is Diamond no Ace underrated?

I totally agree, Daiya is one of my favourite anime overall. I’ve been waiting forever to be able to talk about this so I apologize in advance for the long post!

The plot does progress slowly in terms of the protagonist achieving his goals, but I think it’s a lot better than becoming amazing super fast or with few barriers. Especially with Sawamura, who lacked a lot of basic skills at the beginning compared to the others. It kind of reminds me of Slam Dunk in that way, but with (many) more episodes.

A lot of people aren’t really interested in baseball to begin with since it requires more patience to watch than say volleyball or basketball, but the pacing of the story does fit the sport.

There’s a lot of really great character development that occurs over the course of the series, but I don’t think most people are willing to wait as long as it takes to realistically occur, even in an anime, which is unfortunate but understandable. Someone else pointed out Furuya, who had awesome growth, and Sawamura too, who can be kind of annoying and obnoxious at first, experiences a lot of obstacles and limitations, and becomes a better person and baseball player to overcome them as a result.

I love his character arc personally too because I know first hand how difficult it is to catch up at his age + at such a competitive level (irl Japanese high school baseball, especially in Tokyo, is hardcore af), even if he does have a special type of pitch. Even with raw talent, you need to work for it, and that’s what Sawamura (and others) are forced to learn time and time again.

Failure is common, as it always is in baseball (more than a lot of other sports perhaps; even the best players are only able to hit 30-40% of the time). It may be frustrating for a viewer who expects more streamlined or faster change/resolution, but I personally find it far more satisfying (and relatable) when they do finally succeed after facing hurdles that aren’t easy to overcome. Even the “prodigy” characters like Miyuki, Narumiya, etc., experience major difficulties at times, rather than being flawless. The Seidou 3rd years from the Act 1 do not make it to Koshien, and they won’t ever have a chance to again. It’s disappointing, for viewers and the characters themselves, but that’s what happens. Only one team can win, and Seidou has been on the losing side a fair number of times too.

In terms of Sawamura, his long struggle with the yips was something I haven’t really seen in many other sports anime (that I’ve seen). He hits rock bottom and stays there, despite his initial desire to move past it. He isn’t able to retain a constantly positive/motivated attitude, and almost gives up several times. It’s not just a short period of regress or stasis, it had a long-term psychological impact that can still be seen in his character now. Often in other sports anime, protags are able to overcome their weaknesses in less than a season, perhaps even a training arc or two, and slingshot back into further skill development without many lingering effects. That is not the case with Sawamura; his self-doubt and difficulty moving forward from his failures were some of the most relatable aspects of his character, not limited to just baseball or sports. That’s why it was amazing to see him slowly emerge from that dark place, not being treated by the author as just as a mini block for his skills that would be forgotten or ignored later once they magically rebound into a super-talented player.

Similarly, it would have been really rushed imo if he was able to get the #1 in his first year. The fact that this is even a bit controversial is wild to me. First years rarely, if ever, reach that level so fast. Even Furuya who was given it after Tanba retired, was often unable to shoulder the burden of the position. Seidou’s club has over 80 highly talented members at any given point. A first year, especially one who did not play at a more competitive level prior to high school, wouldn’t be given the number so fast. Recall Toujou at the beginning of S1? He was a top pitcher for a school that reached the Koshien semifinals in middle school, but he got absolutely destroyed by the non-first string 2nd/3rd years. It would just seem forced and undeserved if Eijun somehow got it so early (even if that’s how people felt about Furuya before). Skill-wise, it also wouldn’t make sense. The long period of time before Sawamura got the ace number also allowed for a lot of tension between characters and the subsequent development of their relationships and the team as a whole.

The explanations of the sport itself are also integrated really well in my opinion, as the rules can be really complicated and confusing for beginners.

@islamatsurika

Overall, a pretty mature and sensical analysis, that is rather close to mine. Thanks for making a long post that explains thoroughly how you see it and why. It is rare enough that i can really appreciate it. Most of the time, i see "so kewl !" or "that's crap" and nothing to back up the claims. I can't even tell how tiresome such pointless comments can get over time for me ^^'.

I mostly agree with you. You explained a few things pretty well, too. I think that the author is simply good at storytelling and what he does is always logical and meant to build things up as he goes. The only problem, maybe, is that it may be a bit too formulaïc in its logic (often the case in japanese writing) and hence, lack a bit of humanity. Like, the logic can become robotic along the lines of "stimulus >> reaction" that ends up repeating itself. For example, frustrating Sawamura repeatedly is efficient to bring what he wants to bring later on (the satisfaction of him making a come back), but this formulae ends up ignoring the subset of people who have a hard time handling this accumulated frustration (many people in the west, especially in the USA, that is built upon values at odds with those of the "Wa kuni" (individualism and desire for immediate satisfaction for the USA, versus collectivism, worship of the rules and patience for Japan). Japanese people are probably better at handling the frustrating parts of DnA).

I stopped caring about "Haikyuu", dropped "Kuroko" and consider "Baby Steps" to be the best sports manga ever (amongst the many i tried). Probably, "Diamond no Ace" is 2nd or 3rd, even though i don't care about baseball, like, at all. But now, i don't care about basketball either. Only Tennis and Rugby :)

But this is the thing: a sports anime that makes you excited over a sport you never cared about. When something like that happens, you know you found a good one. And "Diamond no Ace" is definitely one of those. I barely watch animes anymore these days, but i still came here to see if someone had some news about the hypothetical 4th season. That tells something about how much i recommend "Diamond no Ace".

@Nox--- You have good taste haha. Baby Steps and Ace are both one of my favourites