I so totally put thought into this shit.
No scanlations this time, actually. Hehe. ^_^;
Library job not go to me. *sniff* The lady called me back and said Encouraging Things and insisted quite vehemently that I keep trying to find some library to work in and that one surely must open up eventually and seemed to think I had a good chance. And she seemed to mean it quite earnestly (as opposed to having the 'just saying the polite thing to the interviewee' vibe), only she also seemed to very possibly be the sort of lady that could tell anyone just about anything unreasonably optimistic and mean it with complete earnestness. ^_^; Nice lady, though. And her library was about two medium-sized rooms and one large hallway big, yet it had a manga section more than triple the size of our capital city's library. ^_^; (With all of Hikaru no Go. And yaoi.) I'm sad I didn't look before the interview, as now I will never have a chance to compliment it. ^^
Nanowrimo goes decently well. Fell behind the handful of days to spend a little time planning, and have been doing double word counts since to catch up and shall be there in a couple days (though yesterday was skipped in favor of bringing this wonderful Oofuri to you <3). Conclusion: Writing without putting any thought into style or execution is sort of like slowly pressing nails through the top of my foot and out the bottom but minus the excitement.
I know some people might learn valuable things from wrimo about not letting yourself use mistakes and imperfections as excuses not to write or finish things, but in the case of the attitudes exuded by most of the wrimos I've seen at the write ins, I think my brother is quite right in calling this, 'National Pretend You're A Novelist Month.' I guess there's nothing really wrong with having a NaPrYNoMo, except for the lack of awareness by so many that that's what they're doing. I feel a little over-dramatic saying it, but it seems like sort of an insult to real novelists to think the things most people create during this month novels. I mean, everyone knows first drafts are shit, but real novelists put good hard thought into that shit. Some not-real novelists do it, too. They sit down and try and try and think and think and write shit. And much as I love to insult crap writing, I still respect that about fifty bajillion times more than much of this rather amazingly fantastic wankfest. (Though to those wrimos that do try, or that do keep things in perspective, or that are just doing this for silly fun and know it, absolutely more power to you.)
Plus side, though, I think my brains got so fed up with the senseless word dumping and fed me some ideas for hopefully somewhat less senseless IzuMizu fic. Most will likely not fit in quite right and turn into drabbles that will never get shared or written, and the leftovers aren't enough to start writing again, but it's more than I've gotten from teh brains in some time, so that's nice. Especially since one of the drabble ideas is full of thinly disguised sarcasm and sentences full of words picked with careful selectivity and is generally so full of self-indulgent word-tinkering and excessive deliberation that it is almost sure to be completely unworthy of being shared with anyone, possibly OOC, and the perfect cure for all this wrimo-itis. ^_^
SUMMARY:
With Suyama on base, Tajima comes up to bat. Takeshi notes he looks ready to hit. He sends him a ball, but Tajima doesn't swing. Takeshi notes Tajima is a good player, but that it doesn't really matter how this at bat goes since they'll be in the quarter finals tomorrow and need to end the game with as few pitches as possible. They pitch a slider, and Tajima sees it and hits it long, just inside the third base line. Tajima makes it to second, and Suyama makes it home, bringing the score six to eleven.
Takeshi meets with Takenouchi and explains (I think??) that he just let Tajima hit since he was so much trouble, and they will just get their outs with the next three batters.
Hanai comes up to bat. He's had nothing but fastballs till now, so he plans to aim for those. Hanai gets a fastball and swings and misses, but (?? unsure about this) notes the ball is getting slower. He waits on the next pitch, and gets another strike, and (?? I think maybe it was faster again, and they were tricking him?). Takenouchi pitches another strike, and Hanai swings and misses again, making the first out.
Oki comes up to bat thinking he must hit because Nishihiro is next. Takeshi remembers Oki made a good hit before. They pitch a ball, and Momokan is surprised to see them pitching him a breaking ball when Hanai had all fast balls. (?? not sure what that's about) Oki plans to aim for the fastball. A shoot comes next, and Oki lets it go by, getting a strike. Momokan signals for them to do a hit and run, and thinks the next pitch will be a fastball since the last two were breaking balls. Takeshi notes that if they can get Oki out, the game will basically be over considering who's in the batting order after him. Takenouchi pitches, Tajima starts running, and Oki sees the pitch is a fastball and swings, hitting the ball. The ball is picked up and thrown to first, and Oki is out despite sliding head first.
With two outs and Tajima on third, Nishiro is called up to bat looking slightly horrified. Mihashi and the team yell encouragement, and Momokan tells him to hit however he can. He swings at the first pitch and misses. The team continues to yell encouragement, the second pitch comes, and Nishihiro swings and misses again. Nishihiro continues to tell himself to hit the ball. The third pitch comes, and he swings and misses again, making the third out and Bijou's win.
Bijou runs happily on to the field, and Hanai calls Nishiura to come out as well. The teams bow to one another, and Hanai calls the team to thank the cheering squad. After, Nishihiro falls to his knees crying, and Hanai and Oki help him back up. The team heads back to the dug out. Mihashi trails behind, and when he gets there Abe is waiting outside it, standing with crutches. Mihashi stands across from him and starts crying, saying they lost. Abe looks upset and hugs Mihashi's head.
Momokan calls to the team to stop what they are doing. She gives them a pep talk, predicting they are all wondering if the game could have gone better if they were better at certain things. She tells them not to let their tears and regrets now go to waste but instead to save those feelings and turn them into drive to do better. Shiga explains tears relieve stress (...so I guess they don't want them to cry so they remember what it's like to feel bad??) Momokan reminds the team they've got the newcomer's tournament in two weeks and the fall tournament after that, so they need to get back home right away and start practice.
The parents talk outside the stadium. Hanai's sisters are sad they can't come cheer their brother on anymore. The VP comes to talk to the mothers. Roka is spotted by the Bijou boys and they enthusiastically come to tell him they made their goal. Roka is friendly and encouraging to them, and Kazuki remarks on his change in personality, annoying Roka.
Kazuki spots Takeshi, and goes to talk to him. Kazuki congratulates Takeshi, and (Takeshi might not recognize him as the guy who was sitting next to Roka? Or maybe Kazuki is just playing dumb?) tells Takeshi that he was sitting with Roka during the game, and mentions he saw Takeshi look up at Roka many times. Farther away, Roka sees Kazuki talking to Takeshi, and is very irritated.
TRANSLATION:
[translation by narwhaltortellini]
[Please note that my grasp on the Japanese language is tenuous and my understanding of baseball even more so. These translations and summaries were made with hopes of being helpful to fans who would like to read on in the story and do not mind suffering the occasional ambiguity or error. Parts I am consciously unsure of have been marked with two question marks (??), sometimes with my best guess at what they might mean. Note that the absence of question marks does not make the translation correct. ^_^]
[Anyone is free to use or repost these as they like, and scanlators are free to use them as aids. Just remember to use them, not trust them. It would, of course, be very kind of anyone taking them to let me know where they're going.]
01
Takeno: We decide we want to try for no hits,
Takeno: And suddenly we get hit just like that.
Take: This guy has made hits off both Yoshito and Takumi today.
Take: Either way, // Seems like he's gearing up to hit the first pitch now.
Take: With a closer score I'd want to keep strictly on top of the count, but...
Takeno: It's a six point lead.
Takeno: A ball...
02
Ump: Ball!
Take: He just let it by. (??)
Take: There's nothing playful about him here. (??)
03
Take: [He's good, both mentally and physically.]
Take: [A gem for any team to have. (??)]
Take: But it doesn't really matter how this turns out.
Take: [We'll be in the quarter finals by this time tomorrow..]
Take: We need to end this game in as few pitches as possible!
Takeno: Slider, huh?
Takeno: The same place as before?
Takeno: Since it worked well there last time?
Taji: Come on, bring it on!
04
Takeno: [With Takeshi's stance,]
Takeno: Aim
Takeno: For the elbow. (??)
Takeno: One more pitch!
Taji: A slider!
06
- Over the third base line!
Ump: Fair!
Hama: An extra baser!
Izumi: Suyama, keep going!
07
Izumi: Go!
Izumi: Go!
- Shuuhei, to third!
08
- (Yeah!)
09
- (Nice batting, Tajima!)
Take: Sorry!
Take: That guy's a lot of trouble, so I just let him hit. (??)
Take: But it looks like he got real lucky. (??)
Takeno: You really did let Shuuhei touch the ball.
Take: (?? lit: The meeting is long again, isn't it?)
Takeno: Yeah. // Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth. (??)
Take: We'll cut off the next three here!
Take: (?? something about the 'the coach's temper)
10
Takeno: Right, let's do it!
- That's it!
- Alright!
Taji: Make a hit, Hanai!
Taji: If we can just bring in another point, // They won't be looking so cheerful anymore!
11
[Batting fifth, Right Fielder, Hanai-kun. // Uniform number 9.]
Hanai: Alright!
Hanai: [I've got nothing but fastballs up till now.]
Hanai: [So that's what I'll aim for!]
Hanai: I can't pop it up.
Hanai: I need to make it on base, too!
12
Hanai: Fastball!
Hanai: Eh? // Is it getting slower?
Hanai: Ah- // Oh.
Hanai: ??
Hanai: Because they've got a five point lead in the last inning?
Hanai: [Damnit.]
Hanai: [This isn't over yet!]
13
Ump: Strike!
Hanai: ...A trick?
Take: Nice ball!
Hanai: (?? They aren't all ??) // Damnit.
14
Hanai: It's 2-0, but it doesn't matter!
Hanai: I'm hitting the next strike!
Take: Your expression shows too much.
Take: Though they are trailing by five points, after all.
Take: Guess a first year can't really help it. (??)
Takeno: No more toying.
Hanai: Hit it!
15
Takeno: A
Takeno: Strike!
16
Hama: Fukami!
Hama: Next one, hurry!
Fuka: Yeah.
17
Hanai: Three fastballs.
Oki: Got it.
Hanai: He's still got the power!
Oki: Yeah.
Oki: I've got to make a hit.
Oki: [Because next...]
[Batting sixth, first baseman, Oki-kun.]
Oki: Ready!
[Uniform number 3.]
18
Take: This guy...
Take: Hit a pretty nice long one before.
Take: [Maybe we should play it safe.]
19
Ump: Ball!
Momo: A breaking ball? // Hanai-kun got nothing but fastballs.
Oki: Just the pitches we like. (??)
Oki: If I'd swung, it wouldn't have been a good hit. (??)
Oki: Wait for the fastball! (??)
Take: Think you can get through this and stay just at one out? (??)
Take: Don't even bother trying. (??)
Momo: Next...
20
Oki: Uh. // A
Oki: Shoot!
Ump: Strike!
Momo: It's 1-1!
Momo: ??
21
Taji: Hit and run.
Taji: Guess that's our only choice? (??)
Taji: Alright. I need to run and make it home.
Momo: The last two pitches were both breaking balls. // The next one will be a fastball!
Momo: Remember what you did before, // And make a good hit!
Oki: Hit and run. // Do it right, and advance Tajima.
22
Oki: And worry about the course after that! (??)
Oki: Make a good hit, and then you can stay in too!
Takeno: They going to try something?
Take: If they're planning a trick, this would be the time to do it.
Take: [From what we saw of that the seventh in his last at-bat,]
Take: [If we can take this guy out, the game will basically be over.]
Take: We're challenging this guy, so pull out the stops.
Takeno: Focus on this one!
23
Hanai: Hit it, Oki!
Mihashi: You can do it, Oki-kun!
24
Take: He moved!
Oki: A fastball!
25
All: He got it!
26
Ump: Out!
27
[Batting seventh, left fielder, Nishihiro-kun.]
[Uniform number 10.]
28
*clop*
*inhale*
Miha: (You can do it,)
Miha: (Nishsihiro-kun!)
- (Yeah!)
- (Hit it, Nishihiro!)
Momo: Hit whatever you can!
29
Ump: Play!
Nishi: Hit // the // ball.
Nishi: Hit // the // ball.
30
- (Nice swing!)
- (Just make contact!)
- (Get it)
Nishi: Make // contact.
Nishi: Next...
31
- (Nishihiro!)
32
- (One more!)
- (Yeah!)
- (Nishihiro! Nishihiro!)
Miha: Nishihiro-kun!
Miha: Make a hit!
33
- (Nishihiro!)
- (You've got him!)
- (Nishihiro!)
- (One more!)
Nishi: Make contact.
- (Nishihiro!)
- (Nishihiro!)
Nishi: Please...
36
Hanai: Let's go!
Suya: Right!
37
Ump: Bijou Dai Sayama High School!
39
Hanai: To the stands!
All: Right!
All: Thank you // For cheering us on!
41
Nishi: ...ah.
Nishi: Kah.
Taji: Come on.
42
National Summer High School Baseball Championship Saitama Tournament
Nishiura High School Prefecture Game Results
(The boxes list the stats for each of Nishiura's games. Skipping these since they'd be hard to format and I'm not sure I understand them besides. Though if there's something particular you want to know from them, feel free to try me. ^^;)
44
Miha: Y-
Miha: Your leg.
45
Abe: ...Mihashi...
Miha:
Miha: ...W-
Miha: We // ...lost.
46
Momo: Alright, that's enough!
Momo: We had ourselves an all-out war today.
Momo: And we lost!
47
Momo: If only you'd hit more // run harder,
Momo: Had more strength, // had more skill!
Momo: Each one of you,
Momo: Must surely be thinking that now!
All: Yes ma'am!
48
Momo: In that case, // Don't just let the tears and regret your feeling now be brushed away and go to waste! (??)
Momo: Because that regret can be forged into personal drive! (??)
Momo: Keep it stored in yourselves, and never forget it!
Hanai: ….
49
Shiga: Your tears actually have stress chemicals inside them.
Shiga: So crying lets you release some of the stress you've built up inside.
Momo: And help you forget about the regrets you're feeling now. (??)
Abe: Are you serious?
Momo: Mihashi-kun really is...
Momo: *sigh*
Momo: Alright, let's gather everything up!
All: Yes ma'am.
Momo: We've got the newcomer's tournament in two weeks.
Momo: And the fall tournament not long after that.
50
Momo: Time to get back home and start practice!
All: Yes ma'am!
51
AbeM: Sorry to leave everything to you. (??)
MihaM: Don't worry about it!
MihaM: Go ahead!
HanaSis: Brother lost.
HanaSis: We wanted to come cheer for him again.
HanaM: You still can!
Vp: Hey!
HanaM: Oh, // The vice principal!
- (Oh, sensei! Thank you for coming!)
Vp: It's nothing!
Vp: Well... // It's too bad, isn't it?
HanaM: Those kids will still keep going! // They'll be fine!
- Ah, coach!
Roka: Nice work, guys.
- We did it, coach!
- We made our goal!
- Because you guys worked so hard to help us!
52
Roka: Well, the real thing starts from here!
Roka: You'll be going on tomorrow!
Kazu: Your attitude sure did a 180.
Roka: Don't you have prep school to go to?
Kazu: Actually, I've still got some...
Kazu: Ah.
Kazu: Kurata-kun!
53
Kazu: Congratulations on making it to the best 8!
Take: Ah...the Tousei...
Take: Thank you very much!
Kazu: We lost to Nishiura in the second round.
Take: ...Ah, // Maybe...the coach...
Kazu: Yeah. // I was actually sitting by Roka-san today.
Kazu: You didn't notice?
Kazu: During the game,
Kazu: You looked up at him so many times.
54
Roka: ….
Roka: That pest...
___________
So. Realism vs constant feel-good endings? ^_^ What were YOU expecting? ...And what were you hoping for?
I'm not really sure whether to spill my feelings on Nishiura losing this game or not. For one thing, my feelings are very much mixed up with my feelings on the chapters after it (I think part of whether or not an author can get away with a depressing thing like this in a series is what they do in the chapters after it, and I do think that is certainly part of the case here). It's also been so long. I've come to terms with it too much, hehe.
I think I can say that while this was a good game to give the longer treatment (like Tousei), I do think this one stretched just a bit too long for something that ends so depressing, hehe. I feel like it's kind of a if-you-don't-want-your-readers-to-feel-cheated rule of storytelling. Depending on what sort of story something is. And Oofuri is mostly a happy sort of story, so...
Though on a more random note, I love watching the expressions on everyone's faces and how each team member reacts (though lol at the tiiiiny Mihashi on page 46)Hanai/Izum/Oki looking strong and comforting others. Suyama holding it together himself. Tajima looking...not happy but no worse for the wear (haha ^_^;) Sad Sakaeguchi! Mizutani crying! Nishihiro! (Holy crap poor Nishihiro. ^_^; That guy was NOT in an enviable position. T_T) Not enough manly hugs!
Nothing says Oofuri like Manly Crying Hugs.
...I feel kind of bad. You're all probably depressed right now, and I'm being kinda silly cause it's old news to me. ^_^; When I see their sad faces I do get sort of sad for them again...
Before this I'd been wondering how a Momokan after-loss pep talk would go. (Damn, is she going to train our boys not to cry? Hehe...) Ouch, though, going back to practice after a game like that! ..Or at least it seems harsh, but then again, when I think about it, going home after a bad loss in a competition always sucked in marching band, and then coming back to practice days after you always felt kind of pathetic, hehe. Going straight to practice right afterward might have actually been sort of encouraging. No chance to sit down and think 'It's over,' since your actions clearly show it is not, heheh.
(I did want to scanlate Nishihiro's at bat on, but it occurred to me that would probably signal to you guys the game was about to end and help you guess that Nisihiro doesn't hit, so I decided not to start then ^_^; (Sorry if my mentioning of scanlating before already signaled that to you. *woops*) Not much text in it, anyway. ...Only then I was going to do the part after that...only it wasn't very long, and had even LESS text. So I just gave up the idea. It will give me more time to get used to editing in Gimp, anyway. For there is a part I MUST be ready to scanlate later, love it so do it. <3)
Library job not go to me. *sniff* The lady called me back and said Encouraging Things and insisted quite vehemently that I keep trying to find some library to work in and that one surely must open up eventually and seemed to think I had a good chance. And she seemed to mean it quite earnestly (as opposed to having the 'just saying the polite thing to the interviewee' vibe), only she also seemed to very possibly be the sort of lady that could tell anyone just about anything unreasonably optimistic and mean it with complete earnestness. ^_^; Nice lady, though. And her library was about two medium-sized rooms and one large hallway big, yet it had a manga section more than triple the size of our capital city's library. ^_^; (With all of Hikaru no Go. And yaoi.) I'm sad I didn't look before the interview, as now I will never have a chance to compliment it. ^^
Nanowrimo goes decently well. Fell behind the handful of days to spend a little time planning, and have been doing double word counts since to catch up and shall be there in a couple days (though yesterday was skipped in favor of bringing this wonderful Oofuri to you <3). Conclusion: Writing without putting any thought into style or execution is sort of like slowly pressing nails through the top of my foot and out the bottom but minus the excitement.
I know some people might learn valuable things from wrimo about not letting yourself use mistakes and imperfections as excuses not to write or finish things, but in the case of the attitudes exuded by most of the wrimos I've seen at the write ins, I think my brother is quite right in calling this, 'National Pretend You're A Novelist Month.' I guess there's nothing really wrong with having a NaPrYNoMo, except for the lack of awareness by so many that that's what they're doing. I feel a little over-dramatic saying it, but it seems like sort of an insult to real novelists to think the things most people create during this month novels. I mean, everyone knows first drafts are shit, but real novelists put good hard thought into that shit. Some not-real novelists do it, too. They sit down and try and try and think and think and write shit. And much as I love to insult crap writing, I still respect that about fifty bajillion times more than much of this rather amazingly fantastic wankfest. (Though to those wrimos that do try, or that do keep things in perspective, or that are just doing this for silly fun and know it, absolutely more power to you.)
Plus side, though, I think my brains got so fed up with the senseless word dumping and fed me some ideas for hopefully somewhat less senseless IzuMizu fic. Most will likely not fit in quite right and turn into drabbles that will never get shared or written, and the leftovers aren't enough to start writing again, but it's more than I've gotten from teh brains in some time, so that's nice. Especially since one of the drabble ideas is full of thinly disguised sarcasm and sentences full of words picked with careful selectivity and is generally so full of self-indulgent word-tinkering and excessive deliberation that it is almost sure to be completely unworthy of being shared with anyone, possibly OOC, and the perfect cure for all this wrimo-itis. ^_^
SUMMARY:
With Suyama on base, Tajima comes up to bat. Takeshi notes he looks ready to hit. He sends him a ball, but Tajima doesn't swing. Takeshi notes Tajima is a good player, but that it doesn't really matter how this at bat goes since they'll be in the quarter finals tomorrow and need to end the game with as few pitches as possible. They pitch a slider, and Tajima sees it and hits it long, just inside the third base line. Tajima makes it to second, and Suyama makes it home, bringing the score six to eleven.
Takeshi meets with Takenouchi and explains (I think??) that he just let Tajima hit since he was so much trouble, and they will just get their outs with the next three batters.
Hanai comes up to bat. He's had nothing but fastballs till now, so he plans to aim for those. Hanai gets a fastball and swings and misses, but (?? unsure about this) notes the ball is getting slower. He waits on the next pitch, and gets another strike, and (?? I think maybe it was faster again, and they were tricking him?). Takenouchi pitches another strike, and Hanai swings and misses again, making the first out.
Oki comes up to bat thinking he must hit because Nishihiro is next. Takeshi remembers Oki made a good hit before. They pitch a ball, and Momokan is surprised to see them pitching him a breaking ball when Hanai had all fast balls. (?? not sure what that's about) Oki plans to aim for the fastball. A shoot comes next, and Oki lets it go by, getting a strike. Momokan signals for them to do a hit and run, and thinks the next pitch will be a fastball since the last two were breaking balls. Takeshi notes that if they can get Oki out, the game will basically be over considering who's in the batting order after him. Takenouchi pitches, Tajima starts running, and Oki sees the pitch is a fastball and swings, hitting the ball. The ball is picked up and thrown to first, and Oki is out despite sliding head first.
With two outs and Tajima on third, Nishiro is called up to bat looking slightly horrified. Mihashi and the team yell encouragement, and Momokan tells him to hit however he can. He swings at the first pitch and misses. The team continues to yell encouragement, the second pitch comes, and Nishihiro swings and misses again. Nishihiro continues to tell himself to hit the ball. The third pitch comes, and he swings and misses again, making the third out and Bijou's win.
Bijou runs happily on to the field, and Hanai calls Nishiura to come out as well. The teams bow to one another, and Hanai calls the team to thank the cheering squad. After, Nishihiro falls to his knees crying, and Hanai and Oki help him back up. The team heads back to the dug out. Mihashi trails behind, and when he gets there Abe is waiting outside it, standing with crutches. Mihashi stands across from him and starts crying, saying they lost. Abe looks upset and hugs Mihashi's head.
Momokan calls to the team to stop what they are doing. She gives them a pep talk, predicting they are all wondering if the game could have gone better if they were better at certain things. She tells them not to let their tears and regrets now go to waste but instead to save those feelings and turn them into drive to do better. Shiga explains tears relieve stress (...so I guess they don't want them to cry so they remember what it's like to feel bad??) Momokan reminds the team they've got the newcomer's tournament in two weeks and the fall tournament after that, so they need to get back home right away and start practice.
The parents talk outside the stadium. Hanai's sisters are sad they can't come cheer their brother on anymore. The VP comes to talk to the mothers. Roka is spotted by the Bijou boys and they enthusiastically come to tell him they made their goal. Roka is friendly and encouraging to them, and Kazuki remarks on his change in personality, annoying Roka.
Kazuki spots Takeshi, and goes to talk to him. Kazuki congratulates Takeshi, and (Takeshi might not recognize him as the guy who was sitting next to Roka? Or maybe Kazuki is just playing dumb?) tells Takeshi that he was sitting with Roka during the game, and mentions he saw Takeshi look up at Roka many times. Farther away, Roka sees Kazuki talking to Takeshi, and is very irritated.
TRANSLATION:
[translation by narwhaltortellini]
[Please note that my grasp on the Japanese language is tenuous and my understanding of baseball even more so. These translations and summaries were made with hopes of being helpful to fans who would like to read on in the story and do not mind suffering the occasional ambiguity or error. Parts I am consciously unsure of have been marked with two question marks (??), sometimes with my best guess at what they might mean. Note that the absence of question marks does not make the translation correct. ^_^]
[Anyone is free to use or repost these as they like, and scanlators are free to use them as aids. Just remember to use them, not trust them. It would, of course, be very kind of anyone taking them to let me know where they're going.]
01
Takeno: We decide we want to try for no hits,
Takeno: And suddenly we get hit just like that.
Take: This guy has made hits off both Yoshito and Takumi today.
Take: Either way, // Seems like he's gearing up to hit the first pitch now.
Take: With a closer score I'd want to keep strictly on top of the count, but...
Takeno: It's a six point lead.
Takeno: A ball...
02
Ump: Ball!
Take: He just let it by. (??)
Take: There's nothing playful about him here. (??)
03
Take: [He's good, both mentally and physically.]
Take: [A gem for any team to have. (??)]
Take: But it doesn't really matter how this turns out.
Take: [We'll be in the quarter finals by this time tomorrow..]
Take: We need to end this game in as few pitches as possible!
Takeno: Slider, huh?
Takeno: The same place as before?
Takeno: Since it worked well there last time?
Taji: Come on, bring it on!
04
Takeno: [With Takeshi's stance,]
Takeno: Aim
Takeno: For the elbow. (??)
Takeno: One more pitch!
Taji: A slider!
06
- Over the third base line!
Ump: Fair!
Hama: An extra baser!
Izumi: Suyama, keep going!
07
Izumi: Go!
Izumi: Go!
- Shuuhei, to third!
08
- (Yeah!)
09
- (Nice batting, Tajima!)
Take: Sorry!
Take: That guy's a lot of trouble, so I just let him hit. (??)
Take: But it looks like he got real lucky. (??)
Takeno: You really did let Shuuhei touch the ball.
Take: (?? lit: The meeting is long again, isn't it?)
Takeno: Yeah. // Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth. (??)
Take: We'll cut off the next three here!
Take: (?? something about the 'the coach's temper)
10
Takeno: Right, let's do it!
- That's it!
- Alright!
Taji: Make a hit, Hanai!
Taji: If we can just bring in another point, // They won't be looking so cheerful anymore!
11
[Batting fifth, Right Fielder, Hanai-kun. // Uniform number 9.]
Hanai: Alright!
Hanai: [I've got nothing but fastballs up till now.]
Hanai: [So that's what I'll aim for!]
Hanai: I can't pop it up.
Hanai: I need to make it on base, too!
12
Hanai: Fastball!
Hanai: Eh? // Is it getting slower?
Hanai: Ah- // Oh.
Hanai: ??
Hanai: Because they've got a five point lead in the last inning?
Hanai: [Damnit.]
Hanai: [This isn't over yet!]
13
Ump: Strike!
Hanai: ...A trick?
Take: Nice ball!
Hanai: (?? They aren't all ??) // Damnit.
14
Hanai: It's 2-0, but it doesn't matter!
Hanai: I'm hitting the next strike!
Take: Your expression shows too much.
Take: Though they are trailing by five points, after all.
Take: Guess a first year can't really help it. (??)
Takeno: No more toying.
Hanai: Hit it!
15
Takeno: A
Takeno: Strike!
16
Hama: Fukami!
Hama: Next one, hurry!
Fuka: Yeah.
17
Hanai: Three fastballs.
Oki: Got it.
Hanai: He's still got the power!
Oki: Yeah.
Oki: I've got to make a hit.
Oki: [Because next...]
[Batting sixth, first baseman, Oki-kun.]
Oki: Ready!
[Uniform number 3.]
18
Take: This guy...
Take: Hit a pretty nice long one before.
Take: [Maybe we should play it safe.]
19
Ump: Ball!
Momo: A breaking ball? // Hanai-kun got nothing but fastballs.
Oki: Just the pitches we like. (??)
Oki: If I'd swung, it wouldn't have been a good hit. (??)
Oki: Wait for the fastball! (??)
Take: Think you can get through this and stay just at one out? (??)
Take: Don't even bother trying. (??)
Momo: Next...
20
Oki: Uh. // A
Oki: Shoot!
Ump: Strike!
Momo: It's 1-1!
Momo: ??
21
Taji: Hit and run.
Taji: Guess that's our only choice? (??)
Taji: Alright. I need to run and make it home.
Momo: The last two pitches were both breaking balls. // The next one will be a fastball!
Momo: Remember what you did before, // And make a good hit!
Oki: Hit and run. // Do it right, and advance Tajima.
22
Oki: And worry about the course after that! (??)
Oki: Make a good hit, and then you can stay in too!
Takeno: They going to try something?
Take: If they're planning a trick, this would be the time to do it.
Take: [From what we saw of that the seventh in his last at-bat,]
Take: [If we can take this guy out, the game will basically be over.]
Take: We're challenging this guy, so pull out the stops.
Takeno: Focus on this one!
23
Hanai: Hit it, Oki!
Mihashi: You can do it, Oki-kun!
24
Take: He moved!
Oki: A fastball!
25
All: He got it!
26
Ump: Out!
27
[Batting seventh, left fielder, Nishihiro-kun.]
[Uniform number 10.]
28
*clop*
*inhale*
Miha: (You can do it,)
Miha: (Nishsihiro-kun!)
- (Yeah!)
- (Hit it, Nishihiro!)
Momo: Hit whatever you can!
29
Ump: Play!
Nishi: Hit // the // ball.
Nishi: Hit // the // ball.
30
- (Nice swing!)
- (Just make contact!)
- (Get it)
Nishi: Make // contact.
Nishi: Next...
31
- (Nishihiro!)
32
- (One more!)
- (Yeah!)
- (Nishihiro! Nishihiro!)
Miha: Nishihiro-kun!
Miha: Make a hit!
33
- (Nishihiro!)
- (You've got him!)
- (Nishihiro!)
- (One more!)
Nishi: Make contact.
- (Nishihiro!)
- (Nishihiro!)
Nishi: Please...
36
Hanai: Let's go!
Suya: Right!
37
Ump: Bijou Dai Sayama High School!
39
Hanai: To the stands!
All: Right!
All: Thank you // For cheering us on!
41
Nishi: ...ah.
Nishi: Kah.
Taji: Come on.
42
National Summer High School Baseball Championship Saitama Tournament
Nishiura High School Prefecture Game Results
(The boxes list the stats for each of Nishiura's games. Skipping these since they'd be hard to format and I'm not sure I understand them besides. Though if there's something particular you want to know from them, feel free to try me. ^^;)
44
Miha: Y-
Miha: Your leg.
45
Abe: ...Mihashi...
Miha:
Miha: ...W-
Miha: We // ...lost.
46
Momo: Alright, that's enough!
Momo: We had ourselves an all-out war today.
Momo: And we lost!
47
Momo: If only you'd hit more // run harder,
Momo: Had more strength, // had more skill!
Momo: Each one of you,
Momo: Must surely be thinking that now!
All: Yes ma'am!
48
Momo: In that case, // Don't just let the tears and regret your feeling now be brushed away and go to waste! (??)
Momo: Because that regret can be forged into personal drive! (??)
Momo: Keep it stored in yourselves, and never forget it!
Hanai: ….
49
Shiga: Your tears actually have stress chemicals inside them.
Shiga: So crying lets you release some of the stress you've built up inside.
Momo: And help you forget about the regrets you're feeling now. (??)
Abe: Are you serious?
Momo: Mihashi-kun really is...
Momo: *sigh*
Momo: Alright, let's gather everything up!
All: Yes ma'am.
Momo: We've got the newcomer's tournament in two weeks.
Momo: And the fall tournament not long after that.
50
Momo: Time to get back home and start practice!
All: Yes ma'am!
51
AbeM: Sorry to leave everything to you. (??)
MihaM: Don't worry about it!
MihaM: Go ahead!
HanaSis: Brother lost.
HanaSis: We wanted to come cheer for him again.
HanaM: You still can!
Vp: Hey!
HanaM: Oh, // The vice principal!
- (Oh, sensei! Thank you for coming!)
Vp: It's nothing!
Vp: Well... // It's too bad, isn't it?
HanaM: Those kids will still keep going! // They'll be fine!
- Ah, coach!
Roka: Nice work, guys.
- We did it, coach!
- We made our goal!
- Because you guys worked so hard to help us!
52
Roka: Well, the real thing starts from here!
Roka: You'll be going on tomorrow!
Kazu: Your attitude sure did a 180.
Roka: Don't you have prep school to go to?
Kazu: Actually, I've still got some...
Kazu: Ah.
Kazu: Kurata-kun!
53
Kazu: Congratulations on making it to the best 8!
Take: Ah...the Tousei...
Take: Thank you very much!
Kazu: We lost to Nishiura in the second round.
Take: ...Ah, // Maybe...the coach...
Kazu: Yeah. // I was actually sitting by Roka-san today.
Kazu: You didn't notice?
Kazu: During the game,
Kazu: You looked up at him so many times.
54
Roka: ….
Roka: That pest...
___________
So. Realism vs constant feel-good endings? ^_^ What were YOU expecting? ...And what were you hoping for?
I'm not really sure whether to spill my feelings on Nishiura losing this game or not. For one thing, my feelings are very much mixed up with my feelings on the chapters after it (I think part of whether or not an author can get away with a depressing thing like this in a series is what they do in the chapters after it, and I do think that is certainly part of the case here). It's also been so long. I've come to terms with it too much, hehe.
I think I can say that while this was a good game to give the longer treatment (like Tousei), I do think this one stretched just a bit too long for something that ends so depressing, hehe. I feel like it's kind of a if-you-don't-want-your-readers-to-feel-cheated rule of storytelling. Depending on what sort of story something is. And Oofuri is mostly a happy sort of story, so...
Though on a more random note, I love watching the expressions on everyone's faces and how each team member reacts (though lol at the tiiiiny Mihashi on page 46)Hanai/Izum/Oki looking strong and comforting others. Suyama holding it together himself. Tajima looking...not happy but no worse for the wear (haha ^_^;) Sad Sakaeguchi! Mizutani crying! Nishihiro! (Holy crap poor Nishihiro. ^_^; That guy was NOT in an enviable position. T_T) Not enough manly hugs!
Nothing says Oofuri like Manly Crying Hugs.
...I feel kind of bad. You're all probably depressed right now, and I'm being kinda silly cause it's old news to me. ^_^; When I see their sad faces I do get sort of sad for them again...
Before this I'd been wondering how a Momokan after-loss pep talk would go. (Damn, is she going to train our boys not to cry? Hehe...) Ouch, though, going back to practice after a game like that! ..Or at least it seems harsh, but then again, when I think about it, going home after a bad loss in a competition always sucked in marching band, and then coming back to practice days after you always felt kind of pathetic, hehe. Going straight to practice right afterward might have actually been sort of encouraging. No chance to sit down and think 'It's over,' since your actions clearly show it is not, heheh.
(I did want to scanlate Nishihiro's at bat on, but it occurred to me that would probably signal to you guys the game was about to end and help you guess that Nisihiro doesn't hit, so I decided not to start then ^_^; (Sorry if my mentioning of scanlating before already signaled that to you. *woops*) Not much text in it, anyway. ...Only then I was going to do the part after that...only it wasn't very long, and had even LESS text. So I just gave up the idea. It will give me more time to get used to editing in Gimp, anyway. For there is a part I MUST be ready to scanlate later, love it so do it. <3)