#daiya no a act ii

[ksketch731]

MiyuSawa Victory hug pt.2 but make it a back-hug

[miyukisluv]

in the zone

[dattebasa]

AH, YES, DAIYA NO SHOUJO

[cataclysmicamomile]

Let's go slay us some monsters, shall we? I'm counting on you, partner.

[irieora]

“As you wish.”

a princess bride au for @daiyafairytales

[youandmeboth1]

My babies did it! I'm so happy! 😭😆😭😆

[jennichisblog]

I just finished reading the Act II.

The finals against Inajitsu was both nerve wracking and exciting!

Hoping for Act III🤞

[theazzerarepeat]

victory kiss

[confinedmadness]

A Case of Withdrawal Symptoms: Ace of Diamond

I’ve followed the Ace of Diamond series (both anime and manga) regularly for years and to this day. Ace of Diamond remains one of my all time favorite stories. Act II, in particular, I feel was even better than the already amazing Act I.

I avoided reading the last 30 or so chapters for a while but the other day I finally read everything and now I feel so in need of something to fill the DnA shaped hole in my heart. So today, I decided to just write about a few of my favorite characters in the manga. Along the way, I’ll also slightly touch upon story points and character relationships/interactions.

～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～

Kawakami Norifumi

Nori is my favorite character in the whole Ace of Diamond series, hands down. There is no contest, not even close. Nori is not only a character who we see from the very beginning of Act I and continue to see until the end of Act II, Nori is a very well-written character. He develops gradually in a believable way and at a realistic pace. He is someone whose growth we get to witness.

The best part? Nori is one of, if not the most relatable character among the main cast because he is not a genius, he is not particularly attractive or strong or smart. He has above-average baseball skills at best, with a relatively quiet personality that does not stand out, but a whole lot of resolve and mental fortitude.

I’ve said this before in a post I wrote way back, and I will say it again: Nori is the kind of person I strive to be. Good at what he does even if he’s not out-of-this-world amazing. Dependable and trustworthy, someone the people around him rely upon. Hardworking and resilient in the face of being looked down upon. Most of all, does not give up on improving himself despite being around people who are naturally better than him.

It’s so easy to lose motivation to learn something when someone else younger and newer comes along and has the abilities you don’t. But Nori reminds me that there is value in improving yourself for your self, that consistency is gained through hard work not “natural talent”, and that center stage cannot shine without the backstage hands.

At the end, when Furuya told Nori directly how much his presence makes him feel at ease, I just cried. Because yes, I did say that everything Nori represents is a good thing to work towards, but it’s also true you may not receive as much recognition as the geniuses. And being acknowledged like that? Hits you right in the feels and the tears of joy just won’t stop.

Miyuki Kazuya

I think most people who know me in real life or who’ve read my blog think Miyuki is my favorite character because I fangirl about him a lot. Miyuki has a lot of traits I love about a person: talented but hardworking, serious but knows how to have fun. In fact, no matter how much I love fanfiction and fanarts, I tend to be really picky about the ones featuring Miyuki because I find that they often forget or ignore the facets of Miyuki’s personality that I love. 

Fan creations tend to depict Miyuki as quiet, cold, and aloof. But for me, the best parts about Miyuki is his fun-loving, goofy attitude and his whole-hearted love and passion for baseball. He likes annoying enemies, poking fun at friends, laughing at other people. He’s not stuffy about hierarchy and judges people based on merit not seniority. He loves new challenges and finds excitement in playing with or against strong baseball players.

And yet, no matter how much I love Miyuki on his own, I feel that his relationships with other characters are some of the best in the series. A lot of his character growth is spurred by a relationship with another character instead of a more individual progress like Nori’s.

In terms of baseball and as an athlete, his rivalry/friendship with characters like Mima and Narumiya are some of my favorites. I love the wholesomeness of their rivalries. There is never malice or spite when they go against each other in games. Narumiya is probably the person in the series who has known Miyuki the longest. I’ve said this before but I love that Narumiya and Miyuki call each other by their first names. It emphasizes the fact that they’ve known each other since childhood. And now here they are, the stars of their respective teams.

In terms of leadership and as a person, his growth was shown a lot through his partnership with Sawamura and Furuya, his relationship with the Seidou coaching team, Chris, Yuuki, and Maezono, among others. He changes from being relatively self-centered, to thinking more about his teammates and the team as a whole. He learned to be more mindful and sensitive about others, as well as knowing that he can rely on his team as much as he is relied upon.

Finally, his friendship with Kuramochi is one of the most stable, most frequently depicted, and also often overlooked relationships. Though never explicitly stated in the series, Kuramochi is probably the closest thing Miyuki has to a best friend. They don’t have many really emotional moments together, but they understand each other and have each other’s backs. Kuramochi is the person Miyuki confides in when he has problems. And they’re both the first to notice something good or bad about the other. I don’t know about you, but that constancy is amazing. Regardless of whether they remain close in the future or not, I think a friendship like theirs is something to treasure for life. 

Sawamura Eijun

DnA is one of the few series whose main character I love. I think it was in one of my first ever posts about DnA that I mentioned how Sawamura is someone you really want to cheer for. A lot of anime/manga, especially in the sports genre, tell the viewers/readers that *insert main character name* makes you want to support them and help them succeed. But, Sawamura is one of the very few who actually makes you feel that way.

Personally, I believe this is due to the effective way the author shows that Sawamura is a multidimensional character. He has a very clear base personality that defines him as a person, but like every human in history, he is not just that. Different situations and even the shortest moments can bring out anger or frustration or even silence.

Sawamura is loud, optimistic, hardworking. But he can also get annoyed at his teammates, can feel jealous of his rivals, is susceptible to judging people without getting to know them, or can put far too much pressure on himself unnecessarily. I love that the series shows all of this unapologetically. He is not good with certain types of people, but even if he never becomes their best friend, he learns to get along with them. These types of character building make him human, and make you appreciate his usual noisy, laughing self even better.

My favorite part about Sawamura is how open he is to both learning new things and being corrected when he’s wrong. Not only is he willing to be taught, he does not ignore people that point out his mistakes. Of course, he gets embarrassed but he apologizes if he hurts someone, and trains when his skill or knowledge is lacking or wrong.

If not for this attitude, Chris would not have taught him all the baseball basics he clearly lacked, he would not be close enough to Miyuki to experiment with his pitches together or hangout in his room, Kataoka would not have given him the chance to be on the roster, Okumura would have stayed disappointed in him. He would never have been good enough to be the ace of the team.

And what’s even more amazing is that it’s not just the readers who go through a getting-to-know phase with Sawamura. His own teammates go from getting annoyed at his yelling to actually looking forward to hearing it, from wanting to support him to being supported by him as well, from cheering him on to relying on him as their ace.

～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～

I don’t know if I’ll do something like this again, but I definitely want more DnA content coming my way because I am missing it so much. Tereading the series right now only makes me even sadder, but what can I say, I love making myself happy-sad.

[i-may-be-short]

ITS MIYUSAWA DAY Y’ALLLLLLL >:D

have some miyusawa manga panels that u have probably seen hundreds of times but im sucker for them bc of the whole partners thing

[daiseukiis]

╰ ⋆ ❝ 𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 ! ❞ ଓ.° ╮

─꒱ being classmates with okumura koushuu is easy, but having to deliver papers to his dorm while having a crush on him and meeting his captain is another.

─꒱ FEAT. ⠀⠀⠀⠀okumura koushuu

⠀⠀⠀⠀“h-hi, is okumura there?” you regret accidentally stammering your words, eyes meeting amber hues ( which clearly wasn't the owner of the one you were looking for ). it took you lots of courage to even get here, especially since the dorms were reserved for the baseball players. the person that opened the door wore a surprised look, though only in a few seconds he gives you a reassuring smile.

“he went to grab water, should be back soon.” opening the door more widely, miyuki urges you, “come wait in here though. he’ll be back.” though hesitant at the offer, you nod your head and make your way into the dorm room. you clutch tightly onto the folder that you were there to deliver, in which miyuki deducted that you came to deliver for the younger catcher. "you're a classmate of okumura's?"

“y-yes!” you barely got the words out of your lips- you knew who was. you've heard from seto that okumura was roommates with the captain of the baseball team and you couldn't help but be intimidated by miyuki's status and seniority. your stiffness doesn't get pass the boy who stands by the entrance with the door wide open, he found it cute actually. he lets out an light chuckle, "relax, i'm not gonna bite."

you're not really sure if he means it or not, and miyuki can clearly see through you, which made it a bit awkward in the air. the grip on the folder you held to your chest got a little tighter, a move that barely helped to ease how tense you were. the sannen lets out a sigh, eyes looking out through the dorms to see his roommate walking back to the room and perks up at his appearance.

“oh, there you are.” miyuki calls the boy over, catching his attention whilst using his hand to direct him his way. okumura instantly takes an interest as to the sudden summons, picking up his pace over to the sannen to see what he wanted and leaving his two teammates behind. the older catcher gives him a signature smirk, moving side so okumura could see you inside. “your girlfriend’s here.”

“she’s not my girlfriend!” the boy instantly barks back at his captain, the pink dancing across his cheeks as the red at the tip of his ears were slightly visible under his blonde here. miyuki lets out a very satisfied laugh, getting the reaction wanted as he saw his aura emit from his body, the boy glaring daggers at him. “haha, how’d you even know who i was talking about you?”

“o-okumura! here’s t-the notes you missed the other day!” quickly you muster up the confidence to make your way to the door, quickly going outside and handing the folder to the catcher. you look down in a bow almost, hiding how red your face is when you were mistaken for his girlfriend- oh you'd wish it were true. okumura looks at you with wide eyes, taking the folder from your hands. "t-thanks, y/n..."

“sorry, i came earlier than e-expected." standing up properly your eyes scrambled to look anywhere but okumura's sterling hues due to embarrassment. the boy only shook his head at yours, taking note of the blush on you face. the crew that was behind the boy all had their mouths agape, clearly feeling the attraction the two of you had for each other.

"i-i made these for you," hands reach to your bag in a shaky movement, taking out the small bag of cookies you had made at home earlier. you bring it out for everyone to see, and clearly it shocks okumura even more as he takes your gift. smiling nervously at your own accomplishment you nod your head, "i h-hope you like them!"

you take small steps back, but your back bumps into the brunette third year, flinching when his hands go on your shoulders when you glance behind him, "careful there." your face turns a deeper red, your stomach drops due embarrassment. quickly nodding your head you spin on your heels and flee the scene. "see you in c-class!"

okumura watches your fleeting figure, ignoring the encouraging words he got from his fellow teammates; hell, he didn't even notice that seto had slumped his arm around his shoulders. the boy can't help but think about your flushed face and smile when he looks at the small bag of cookies you gifted him. his thoughts are only popped when he hears miyuki snicker.

"you sure y/n isn't your girlfriend?"

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© MGUQIIS 、 2023

[ksketch731]

A short comic strip of Miyuki's post graduation talk with Sawamura. I imagine him taunting Sawamura with a "Aren't you gonna cry like you did with Chris-senpai?" Sorry, this isn't really the smoothest of transitions for comics>< but I'm back to posting I guess😭

[miyukisluv]

the big 4

[kominato-haruchi]

Sawamura Eijun

[cataclysmicamomile]

I'll slam it. Try me.

[iitachiyama]

“the present exists because they singled each other out in the past”