Tag: sports

Ookiku Furikabutte Volume 19 cover + anime review

I knew I’d seen that pose somewhere before! Not that it’s a secret that sports mangaka use real life athlete photos as source material, but I just wanted to post this somewhere ‘cos I’m feeling rather clever. Ookiku Furikabutte Vol.19 comes out in Japan on June 22nd, but I’m not buying it because it’s just more Musashino Daiichi and Haruna, and that’s not who I read Ookiku Furikabutte for.

As for the series itself, it’s one of my favorite manga. Currently my favorite sports series now that Hajime no Ippo has been stagnating for goodness knows how long. I haven’t mentioned it here before because first I wouldn’t know where to start and secondly I only got into it recently. I watched Big Windup twice on Funimation’s youtube channel and liked it so much that I bought the S.A.V.E. DVD set as well.

What I like about it is, of course, the characters. Every sports manga lives and dies by its characters, which is only obvious because if it’s the sports the fans want to see, that’s what ESPN is there for. Ookiku Furikabutte has Mihashi Ren, a wimpy, crybaby pitcher consumed with guilt (as well he should be) for making his middle school team lose for 3 years in a row because he wouldn’t let anyone else pitch.

In high school he meets up with “genius” catcher Abe who latches on to Mihashi’s potential and easy controllability and together with 8 others member of the Nishiura High School baseball team and their big-boobed coach, they aim to make it to Koshien.

Normally I dislike whiny types like Mihashi and bossy types like Abe, but something about these guys makes them not just easy to bear but actually easy to like. It helps that the author Higuchi doesn’t try too hard to make them sympathetic. Yes, Mihashi had a hard time at Mihoshi, but it was 90% his own fault. Yes, Abe went through a lot with Haruna, but he shouldn’t take it out on other pitchers. They’re not perfect – and they’re not even that great as a battery – but that makes it all the easier to root for them.

So far there are 2 anime seasons and 90 chapters of the manga out. I’m suffering from the usual “Caught up to the manga and now waiting is a pain” disease. I dropped Hayate no Gotoku because waiting for releases got too tedious and the manga wasn’t going anywhere (gimme back my A-tan!), and it might only be a matter of time before I drop Oofuri too. For now, though, I’m just having fun.

Sumo, final day

The moment Kotooshu lost to Hakuho, the end result of this Nagoya basho was clear for all to see. Hakuho kept up his fine form, defeating Harumafuji yesterday and toppling Asashoryu today to win the tournament. It must be a welcome win for him, after losing out to Harumafuji last time and Asashoryu the time before. I’m happy for him, since I can honestly say the best man won this time round. Kotooshu needs to work on his stability, though I suspect some of it is due to his height (6 ft 3, right?) giving him a higher center of gravity. If he can conquer that and stay in good health, maybe all the hype won’t have been for nothing.

I hear Bulgaria wants to honor him with their highest award, btw. Interesting.

Sumo, day 11

Wooo hoo, what a day! Upset after upset, shock after shock! Yesterday was boring so I didn’t bother to report it.

First, Harumafuji got his kachikoshi against Baruto, improving to 8-3 while Baruto dropped to 7-4. All Baruto has to do to maintain a winning record is to win once more so I think he’ll be fine.

Then…Chiyotaikai! I swear, that wily old goat just came into this tournament to ruin everyone’s stuff. First Asashoryu, then today he dropped Kotooshu in a shocking move, sending him sprawling face first into the dirt. All well and good, 10-1 for Kotooshu doesn’t take him out of the running, and 6-5 for Chiyotaikai isn’t half bad.

But the surprises just kept on coming: another slippery veteran, Kaio, dodged Asashoryu’s advance, gave him a swift push and sent him running out of the ring like a bull. Cue a few cushions thrown into the ring, but nobody expects much from Asashoryu any more so the crowd didn’t get very worked up.

Next match, last match of the day…SHOCKER: Kotomitsuki powers Hakuho out of the ring! It was obviously a hard-fought match, but he did it! A rain, a downpour of purple pillows! Yes! Yes! Sorry, it’s good to see Hakuho lose sometimes, and this throws the whole tournament wide open! It’s anybody’s game now, with Hakuho, Kotomitsuki and Kotooshu all at 10-1. The match-offs between these guys in the next few days will show who wears the crown. In the end, there can be only one!

Sumo, day 9

A very exciting day, all told. I missed days 7 and 8 over the weekend so it was a shock to me to realize Aasashoryu had lost once on Sunday. And then he lost again to Chiyotaikai (of all people!), cue the audience tossing their cushions into the ring. Asa 7-2, Chiyotaikai 5-4. It pains me to note that this tournament is one of Chiyotaikai’s best performances in recent years. He really needs to retire.

And then Kotomitsuki beat Harumafuji with a quick overarm toss. That makes Koto 8-1 and Haru 6-3. 6-3 is bad, he’s out of the running. On the other hand, Kotooshu had a thrilling match with veteran Kaio, stalled in the middle of the ring for almost three minutes. Kotooshu nearly ran himself out of the ring with his initial charge, but once he got his hand on Kaio’s waistband the rest was a matter for the history books.

Kotooshu and Hakuho, both still at 9-0. Hakuho still looking the most dominant. If Kotooshu makes a false start against him like he did against Kaio today, it won’t be pretty. Still, as Asa proves, upsets are what make this sport exciting, so I’m looking forward to more ups and down in the last week of the tournament!

Sumo, day 6

Nothing remarkable happened today, except hometown favorite Kotomitsuki lost to Kisenosato, dropping down to 5-1. Kisenosato’s at 5-1 too. Kotooshu, Hakuho and Asashoryu won to stay at 6-0, but Hakuho is still looking the best out of the three. Unless he gets sloppy or someone gets lucky, he’s probably going to win this one. It might be too early to call, but he’s looking really good right now. But for the record I’m supporting Asashoryu! I always like flashy sportsmen.