It always comes back to Soseki, doesn’t it? Even in my sports anime!

Ao Ashi S2 Ep. 7

Fukuda’s rope exercise helps Aoi realize instantly when he’s out of position. Fukuda also has personalized advice for most of the people who participate in the training. Even Miyako gets advice. I just find it funny that he doesn’t even know her name. But when it comes to Aoi, he has nothing specific to say. I’m not necessarily surprised by that. I just wonder why there are never follow-up questions and thus follow-up answers. Surely, Aoi must be dying to know why Fukuda has nothing to say to him except to keep doing what he’s doing. But he doesn’t ask, and thus Fukuda doesn’t answer. That’s curious, isn’t it?

Midway through the episode, we get to see the kids in a normal class for once. The teacher is talking about two characters in love: Sanshiro and Mineko. They’re from a Soseki book, right? Well, it’s always a Soseki book. Other Japanese authors rarely come up. But that’s beside the point. If there’s a lesson to be learned from Sanshiro and Mineko’s folly, it’s that they were too passive. They were in love, but they felt too weighed down by societal expectations and obligations. As a result, they drifted apart and married other people. You’ll never get what you want if you don’t speak out.

So of course, when this literary reference came up, it’s natural to think about how it applies to the love triangle slowly coagulating in front of us. Yes, “coagulating.” I dislike love triangles that much, but I digress. Anri has a crush on Aoi, so she tries to take direct action by offering to make his food for him. She isn’t even on his radar, though. He’s already committed to Hana’s meal plan. He then realizes he hasn’t seen her in a while. The other characters start talking about how she was seen with Kuribayashi, which frustrates Aoi. But then he tells himself he’s got a ton of things to figure out if he wants to become a pro. Sounds like those darn obligations holding love back!  But I mean, Hana is being a bit too roundabout, too. She clearly cares about Aoi, but she won’t see him. She only helps him from a distance, asking Kuribayashi to give Aoi some advice. At this point, no one’s gonna get what they want; they’re going to become Sanshiro and Mineko. Sadly, Aoi wasn’t really paying attention in class.

But what is this show about again? Oh right, soccer. Well, the lessons from the novel don’t have to apply to just romance. In every walk of life, if you don’t speak up — if you don’t defy convention once in a while — you’re bound to lose out. Yes, Aoi asked, and Fukuda said he had no specific advice. Okay, so? Press him. Pick his brain. Fukuda might very well be telling the truth, but wouldn’t it help to understand the man’s rationale? Y’know how kids can be annoying when they keep asking you why over and over? Why isn’t Aoi doing that? Is he afraid to be rude? Would he really pass up an opportunity to improve over something as silly as rudeness?

I’m not going to pretend, however, that all of the advice is useful. To help Togashi become more aware of his surroundings, Fukuda asks the kid to say how many red signs he came across on the way to the field. He asks Aoi the same question, who obviously noticed a lot more. I guess this shows everyone how little they actually see of the world? But is that really fair? Red signs aren’t necessarily important information. We naturally filter out things we don’t need to know. It’s a bit different on a soccer field, where you should know everyone’s position in order to do your best. Why would anyone unconsciously keep track of red signs that they come across?

But seriously, are Hana and Aoi ever gonna meet up again? Sadly, the preview seems to suggest more trouble with Akutsu. Oh boy, I can’t wait. Also, it’s pretty funny that everyone assumes a talented player like Kuribayashi would automatically make a good coach. Hell no. Coaching is all about teaching, which is just a subset of communication. You gotta be able to explain what you see to people, and a lot of talented players can’t do that at all.

Ace of the Diamond act II -Second Season- Ep. 6

Seido finally gets a run across the plate thanks to a timely hit from Kazuya, but man, nobody has any slugging. I guess I shouldn’t expect to see home runs from high school players. After all, you got the cleanup batter coming up to the plate and bunting. And it works. Sheesh.

Furuya is laboring out there. By the end of the sixth inning, his pitch count is already up to 99. SOmehow, his velocity hasn’t dropped. I’ve heard some nightmare stories about how Japanese high school teams overuse their pitchers, though. Some kid threw over 800 pitches over 6 games. That’s ridiculous. It’s funny in a way, because a lot of critics think American baseball has overcorrected in the other direction. Hell, it’s not even about the pitch count anymore. A lot of managers will only let their starters go through the opposing lineup twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re not tired or if you’ve only thrown 60 pitches, because stats show that a pitcher’s effectiveness drops off sharply if batters get a third chance. But if you have a habit of pulling your starters too early, it has a cascading effect on the bullpen. MLB teams are constantly chewing through their bullpen arms. Ultimately, if you’ve got an ace making 30 million a year on the mound, he’s gotta be able to give you at least six or seven innings, right? Well… I guess that’s why it was considered a marvel for Yamamoto to do what he did in the 2025 World Series.

Anyway, it looks like Furuya is going to start the seventh, and the manager will let him go until they run into trouble. Eh… if he really has arm talent, the last thing you want to do is injure yourself for a high school game. But I guess these characters are too passionate to hold themselves back. I’d prioritize my future career prospects, but I suppose that’s selfish.