Ace of the Diamond Season 2: Episodes 43-45 FULL LENGTH Reaction!

I was betting you were going to take that back with Kataoka and these episodes! It’s so bizarre; I think he does care about them…but he lets that pride of winning get in the way of what comes “after” the game…I can see why he makes that call, but I don’t like it, either. And that’s a good point about Nori – if there’s something I don’t get in this entire game, it’s why Kataoka was SO harsh on Nori. You’re right, even Mei was kinder/more sympathetic – I still don’t understand why he was so harsh on Kawakami, but not so much on Miyuki….it’s a head scratcher for sure. :/ Miyuki did the “white lie” set up where he said that he was “hurt,” but played it off as a joke. It IS frustrating watching this team act a certain way when we have seen how Tanba and Chris’s injuries have impacted the team. *sigh* But yeah, our poor oblivious sunshine boy just doesn’t get it. Of course. If he knew, he probably would be the one TO tell Miyuki not to play. Hm. I agree, though, Rei knows what’s up! An absolute queen, she is. It’s funny you bring up backstories – in this series, I’m always on edge now when they happen, because we know they’re going to lead to an epic moment or a horrifying shut down…AOD, making that blood pressure rise, haha! I do really feel bad for Nori, though. He didn’t deserve that stern talking in the moment. At least we have Kuramochi and Haruichi having an amazing double-play to bring Seidou back! I love it! I love that note about Raichi leaving the mound and Sawamura coming out to it! <3 Sawamura is CERTAINLY a different person than he was at the start of this season. And as much as I liked Raichi’s chaos as a pitcher, if he stays a batter from here on in the series, I’m fine with that. 😊 Finally, YES! This season has been an awesome “bridge” to letting the third years go slowly-but-surely, and introducing the new players! AKAMATSU – I need to remember his name or I’ll keep calling him Shinji. He’s the one I’m probably MOST excited for, and that’s a verrrry astute note; anyone that can get on Mei’s good side that easily…hmmm…may have ulterior motives. I’m VERY excited to see how that goes down next season! And that’s an interesting note with how these players got to their schools of choice. 😊 very interesting! Thank you for the comment!

Romaniablack

Well, that was quick. I gave credit to Kataoka last set, and now I have to take it back. This is the second time he's let an injured player continue playing. Once is enough. Twice proves that, despite whatever else he may claim, he doesn't actually care about the players. Not even giving a "condition" to Miyuki playing on if he doesn't drag down the team is exonerating because Miyuki has already done that. But what's especially galling is that he comes off as trying to be encouraging/indulging towards Miyuki when he was uncharacteristically and, in my opinion, unnecessarily harsh with Kawakami; like it was Kawakami's fault that his hand was numbed trying to hit. I mean even /Mei/ is more sympathetic to Kawakami. And as for Miyuki. It turns out that he didn't just hide is injury, he outright lied to Rei and Kataoka about it?! That's at least disqualifying as captain in my opinion. Now that Chris (and literally everyone else except Sawamura, who thinks Miyuki is just in a slump; oh, Sawamura) knows, I really hope that he gives Miyuki a stern lecture after all of this. The only truly reasonable one here is Rei, and I really wish that she would become coach somehow. Hell, I'd take Ochiai at this point. Kataoka is unfit to be a coach. Getting off of my soapbox, I continued to be impressed by Kawakami as a starter. He only had to be pulled when he because physically incapable of pitching due to the numbness in his hand. We had to know something very good or very bad was going to happen when we saw some more of his backstory. The thing about backstories is that, like a double-edged sword, it can cut two ways; and this time it metaphorically cut off Kawakami's hand. Raichi won that home run before he even stepped-up to the plate. But I absolutely don't blame Kawakami for it, and as I said above, I was aghast at how harsh Kataoka was with him. I was also very much impressed by that that double play Kuramochi and Haruichi pulled off. That takes a level of skill, teamwork and trust that can only be built up with constant practice. And even though most of the 'hype' moments have been during the offense, that was definitely hype. But the most important part of the set is Sawamura coming to the mound, and Raichi leaving it. Sawamura might as well be a completely different person to Yakushi, with full control of the ins and the outs and a larger selection of pitches. Mostly importantly, he's far more confident in himself. In contrast, Raichi finally feels the pressure of the batters and crumbles in the face of it. Having experienced that pressure, I doubt we'll see him again as a pitcher. Up in the stands, I like that Season 2 has been used to set-up for the next year. We finally get full names for all these new characters as well! Okumura, another Yuki and Seto -Kaiba-! :D And I don't know what to say about this Akamatsu guy. Maybe he's harmless, but I don't trust anyone who can manipulate Mei so easily. :D It's also interesting to see how casually these players talk about saying "yes" or "no" to prestigious schools, compared to Sawamura, who won fate's lottery, and Furuya who had to get into Seido the hard way. We kind of saw it in Miyuki's backstory episode, but it's really re-emphasized here that there's whole levels of baseball that we've missed by focusing solely on high school.

zeroantizero

RIGHT?! I can’t believe we’re flying through the last of these episodes and YES! OVA’s!!! I’m so excited! Koushu is SO edgy already; and SETO (I forget his name haha) – I love their dynamic already, and I’m SO curious how Koushu is going to deal with the sunshine beam that is Sawamura, hahaha! Maybe he’ll want to catch more for Furuya, since they seem to have similar personalities? Hmmm… OUCH – that sucks about that ball and injuries from it! I never played softball, so that whole scene just felt painful. Yikes – and exactly, Nori can’t catch a break this season! And poor Zono, he DOES overthink things sometimes and lets it get personal, which I can relate to…our dude; it did hurt to see him thinking like that in this. It’s going to take me some time calling him Akamatsu instead of Shinji! He seems so sweet, but hmmmm….maybe TOO sweet to be true? 😊 Hmm, a secret sniper would be interesting – so much sus, but it’s going to be VERY interesting to see how his dynamic forms with Mei and Inashiro. None of them seem very “secretive” and are pretty outwardly expressive divas, haha! ESPECIALLY with Mei, who was CLEARLY looking down on everyone in this episode! I love how snobby he can get like in these episodes! I love that double play as well! I can see how anyone would use it in the “Watch AOD Demo Reel” haha! I also love how Mochi is keeping Haruichi on his toes and making him keep in the moment! 😊 That teamwork developing is so great! Yeah, it sucked seeing Yakushi underestimate Sawamura, which is why it’s so satisfying later when we see our sunshine boy make them eat their words…yes, keep underestimating him so he can prove you wrong! 😉 It’s not like Sawamura knows they think that…and our boy being oblivious to Miyuki’s injury! That’s the only thing I think would keep him from being the Captain his 3rd year, in how he doesn’t notice things like that, but maybe he’ll work on that this coming season! 😊 Ahhhh, okay, that makes sense about their positions – we rarely see them take a pitcher out and then put him back later in the game, so I was curious. That is a great scene with Miyuki and Kataoka and a nice callback to Ryo and how this moment is DIFFERENT than before – and it helps to establish that trust Kataoka has in his players. Yeah, Miyuki is the type to hide, seemingly, if he’s hurt physically or mentally, so it’s an interesting character moment to think about with him. BUT YES! VERY excited for this week! Thanks so much for the kind words and comment!! :D :D

Romaniablack

Damn only 6 episode left already. Thats crazy lol. Never forget the 2 OVAs though 😭. I love how visibly edgy Koushuu is lol. Boy hardly talks but you can tell he's just always so passive about everything lol. Like he's there to watch his future high school either win or lose the finals and he's still just sitting there like he watching paint dry. It's so funny in comparison to Seto who's just so excited about everything. What a friend match up lol. Noris hand injury is honestly so relatable and so normal. I used to play softball and hitting the ball that close to the handle is a different type of pain. The ball vibrates through the bat with every hit but when it's that far down the barrel it vibrates straight through your hand. I've had bruises on my palms from hitting too close too the handle and it really does numb the whole thing. You can't push off the seams properly when you can't feel your fingertips. That scene makes me cringe every time cuz I feel the phantom pains of it lol. Nori can't catch a break. Akamatsu is such a kiss ass lol. Getting on the aces good side before he even gets there. Cmon now 😂 he seems very sweet but I also get such psychopath/serial killer vibes from characters that are that nice and pure lol. Like what are you hiding under that smile sir. You can't be this friendly to everyone without wanting something in return or expecting something back. I'm very sus about him. The Mochi/Haruichi double play is probably in my top 3 plays of this season. Its so good. It's also a play that people who watch daiya will show their friends to get them into the show lol. Universally people love it and realize how good it was and honestly how difficult it would be to do for teammates who don't have complete and full trust in eachother. Haruichi had a habit of taking it easy with these plays and playing it safe but Mochi isn't letting that slide anymore and I'm glad Haruichi caught up. I hate the way Yakushi talks about Sawamura in this game lol. "The southpaw we destroyed". It makes me wanna scream "it really wasn't you who destroyed him. He was mentally traumatized from a different game and it actually had nothing to do with you" but none of these other teams knew that he had the yips and still none of them know so I guess I'll let it slide. Every shot of Mei in this game has him looking so mad lol like he's pissed about every single thing and it's kind of hilarious. He's also doing that thing where his chin is up and he's looking down at everyone playing lol. Subconscious thoughts of superiority? Probably. Sawamura being so oblivious to Miyukis injury kills me lol. Every single person on this team and in the stands can see that he's hurt yet this dork who's obsessed with him can't. I beg him to become more perceptive of others lol. So for players being taken out, as long as they are still on the field they can be moved around as the coach pleases. So if they take Sawamura out to put Furuya in, if Kataoka sends Sawamura to left field or something then they could shift Sawamura back to pitcher to relieve Furuya but if Sawamura comes from the mound to go in the dugout and isn't on the field for their defense, he can't be used again. He's out for the rest of the game. Zono is so hard on himself. And I understand why, he's an overthinker, but his monologue about how he's been a bad vice captain and about how he should've noticed Miyuki was hurt just killed me. Poor kid. Mochis just thinking about Zono hitting him home and Zonos berating himself for missing what he seems to think was an obvious problem. I love how much Miyuki respects Kataoka. You can see it on his face during Kataokas speech and he's mentioned it a few times in this series that he has nothing but respect for Kataoka. I think its really important to note that even though Miyuki didn't tell Kataoka in advance that he was hurt, he still gave him the reigns on if he was staying in to play or not. It's such a callback to Ryousukes injury last year where he didn't tell Kataoka until he was requesting to leave the game. Where all of us were begging him to tell Kataoka because he'd probably have let him stay in but they would've been better prepared, and this time around with Miyuki, he told him before it got too bad and he couldn't play anymore. He let Kataoka choose and Kataoka, as we know, trusts his players and knows how far they can go. Him talking about how he should've trusted his team more and how he didn't want to bring them down was just such a nice insight into Miyukis brain. I always wonder how many times in his life has he been hurting, physically or emotionally, where he's just brushed it off or hid it to avoid causing problems. Anyways, very excited for next week 🎉🎉

Kelsey

“NO!” I felt seen when you screamed when finding out a new promising ace pitcher is going to Innashiro 😂 Kuramochi &amp; Kominato’s double play is one of my favorite scenes in the series. Firstly, because it shows the development they have gone through as a duo. At the beginning of the season, Kuramochi reprimanded Haruichi for not taking risks and told him they would never get double plays if he kept playing it safe. And now, we have gotten to the point where Kuramochi calls him Haruichi and they trust the other enough to predict they’ll be there for these crazy plays. And, SECONDLY, because it is a great example of why I love this anime so much. In sports anime, a lot of times the watcher questions whether the “miracle” plays are actually possible in real life. And this scene proves how grounded in reality DNA is. Watch this 50s video for context (it’s worth it!): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhs2d0jIgk I also loved how EVERYONE has noticed Miyuki’s hurt except Sawamura. And Haruichi’s just like: “Shut up idiot!” 😂😂 Our boy is just clueless 😅 Speaking of favorite moments, Raichi experiencing the pressure a pitcher feels is another of my favorites. Usually, Raichi is the one inflicting the fear of god in pitchers and now he’s on the other side realizing not only how hard it’s to pitch under certain situations but also how good of a batter he is to make the pitchers feel that pressure all the time. Like Sawamura says, “It’s not so easy!” And, ofc, Mei &amp; Sawamura feel insulted that Raichi thinks he can just come and pitch w/o realizing how much responsibility, and thus pressure, a pitcher has. Pitchers always start the play, so unlike the other players in the field, they don’t have the luxury of making 1s instinct plays. They have time to think and feel the pressure before each play which must be so hard to handle. I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT EPISODES! And I also can’t wait for you to get to see more of these new guys, they are kinda interesting 😏♥️

Melanie Marie

Happy Birthday !!!!!

Got Ace of the Diamond reactions on my birthday, a nice present for me love it

John Miller

Yeah I remembered that play when they did it I thought it was so god damn cool

John Miller

Currently watching eheh, but had to come here just to say Fun fact: the double play made by Kuramuchi and Haru is a real-life double play it did happen, and I love when anime sports are inspired in real-life moments.