Very smart!

Written by theshadow1637 on July 4, 2011 at 1:03 PM

Who'd have thought that a boring sport like baseball could be made to feel so interesting? But "One Outs" manages to do just that -- it merges brilliant mind-play, a devious anti-hero protagonist and suspenseful, leaves-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat games with a baseball diamond as its stage.

I've heard plenty of people claim that Toua Tokuchi (the protagonist)'s high level of intelligence and lack of an angsty, tragic back-story makes him 'boring'. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, of course; but I for one find him a refreshing change from the "lame loser with a miserable past who eventually becomes a star through determination alone (managing to win the heart of the love-of-his-life in the process)" archetype that seems to be so popular in the manga /anime medium. This guy knows exactly what he wants (money, mostly -- but I'm quite certain that he does desire victory and the thrill of battle as well) and he has the brains, skills and guts to get it. But that doesn't mean he's not a hard-worker! Certainly not! While the other players strain their physiques, he exercises his grey matter instead. Now which one is more impressive? If you think the former, then pass up on this anime; but if the latter is more to your taste, then "One Outs" is for you.

But a word of warning -- you can't expect a 100% realistic depiction of baseball here. Most of the strategies that Toua utilizes are extremely complicated, and would most likely fail if used in real life...but that's precisely what makes the story so interesting! However, the nature of the human psyche during challenging situations is explored in a very interesting and believable fashion.

My only slight complain is the animation. It was definitely not bad, but didn't quite do the story justice. Apart from that, this is as near-perfect as a sports series could get.