greatest players grow and have them carry the entire game without the support from the other players he fails to help grow. And I hate it! 😭😭 And, yes, like you said, Mei was raised as an ace BUT the Coach didn’t sacrifice Harada, Carlos, or any of the others in order to do it! I think Miyuki’s opposing statements to Kuramochi at the start was Miyuki giving his opinion as the Captain first of putting the team above individuals and then, secondly, his opinion as a catcher whose job is to help his pitchers. The Innashiro scene was so important to establish the different struggles teams face when starting a new tournament. Teams like Innashiro and Seido who made it very far into the previous tournament have less time to practice and blend in with the new players that replace the third years in the new tournament. On the other hand, teams that got eliminated early on have less game experience and thus, less opportunity of growth in games. I found it interesting to see how winning can also affect teams moving forward. ps. The “new” first year catcher that will be forming a battery with Mei was already on the rooster last season. We saw him talk a little at the hotel night before their Nationals final. But of course we never saw him playing because Harada was, like Miyuki, their star catcher. Furuya breaking down makes so much sense because until this moment his only care has been how to prolong his time on the mound. HOWEVER, now that he’s the ace, he’s going to have a LOT of more pressure on his shoulders which he’s why he’s too focused on pitching perfectly and pushing himself way too much. And, the fact that Sawamura can’t pitch, also adds pressure since it’s one less person that can support him if he gets in trouble. Plus, getting the ace number probably inflated his ego a bit. 😅
Melanie Marie
2021-11-10 15:51:16 +0000 UTC
