[Review/Discussion Post] Yowakutemo Katemasu Ep 10
Catching up on this as well since the final episode got already subs (OMG!!! I don't want this dorama to end! XD) So here we go!
The almost impossible happened in the last episode - Jotoku was able to win the match against Takemiya High School! All of them, despite being weak and despite being nervous, could overcome their weak points and fill in the gabs with their special techniques and it paid of! The team and Aoshi-sensei are overly happy of course! And Tone with this will be able to continue her serialization in the sport's magazine.
She proudly presents a bunch of pictures from the match to her boss who's seriously surprised that this team was able to actually win a game! Well, you should have come and watched! It was awesome! Next up is the match of Jotoku against Doutou High School. Tone's boss still wants her to stop the serialization and to move to the fashion magazine he recommended her to in case Jotoku loses and in his opinion, it's impossible that Jotoku will win against Doutou High!
The day after the match, Jotoku's baseball club is on high spirits while practicing. Of course, they just won their first match and now they want to crush Doutou High School as well! Masumoto-sensei gets emotional when he remembers the victory and when he thinks about Aoshi-sensei not being present as the teams coach again in about a year. Ah yeah, we can't forget, there's still the issue of Aoshi-sensei wanting to go back to research! (Even if I still hope that he won't but well, Japanese doramas sometimes are not predictable in such cases >.<)
Talking about Doutou High, Aoshi-sensei talks about the strategy to play (and win!) against them. If they do it normally, Doutou will win and Jotoku will lose so that means - They have to play unusual baseball, says Akaiwa. No, Aoshi-sensei wants them to prevent Dotou from playing usual baseball. Hm... Aoshi-sensei, you're riddling! Trying to explain, Aoshi-sensei tells that Doutou is playing stereotyped baseball. That's why Aoshi-sensei wants the team to destroy Doutou's feeling of usual baseball and to confuse them!
Time for training! Okadome is up to train his running, Ushimaru helps him with stopping the time for him. When Okadome seems troubled, Ushimaru wonders what's up, his time was getting shorter and shorter, that's a good thing after all! Okadome says, that it would be predictable if he was running fast, Doutou already will know about this since Okadome used his fast running against Takemiya already. Running fast alone would not be enough...
Shikata seems to have a similar opinion like Okadome. Somehow, being unusual already became Joutoku's image so how will they be able to surprise Doutou High school? Kashiyama, while practicing swinging, gets annnoyed by his girlfriend who calls him and calls him because he ignores her. When they ask her to stay quiet and Kashiyama tells her that he has to concentrate on the next game which is already set up in a few days, she pouts and wishes that they would lose fast so that she can spend some normal time with Kashiyama. Argh dear, I get your feelings but please don't be so selfish >.< (Btw who was wondering if those two were still together? ^^ It's cute to see her again =D)
Also Iseda and Mitsuyasu talk about the upcoming match with Yuzuko. Mitsuyasu's brother Yoshinaga will be in the match as well, challenging Shirao. Yuzuko wonders if Yoshinaga won't be happy if he sees Mitsuyasu improving in baseball but he thinks that his brother will be angry and just wants him to focus on baseball. Remembering the past, Yuzuko chuckles. Akaiwa had been like some kind of little-good-for-nothing brother, she states, proudly mentioning, that back then she was better in baseball than him.
Practice time with the batting nets! Masumoto-sensei, Aoshi-sensei and Kaede talk about the high fighting spirit of Jotoku's baseball team.
After Aoshi-sensei mentioned that it would be good if Doutou would let their guard down so that they could surprise them, Kaede goes to Doutou High School, meeting their coach. What she's up to again this time? o.o She tells the coach that she's staff from Takemiya High right now, when he drops a comment of Joutoku's people showig up here randomly like Doutou High would be a public park and confuses him for a moment. The mother of the clubs manager is part of the opponent's team's staff? Well, whatever...
Kaede, who has spotted Yoshinaga at Doutou, tells Aoshi, that the young player only thinks about his rival Shirao. More than that, Kaede didn't notice anything special so she assumes that Doutou will aim for a usual high-class victory like this school is known for. With that, Kaede wonders, isn't something set up so perfectly also something that's pretty fragile? Because even if it gets damaged just a little bit, the perfect shape would be ruined, right? Wait, that makes Aoshi-sensei think... so destroying Doutou's perfection would also destroy their victim? Well, at least it's worth a try, I think!
Back in the team's room, Aoshi-sensei announces, that he wants to change the batting order for the match agains Doutou High. Here we get the new order:
1 Kashiyama
2 Mitsuyasu
3 Shikata
4 Shirao
5 Akaiwa
6 Iseda
7 Okadome
8 Ushimaru
9 Ebato
Eh? Doesn't this line-up seem pretty normal? (Means it's an order from good to not so good batter from 1 - 9) Well, that's the point! Going into the match with a low-rank lineup that has quite a good batting average on the other hand, might confuse Doutou. If they would get beaten by such a line-up, it would be dramatic for Doutou and that's what Aoshi-sensei seems to aim for. He tells the team, that the players from Doutou were just usual high school boys, just like they are. If they make a mistake, they would feel down. For a team like Doutou that's aiming for perfection, even a slight mistake could make a huge impact, that's a weak point, Joutoku should aim for!
And were should Doutou's loss start? They should get their ace, Yoshinaga, to commit a mistake! Eh... somehow Aoshi-sensei's plan sounds really evil (but I could guess that he's aiming for Yoshinaga xD), I guess that's how you play strategically, right? Well, since Yoshinaga is completely fixated onto his rival Shirao, there'll be a way to make use of that obsession. So that's when Shirao has to act! He has to use all his batting turns to take away Yoshinaga's concentration. In this moment, Joutoku will have to attack and then, winning won't be impossible any longer! Fight, Joutoku!
The headmaster and Aoshi-sensei are happy about the high fighting spirit of the school's baseball team. Like this, they are even able to face a champion school without restraints! Of course, the headmaster makes use of Aoshi-sensei's ambition and again hits on the topic of Aoshi planning to leave school again. Doesn't he want to stay longer with things like this? When Aoshi picks up the ball and begs the headmaster to come watch the game since there will not be many left with him as the coach, the headmaster jokes about not coming to watch in that case and that he only will cheer for a game in the stadium next summer! =P Ah yeah, have a little fight you two kids!
Akaiwa is asking Aoshi-sensei for an advice. He wants to play unusually for a pitcher and thinks hard about what he could do... Aoshi-sensei tells him that he doesn't need any tricks since he's a pitcher that allows them to hit the balls, no matter how often. Since he's quite calm about this, that should be unusual enough.
Then, what about the catcher, asks Ebato. Yuzuko mentions a murmuring technique which a catcher uses to distract the batter and which is used quite often and Aoshi-sensei seems to be fond of the idea. As from a student from an elite High School like Joutoku, people wouldn't expect such “low” tricks, with that it would be unusual enough to give it a try! But Ebato refuses. He can't talk to strangers, he's too shy for that!
Practice time for Ebato! XD Yuzuko, Shirao and Akaiwa push him towards some random students from another class on the corridor, to make him talk to them. Of course, he fails, making the students wonder what the hell that guy wants... Uhm yeah, that's not really working somehow and that the others are making fun of him doesn't make things better for Ebato! Ah, how mean! *hugs Ebato*
In the baseball team's club room is turmoilt taking place, the others find Okadome and Ushimaru in an accident like situation but they explain that they are just practicing. For what? Okadome doesn't want to tell, only if they'll make it work out... Then, suddenly, another well-known face shows up in the door - it's Kamezawa, yeeeeei~!!! =D Despite all of them being happy to see him, he has some bad news - because of work, he won't be able to make it to cheer for them tomorrow at their match against Doutou! >.< Argh... what a pity and I was already hoping for Kamezawa crazy-audiencing again! >.< Nevertheless, Kamezawa is inserting even a bit more fighting spirit into the team, praising them and telling them that they will definitely be able to win! So give it your all, Joutoku!
After the last practice, coach Aoshi cheers for his team again, giving them some last advices. After that, Ushimaru and Okadome go to Ebato and Kashiyama and tell them that considering the batting order, one of them might be needed in their special mission they were just practicing for before. Will we finally get to find out more about their secret plan? They want to do signal play!
Before we can get more information about this, Kaede-san shows up, Takemiya's Kunitomo in tow who wants to be of help, now that their schools already have played against each other. Ah, that's pretty nice, isn't it? =3 Nice plan, Kaede!
In the meantime, Tone finds Aoshi-sensei in the baseball team's clubroom, thinking about the upcoming game. She asks him for an interview before the next match and he agrees.
Kunitomo gives his best to provide some helpful tips to Joutoku for their match against Doutou. He tells them, that batters that go on speculation actually aren't that scary. When Yuzuko asks what he means with that, he explains that someone who's speculating to much might not be able to hit every pitch because of the unpredictable factor of each game. A batter who's feared is a batter who can fight every pitch! As an example, Kunitomo names Shirao as such a batter. Fighting against him gives a pitcher the feeling that he'll hit any ball he throws and this puts a pitcher quite under pressure.
After the interview with Aoshi-sensei, Tone says that she hopes that this will not be the last article of the serialization. Well, even if Joutoku loses the game against Doutou High, she intends to follow them around. There's a lot of interesting material after all. Aoshi-sensei's “High return with no risk”, “Don't get a late start”, “In a game it's fine to give yourself importance”, “Make a decision, even if you doubt”, “Be proud of being weak”, “Even being weak, we can win!” are just a few of Aoshi-sensei's quotes that Tone has noted in her notebook. All of them are his philosophy, right? No, they are just things he told his team, Aoshi says but smiles.
The students are practicing with Kunitomo and some of them (like Shirao, Akaiwa, Okadome, Kashiyama) seem to be quite good already!
Happy about their results, the team cheers while Aoshi-sensei is watching them with a smile. Ah, isn't he proud of his team? So cute!
On his way home, Aoshi-sensei is in thoughts and remembers Yachida and his words. The other was surprised to still find him in the world of baseball and told him that this meant that Aoshi didn't change. Remembering his past and the frustration baseball brought to him, Aoshi answers Yachida's question why he was on the field dressed like a baseball player back then - in order to play baseball, or course!
It's the day of the match and Aoshi-sensei and his team are getting ready! There is also some audience for Joutoku. Even if Kamezawa couldn't make it, there are Tone, Kaede-san, Akaiwa's dad and also Kunitomo!
Before the start of the match, Aoshi-sensei gives his last instructions. Like the last time, he aims for a high score in an early inning and to win by a called game. He encourages his players that there will definitely come the chance to break Doutou High's rhythmn and to beat them!
Already in the beginning of the game, it starts raining. For the top of the 1st inning, it's Doutou's turn to bat. Even if Akaiwa's balls all get hit, like always, it's fine and he's calm about that. First, Joutoku doesn't score but Aoshi-sensei yells that it's fine this way and that they just shall concentrate on what they can do. Doutou scores with 6 points in the first innning.
Then it's Joutoku's turn for batting. They don't hit but it's OK. Back on Doutou later on, Shirao asks Ebato if he's ready for the murmuring tactic. Ebato gives his OK. Let's see if he can manage! Well, his first attempts don't really seem to pay off... It's the Top of the second inning now when Doutou scores 5 - 0 and it's 11 - 0 in total now.
Like last time, our headmaster is watching the game on TV, seemingly to understand Aoshi-sensei's tactic and waiting for a turn of events.
At the bottom of the second inning, it's finally Shirao vs Yoshinaga. The first ball ends as a strike, the second as a foul and Yoshinaga's third ball is a strike again. The next to bat is Akaiwa, missing the first, second and third ball. Iseda isn't scoring either...
Before the third inning, Doutou High's coach announces that there's no use in wasting their strength against such a low opponent like Joutoku. He want's to finish this in the 5th inning. Doutou bats and scores, it's 15 -0 after the third inning's top. Okadome is up next and finally he hits and scores! Ushimaru-kun and the others follow his example and even if they can't catch up yet, it slowly started!
Top of the 4th inning - Doutou bats. Ebato prepares for something... what is he up to? Standing at the base, he finally starts talking - in English! o_O
While I was bursting out laughing because I didn't count with that (until I remembered that I saw that in the preview for this episode lol), the opponent player seems quite irritated. He and Akaiwa chat a bit before the game starts and while Doutou messes up for the first time with an inning without scoring, I just can smirk about their cute accent! XD
When it's Joutoku's turn to bat again, it seems like Yoshinaga is still completely ignoring his brother and the other players, only counting Shirao as a serious opponent. Will this finally be of help for Joutoku? Anyways, Joutoku cannot score much in this 4th inning and so the endresult is 15 - 2 for now.
Yuzuko cheers for Akaiwa and Doutou doesn't score. Joutoku tries to catch up. At least, they hit the balls now! It seems like they finally attack! When it's Shikata's turn, Yuzuko wishes him good luck, grabbing his finger (not his hand XD) to encourage him and Shikata seems fired up because of this! He then gets hit by the pitch. Uhm that was planned?
Shirao is next! The first two balls are strikes again but he's smirking. Everything seems set for Joutoku's secret attack. But will it work out like this? Finally, Shirao seems to get serious. Yoshinaga throws and Shirao... hits a homerun!
Make this a 15 - 6, thank you very much!!!!
Before the next inning, Doutou's coach scolds his team, especially Yoshinaga. Should he have to praise a pitcher like Akaiwa in the ending of this game? That's not what he intends to do!
After the top of the 7th inning, it's 17 - 8 and now it's Joutoku's turn again! It seems like Okadome and Ushimaru will finally bring their secret plan into action with the help of Ebato. Aoshi-sensei seems to be involved as well, somehow. Ready? Alright, Ebato is to hit, he keeps the bat short, the ball rolls into the field, Ushimaru starts running, trips but gets up again, Okadome runs like the devil and even if it's really really close, he's safe when he arrives the base! It turns out, that Ushimaru even fell on purpose!
Well, boys, well done! They didn't only score, they also made fun of Doutou with this move and Ushimaru earns a small wink from Aoshi-sensei (OMG ♥ *dies*)
When it's 17 - 9, it's Shirao's turn again. What will we get this time? He at least has to hit, so that a called game can get avoided. Then, suddenly, Yoshinaga doesn't throw the ball to Shirao, but to one of his teamplayers who catches the ball, touches the base and outs Mitsuyasu with this! WTF was this? o_O Is this even allowed? It seems like it's allowed because now the referee calls it a game and Doutou High School wins!
When Yuzuko tries to understand what happened, Aoshi-sensei states that finally, Yoshinaga did not only realize Shirao as his opponent but also the whole team. I feel the bitterness in his statement, somehow this is a good thing but it's also the worst that could happen in this match.
The team is disappointed of course because of the defeat but I have to say, it was a nice match and they did really well!
Back at Joutoku in the team's clubroom, Aoshi-sensei talks to them and everybody gets emotional. He talks about how the situation was three months ago. How miserable they got defeated by Doutou High School. But this time, it was completely different. They faced Doutou High School with pride and they showed them, that they can actually hit balls pretty well! They might not have won the game but they made Doutou not to play according to their usual plans, just like they wanted to. So next time, next time they should win. Aoshi-sensei praises his team, they really did their best today!
And with this he dismisses the team, everyone, including himself in tears. *wants to hug Aoshi-sensei*
What can I say about this episode? The ending was quite bitter in my opinion... and somehow I don't feel like talking much about this episode right now... It started with such high spirit, I was really excited about this episode, just like Joutoku's baseball team itself. It was clear that Doutou will not be an easy opponent but just like Aoshi-sensei and the others, I really believed, that they could win. Well, maybe it would have been too easy and it was clear that they can't win every time (or the dorama would never end XD) nevertheless I feel quite sobered right now somehow. And frustrated. Argh... I wanted them to win! >.< And now everybody is crying... T_____T Poor guys... poor Aoshi-sensei! They really did there best, they were great! I love them! (Yes, even creepy Shikata.) Nya... Now I'm depressed! D: Damned!
BTW did someone get what was the last move by Yoshinaga? I have no idea since I (still) don't know that much about baseball so I was like WTH was THAT?! >.>
OK, ok... some good points of this episode? Let's see... Of course there was a huge amount of incredible cute how-the-f***-can-you-be-in-your-thirties-already-Aoshi-sensei, not only when he wears his uniform but I think especially then he REALLY looks like one of the students and this is so unbelievable cute that it melts my heart! ♥ There were also some pretty funny scenes, like when the third graders made Ebato to talk to strangers or when he suddenly started talking English on the field. Or when the headmaster and Aoshi-sensei talked, it's like a childish battle if Aoshi will go or stay at school, really cute that headmaster, really! Also Kamezawa's short appearance was really cute and funny! He never fails to make me smile! More Kamezawa in the last episode please! >.> Besides that we don't see much progress in this episode regarding the characters. We don't get more about Aoshi-sensei's plans (I know he plans to leave school but I refuse to believe this until it really happens XD), we don't get any further with Yuzuko-Akaiwa-Shirao-Shikata-Kunitomo (yes, I added him to the now love-pentagon lol) and there was also only a little bit Okabato *gets hit for even mentioning that*. But well... maybe we get full force characterdevelopment in the last episode? D=
But what's waiting for us in the last episode now? D= We didn't even get any preview at the end of the episode and there is still the issue of Aoshi-sensei wanting to leave school (and me still totally opposing this)... now I get a bad feeling >.>... Well, I don't want to get spoilered so I try to avoid reading other peoples opinion about the dorama right now. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the ending of this dorama or not... I'm not sure if my hopes will get fulfilled or if I'll get disappointed. The ending of a dorama can ruin a lot and safe a lot and I experienced both cases endless times already. I'm nervous now, looking forward to it but also not if you know what I mean. I also don't want to say goodbye to Aoshi-sensei and the other characters yet. They really grew so much on me, I could watch them play baseball forever and ever! >.<
The good news is that awesome B&C already released the subs for Episode 11 which means I can watch this episode soon as well! (I would like to it now but I don't have enough time left for a review before I have to go to bed so I don't want to start it now >.< But I'll finish Alice no Toge tonight! Finally!). Also there is the final episode of Shinigami-kun out as well already and I had planned to do the review on that first... If I have enough time I'll post both reviews within this week. Keep your eyes open! ^^
Well, I'll end this here for this time. What do you think about this episode?
And finally, see you next time with the final review!
Sky
PS: Click onto the images to get full size screencaps. Information about subs etc. for this dorama can be found in the masterpost.
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♥
The almost impossible happened in the last episode - Jotoku was able to win the match against Takemiya High School! All of them, despite being weak and despite being nervous, could overcome their weak points and fill in the gabs with their special techniques and it paid of! The team and Aoshi-sensei are overly happy of course! And Tone with this will be able to continue her serialization in the sport's magazine.
She proudly presents a bunch of pictures from the match to her boss who's seriously surprised that this team was able to actually win a game! Well, you should have come and watched! It was awesome! Next up is the match of Jotoku against Doutou High School. Tone's boss still wants her to stop the serialization and to move to the fashion magazine he recommended her to in case Jotoku loses and in his opinion, it's impossible that Jotoku will win against Doutou High!
The day after the match, Jotoku's baseball club is on high spirits while practicing. Of course, they just won their first match and now they want to crush Doutou High School as well! Masumoto-sensei gets emotional when he remembers the victory and when he thinks about Aoshi-sensei not being present as the teams coach again in about a year. Ah yeah, we can't forget, there's still the issue of Aoshi-sensei wanting to go back to research! (Even if I still hope that he won't but well, Japanese doramas sometimes are not predictable in such cases >.<)
Talking about Doutou High, Aoshi-sensei talks about the strategy to play (and win!) against them. If they do it normally, Doutou will win and Jotoku will lose so that means - They have to play unusual baseball, says Akaiwa. No, Aoshi-sensei wants them to prevent Dotou from playing usual baseball. Hm... Aoshi-sensei, you're riddling! Trying to explain, Aoshi-sensei tells that Doutou is playing stereotyped baseball. That's why Aoshi-sensei wants the team to destroy Doutou's feeling of usual baseball and to confuse them!
Time for training! Okadome is up to train his running, Ushimaru helps him with stopping the time for him. When Okadome seems troubled, Ushimaru wonders what's up, his time was getting shorter and shorter, that's a good thing after all! Okadome says, that it would be predictable if he was running fast, Doutou already will know about this since Okadome used his fast running against Takemiya already. Running fast alone would not be enough...
Shikata seems to have a similar opinion like Okadome. Somehow, being unusual already became Joutoku's image so how will they be able to surprise Doutou High school? Kashiyama, while practicing swinging, gets annnoyed by his girlfriend who calls him and calls him because he ignores her. When they ask her to stay quiet and Kashiyama tells her that he has to concentrate on the next game which is already set up in a few days, she pouts and wishes that they would lose fast so that she can spend some normal time with Kashiyama. Argh dear, I get your feelings but please don't be so selfish >.< (Btw who was wondering if those two were still together? ^^ It's cute to see her again =D)
Also Iseda and Mitsuyasu talk about the upcoming match with Yuzuko. Mitsuyasu's brother Yoshinaga will be in the match as well, challenging Shirao. Yuzuko wonders if Yoshinaga won't be happy if he sees Mitsuyasu improving in baseball but he thinks that his brother will be angry and just wants him to focus on baseball. Remembering the past, Yuzuko chuckles. Akaiwa had been like some kind of little-good-for-nothing brother, she states, proudly mentioning, that back then she was better in baseball than him.
Practice time with the batting nets! Masumoto-sensei, Aoshi-sensei and Kaede talk about the high fighting spirit of Jotoku's baseball team.
After Aoshi-sensei mentioned that it would be good if Doutou would let their guard down so that they could surprise them, Kaede goes to Doutou High School, meeting their coach. What she's up to again this time? o.o She tells the coach that she's staff from Takemiya High right now, when he drops a comment of Joutoku's people showig up here randomly like Doutou High would be a public park and confuses him for a moment. The mother of the clubs manager is part of the opponent's team's staff? Well, whatever...
Kaede, who has spotted Yoshinaga at Doutou, tells Aoshi, that the young player only thinks about his rival Shirao. More than that, Kaede didn't notice anything special so she assumes that Doutou will aim for a usual high-class victory like this school is known for. With that, Kaede wonders, isn't something set up so perfectly also something that's pretty fragile? Because even if it gets damaged just a little bit, the perfect shape would be ruined, right? Wait, that makes Aoshi-sensei think... so destroying Doutou's perfection would also destroy their victim? Well, at least it's worth a try, I think!
Back in the team's room, Aoshi-sensei announces, that he wants to change the batting order for the match agains Doutou High. Here we get the new order:
1 Kashiyama
2 Mitsuyasu
3 Shikata
4 Shirao
5 Akaiwa
6 Iseda
7 Okadome
8 Ushimaru
9 Ebato
Eh? Doesn't this line-up seem pretty normal? (Means it's an order from good to not so good batter from 1 - 9) Well, that's the point! Going into the match with a low-rank lineup that has quite a good batting average on the other hand, might confuse Doutou. If they would get beaten by such a line-up, it would be dramatic for Doutou and that's what Aoshi-sensei seems to aim for. He tells the team, that the players from Doutou were just usual high school boys, just like they are. If they make a mistake, they would feel down. For a team like Doutou that's aiming for perfection, even a slight mistake could make a huge impact, that's a weak point, Joutoku should aim for!
And were should Doutou's loss start? They should get their ace, Yoshinaga, to commit a mistake! Eh... somehow Aoshi-sensei's plan sounds really evil (but I could guess that he's aiming for Yoshinaga xD), I guess that's how you play strategically, right? Well, since Yoshinaga is completely fixated onto his rival Shirao, there'll be a way to make use of that obsession. So that's when Shirao has to act! He has to use all his batting turns to take away Yoshinaga's concentration. In this moment, Joutoku will have to attack and then, winning won't be impossible any longer! Fight, Joutoku!
The headmaster and Aoshi-sensei are happy about the high fighting spirit of the school's baseball team. Like this, they are even able to face a champion school without restraints! Of course, the headmaster makes use of Aoshi-sensei's ambition and again hits on the topic of Aoshi planning to leave school again. Doesn't he want to stay longer with things like this? When Aoshi picks up the ball and begs the headmaster to come watch the game since there will not be many left with him as the coach, the headmaster jokes about not coming to watch in that case and that he only will cheer for a game in the stadium next summer! =P Ah yeah, have a little fight you two kids!
Akaiwa is asking Aoshi-sensei for an advice. He wants to play unusually for a pitcher and thinks hard about what he could do... Aoshi-sensei tells him that he doesn't need any tricks since he's a pitcher that allows them to hit the balls, no matter how often. Since he's quite calm about this, that should be unusual enough.
Then, what about the catcher, asks Ebato. Yuzuko mentions a murmuring technique which a catcher uses to distract the batter and which is used quite often and Aoshi-sensei seems to be fond of the idea. As from a student from an elite High School like Joutoku, people wouldn't expect such “low” tricks, with that it would be unusual enough to give it a try! But Ebato refuses. He can't talk to strangers, he's too shy for that!
Practice time for Ebato! XD Yuzuko, Shirao and Akaiwa push him towards some random students from another class on the corridor, to make him talk to them. Of course, he fails, making the students wonder what the hell that guy wants... Uhm yeah, that's not really working somehow and that the others are making fun of him doesn't make things better for Ebato! Ah, how mean! *hugs Ebato*
In the baseball team's club room is turmoilt taking place, the others find Okadome and Ushimaru in an accident like situation but they explain that they are just practicing. For what? Okadome doesn't want to tell, only if they'll make it work out... Then, suddenly, another well-known face shows up in the door - it's Kamezawa, yeeeeei~!!! =D Despite all of them being happy to see him, he has some bad news - because of work, he won't be able to make it to cheer for them tomorrow at their match against Doutou! >.< Argh... what a pity and I was already hoping for Kamezawa crazy-audiencing again! >.< Nevertheless, Kamezawa is inserting even a bit more fighting spirit into the team, praising them and telling them that they will definitely be able to win! So give it your all, Joutoku!
After the last practice, coach Aoshi cheers for his team again, giving them some last advices. After that, Ushimaru and Okadome go to Ebato and Kashiyama and tell them that considering the batting order, one of them might be needed in their special mission they were just practicing for before. Will we finally get to find out more about their secret plan? They want to do signal play!
Before we can get more information about this, Kaede-san shows up, Takemiya's Kunitomo in tow who wants to be of help, now that their schools already have played against each other. Ah, that's pretty nice, isn't it? =3 Nice plan, Kaede!
In the meantime, Tone finds Aoshi-sensei in the baseball team's clubroom, thinking about the upcoming game. She asks him for an interview before the next match and he agrees.
Kunitomo gives his best to provide some helpful tips to Joutoku for their match against Doutou. He tells them, that batters that go on speculation actually aren't that scary. When Yuzuko asks what he means with that, he explains that someone who's speculating to much might not be able to hit every pitch because of the unpredictable factor of each game. A batter who's feared is a batter who can fight every pitch! As an example, Kunitomo names Shirao as such a batter. Fighting against him gives a pitcher the feeling that he'll hit any ball he throws and this puts a pitcher quite under pressure.
After the interview with Aoshi-sensei, Tone says that she hopes that this will not be the last article of the serialization. Well, even if Joutoku loses the game against Doutou High, she intends to follow them around. There's a lot of interesting material after all. Aoshi-sensei's “High return with no risk”, “Don't get a late start”, “In a game it's fine to give yourself importance”, “Make a decision, even if you doubt”, “Be proud of being weak”, “Even being weak, we can win!” are just a few of Aoshi-sensei's quotes that Tone has noted in her notebook. All of them are his philosophy, right? No, they are just things he told his team, Aoshi says but smiles.
The students are practicing with Kunitomo and some of them (like Shirao, Akaiwa, Okadome, Kashiyama) seem to be quite good already!
Happy about their results, the team cheers while Aoshi-sensei is watching them with a smile. Ah, isn't he proud of his team? So cute!
On his way home, Aoshi-sensei is in thoughts and remembers Yachida and his words. The other was surprised to still find him in the world of baseball and told him that this meant that Aoshi didn't change. Remembering his past and the frustration baseball brought to him, Aoshi answers Yachida's question why he was on the field dressed like a baseball player back then - in order to play baseball, or course!
It's the day of the match and Aoshi-sensei and his team are getting ready! There is also some audience for Joutoku. Even if Kamezawa couldn't make it, there are Tone, Kaede-san, Akaiwa's dad and also Kunitomo!
Before the start of the match, Aoshi-sensei gives his last instructions. Like the last time, he aims for a high score in an early inning and to win by a called game. He encourages his players that there will definitely come the chance to break Doutou High's rhythmn and to beat them!
Already in the beginning of the game, it starts raining. For the top of the 1st inning, it's Doutou's turn to bat. Even if Akaiwa's balls all get hit, like always, it's fine and he's calm about that. First, Joutoku doesn't score but Aoshi-sensei yells that it's fine this way and that they just shall concentrate on what they can do. Doutou scores with 6 points in the first innning.
Then it's Joutoku's turn for batting. They don't hit but it's OK. Back on Doutou later on, Shirao asks Ebato if he's ready for the murmuring tactic. Ebato gives his OK. Let's see if he can manage! Well, his first attempts don't really seem to pay off... It's the Top of the second inning now when Doutou scores 5 - 0 and it's 11 - 0 in total now.
Like last time, our headmaster is watching the game on TV, seemingly to understand Aoshi-sensei's tactic and waiting for a turn of events.
At the bottom of the second inning, it's finally Shirao vs Yoshinaga. The first ball ends as a strike, the second as a foul and Yoshinaga's third ball is a strike again. The next to bat is Akaiwa, missing the first, second and third ball. Iseda isn't scoring either...
Before the third inning, Doutou High's coach announces that there's no use in wasting their strength against such a low opponent like Joutoku. He want's to finish this in the 5th inning. Doutou bats and scores, it's 15 -0 after the third inning's top. Okadome is up next and finally he hits and scores! Ushimaru-kun and the others follow his example and even if they can't catch up yet, it slowly started!
Top of the 4th inning - Doutou bats. Ebato prepares for something... what is he up to? Standing at the base, he finally starts talking - in English! o_O
While I was bursting out laughing because I didn't count with that (until I remembered that I saw that in the preview for this episode lol), the opponent player seems quite irritated. He and Akaiwa chat a bit before the game starts and while Doutou messes up for the first time with an inning without scoring, I just can smirk about their cute accent! XD
When it's Joutoku's turn to bat again, it seems like Yoshinaga is still completely ignoring his brother and the other players, only counting Shirao as a serious opponent. Will this finally be of help for Joutoku? Anyways, Joutoku cannot score much in this 4th inning and so the endresult is 15 - 2 for now.
Yuzuko cheers for Akaiwa and Doutou doesn't score. Joutoku tries to catch up. At least, they hit the balls now! It seems like they finally attack! When it's Shikata's turn, Yuzuko wishes him good luck, grabbing his finger (not his hand XD) to encourage him and Shikata seems fired up because of this! He then gets hit by the pitch. Uhm that was planned?
Shirao is next! The first two balls are strikes again but he's smirking. Everything seems set for Joutoku's secret attack. But will it work out like this? Finally, Shirao seems to get serious. Yoshinaga throws and Shirao... hits a homerun!
Make this a 15 - 6, thank you very much!!!!
Before the next inning, Doutou's coach scolds his team, especially Yoshinaga. Should he have to praise a pitcher like Akaiwa in the ending of this game? That's not what he intends to do!
After the top of the 7th inning, it's 17 - 8 and now it's Joutoku's turn again! It seems like Okadome and Ushimaru will finally bring their secret plan into action with the help of Ebato. Aoshi-sensei seems to be involved as well, somehow. Ready? Alright, Ebato is to hit, he keeps the bat short, the ball rolls into the field, Ushimaru starts running, trips but gets up again, Okadome runs like the devil and even if it's really really close, he's safe when he arrives the base! It turns out, that Ushimaru even fell on purpose!
Well, boys, well done! They didn't only score, they also made fun of Doutou with this move and Ushimaru earns a small wink from Aoshi-sensei (OMG ♥ *dies*)
When it's 17 - 9, it's Shirao's turn again. What will we get this time? He at least has to hit, so that a called game can get avoided. Then, suddenly, Yoshinaga doesn't throw the ball to Shirao, but to one of his teamplayers who catches the ball, touches the base and outs Mitsuyasu with this! WTF was this? o_O Is this even allowed? It seems like it's allowed because now the referee calls it a game and Doutou High School wins!
When Yuzuko tries to understand what happened, Aoshi-sensei states that finally, Yoshinaga did not only realize Shirao as his opponent but also the whole team. I feel the bitterness in his statement, somehow this is a good thing but it's also the worst that could happen in this match.
The team is disappointed of course because of the defeat but I have to say, it was a nice match and they did really well!
Back at Joutoku in the team's clubroom, Aoshi-sensei talks to them and everybody gets emotional. He talks about how the situation was three months ago. How miserable they got defeated by Doutou High School. But this time, it was completely different. They faced Doutou High School with pride and they showed them, that they can actually hit balls pretty well! They might not have won the game but they made Doutou not to play according to their usual plans, just like they wanted to. So next time, next time they should win. Aoshi-sensei praises his team, they really did their best today!
And with this he dismisses the team, everyone, including himself in tears. *wants to hug Aoshi-sensei*
What can I say about this episode? The ending was quite bitter in my opinion... and somehow I don't feel like talking much about this episode right now... It started with such high spirit, I was really excited about this episode, just like Joutoku's baseball team itself. It was clear that Doutou will not be an easy opponent but just like Aoshi-sensei and the others, I really believed, that they could win. Well, maybe it would have been too easy and it was clear that they can't win every time (or the dorama would never end XD) nevertheless I feel quite sobered right now somehow. And frustrated. Argh... I wanted them to win! >.< And now everybody is crying... T_____T Poor guys... poor Aoshi-sensei! They really did there best, they were great! I love them! (Yes, even creepy Shikata.) Nya... Now I'm depressed! D: Damned!
BTW did someone get what was the last move by Yoshinaga? I have no idea since I (still) don't know that much about baseball so I was like WTH was THAT?! >.>
OK, ok... some good points of this episode? Let's see... Of course there was a huge amount of incredible cute how-the-f***-can-you-be-in-your-thirties-already-Aoshi-sensei, not only when he wears his uniform but I think especially then he REALLY looks like one of the students and this is so unbelievable cute that it melts my heart! ♥ There were also some pretty funny scenes, like when the third graders made Ebato to talk to strangers or when he suddenly started talking English on the field. Or when the headmaster and Aoshi-sensei talked, it's like a childish battle if Aoshi will go or stay at school, really cute that headmaster, really! Also Kamezawa's short appearance was really cute and funny! He never fails to make me smile! More Kamezawa in the last episode please! >.> Besides that we don't see much progress in this episode regarding the characters. We don't get more about Aoshi-sensei's plans (I know he plans to leave school but I refuse to believe this until it really happens XD), we don't get any further with Yuzuko-Akaiwa-Shirao-Shikata-Kunitomo (yes, I added him to the now love-pentagon lol) and there was also only a little bit Okabato *gets hit for even mentioning that*. But well... maybe we get full force characterdevelopment in the last episode? D=
But what's waiting for us in the last episode now? D= We didn't even get any preview at the end of the episode and there is still the issue of Aoshi-sensei wanting to leave school (and me still totally opposing this)... now I get a bad feeling >.>... Well, I don't want to get spoilered so I try to avoid reading other peoples opinion about the dorama right now. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the ending of this dorama or not... I'm not sure if my hopes will get fulfilled or if I'll get disappointed. The ending of a dorama can ruin a lot and safe a lot and I experienced both cases endless times already. I'm nervous now, looking forward to it but also not if you know what I mean. I also don't want to say goodbye to Aoshi-sensei and the other characters yet. They really grew so much on me, I could watch them play baseball forever and ever! >.<
The good news is that awesome B&C already released the subs for Episode 11 which means I can watch this episode soon as well! (I would like to it now but I don't have enough time left for a review before I have to go to bed so I don't want to start it now >.< But I'll finish Alice no Toge tonight! Finally!). Also there is the final episode of Shinigami-kun out as well already and I had planned to do the review on that first... If I have enough time I'll post both reviews within this week. Keep your eyes open! ^^
Well, I'll end this here for this time. What do you think about this episode?
And finally, see you next time with the final review!
Sky
PS: Click onto the images to get full size screencaps. Information about subs etc. for this dorama can be found in the masterpost.
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