#inashiro industrial high school

[justinther0ck]

Why Eijun Sawamura getting his Ace tag is the most cathartic moment in sports anime history: Essay

Background

The Diamond No Ace manga has been serialising since 2006 and it has taken the sports anime industry by storm. The longevity of this manga comes from a time where manga from this genre would go on for a very long time, with examples such as Ahiru No Sora and Dear Boys. Modern sports manga would dictate such that it's a lot shorter than its older counterparts, with Haikyuu ending at 403 chapters and Kuroko ending at 275 chapters. Diamond No Ace however, uses long term story telling akin to series such as One Piece to pay off some of its narrative high points.

A typical high school sports anime has a template as such: Team plays the inter high => loses to a strong team => tries again with the next nation-wide tournament => qualifies for the national tournament. It's a tried and true formula which has been proven to work many times. What does it mean for Diamond No Ace? It's not typical whatsoever.

Many sports anime would feature an underdog team but Diamond No Ace does the opposite: It features a powerhouse team in the strongest baseball region in Japan. Seido High School has been well renowned as one of the strongest schools in the Tokyo region, with many Koshien (national tournament) appearances before the main plotline takes place. Players that join the school for baseball have an exceptional skill and talent for it, and usually have been playing the sport for many years. In this case, what's so interesting about a team that's already developed? The main character: Eijun Sawamura!

Eijun Sawamura was basically from the boonies, the countryside and played baseball for fun with his childhood friends as a pitcher. He was seen with promise and potential by a Seido scout and made a difficult decision to move to Tokyo and pursue his dreams of becoming a pro baseball player. However, he found himself inferior to many of the players. Mainly, Furuya.

The importance of an ace tag

Furuya Satoru was another 1st Year player scouted to play for Seido as a pitcher. His relationship with Sawamura is akin to other sports anime duos such as Kageyama and Hinata and Rukawa and Sakuragi. From the very beginning, Satoru was labelled as the better pitcher. What did this mean?

He was in the way of Sawamura becoming the Ace of Seido High School. After being told that he was filled with promise and potential, as well as moving away from his family, friends and his entire life, Sawamura instead found himself playing second, nay third fiddle to the ace of the school. It was at this moment he knew the hard work that he had to put in to put the school on his back as the future ace.

The ace tag, the number 1 on the back of the players, is only given to pitchers who have shown great talent and aptitude in breaking down the defense of their opposing team's batting order. Throughout the series, it was emphasised that the reason why Seido wasn't a top tier team was because they lacked the indomitable ace that was present in other powerhouse teams like Inashiro. The appearance of Furuya and Sawamura would inevitably begin the battle of who would become Seido's ace and lead the team to become the National Champions.

Losses and heartbreak

The first challenge for Seido was the Summer Koshien tournament. Seido usually makes it very far into the bracket as they are a powerhouse team. However, since Tokyo is one of the biggest and most competitive regions in Japan, it's split into East and West Tokyo. This meant that only one team from each split would make it to the Summer Koshien with the other teams in the nation. Seido undoubtedly blasts through the entire bracket until the finals where they face off against long time rivals: Inashiro High School.

The long time winners of the West Tokyo wing of the Koshien qualifiers, they were the undisputed champions of the region. With an unstoppable batting roster, they were already one of the best teams in Japan. What puts the cherry on top? Their ace, Narumiya Mei.

He was everything Seido was looking for to become the best team in Japan. The pitcher that could put his team on his back and lead them to victory. It was a battle of ideals akin to Shiratorizawa Vs Karasuno from Haikyuu. The heartbreaking thing was: Seido lost. Without a pitcher that could match Narumiya Mei, they just couldn't close out the game with their lead. We said goodbye to the Seido third years and this of course led to Sawamura feeling distraught and putting the blame on himself.

Yips

For the following months, Sawamura found himself in a state of despair. He wasn't able to pitch and improve like he was prior due to his mental failing. When someone like Sawamura puts the weight of the loss entirely on their own shoulder, it's bound to have consequences. However with the help of his teammates and coaches, Sawamura bounces back and slowly makes a recovery on the way to the Fall Koshien

A second try

After finding himself back on his feet, Seido had to go through a rebuilding phase to prepare for the next Summer Koshien: The Fall Koshien. Unlike other sports anime with a second chance, the Fall Koshien fulfills a criteria:

The third years aren't able to play, so no such thing as a Winter Cup or any cop out of such form

It ultimately doesn't have the same prestige as the Summer Koshien tournament.

This means that the loss against Inashiro still had weight and consequences and showed that Seido still had to move on with whatever they had left. Sawamura took this opportunity and ran with it as much as he could. In matches such as the Yakushi and Hakuryuu ones, Sawamura proved to be a skilled and amazing pitcher in his own right.

His biggest plus compared to Furuya was that he has variety in his pitches while Furuya mainly had speed. Sawamura diligently put in the effort but still played second fiddle to Furuya, who had become the new ace after the third years retired. This however did not affect Sawamura's journey and ambition as he and the rest of Seido moved forward through the Fall Koshien. Doing pretty well for themselves, they beat Yakushi in the finals of the qualifiers and made it to the quarter finals of the Fall Koshien before losing to the favourites, Komaidai Fujimaki.

The Ace Tag

After concluding their Fall Koshien journey, Seido found themselves in a new year with new first year students. This meant that there was a need to form a brand new roster with the new members and such. After the Fall Koshien, Furuya found himself in a rut. He was unable to pitch at such a high level consistently due to his godlike performance in the match against Komaidai Fujimaki. Furuya was still great don't get me wrong, but a certain someone was waiting in the shadows and showing off his new weapons and skill.

After a year in the plot and FIFTEEN YEARS IN REAL TIME, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for. The new year began with Sawamura pitching for Seido in practice matches. He had formed an amazing chemistry with the catcher, Miyuki. Sawamura developed new pitches that had a high level of consistency and variety. As a result, most teams that played against Sawamura had no idea what to do as they tried to predict his next move. Sawamura had become the rock of Seido.

His skill, improvements and consistency had proven to be an invaluable asset to the team and as a result, he was ultimately chosen to become the Ace of Seido, representing the entire team to once again take on the Summer Koshien.

Conclusion

Whatever I have touched on was just the tip of the iceberg of the brilliant storytelling that is Diamond No Ace. The other narrative threads such as the third years retiring, Miyuki's story arc and Chris' back story has a comparable amount of emotional weight but this particular thread had one thing that shines from the rest: Long term storytelling. It was a story that was 15 years in the making, every page, every drawing and every word in the manga led to this moment where Sawamura achieves his first big milestone as a baseball player. The story is far from over as Seido has yet to win the Summer Koshien and I am excited to see what's next in possibly Act III of Diamond no Ace.

With all this being said, Sawamura getting his ace tag is the most cathartic moment in Sports manga history. (My opinion LOL)

[yujikuna]

SEIDOU HIGH SCHOOL 2 - 1 INASHIRO INDUSTRIAL

[kazuyummy]

going anon on this bcs am too shy to get off anon LOLL 😭 hope the request match ups are still open!

fandom: daiya no ace

matchup: awkward, responsible, warm, aloof

drabble / detail: 🍎 apple - hm, probably Different Lives by Fly by Midnight with a male daiya char, please. And genre's up to you! (okay, anything else but nsfw .. yeah ... ;;)

thank you if ever you do get to this! (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

ehehe no worries, i'm happy you requested! the song you chose is like a movie soundtrack, gave me such good vibes 💫

i would match you up with KAMIYA CARLOS TOSHIKI. he gives me a carefree, teasing vibe that i think would complement your initial aloofness / potentially awkward first impression (that he would definitely think is cute more than anything), but also the warmth that follows after. you're both a bit enigmatic in that sense - an unexpected but surprisingly cohesive couple. i think where the two of you would have a bit more tension is where he's more laidback with responsibilities and you're, well - responsible! still, he'll teach you that sometimes it's okay to let things go, and you'll hold him accountable and help him grow as a person. he'd certainly admire you for all your intricacies.

bit of drabble below the cut! 💖

❀ NEVER KNEW (I'D BE THE ONE TO FIND YOU)

the first time you met kamiya carlos toshiki was outside the doors of inashiro industrial when he nearly ran you over - a speedy, sweaty bullet of a man, shirtless and shining under an unrelenting sun

he had winked at you with a, "sorry, sweetheart", and continued dashing off to wherever the hell he'd been going - cue eyeroll

after that, high school with him had been filled with some cheesy pick up lines on his end, inviting you to watch his baseball games, and interrupting your lunch in the caf with friends to yell a hello at you

it's not that you ever particularly disliked him - you just didn't know how to respond to such forwardness and decided to keep your distance from that cocky smirk. he was certainly a kind person, if not a bit perplexing at times

he'd had a reputation of being a bit of a playboy - with that smoulder, admittedly nice body, and outgoing personality, it wasn't a secret that he was well-liked among the school population

so when you end up recognizing him years later - behind the hoodie and sunglasses he sports as he stands in line for his coffee in front of you, you can't help but whisper-yell, "carlos?"

he tenses up, and you realize your mistake - after becoming a pro player in japan, he's definitely trying to stay on the down low

but when he turns around with a nervous grin, it slowly melts into a bright one and he calls out your name as if it's refreshing and familiar all in the same - like a spring breeze after a cold winter

you actually expected him to be the type to revel in all the attention, and you're sure he has his share of fangirls - but when he asks you a specific question on a project you've been working on only known to people on your socials, your interest is piqued - had he really been keeping up with you this whole time?

he has an air of maturity to him now, you note, as you fetch your drinks and begin walking outside. you expected some sort of line from him like, "it was always you", but the conversation flows naturally and effortlessly

"hey, listen. i have an interview to get to, but... can we do this again next time? like, longer? i know a good sushi place."

"like, a date?" you blurt out, and you see the always-confident carlos smile bashfully with a small nod.

something in your heart skips, telling you to take a leap. and you love the excited light in his eyes before he dashes away again when you smile,

"... i'd like that, carlos."

i feel like "meeting up with an old friend into possibly something more" was the vibe i got from the song, so i just went with it ehehe. also carlos is super underrated and tbh i'm jealous i gave him to you here LOL. hope you enjoyed!

read completed matchups here 💫

[fujoshigirl7]

Welcome to my house practice field

Inashiro industrial edition XD

Of course only miyuki gets the whole family waiting to welcome XD

[andtheyshouldbeterrified]

“Your team’s gonna have all these amazing guys, right? That alone makes me itch to fight you all that much more”

“Well, ain’t ya cool... but don’t come crying to me when you regret the choice you’ve made”

∟ Miyuki/Narumiya battery at Senbatsu Invitational

[thedigitalpen]

These are always some of the best moments for me. Those long throws which seemingly break the sound barrier as they streak directly toward their target! 

Say what you like about Furuya, but the guy has an arm like a cannon and, now that he’s got the right team to handle it, he isn’t afraid to use it! And that look of shock on the other teams faces? Totally worth it!

[lazuliquetzal]

a miscellaneous collection of jokes cut from AA Batteries

none of these snippets are meaty enough to warrant their own post, so i'll just group them all here!

this mostly scenes and jokes that don't really go anywhere.

1. The Joke I've Been Trying To Shove In Since Chapter 3

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all week, and I’ve heard Kuramochi-senpai claim that Eijun has a girlfriend,” Akira snaps.

2. The Deleted Introspective Chicken Monologue

The first time Akira saw Narumiya Mei pitch, way back in the beginning of the summer, he was inexplicably reminded of their neighbor’s chicken coop.

“What?” Haruichi asked, when Akira voiced his observation.

“Loud,” Akira had explained. “And kind of terrifying?”

“You’re talking about chickens, right? The things that lay eggs and cluck around all day?”

“Obviously, you’ve never been chased by a flock of angry chickens.”

Kominato Haruichi, born and raised in the suburbs of Kanagawa Prefecture, didn’t seem to fully appreciate the comparison, but at least he tried to.

“In that case,” he’d said, struggling to grasp the metaphor, “Eijun is kind of like a flock of chickens too, right?”

“No, it’s —” Akira huffed. “Chickens don’t care. All they do is eat and poop. There’s nothing but violence going on in their heads. That’s what he reminds me of.”

“That’s kind of a strong opinion to have on a person you’ve never met,” Haruichi said.

“Oh, I don’t know what he’s like as a person,” Akira said with a shrug. “But as a player, he seems rather bloodthirsty.”

Akira had never caught for a pitcher like that. Eijun was Eijun, and Furuya was Furuya, and Nori-senpai and Tanba-senpai were themselves. But Naruimiya Mei seemed like another beast entirely — ambitious and fierce and proud, complete with the skill to back it up. He’d asked Miyuki-senpai about it later, and even though he’d barely answered, he’d gotten enough information to confirm his suspicions.

But it wasn’t until weeks later, after everything, that he’d been able to truly appreciate the danger of Narumiya Mei.

They were sitting in the stands, just after beating Sensen Academy, watching Inajitsu play Sakurazawa. Eijun had been sitting next to him, and they’d watched the game with wide eyes.

“I want to catch that knuckleball,” Akira said, upon seeing Sakurazawa’s ace.

“Of course you do,” Eijun laughed. He elbowed him in the side. “I bet you’d have been a knuckleballer if you were a pitcher. He even has the same name as you.”

“Maybe,” Akira shrugged. He lowered his voice so that the senpai couldn’t overhear. “I know they want revenge, but I’m kind of rooting for Sakurazawa.”

“Public school representation,” Eijun agreed.

But it wasn’t to be. Slowly, steadily, Inashiro Industrial had worn away at the ground under Sakurazawa’s feet. It was the first time Akira had witnessed such offensive defense.

It wasn’t like Eijun, spirited and fearless. Narumiya Mei’s pitching was insidiously perfect, a wall that couldn’t be overcome, a light so bright that it scared you away into the shadows. He was loud, like Eijun, and he was tricky, like Eijun, but Narumiya Mei just felt different.

Like he wasn’t looking at you. Like he had bigger giants to slay.

Inajitsu won, and Seidou’s baseball team boarded their bus and headed back to campus, and Akira took a nap.

Later, that same day, he would fight with his brother. He wasn’t thinking of Narumiya, then, but he would think of him later.

Eijun’s stronger than that, he told himself, after letting Miyuki Kazuya run out and chase down Eijun. He obviously doesn’t need me. He won’t break. Not for baseball.

But Narumiya Mei was an opponent he’d never faced before. Fierce, violent, and out for blood. Like a chicken, as stupid as that sounded.

Sometimes, it’s the stupid things that you have to look out for.

3. The Akagi Team Group Chat

“Where’s my phone? I have to tell everyone that we won.”

“Oh, use mine,” Eijun says, and he holds out his phone. “That way Wakana won’t get mad at me for not checking in.”

Akira rolls his eyes, but unlocks Eijun’s phone anyway and opens up the Akagi group chat.

!!!!! GUYS WE WNON A GAME IM LOSING MY MIND

eyyyyyy noice

Congrats, Eijun!

aki is that you? tell your brother to stop being a coward and respond to my messages

wtf wakana how did you know

ei only messages first when he finishes a manga and wants seiichi to write fanfic for it

Eijun rips his phone out of Akira’s hands.

I DO NOT????/?

hi ei, stop being a coward and respond to my messages

4. Teenagers are Idiots

Akira hovers in the first-years’ conversation, occasionally chiming in. It’s not until they’re halfway to the parking lot that reality finally hits.

“Holy crap!” Akira exclaims, nearly walking into a pole. Luckily, Kanemaru catches him by his windbreaker before he can bruise his face.

“You good?” He asks, lifting an eyebrow.

“We just played baseball,” Akira says, instead of answering the question.

“Why are you like this?”

“We just played baseball!” Akira repeats, still disbelieving. He swivels around and grabs Eijun’s sleeve. “Ei, slap me!”

Eijun doesn’t hesitate. He slaps him so hard that Akira almost falls over.

“Ow! That hurt!”

Toujou snickers while Kanemaru grimaces.

“What did you think would happen?”

“I don’t know?” Akira says. “Oh my god, it’s been so long since I’ve played in a real game! I think I’m high on adrenaline!”

Kanemaru looks at him incredulously. “Who are you?”

“Oh, no,” Eijun says, groaning. “I forgot about this part. Akira, you’re going to crash so hard later.”

Akira laughs. “Pfft, this isn’t middle school anymore, I’m fine! We just shut down Teitou High! I’m invincible!”

_

The next thing he remembers is Eijun shaking him awake.

“Go away,” Akira grumbles. “Leave me alone to die.”

5. EijunxTire OTP

“Your fielding sucks too, dumbass,” Miyuki reminds him. “And take that thing off. This is a warm-up jog, you’re going to strain yourself.”

“No need!” Eijun announces. “During my banishment, I spent several weeks in the company of my beloved tire! We have a bond that goes beyond that of an athlete and his training tool! This is nothing!”

“Sawamura!” Coach Kataoka yells from across the field. “This is a warm-up! Take the tire off!”

Eijun stiffens. “Yes, boss!” He yells back, and he stops to untie the tire.

[kketilin]

A Curry Love Story

Haruichi squeals after Sawamura told him a certain story from his childhood which catched everyone's attention and Seidou finds out that Sawamura was a complete dense idiot (not that they're surprised)

[Part 1 of my ‘A Shoujo Manga Love Story’ series]

Inspired by this adorable video that had me squealing for hours XD

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32380726

Pairing: Narumiya Mei x Sawamura Eijun

Prompt(s): Curry / Childhood friends

Sawamura Eijun was a romantic.  

 That really wasn’t a secret at all, in fact, he would gush for hours during practice together with Jun about their recent Shoujo manga and would even try pull others into doing cheesy cliché scenes (he even roped Tetsu into trapping Jun with a Kabedon one afternoon during practice, which was absolutely hilarious) 

 So, they figured that even if the southpaw was a little idiotic at times, even he would realize and recognize romance when he sees one 

 Except he doesn’t (Which, honestly, they aren’t surprised at all) 

 How did they find out? It was pretty simple actually. 

 Sawamura was casually telling the younger Kominato some kind of story from his childhood over their bowl of rice and curry that was served that night when Haruichi suddenly squealed, surprising the team and Sawamura himself 

 Heads suddenly turned to the first years, giving the two curious eyes. Why was the younger kominato excitedly bouncing on his seat like a gushing fangirl?  

 “What’s wrong, Haruichi?” Ryousuke asked with his smile silently threatening his brother to speak up 

 “E-Eijun-kun's story was just too...!” He squealed again and buried his face in his palms as he lightly giggled and squealed 

 What about Sawamura’s story?  They then all directed their questioning gazes to the southpaw pitcher who looked just as, if not more, confused than them. “What did you tell the younger Kominato?” 

 “Just about a story from elementary school...?” The brunette titled his head 

 “We’re asking you what the story was, genius” Miyuki snarked 

 “Oh! Back in elementary school the school would always serve curry once a month on a Friday! But I always had to go with my parents to visit grandma on Fridays so I wasn’t fated to meet curry!” The pitcher retells the story enthusiastically “I didn’t really care but there was someone who noticed and told me “You could never eat curry, how pitiful” and ended up crying about it” 

 “That’s sad and all but still doesn’t explain why the younger Kominato’s reaction” Kuramochi cut in, starting to look disinterested 

 “I wasn’t even finished yet! And I don’t even know why Harucchi is acting like that!” 

 Haruichi, who had been silently vibrating in his seat the entire time, spoke up “y-you’ll see why...” 

 “Anyways! As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted” The pitcher gave Kuramochi a cat-eyed glare that wasn’t even threatening in the slightest “The next day, a different boy went to the teacher and asked if he could bring curry to our house and he came over and brought me the curry in a cute lunchbox with hearts all over it. My mom reheated it and ever since then I loved curry” He finished his story with a fond smile and silence filled the room 

  Oh my god. What kind of Shoujo manga plot was that?  

 The kid that brought over the curry definitely liked Sawamura, there was no way he went through all that trouble and even gave it to him in a heart lunchbox just because he was being nice.  

 It didn’t take long before Jun was jumping off his chair with a tint of pink on his cheeks muttering something about “cute shoujo development”, Haruichi started to excitedly flail his arms up and down trying to keep still in his seat (he was doing a pretty bad job at it though), Kuramochi was crouched on the floor with his face buried between his arms, Nori was quietly squealing with his hands over his mouth, Tetsu let out his aura but instead of the usual fiery one it was like flowers were surrounding the stoic captain, Ryousuke just gave an amused smile but was also dribbling his feet unable to contain the exhilaration, even Chris had propped his arms up by the elbows and was burying his pink face in his palm.  

 “...so, what happened after that...?” Miyuki asked carefully, amused by the whole situation 

 Sawamura, who was confused by everyone’s reactions, just merely shrugged “Nothing really, I noticed he was a bit red and it was really cold that day so I told him to go home and warm up after I thanked him” 

 A chorus of groans of disappointment was heard after the southpaw had answered 

  Seriously?!? He obviously wasn’t blushing because of the cold you idiot!!  

 Furuya, who they assumed had been asleep the entire time, suddenly spoke up and sighed “You’re unbelievably denser than me” 

 “Huh?! You were awake?! And what do you mean denser than you? I’m not dense!” 

  Yes you are, idiot.  

 “Bakamura! Are you seriously telling me that’s it?! No developments happened after that?!” Jun screamed 

 “Huh? What development is even supposed to happen?! And nothing really happened afterwards, he had to move to Tokyo not long after” 

 Jun and Haruichi visibly perked up, probably imagining a romantic shoujo reunion now that Sawamura was in Tokyo as well. “Say, Eijun-kun, do you remember the boy who gave you the curry?”Haruichi asked, definitely planning to play match-maker for his dense best friend 

 “Yup. He was small and had blonde hair and blue eyes! And oh! He was a southpaw and plays pitcher!” He exclaimed. Wait, blonde hair, blue eyes and is a southpaw pitcher? That sounds awfully familiar.  “His name was... Mei-kun, Narumiya Mei-kun!” 

 The team choked. 

 - - -

  “Ei-chan! A classmate is here to see you!” Eijun's mother called out

  “Ah! Hold on!”  

  “Eh? Mei-kun? What are you doing here?” Eijun asked when he saw his classmate, Narumiya Mei, standing in front of his door with a lunchbox in his hands  

  “H-here! Curry! I a-asked sensei to save you some”  

  “Really?! Thank you so much, Mei-kun!” Eijun beamed

  The blonde mumbled something under his breath but it was barely audible that Eijun didn't understand what he had said

  “Eh? What did you say?” The brunette asked, he thought he heard something along the lines of ‘like’ but it probably was his imagination  

  “I said! I felt bad for you and—!”   

  “Ah! Mei-kun! You look red! Do you feel cold?! You should probably go home and warm up!”  

 - - -

 Seidou’s first-string hellish training camp had just finished and were scheduled for a round-robin with Inashiro Industrial and Shuhoku High 

 Sawamura had just left the dugout after clearing it of their stuff when he was stopped by a one of the players from the opposite teams, he turned around and his jaw dropped open when he had recognized the blonde who had called him out 

 “Mei-kun?!” 

 “Eh?! Ei-chan?!” 

 Some distance away from the scene, Seidou’s first string members were watching with amused looks on their faces together with a gushing and squealing Haruichi and Jun 

  It really is like a Shoujo manga story  

[pacco-fleuris]

West Tokyo Powerhouse Schools’ Aces

Inashiro Industrial - Narumiya Mei Seido High School - Sawamura Eijun Yakushi High School - Sanada Shunpei Ichidaisan High School - Amahisa Kousei

[nekumiko]

Colors

Fandom: Daiya no Ace

Genre: Romance

Rated: T

Words: 3, 944

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Summary:  She’s fascinated with his hair. Just his hair. But Ryousuke finds it invasive, and of course he won’t let her off that easily.

Chapter Six: Ryousuke and Aya

That sure cheered him up, alright.

And Kominato Ryousuke in a good mood spells trouble for the other teams. The opponent that Saturday is Kiryuu High School, famous for having the best batters in Osaka. In the top half of the first inning alone, Kiryuu is up by three runs – or rather, three bases-loaded walks. But then, the next batter hits to center field… right into their territory.

Toned (short) legs run after the baseball, which consequently bounces into the waiting glove of the second baseman.

“Ryou-san!”

In the split second before Kominato falls prone to the ground, he expertly throws the baseball to his reliable partner.

With his signature laugh ringing through the field, Kuramochi then practically flies over the Kiryuu runner to throw the baseball all the way to their captain at first base.

The well-known double play of Seidou’s Iron Wall had not only prevented another bases-loaded walk, but ultimately ended the top half of the inning.

“H-he stopped it?”

“How did he catch that?”

“Nothing can get past those two!”

As the crowd continues to marvel over the wholesome turnout, Aya grips the underside of the bench she’s sitting on, grinning excitedly.

The infamous duo would be on a roll now as they would finally start up the offense.

Kuramochi steps onto the box as the lead-off batter. Once he hits the very first pitch, he becomes barely a flash of white and blue speeding through the field, shocking the whole of Kiryuu team and almost freezing the fielders up. Almost. Kuramochi steps on the third white bag, but not before its baseman catches the baseball from another fielder, rendering him out. A close call.

Maybe Aya had spoken too soon.

It doesn’t change the fact, though, that the second batter is the player with the best batting eye. Having full control of the baseball once it hits his bat, Kominato Ryousuke always keeps everyone on their toes. Today, after committing three balls and two strikes, the next pitch could either advance or take him out of the field. But he intentionally drives that and the next nine pitches into fouls, prolonging him at-bat.

Alas, Kiryuu’s pitcher starts showing signs of fatigue.

That is when Kominato decides not to swing anymore, effectively prompting the umpire to call it the fourth ball and award him a walk.

Was it some sort of comeback, or something he’d been planning from the start? Either way, it fills Aya with pride, with hope for a victory today, and maybe with a little selfish happiness knowing she’s a reason behind his good plays.

But she somehow feels sorry for the Seidou team, too.

For Kominato Ryousuke in a good mood may also be a bit bad to his own teammates’ sanity.

No doubt Kuramochi would be insulted for not getting on base, as if it hadn’t been enough that Kominato playfully hit his stomach with a glove after just complaining about fatigue from camp. Aya wishes she didn’t need to see how the poor shortstop had curled up in pain.

And it seems like the senior had been more than happy to stay quiet along with the other fielders during the first five innings Furuya had pitched, a plan they had apparently come up with just to loosen the stiff first-year up. Birds of the same feather flock together, they say.

That good mood extends up to the following day – where Seidou plays in a three-way round robin against Shuuhoku and Inashiro Industrial – not even dampened by a little pest named Narumiya Mei showing off a new pitch to watch out for (if anything, it had only fired he and his friends up even more).

At the final game against Shuuhoku, as their beloved ace, Tanba, stands in the batter box for the bottom half of the inning, Kominato now teams up with another notorious bully. Their voices ring out all the way from the dugout.

“Hit it, Tanba!” Isashiki Jun shouts.

“But don’t try too hard!” “It will affect your pitching!” Kominato adds.

Back-and-forth they continue, to the point where everyone, even Aya, had to tune them out.

Yet, as all baseball games go, things always take an unexpected turn.

Shuuhoku’s pitch becomes a dead ball in the worst possible way – it hits Tanba right in the face. In a flash, the field swarms with white, crowding around the fallen Seidou ace and swallowing up Coach Kataoka, the first one to rush in.

It’s the seniors’ last chance to play in Nationals. Chris had already been eliminated from the roster because of his injury. That fact remains hard to swallow, for what would be the point of reaching the top if you all won’t be there together? And if Tanba – their ace, their friend – would end up the same…

Aya had to do quick errands for the Art Club at lunch next day, and therefore can’t help but sneak a peek at 3-B’s classroom. She had spent a good portion of yesterday staring at the cold white screen of her phone when Kominato only replied with a highly doubtful “I’ll be fine” to her texts.

He is seated up front beside the window, his chin propped on one hand. Masuko and Isashiki, as well as their other teammates from the class, surround him, along with an almost tangible gloom.

Practice the following morning is devastatingly quiet, too. The seniors remain strong in their throws and swings, remain excellent in catching. But these are all obviously out of frustration.

Dealing with a low-spirited sportsman, however, is not new to Aya. He would just need time to sort out his feelings, and that is best done in the company of his teammates. But with the upgrade in their relationship, she now has the urge – no, a sudden sense of duty to comfort him. Yet this relationship is still so fresh that she realizes she doesn’t know how to. Would he really want to be left alone? Does he have a comfort food, or a way to let off steam? Having only focused on his physical attributes before, and not to mention their bad history that had kept her distant, her knowledge about him is merely a speck of pink in a huge, white space.

As white as the papers she’s currently drowning in.

“Is this how you absorb your lessons?”

Aya opens her eyes to come face-to-face with the exact person filling her thoughts.

“Found you~” he says softly, a small smile finding its way on his lips.

She smiles back, relieved to see it. Until she realizes she’d been asleep. She immediately straightens up and covers her mouth with her hands.

Kominato chuckles as he sits up too, shifting in his chair so that he stays facing her, his knees almost touching her right leg. “Don’t worry.” He pries her hands away. “I would’ve already wiped away any drool if you had any. Although,” his hands move to fix her hair, fingers running through the flyaways, “you do have the beginnings of a bird’s nest.”

She fights the urge to lean into the touch.

When he pulls away, the amused smile vanishes. “You haven’t been getting enough sleep.”

Play it cool. Aya shrugs. “I’m taking commissions again, so I’ve been busy.”

“Shouldn’t you be studying? Final exams are just around the corner.”

“I am!” She gestures at the books and notebooks in front of her. “I only study in the library, though.”

“Sure, if that’s what you call studying.” He tilts his head at the portraits she’d drawn for the past hour, half-hidden under her book.

“I need breaks, okay?” She giggles. “And don’t worry. Between me and my cousin, I’m the one blessed with academic excellence. So I’ll be fine!”

“Oh? Then does that mean we can’t have study dates?”

She laughs uneasily at the mention of the word, suddenly turning a page in her book. “How did you find me here?”

From her peripheral, Aya swears Kominato’s lips quirk up for a second. “You texted me.”

Now, that’s not what she’s expecting. Aya looks back at him with a small frown. “I did?” She checks her phone. “Oh my god, I thought I was texting my cousin!” Because he’s the only one who occasionally asks if she got home already. The only one who texts her, actually.

“No wonder you dropped polite speech with me.” He doesn’t bother to hide the smirk now. “Again.”

“Sorry.” She puts her phone down. “But why are you looking for me?”

“Simple. I missed my Mako-chan.”

Aya whines. “I told you not to butcher my very meaningful name!”

Kominato laughs, and it’s a pleasant sound she didn’t think she’d hear this week. Suddenly, the nickname doesn’t sound too bad. It was merely a chuckle, though, before he scoots closer. “Let’s go on a date, Mako-chan.”

Her small smile disappears as she blinks. “W-what?”

“I asked you out right before two whole days of games, and then stop talking to you for nearly two more days afterwards. I don’t think I’ve been a good boyfriend.”

She shakes her head vigorously. “No, Kominato-san! I understand all that! You’ve got Nationals to prepare for, so it’s really okay!”

He stares at her. “You haven’t dated before, have you?”

Aya’s jaw falls open.

Kominato coos, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I’d be very honored to be your first.”

“I…” She lowers his hand to intertwine it with hers, resting them on top of his knee. “But what about Nationals? Are you really in a state to go on dates right now? I mean, with what happened in the game…”

“That idiot thankfully only cracked his chin, so he’d definitely still play. We’d just start off the season without him. While that would require more effort for everyone, there’s enough time.” He puts an elbow on the table and props his head on his palm, so that he’s angled to look up and into her eyes. “The team is a priority, but you’re important too.”

Aya gulps. Stares at him for a few seconds. Turns away to cover her face with her hands. “Who are you and what did you do to Kominato Ryousuke?”

He chuckles. “Oh, right. You didn’t watch afternoon practice. That’s why.”

She lowers her hands. “That’s why…?” It is then that she notices he is still wearing his white jersey. Had he sought her out right after practice?

“Tetsu and Jun did a good job at motivating the seniors earlier. But,” he leans closer to whisper his next words in her ear, “did you forget it’s you who could cheer me up the most?”

To address Aya’s concerns, Kominato – after getting harshly shoved away from her – sets the date on Saturday, for the team does not practice on weekends, and since his “smart girlfriend surely wouldn’t dedicate a whole day for studying.”

Now that they’re waiting in line at the movie theater, he turns to the girl who had shown up in a dress as pure white as her soul. “Are you sure you want to watch a horror movie?” Well, maybe not.

Aya nods quite excitedly. “I’m not actually fond of the romance genre. I like movies that could make you scream, jump, or basically just keep you up at night! Oh, especially if it’s gore. You can even ask Kazuya…” she trails off upon seeing Kominato’s tight smile.

“I just don’t think it’s a first-date movie.”

“Why not?” Aya slips her hand in his. “It would be a perfect movie for low-key cuddling when I get scared.”

If she gets scared. Aya instead ends up too engrossed with the movie, only staring straight ahead as she subconsciously munches on her sandwich. Of course, if she’d never been clingy when watching these kinds of movies before, she still wouldn’t be even if she has a boyfriend now.

“Mako-chan.”

She gasps loudly at the hand touching her arm. They are apparently outside the cinema already.

Kominato frowns slightly in concern. “Are you alright?”

Not making fun of me? “Yes, just… a little spooked. That movie was really good.” She holds a hand to her chest and breathes deeply. “Now, I need to burn all that adrenaline. Let’s go to a batting center next.”

It would be comical to say that Kominato Ryousuke’s eyes had widened. “Did I just hear you correctly? A batting center?”

“Why? You aren’t sick of baseball yet, right? Because that’d be bad news.”

Kominato shakes his head. “How would watching me bat help you with… with burning the adrenaline?”

She giggles. “Who says I’d be watching?”

And it finally clicks. “You can bat?”

She scoffs. “For your information, I am fairly good at it. It’d be a shame if I wasn’t. It’s the only game Kazuya knows how to play with me back when we were kids.”

“Oh?” Kominato drags the word out. “That’s interesting,” he says despite losing all color in his tone. He lightly grasps her wrist and starts walking. “Alright, I know a center nearby.”

Aya bites her lip to stifle another giggle.

He waits until they had crossed over to the other side of the street before speaking again. “Miyuki and you really go way back.”

Finally. “Of course we do. He’s my cousin.”

“What?” He stops. Fortunately, they are out of the way of passersby. “The cousin you’ve been talking about all along?”

“The one and only~” As he continues to only stare at her, Aya laughs. “I mean, seriously, how could people not see that? We have the same brown hair,” she twirls a lock of hair, “pretty brown eyes,” and then she places a finger gun under her chin, clicking her tongue, “and good looks!” She crosses her arms, humming in thought. “Maybe it’s because I don’t wear glasses. Oh!” She claps once. “No, it has to be the attitude. I am way kinder than he is.”

Somehow recovering during her little monologue, Kominato chuckles. “And way shorter.”

Aya gasps. But then she smiles goofily and nudges his shoulder. “But at least that makes you taller than me, right?” This time, she pulls him by the wrist so they could get a move on. “Anyway, I’d like to say that you disappoint me, senpai, for being one of those people sick enough to think of me and Kazuya as… ugh, eww.”

“But?”

Aya smirks at him. “But I’ve realized you’ve been jealous all this time, and that’s fun to think back on now!”

“I wasn’t.”

“Sure.” But before Kominato could even reply, Aya stops to look up at the batting center already in front of them. “You’re right, it is nearby!”

At first, it had been sweet.

“I’ll only play in the cages you’d play in,” Kominato says as he collects their tokens from the machine. “Don’t go off to another cage without me. I’d have to watch you because you’re not exactly wearing the right clothes for this.”

Aya blinks and looks down at herself. Her dress is not too short to ride up her thighs if she moves recklessly, but she finds her cheeks warming up at his concern. “Okay. Thank you.”

When he passes her the gloves that the center offers, Kominato tuts. “You really should’ve told me in advance that we’d go here today. I would’ve let you borrow my own gloves instead.”

She smiles, deciding not to remind him it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. “It’s okay. I’m not squeamish.”

But then he gets only one helmet, and leads her to the 90 km/h cage. And then he smirks. “Let’s start safe.” He puts the helmet on her head. “This is for you.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“You are Miyuki’s cousin, after all.”

Aya pouts. Miyuki Kazuya is known to hit homers and long balls, as long as there are runners on base. Otherwise, he only gets struck out. And in this setting that has absolutely no runners to consider, Aya might have picked up that weakness from the only one who taught her how to bat. Or maybe it’s just because of the person watching her today.

“Mako-chan, you won’t get to move on to the faster balls if you keep this up.”

“Whoa. You almost got hit. Again.”

“Mako-chan, do you want me to buy more tokens?”

“I am glad you did not decide to be a baseball player.”

Aya not only gets rid of all that adrenaline, but also develops a better understanding of the Seidou team fortunate enough to be playing in the same batch as Kominato Ryousuke. “I want to hit you.”

“I get that a lot.” He hands her a towel. “They don’t say it, but the look in their eyes does.”

“I am sure.”

After a few more rounds – to be fair, Aya had gotten over her nerves and it became a friendly competition – they finally decide to eat, and Kominato gets to choose where to go this time.

“Senpai,” Aya softly calls as she twirls her pasta around her fork, “why did you pick a French café?”

“If I let you pick again, we might be in a family restaurant right now.”

“What do you mean?”

He frowns slightly. “Aren’t you being too considerate of me? Watching a movie in a genre I like. Going to a batting center of all places.”

“And what? You expect me to suggest eating curry? I don’t even know your favorite food.”

He pauses. “It is curry.”

“Oh. Wow.”

A moment of silence passes.

Aya raises an eyebrow. “And you think I’d like it here?”

His lips part open in surprise. “You don’t?”

She shrugs. “It’s okay. I’m not exactly that high-maintenance.” Aya finally eats the carbonara on her fork. “And for the record, I don’t like curry. Or any other spicy food.”

Kominato sighs in relief. “Okay. I…” He looks out the glass wall of the café. “I just want you to feel special.”

Aya wants to melt. “Just that thought is enough, really! Don’t be pressured with me too, please.” She touches his hand on the table, prompting him to look back at her. “This might sound cliché, but I seriously think that any activity would be perfect as long as it’s with you. And hey, did it not occur to you that we might just like the same things?” She then clasps her hands in front of her, grinning. “That makes us all the more compatible, doesn’t it?”

He breaks out into a shy grin back, a slight pink on his cheeks. “I guess.”

Aya sips her iced macchiato, and then clears her throat. “I do have a very important question, senpai.”

He puts his fork down now, a small frown back on his face. “What is it?”

“Well, I know we’re a new couple, but we’ve technically known each other for a year now, making us fairly familiar with each other… so I’ve just been wondering…” It is now her turn to look out of the café. “Um, isn’t it a bit weird for me to keep calling you by your family name? Especially since your brother studies at the same school now.”

“I do remember that you call him by his first name.”

“Exactly! I call my boyfriend’s brother by his first name, but with my own boyfriend…”

He sits back. “I see. You want to call me by my first name.”

Aya turns back to him. “But that’s not all. Uh, you see, if you allow me to, another concern would come up.”

He nods once for her to continue. 

“How exactly would I do that? Your teammates call you ‘Ryou-san’ and ‘Ryousuke-san.’ Now, wouldn’t it be much weirder if I do the same thing?”

He chuckles. “You put a lot of thought into this, huh?”

She only laughs nervously.

He hums in thought. “’Ryou.’ You can call me ‘Ryou.’”

Her eyes widen. “No honorifics? Are you sure?”

He only nods, then resumes his meal. 

“Okay, Ryou.” She picks at her food, repeating his name for a few more times.

But he says nothing else. There’s not even a blush on his cheeks.

So Aya waits for him to take another bite of his bread. “Ryou,” she calls, and then smiles because he had the decency to finally look up. “You can call me Aya.”

He chokes.

Gauging his coughing fit to be at a level where he won’t see white lights yet, Aya smirks and leans over the table as she dangles a glass of water. “Aww, Ryou, do you need Aya to help you?”

Despite the not-so-pure-white individual personalities of the two, their relationship could be best described as painted in the color of new beginnings.

Not only is this Aya’s first relationship, but it also marks the end of their countless petty fights from the past year. Ryousuke and Aya are starting off on a clean slate, falling under the spell of awkward but sweet innocence of getting to know each other in a new light.

But the problem with having something so white is that you can’t exactly hide it.

As they get closer to summer vacation – and Summer Nationals – practice and final exams leave the team with almost no time for themselves. That brings Kuramochi into joining Aya and Miyuki’s near-regular lunches in the classroom.

“Are you sure you two can eat that much?” Aya asks as she closes the lid of her own lunchbox, having finished before them because her meals are much lighter.

“Three bowls of rice is the minimum back at the dorms,” Kuramochi replies. “Besides, this is good. And surely healthier than those in the cafeteria. I should order from you more often.”

“That’d be very nice! New customers are always welcome!”

“Hey, don’t let it get to her head,” Miyuki says.

“Well, I’m sorry.” Aya squints. “Even if my cooking is ‘second-rate,’ they’re well-appreciated.”

“Kuramochi’s the only other person you’ve ever cooked for.”

“That’s not true! I’ve cooked for Ryou before and he likes it.”

The two boys stop.

Aya drops her chopsticks, as wide-eyed as them.

“Ryou?” they chorus.

“J-just keep eating, okay?” She grabs her poor chopsticks from the ground, but resurfaces to find them still staring at her.

Miyuki is the first one to recover, a slight frown on his eyebrows. “Aya,” he drags the last syllable out, “has something been happening the whole week you barely talked to me?”

She starts packing up her lunch set to escape that all-knowing gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

And then Miyuki laughs so hard, the remaining students in the room start staring.

“Oi!” She lightly kicks his foot. “Cut it out already!”

“I just…” Miyuki manages to say before he laughs again.

Even Kuramochi sighs. “I don’t know why he finds it funny. I personally think it’s amusing.”

“That’s not very reassuring, Mochi.” 

He smirks. “I mean, who would’ve thought you two would actually – no, finally hook up?”

“You’re so foul-mouthed!”

Miyuki finally calms down. “Ah, that was a good one.” He points to the new ribbon on her half-ponytail. “I knew there was something behind Makoto Aya suddenly putting more effort in taming her hair.”

“Right?” Kuramochi shoves food into his mouth. “And it’s not like you two aren’t obvious, you know.” He swallows. “Don’t think I can’t see all his glances and smiles at the bleachers. Or how Ryou-san spends a lot of time texting.”

“Oh! Now I’m sure my eyes weren’t tricking me when I saw the ‘Ryou’ doodles at the back of your notebook,” Miyuki adds.

She raises an eyebrow. “We aren’t ‘obvious,’ you guys are just irritatingly perceptive.”

Huge grins slowly creep into the two friends’ expressions.

Aya curses.

Previous: Truce

Next: Jealousy (but not just Ryousuke’s)

[geekyjoys]

Narumiya Mei Profile

Yomiuri Giants - Primary Pitcher

Birthday: January 5

Bats: L     |   Throws: L

Jersey #: 18

This Season’s Stats:

Batting AVG:  0.298   |   Home Runs: 14   |   RBIs: 31   |   Games Played: 25

ERA: 2.198   |   Number of Pitches: 4   |   Top Speed: 156kph

High School: Inashiro Industrial High School (West Tokyo)

University/Independent Team: Waseda University (two years)

Narumiya Mei signed an eight-season contract with the Giants four years ago.

Links and Social Media:

Personal Twitter   |   Personal Instagram   |   Wikipedia   |   Latest News

Trivia:

Narumiya and Kamiya both went to the same high school, although Kamiya stayed at his university for a full four years before joining the Giants.

Narumiya studied geography at Waseda University, and has stated that, should his baseball career not work out (though it seems unlikely that would happen), he would return to his studies and become a professor.

His changeup is ranked one of the “scariest pitches” currently in the NPB. Many players have called it “completely and utterly unfair”, and analysts claim it’s a “miracle pitch” especially when paired with Miyuki Kazuya and Takigawa Chris Yuu’s strategic game-calling.

Narumiya is the youngest child with two older sisters. His oldest sister, Narumiya Maya, played softball in high school and university as an outfielder. Although she retired from the sport after university, Narumiya (Mei) has stated that he still looks up to his older sister.

Narumiya was born in Tokyo, although both his parents are American citizens. His father is half-Japanese and an Officer in the US Navy, stationed in Japan, and Narumiya “grew up more Japanese than American”. Ironic, considering he is only 1/4th Japanese.

Though his mother is not completely fluent in Japanese, Narumiya cannot speak fluent English. He says they communicate using a “bastardized combination of both languages”, as they both understand much of each other’s language. But as evidenced by his vlogs in America last year, he does understand English better than most people.

[Link to master page]

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 4/2/19

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 21 | By Yuri Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s still the finals of the West Tokyo preliminaries for Koshien, and Seido is still facing off against Inashiro Industrial. Tanba is obviously in trouble, and since what trailing Seido needs is an injection of heart, it’s Eijun to the rescue. His confidence and trust in his team exude from his every pore and it’s this spirit that gets the momentum going in Seido’s favor. It’s so nice to see Eijun doing really well and exhibiting some reliability—after spending so much time with him as a hothead with poor pitching control—and that his grandfather is there to see it. Of course, there’s yet another cliffhanger, as we make it to the bottom of the ninth with two outs to go before the volume ends way too soon. Can Seido manage to hold onto their lead? Tune in next time! – Michelle Smith

A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 16 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – In this volume we get: social justice discussion; historical backstory with violence and slavery; Nozomi dressed like a girl and getting hit on; volleyball fanservice complete with a double-page “swimsuit malfunction” spread; the triplets somehow traveling in time to the past and meeting their big sister as a little kid; Kyouya talking with one of her male classmates who’s pretty good-looking and nice, but she’s not really that into him; How To Centaur For Beginners; a human teacher dealing with her new job at a frog school in a very clear racism allegory; a girl telling her male date—after the date—that she’s gay, and Manami’s Daily Life. All in a day’s work for a series that is anything but predictable. – Sean Gaffney

The Delinquent Housewife!, Vol. 4 | By Nemu Yoko | Vertical Comics – Everyone gets shot down here. Yoshino is too nice to go through with her “revenge,” and gives up on Dai. Dai and Komugi takes longer, and is more problematic, but eventually he gives up on her as well. The best parts of the book deal with Komugi and her mother-in-law, who discovers the truth and has to deal with it, as well as resolving to “train” Komugi as a housewife. As expected, the series ends with Tohru coming home; also as expected, we do not see this homecoming, cutting out just before it happens. This series lived and died on its premise, and I must admit I found Komugi’s struggles as a housewife more interesting than the romantic entanglements. I’m still happy I read it, though. – Sean Gaffney

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 6 | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – The good news is that Shiva and her teacher actually touch in this book, and nothing untoward happens to her, so his fears were not justified. The bad news is that, of course, he has been distancing himself from her all this time because of that. Oh yes, and also everyone else is still after them, because Shiva’s uniqueness makes her either something to kill or something to experiment on. We also get a bit of teacher’s past as a doctor, though not much, as he doesn’t recall it himself. Throughout the series, it’s been Shiva’s innocent conversation that’s kept me reading, and that’s still true here, in a lighter volume for this series—and given how dark the volume gets, that says something about the series. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 8 | By Canno | Yen Press – Yukine and Ayaka crawl towards being a couple, but we’ve got two volumes after this, and it’s clearly the endgame, so it’s only a crawl. As is the case with this series, most of the focuses goes on another couple, Hikari and Nagisa, whose first names just make me think of Strawberry Panic!. They’re both running for student council president, despite living together due to circumstances. (Ayaka is ALSO asked to run, but decides against it.) As is often the case with this series, both Hikari and Nagisa are nicer than the other one thinks they are, and slowly fall in love, though given they’re the volume couple, not AS slowly as our heroines. This is good, but I’m ready for the end. – Sean Gaffney

MachiMaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person into a Magical Girl!, Vol. 2 | By Souruu | Seven Seas – How long I stay with this series depends on how much it can continue to be ridiculous. It does its best her—I liked the reporter girl who’s dragged along by events, as well as a taste of Kayo’s actual home life and what she’s rebelling against. When there’s a more serious plotline, such as when Nako’s seemingly dead classmate is possessed and Nako has to be convinced to fight against her, it can’t quite ride the cliches as fast, and gets stuck. Kayo is a very entertaining and foul-mouthed main character, though, and despite a high death count this does not seem to be “watch magical girls suffer” like some other series. Mildly recommended. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 5: The Spinoff! | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – This is something rare for a 4-koma series like this—a full-volume flashback, that was not serialized, that shows Aoba and Nene in high school, and how Aoba came to work at Eagle Jump straight out of it. We are introduced to two other “regulars” for this volume: Hotaru, a frail art student who is actually better than Aoba, and is going to art college; and their teacher Chinatsu, who is a “Sensei-chan” type who is one of the girls but occasionally dispenses good advice. There’s so much cute 4-koma humor that this could easily be a volume of Hidamari Sketch or GA: Art Design Class instead, but it does show us how Aoba got up the gumption to follow her dream. – Sean Gaffney

Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General, Vol. 3 | By jin | Seven Seas – I still enjoy laughing as I read this very dumb but very funny title. MVP this time around goes to the evil overlord’s secretary, who I’ve taken to calling Riza Hawkeye because of her general appearance and disposition. She’s attacked by a rival henchwoman, and also accidentally drinks a love potion. Hijinx ensue. As for the General and Braveman, situation much the same. We do get a beach episode, which shows us that even on vacation, everything still descends into chaos. The funniest chapter sees the urban legend Slit-Mouthed Woman attack some little boys… and General, trying to recruit her, instead verbally tearing her apart completely Silly, silly, silly. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2 | By Okura and Coma Hashii | Viz Media – I greatly enjoyed the first volume of That Blue Sky Feeling and was very pleased to find the second volume is just as strong if not stronger. The series is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, realistically addressing with compassion some of the challenges faced by gay high school students. A large part of the manga’s effectiveness is due to the exceptionally well done characterizations of its two main leads. Noshiro is an earnest if somewhat naive young man. He has such an incredibly kind heart but in his efforts to help others he still makes the occasional mistake. As for Sanada, it’s wonderful to see him start to open up a little bit more in this volume. But, because of his sadly understandable efforts to protect himself, he hasn’t yet been able to be completely honest with even his closest friends. I look forward to seeing their friendship continue to develop. – Ash Brown

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart | By Syundei | Seven Seas – Nearly a hundred years ago, a famous novelist raped and murdered nine boys, all of whom he subsequently wrote about in one of his books. Now, Yamada Omihiko, a teen who writes exactly like that novelist, is classmates with (and on the verge of becoming more-than-friends with) a boy named Hoshino Terumichi, who keeps having a recurring dream about the death of a boy named Tsukimura Shou. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that reincarnation is a factor here. I enjoyed the bulk of the story, though the ending is a little baffling, and much of that is owing to Syundei’s easy-to-read retro-ish artwork. I’ve said previously that her style reminds me of Rumiko Takahashi, but owing to this volume’s theme, I actually got more of a Please Save My Earth vibe, which I’m not complaining about whatsoever. I’m definitely keen to see more of Syundei’s work translated in the future! – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 1/28/19

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 19 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s the West Tokyo finals, determining which team will represent that region at Koshien. Seido is up against the team that barred their path the previous year, Inashiro Industrial, and since it’s a hugely pivotal game, it spans several volumes. This particular installment covers the fourth through seventh innings, during which Seido loses its early one-point lead and eventually falls even further behind when Tanba, ostensibly the ace, takes over pitching duties from a struggling Furuya and immediately gives away a home run. Seido’s not completely out—there are some excellent plays by Furuya (in outfield, trying to atone) and Kuramochi—but it’s definitely going to be a nail-biter. It was also pretty neat that our protagonist, Eijun, only appears when he’s cheering on his teammates. I’m so glad that he finally matured and learned some humility. – Michelle Smith

Dive!!, Vol. 1 | By Eto Mori and Ruzuru Akashiba | Yen Press – This was pretty good, but not good enough for me to have a full review’s worth of things to say about it. It hits all the right sports manga beats, and has some nice pictures of handsome high school boys diving. Their club is about to be shut down, though, unless they can get one of the divers to the Olympics. Enter Kayoko, their new coach, who is ready to make them fantastic divers even if it kills them. There’s a few really good kids there, but our hero is no doubt the one everyone will be watching—he has a very flexible body—and don’t forget the guy trying to get over a head injury while diving in the past. It’s a sports manga, and if you’re a lover of the genre, or like diving, check it out. – Sean Gaffney

Dr. STONE, Vol. 3 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – A much stronger volume of Dr. STONE here, which has ditched the boring part of its cast and reboots itself around its science hero and the village that he’s going to lead into the future. Everything about this works better—there’s a lot more humor now that we’re not dealing with a guy going around shattering humans all the time, and Senku’s mastery of science leads to some great Bobobo-esque faces from the other cast members. Also, there’s a little girl who wears a watermelon on her head, and who promptly ends up on Senku’s side because he doesn’t ask her why she’s doing this. I liked that. This series has gotten a lot more ludicrous, which is all for the better. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 30 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Lots of volleyball here, and not much else, meaning as always I’m struggling with things to say other than “that looked pretty cool.” I liked the focus on Tanaka in this book, and how his ability to bounce back from getting down on himself is a big strength. (That said, I think his attempt to hook up with the childhood friend may have just died.) We also get a good long look at Nekoma, who do end up advancing, much to my surprise (they had a few death flags). Who will they be facing? Oh, probably Karasuno, but that game is still going on, and the other team has figured out a weakness in Nishinoya, who’s usually one of the best on the team. How is he going to bounce back? For once, we have a month or two to wait to find out. – Sean Gaffney

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 2 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – First of all, this manga desperately needs a character sheet at the front, as I’d already forgotten half the cast. Secondly, what is it with isekais needing to show that the local feudal lord is the evilest of all evil guys? So let’s roll out the usual tropes, including a sneering advisor and the jus prima noctis run wild, which allows them to try to rape Lyrule. Of course, it doesn’t happen, because all our heroes are ridiculously brilliant and awesome and can do things like creating nuclear power within their first week of arrival. I assume this is the sort of series for folks who don’t care about OP heroes—if you do, you may burn this. It’s deeply ridiculous. – Sean Gaffney

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 4 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – There’s a lot of focus on Umaru’s school rival, Tachibana, in this volume. As is fast becoming a trend, Tachibana is seemingly an arrogant ojousama type but in reality is quite a nice person, even if she has a major grudge against Umaru. Fortunately, a easy to see through disguise is able to fool her. There’s also a beach trip, which focuses on the fact that Umaru’s outside persona and her indoor sloth persona are apparently not merely mental states—she literally seems to shrink. This is probably for humor value, but still… it reminds me of The Wallflower. Actually, the whole series does, though in Umaru’s case there are no hot guys coming along anytime soon to rescue her. Cute. – Sean Gaffney

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 10 | by Izumi Tsubaki | Yen Press – I enjoyed this volume a lot, largely because we got very good scenes between my favorite not-quite-couple, Hori and Kashima, at the beginning and end. They’re great, and the school trip stuff is pretty good too, especially Nozaki realizing he has some kind of special feelings for Sakura (even though it might just be maternal instinct), but what really surprised me was that a scene between Ryousuke (Seo’s older brother) and Miyako (the tanuki-drawing mangaka), two characters I care nothing about, ended up yielding a couple of laugh-out-loud moments as Ryousuke dramatically misunderstands her job and relationships and ends up concluding that Nozaki’s editor, Ken, has a… very interesting occupation. Ken’s reaction to this is priceless and executed with perfect comic timing. Bravo, Tsubaki-sensei! – Michelle Smith

No Game No Life, Vol. 2 | By Yuu Kamiya and Mashiro Hiiragi | Seven Seas – This is the second volume of the manga. Since the first came out, we’ve seen seven volumes of the light novel and four spinoff volumes of a different manga. It’s been over four years—both here and in Japan—between volumes. As such, a review seems almost irrelevant here. If you want a continued adaptation of the first novel in manga form, this is the book for you. The art pretty much still seems like Kamiya’s (I’m assuming his health problems are one reason why it’s so late). and there are some nice designs in the battlefield chess that [ ] has to play. Still, given that there’s no sign of the third volume anytime soon, I’d suggest fans either read the books or watch the anime instead. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 4 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – There’s a nice fakeout here, which I sort of suspected halfway through but was pleased with in any case. It reminds you yet again that Sariphi is not simply going to be able to be pure and sweet and win over everyone who goes against her… except she totally is, because this is that sort of shoujo manga, and she’s basically Tohru without the mother issues. Here we see her practicing a ritual dance that needs to be done perfectly, and when she fails to do so she just requests a do-over and everyone just lets her do it, likely as they’re stunned that she’s even trying to. This is a series that weaponizes the Pollyanna for good, and it’s still a great deal of fun. Shoujo fans will love it. – Sean Gaffney

10 Dance, Vol. 1 | By Inouesatoh | Kodansha Comics – Along with Memeko Arii’s Hitorijime My Hero, Inouesatoh’s 10 Dance marks Kodansha Comics’ initial foray into the BL genre in print. (It is not, however, the first time that the publisher has released a manga about ballroom dancing.) 10 Dance is a series I’ve had my eyes on for a while, so I was absolutely thrilled when it was licensed. The story follows the relationship between two men, Shinya Sugiki and Shinya Suzuki, both exceptionally skilled ballroom dancers. Sugiki specializes in standard while Suzuki focuses on Latin, their contrasting personalities mirroring their chosen dances—Suzuki is generally fiery and bombastic while Sugiki tends to be cool and reserved. Sugiki goads Suzuki into entering the 10-Dance Competition, requiring each of them to master the other’s style. Dancing demands a certain amount of physical intimacy and trust and as they begin training with each other their dancing and complicated rivalry evolves in unexpected ways. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown