Ace of the Diamond: Episodes 41-43 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2021-09-08 13:01:02 +0000 UTCWe've made it to the Semifinals! I'll miss Raichi and Old Man Todoroki, but we have a new quirky coach and MAKI! The super tall, super...envious? Pitcher with a vendetta against Seidou! Our boys are going to have to pull out some new tricks if they're going to take on this new challenge!
Also, I finally hit a terrible cliffhanger! **shakes fist** It was only a matter of time, wasn't it?
LINK: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/e9Y1SiwUrgdbT4ZVirTfc3?
Thank you for watching with me, and for the support!
Comments
Oooh, thank you for the recommendations! I've had Kuroko and Prince of Stride on a previous sports anime poll (that Ace won), but I hadn't heard of Captain Tsubasa (funny it's the same name as the boy in Stars Align that has soccer-playing brothers) so I will add that to the poll choices list! :D :D
Romaniablack
2021-09-10 20:56:19 +0000 UTCoh speaking of sports anime there is 3 that are really good that i recomend one is captain tsubasa its a soccer show but great show lots of episodes, there is kuroko no basket, if uou add up all the seasons theres alot of episodes too and lastly is a parcour sprinting anime with 12 episodes called prince of stride:alternative
lud_genesis
2021-09-10 19:39:05 +0000 UTCOoohh, yeah, my brother was all about the 2000's show -- I'd want to play him at Pokemon Cards, and he'd only play me if I'd battle him at Yu-Gi-Oh! Haha, fun times. My brother and I were deeefinitely more like Kuromochi and Sawamura when it comes to sibling dynamics. I think often it's when academics or sports are involved or the parents are pushing the sibling to be "as good as the other sibling" -- so it'll be curious to see if we ever get a glimpse of Haruichi and Ryosuke's parents. But yeah, Ryosuke comes off as harsh to Haruichi, who is practically a cinnamon roll, so it made me hard to like his character at the start of this series, too! I'll be interested in seeing how they develop character-wise as the series goes on. And yeahhh, Sawamura and Miyuki -- I'm sooo excited to see where their dynamic goes as well and develops! We're at the halfway point of season one, and I feel like we're slowly taking a turn with the character development as well! :)
Romaniablack
2021-09-09 19:56:36 +0000 UTCOh, yes, I forgot about that cliffhanger for me. It had to happen eventually...and I would not be able to hold back from continuing immediately. You've got my respect! Yes, in a box somewhere are probably 1,000+ cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh card game. I was a big fan. But only the original early 2000's show, not the spin-offs. I don't have any siblings myself, but many of my friends do, so I've heard of sibling rivalry. From their experience, it's like you say, usually the younger is trying to out-compete the older; but here it's the other way around. And it's definitely not a two-way rivalry here, because Haruichi seems to only admire Ryosuke. (And to make matters worse for Ryosuke, on top of natural talent, Haruichi is already taller than him at this point...) And maybe it's because I don't have siblings, but I can't really understand the need to compete with them; so I find Ryosuke comes off as unnecessarily harsh, and it makes it difficult for me to like him. Contrast that to how Sawamura and Kuramochi interact; that comes off as a typical brotherly relationship: a little bullying, but supportive when they need to be. You said it, I'm all for Miyuki x Sawamura - their chemistry is just too much for me to even stray to competing ships very often. And Kuramochi x Wakana would be cute, and Sawamura would never escape his "brother-in-law". :D
zeroantizero
2021-09-09 18:37:39 +0000 UTCI definitely agree that the "break" episodes are important breathers in between games! I always kind of look forward to them -- and my brother is a HUGE Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto fan, so he finished both series, too, but probably completed Yu-Gi-Oh! easier (man the "Main Three" anime are doozies, length-wise, aren't they?!). YES! That genuine smile from Miyuki was so nice! I am fascinated by Miyuki's hesitancy with Sawamura compared to Nori and Furuya, but I was glad that he seemed much more sincere in trying to cheer him up, here. :) I LOVE the brother dynamic in this episode between Haruichi and Ryosuke -- it's fascinating and a twist that the OLDER brother is trying to step out of the younger's shadow, when it's so often the reverse. And I think it's both -- Haruichi has to fight for that spot, and Ryosuke has no intentions of giving up his place he believes he's earned. Hm... It IS weird that we skip ahead so much in the game, but I'm okay with it -- and HA! Oh, I'm a Miyuki X Sawamura shipper, too, but also multiship -- I would LOVE if Kuromochi made a move -- go for it, Kuromochi! :P And yeah, while I miss the Todorokis and Yakushi, I'm very interested in the Sensen coach and how the match is going to go down with his views of Kataoka and his players, and of course, that cliffhanger!! I can't wait to see what's going to go down! :)
Romaniablack
2021-09-09 12:04:25 +0000 UTCI'll admit that, although they aren't my absolute favorites, this set and some of next week's are the episodes I most often repeat. I like that you say that the show is still fresh. In terms of absolute length, the longest show I've enjoyed from start to finish was Yu-Gi-Oh (the subbed version; I only got to see a few episodes of the dub) at 225 episodes. Besides that and DnA, nothing I've watched to completion is longer than 50-52 episodes. (I emphasize "completion" because, while Naruto is longer, I became exhausted by it and have never finished it). I put those in to compare because I think it's hard both for the writer and the animator to keep us engaged in such long stories, but they've done it successfully to far - even though Episode 41 starts on the same day that began in Episode 33! I think these "break" episodes are important because it allows the characters (as well as us) to stop and synthesize what they've experienced in the crucible that are the games. If we only have the games, I think the subtleties become harder to see through the action. But here we get to reflect. Speaking of reflection, during the review session, we see that while the life is back in Sawamura's eyes, he's not completely recovered from Raichi's home run. It's interesting to me because we have never seen him take a loss so hard before. (It almost comes across as out-of-character). It would have been a good point to delve more deeply into his train of thought since I want to know whether Sawamura's disappointment with himself is simply due to failing the coach/team on a personal level, or whether it's due to gaining a sense of his responsibilities towards the team. If it's the latter, it makes me think that - at least subconsciously - he never really believed his middle school team could make it to Nationals, since he didn't react this way back then. And of course it's Miyuki who pulls him out of his funk. Despite his teasing (and joined by Chris in doing so; the betrayal! :D) and his failure to prevent his collapse earlier, Miyuki at least knows when he needs to be straightforward with Sawamura. And I think he's being honest behind his teasing since that small smile he gives Sawamura after the coach selects him for the game might be one of the most genuine expressions he's had; and I'd like to think it's pride that Sawamura's proven himself. Now, if only he'd be a bit more encouraging like he is with Nori later, but at this point Sawamura might think Miyuki's been replaced by an alien... The other reflection we get is between Haruichi and Ryosuke, both in the present and in the flashback. While we already know that Ryosuke feels threatened by Haruichi, to me the flashback makes it clear that Ryosuke chose Seido so he could get out from underneath Haruichi's shadow - like if they were competing directly, he believes he could lose. And I wonder whether him telling Haruichi about the number of bench members is a challenge ("take it from me, if you can") or a warning ("I'm going to Koshien, which means you're being left behind"). Moving on to the game and Seido's next opponents, Sensen, I first wanted to point out the change of venue and the fact that - for the first time, I think - the game is being announced! I don't know about the field Seido's been playing in so far, but the semi-final is in an IRL baseball field - Meiji Jingu Stadium, home of a NPB pro team (as is Hanshin Koshien Stadium, whose team has to give it up every August to a bunch of high-schoolers...). It's rather perfunctory that it's already the the bottom of the 3rd inning before we see any of the game. But it's nice to see Sawamura's old teammates. We left them on such a sad note. And Wakana, I'm sorry, but judging but how that flashback interrupted your scene, Sawamura only has eyes for Miyuki. But I think Kuramochi is available...(I think I might have let my MiyuSawa shipping show...) :D I can't say that Maki, Ugai and Sensen are the most compelling opponents; certainly not compared to Yakushi and the Todorokis. We've moved past the true under-dogs, and now we have those who just miss out on being top dog. What is it like to be good, but just not good enough? I think resentment would abound there, and Maki displays it perfectly. As does Coach Ugai, who I would note says "Seido-sama; the great Seido", seemingly condescendingly, when speaking to the reporters. He's probably coached for longer than Kataoka has been alive, but has he ever coached a nationally-winning team? Sawamura coming to the mound and bringing his problems with him is very much the better story. He's breaking down again because he's afraid of breaking down again. That's some lovely irony. Hopefully, Miyuki riling him up has made him angry enough to overcome it...
zeroantizero
2021-09-09 05:24:26 +0000 UTCHahahaha, if I could have worked it in this week, I almost would have! This is the first cliffhanger to really get me -- I'm surprised it's taken this long to get here, haha! Yes, I'm glad you bring up that Miyuki isn't the "best communicator," which is true -- his charm and trolling only goes so far, but he's learning what he needs to do to motivate Sawamura just as he does Furuya -- and then Tanba...well, he just seems to tolerate Tanba and vice versa, ahaha! And YES! I got the jealousy factor in the Sensen coach too against Kataoka! It's funny, because like you said, he's just created his own monster in having players that can't think for themselves, unlike Seidou. Ahhhhh, and yes, he's being a helicopter coach! Haha, instead of Kataoka, who trusts Miyuki will make the right plays to the pitcher! VERY interesting! I miss Coach Todoroki already, but I'm interested in seeing how they handle Maki in these next few episodes, and especially how this pitch from Sawamura goes down! hahaha!
Romaniablack
2021-09-09 04:30:38 +0000 UTCI think its safe to say no one would complain about a bonus reaction video this week if you want to watch another 3 😂 for real though, some of the cliffhangers in this show are nasty lol. With what you said about Miyuki bringing in his tough love, you're absolutely right. Miyuki is learning how to handle Sawamura really well and what motivates him and what he needs to hear to pump himself up and get himself moving properly. Yes it's good to break the tension but it doesn't really help focus him and Miyuki knew that. He's not the best with communication but he does know how to motivate pitchers really well. He knew Sawamura felt like shit about leaving the Yakushi game the way he did so the way he questioned if he was gonna run away again was absolutely the push he needed. I really don't like this Sensen coach lol. He talks about how his team has an inferiority complex but then says he doesn't trust them and that sometimes they're great and sometimes they suck. Obviously they're going to have an inferiority complex when you don't trust that they can play properly. Even if they had that before they got to Sensen, it's the coaches job to instill confidence in them to let them know he thinks they can do it. The idea of Kataoka being a "green" coach is a reoccurring comment because he hasn't coached for very long but I feel like the Sensen coach has a lot of jealousy towards Kataoka having players that can make their own decisions (even though I think he's the one perpetuating the habit). Also, I think you caught it but the interesting thing about Sensen that also just continues to show that he doesn't trust them is that he calls the game for the pitcher and catcher. That's why he was making signals to Maki. Whereas in Seidou, Miyuki makes all the choices and the calls and it goes from catcher to pitcher, at Sensen, it comes from the coach. The catcher will call the individual pitches but the coach decides if they walk a batter, face him head on, try a pick off, all of that stuff. Extreme levels of hovering lol.
Kelsey
2021-09-08 23:27:48 +0000 UTCAhhh, that was SUCH a "I'm about to end this man's whole career" moment!! :D Haruichi really said, "don't judge me!" and we got to see his eye(s) again! Yes!!
Romaniablack
2021-09-08 16:29:51 +0000 UTCOther team’s Coach: “He doesn’t hit far” Haruichi: “I am about to end this man’s whole career” & *Almost hits a home run* 😂😂😂
Melanie Marie
2021-09-08 16:01:43 +0000 UTC
