May 2, 2010
When I think of Cross Game, I can't help but smile. It is without a doubt my current favorite slice of life anime. Those turned off by sports series need to look past that when picking up Cross Game. While baseball is a huge part of the series, the relationships between the characters is the biggest part of what makes it amazing. Baseball is simply apart of their lives. Those who enjoy character heavy slice of life anime will feel right at home with Cross Game.
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Story and Characters:
Cross Game's story is a beautiful blending life's two wonders -- drama and comedy. While the comedy is
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subtle and often unspoken, it fits perfectly into the situations, making it a big part of the series' appeal. Adachi is a genius at progressing the story through more than just dialogue and physical action, but through the unspoken emotion given off by the characters.
The many different relationships shared by the characters is the true wonder of the show.
The cold, yet close relationship between Kou and Aoba is amazing to watch unfold throughout the series. In many ways I believe Aoba's cold attitude towards Kou stems not just from a jealousy of the time he spent with Wakaba, but from the fact that because she always liked him, she was jealous of the time Wakaba spent with him. Aoba knew Kou was a good guy, yet Wakaba loved him, so instead of getting closer to him and torturing herself, she decided to push him away with outward hate. And after Wakaba's death, she could have gotten closer to Kou, but the fact that he reminded her of Wakaba so much only fueled her outward feelings of disdain.
The other interesting relationship in the series was Kou and Akaishi. Akaishi seemed to hate Kou because of his relationship with Wakaba (much like Aoba), but instead of hating him after her death, he wanted to get closer and befriend Kou. This not only because of something Wakaba once said to him, but because being around Kou allowed him to be reminded of Wakaba.
There are plently of other character relationships that help add to the story, but those are two of the main ones I wanted to shed some light on.
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Art and Sound:
The art of Cross Game, like Adachi's other work, is simple, yet wonderful. The actual animation done is mostly the characters, with well drawn, but overall static backgrounds to support them. Despite this simplicity, the show appears beautiful with vibrant colors, leaving you with a light and good feeling.
The score throughout the show fits perfectly into each scene, with a pick up or drop in intensity when needed. The only opening theme of the show, Summer Rain, is one of my favorite ever in a series. It's one of those feel good songs that I looked forward to at the start of each episode. The various ending themes started with a rather melancholic song, yet allowed you to enjoy it while reflecting on the events of the past episode. From there the ending themes got a little more cheerful, evolving with the show.
The characters' voices are virtually flawless, each matching the look and tone of their respective character perfectly no matter what the situation.
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Enjoyment and Overall:
I enjoyed this show probably more than any other anime I've ever viewed. It's just such a beautifully written and paced show with a wide variety of interesting characters that almost make you wish the show could go on forever.
Like I mentioned in my opening statement, don't be turned off by the sports genre stamped on this series. This is one of the best slice of life shows you'll ever see and turning a blind eye to it because it also happens to be about baseball is only doing yourself a injustice.
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10/10 across the board.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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