Ace of the Diamond Act II: Manga Volume 21 Reaction & Review!
Added 2022-07-20 13:01:05 +0000 UTC**DUELING ACE HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
Man, I went into this volume believing the outcome was SO obvious, but then...TJ had other plans, eh?
Yakushi vs. Ichidai Third in this volume may be my favorite non-Seidou matchup. The duel between Sanada and Kosei reaching a climax, both teams giving it their all, our sweet bean Raichi (SOB) and Sanada's calm, cool support...and then cutting back to Seidou to round out the bits from the anime and getting an EXPLOSIVE start to the Norikane game? This was SUCH a ride concluding one round into another!
Link to Reaction: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/zDW2fnyekiawyJhy9HJaSW?
Thanks for Reading With Me and for the Support!
Comments
Ugh, my confidence was UTTERLY SHATTERED in this. And yeah, I should have seen that “third time’s a charm” route coming, but I was so sure they’d win. UGH. I wanted them to win so badly, anyway! It at least makes sense now with Amahisa wanting to play against Sawamura. Amahisa is such an interesting character – I like that we get inside his head so much in this set of chapters! And the genius vs. the shark with him vs. Sanada – I loved their duel! The acknowledgement between those two was a *Chef’s Kiss* moment for sure! Now let’s hope Amahisa doesn’t try to get him to join LINE, too. And yesssss, of COURSE it had to be Raichi’s error! Right?! The way it shatters my heart! Hahaha! And yeah, the wording in parts of this was ROUGH. I feel like TJ said, “Well…if you don’t want Seidou to lose this game, I guess I’ll have to take it out on Yakushi.” T____T And wow, I hadn’t considered the TRUE parallels of Sawamura and Sanada until you said that; they would brush aside their own emotions at being upset so that they could help another out. Best aces, indeed! Although I agree, you’re never living down that “Random People” comment, Sawamura! I do agree that I love protective, brotherly Kuramochi a LOT in this! But YES, the eyebag trauma runs deep but I like to think it’s his lack of sleep as well. And yessss, the trust between Miyuki and Sawamura is wonderful! And Miyuki trying to play 4D chess with the umps was fantastic! Seeing his mind work in these scenarios is always so much fun! And yessss, that line about “this is what a battery is” is just so good! :) And seeing Shirasu in the spotlight was so wonderful – our boy definitely deserves the limelight! :) YESSSS, this game is one of my favorites and I can’t wait to see it animated! :) Even if it is going to be gut-wrenching! Thank you so much for the kind words and comment!!
Romaniablack
2022-07-26 20:53:11 +0000 UTCAh the gut wrenching ending lol. Knew it was coming, never fully prepared for it. It truly was hilarious for me to see how confident you were in Yakushi though lol. I feel like I didn't necessarily see them losing when i went into reading it but the fact that they had beaten Ichidai 2 times in the past made me think maybe this would be the time they didn't make it out alive. Besides the fact that we had gotten a decent amount of focus on Amahisa and how he wanted to play Sawamura. It's so interesting to see Amahisas spirit literally break down like that. We saw it in the last game against Yakushi too when he left the mound without a word and just sat in the backroom until the game was over but it's still sad to see him doubt himself so much. He's such an amazing pitcher and he does have too much pride but only when it affects his mentality like that. Otherwise I love that Amahisa has a lot of pride in his pitching and that he's always thinking about it. Genius indeed. It's so on brand to me that Sanada talks about their "violent impulses" lol. Like yes Sanada we get it. You're part of Yakushi. Chaotic team if I've ever seen one. And Sanada being noticed by Amahisa FINALLY is just so good. Acknowledging that Sanada is just really cool and that he's a core of their team in batting and pitching. I always find it fascinating what players Amahisa latches on to as interests lol. It really is just so heartbreaking that OF COURSE it was Raichis errors that cost them the game. Couldn't have been anyone else's. Nope. Had to be the innocent cinnamon roll that grew so close to Sanada and wanted to partner with him to bring home the win. I would've gladly taken any other player messing up lol Once again, this series is so harsh with wording lol. "Yakushis dream is crushed" is so harsh to end a chapter with 🤣🤣 It's actually shocking how dirty TJ did his original concept main team lol. They aren't the main team anymore but they once were and still TJ decided "nah they can lose now" lmao. So mean. Sanada really is my favourite ace other than Sawamura for this exact reason. He's the one who has to retire now and is disappointed but he puts that aside to comfort and help his underclassman that he KNOWS is crushed and going to blame himself. He knows Raichi so well and his little sigh was all he allowed himself to express in his disappointment. Best ace 😤 Sawamura will never recover from calling his team of over a year "random people" lol its good he's a loyal person but they aren't "random people" sawamura 😭 It happened at the end of the anime but I still love how protective Mochi seems of Sawamura when the other players were discussing how they hope he can get back to how he was before the summer tournament. I doubt he would've made a big deal about it but he seemed annoyed that they were doubting him so much when Sawamura himself was already going into it nervous. Big brother Mochi is best 👏🏼👏🏼 I think Sawamuras eyebags are definitely a result of no sleep lol the trauma runs deep but I think that's why they specifically mentioned he hadn't slept much lol I love how quick Sawamura is with trusting Miyukis calls. Even if he doesn't understand why he's calling for them he's not gonna shake him off unless he thinks he's being underestimated or babied. Just like Mei said from the fall finals, there's an inexplicable trust between those 2. Sawamura will never hesitate on Miyukis calls. One of fhe best things about this Norikane game to me is seeing Miyuki trying to figure out the umps strike zone lol. We hardly ever see that kind of situation arise so him quickly taking a pitch at the beginning to figure out how high or low a strike is for the ump is so cool to see. Any time we get into Miyukis head during like maintenance things of catching a game, i love it. "This is what a battery is" absolutely. They are the best battery in this series and I refuse to change my mind lol I also love getting to see Shirasu shine. Behind Miyuki, he's probably the best batter on this team honestly. The most consistent, the most diligent, and the most focused. We don't see him shine enough. I loved seeing your reaction to the end of the Yakushi/Ichidai game. It's an amazing game that will be so good animated. Until then I'll try to avoid Raichis crying face again lol. Can't wait for next week 🎉🎉
Kelsey
2022-07-21 07:11:53 +0000 UTCRIGHT?! The manga was rough enough -- seeing Raichi's tears ANIMATED? And Sanada comforting him? With the OST blaring? Pass the tissues! T__T
Romaniablack
2022-07-20 15:01:33 +0000 UTCWhen this gets animated, it’s going to hurt so much more watching Yakushi loose, since we’ll be able to hear everything.
Kamryn
2022-07-20 14:51:24 +0000 UTC
