Major Season 1 Episode 2

Goro wakes up to find his dad practicing batting. He is going to become a batter.

Honda's buddy from highschool is in the paper.

Pitcher turned batter. Quite the dream.

Giant Cannon Robo got smashed, Goro will be pissed.

 New character Toshino is shown playing videogames instead of doing drills. HE IS IN ELEMENTARY. Japan doesn't fuck around.

 Toshi takes an intrest in what Goro is doing,

Goro sees him and says let's play. Toshi is obviously the typical study study study hammered nail down type kid. It makes Goro look like a delinquent.

Toshi declines because he doesnt have a glove, or balls for that matter.

Goro busts in and imposes baseball upon the local. The nerd is intrigued.

 Introductions.

You mean ?

Meanwhile Honda goes back with a wild notion that he is now the hitter they have been looking for.

In 1992 I was an impressionable youth, I was shown Mr. Baseball, Little Nemo and Terminator 2. What A wild combo.

 I can't believe a 10 year old me sat through something like that.

Such a great animation with Miyazaki's help.

And what makes that cider so super?

 They decide to give Honda a chance.

 His friend that he seen in the paper happens to be there and decides its a great time to challenge Honda like they did back in high school.

 A pro pitcher would destroy a new batter.

 Honda is losing.......

 But starts to predict and believe because he was once a pitcher (hours ago.) that he can predict what is going on at bat.

 Memories

Success Honda gets a home run in fear of working at Lawson's.

 One thing that I noticed is so far the food they have been sitting near or finished has been Hybrid or more English food. Most anime will have characters eating staple fish and rice, Ramen or Soba, some house bento or sushi, hot pot, shabu shabu, onigiri, tako, uni or some sort of pickled rice dish. Toast in the mornings. In only two episodes I've seen Sausage, eggs and toast, salad and now steak. I applaud them for this.

 I don't see any cows around.

 Spoken like NOT an elementary gaki.

 Mean while Toshi is getting his ass ripped by Okasan.

 From Elementary to Adult, Japan doesn't fuck around # 2.

 Meanwhile, again Goro's sensei Hoshino is runnin around in the teacher housing listening to complaints of cleaning duties.

Coincidence or creepy?

Hoshino looks out the balcony and spots Goro who is on his way to train.

 Hoshino's friend might have a point or she is infatuated with the kid.

Toshi's super strict mom won't allow Toshi to play baseball. Goro turns around to find that the glove he gave Toshi is on a trash can. Goro is upset.

 Honda explains to Goro that he might be misunderstanding the situation if he didn't ask Toshi about the glove. That's right, morals.

 Toshi flips out on his mom and wants the glove back, his mom says she will get another one for him when he passes the test. Life is a series of tests.

Onto Episode 3

Major Season 1 Episode 1

Im about to start this Juggernaut  This baseball drama has been around for a long time. Any collector worth their salt has come across Major in manga for or otherwise. Major is the biggest of all the baseball series which I figured that I would have to go through one day. Today I'll see what it's about. Anime only, I'm not intrested in seeing how it compares to the manga.

 

Story starts with Honda who is AAA big star with a foot in the majors

Honda has a killer arm and is established in the Blue Ocean's

His family loves watching him play. His kid Goro is very proud of his dad.

That's right "Goro" It's an odd name in the west.

The main character has a bit of competition though in all seriousness it is somewhat a common name for big families in Japan. I haven't seen his name spelled yet but From Japanese 五 (go) "five" and 郎 (rou) "son". This was traditionally a name for the fifth son.

Goro has been training feverishly to be like his dad and why wouldn't he? His Sensei hilariously says "I'll be the batter" not "what a childish dream". Usually teachers IRL are focused on the big money not some dream of being a baseball star.

Wanting to be a great pitcher he shows his teacher a fast ball. She is stunned shounen forshadowing style. Wow.

This is 2 minutes and 33 seconds into a 200 Episode series. Oh yes.

Smashy Smashy

Sensei ganbate's that ball into a near by window gaining the attention of the principal.

Suddenly we are thrust into a rocky montage complete with over dramatic music.

The montage ends with Goro being beaten by playground bullies. He is saved by sensei.

The show flashes to Goro's dad meeting up with the family. How nice.

Oh, Mom has a headache. Weird.

Oh no, Mom has a headache again.

OMG! Just like that Goro's Mom is gone. Disney takes longer to kill of the mom role. 6 minutes and 10 seconds in his mom dies. This show must be brutal.

One mom box to go.

Laying it on thick 7 minutes in.

Sensei hangin with her troubled student while dad is on TV.

OOps dad hurt his arm at 33, he is completely done for. So sad. Goro doesnt take the news lightly.

Sensei tries to consult the grieving kindergarten student, Goro flips out.

Dad deals with having to find a new career. He comes to pick up Goro but finds that Goro has ran off.

Confident he knew his son would be back they get a knock at the door but instead of finding Goro, he finds his former boss his his son tired. Goro found his dads boss and begged for his dad not to let go. That is quite embarrassing. No instant happy endings here.

In a giant turn of events his father becomes a mass murderer.

Goro's dad get a brillant idea at the end that instead of pitching he should start batting. Wow what a first episode.

I might be insane but I'm pretty sure that in baseball there is no choice, Each player has to do everything. but I could be wrong. after all I never seen Sosa or Mcguire pitch ever.

So far very little baseball is mentioned.

Second Ep _Their Friendship.

Pita Ten (Clinging Angel) 1-26

                                   Pita Ten 

Pita ten has been re-released on DVD and caught my eye as a series that I noticed in 2002 but didn't follow up on. Oh, it's MOE (Mo ehh) MO-A.......Moe was prevalent at that time with others like Sister Princess and D.N.Angel. Or is it?


Anime pics, Manga story (wikipedia) : The manga is very adult compared to the anime, which was completely moe-fied to the extreme.


                                                                      Kotarou Higuchi

Kotarou is a sixth grader who lost his mother after she sacrificed herself to save him from being run over by a truck. Because of this and his father's work, Kotarou is alone most of the time resulting in his stoic and independent personality. Kotarou is able to see angels, demons, and spirits because he is a descendant of Shia. He later discovers he is the reincarnation of Kotaroh Higuchi his grand-uncle and Shia's son. Kotaroh's family were labeled as demons by the villager. Since Misha was Kotaroh's emotional support, he committed suicide when Misha was prohibited from interacting with him.

Kotarou was initially in love with Shia which strains his friendship with Takashi. Eventually, his feelings shift towards Misha and is reinforced upon discovering Shia to be his great-grandmother. In the anime adaption, Kotarou's relation to Kotaroh and Shia was removed.
 

                                                                                 Misha

 

Misha is an angel who was friends with Kotaroh. After Kotaroh's suicide, Heaven imprisons Misha and strips her of her status because she was an indirect cause of his death. In the present, Heaven frees Misha and gives her a chance to redeem herself by having Kotarou as her test. In the anime, Kotarou is not related to Misha's test and are neighbors by coincidence.

                                                                     Takashi Ayanokoji (Ten)

 

Takashi is Kotarou's friend and classmate. He secretly works hard to maintain his public image as a prodigy.  He loves Koboshi but moves onto Shia when he learns Koboshi loves Kotarou. When Shia absorbs life energy from Kotarou, Takashi believed it was a kiss and abandons his feelings for her. His family's financial difficulties forces him to abandon his dreams of enrolling in a high quality school.In the anime, Takashi's feelings and home life is never explored 
 

                                                                       Koboshi Uematsu

 

Koboshi Uematsu is Kotarou's friend and classmate. She harbors a crush on him and confesses her feelings later in the series. After she is rejected, Koboshi changes her outlook on life and strives to improve herself to make Kotarou regret his decision. In the anime, her confession does not occur^.......

                                                                                  Shia

 

Shia is a demon with the appearance of a frail feminine girl. Because of her nature, she needs to absorb life energy while in the human world to live. Before the start of the series, Shia became amnesiac and lived in the human world as Shima (志摩). She married Taro Higuchi and gave birth to Kotarou's granduncle and grandmother. Due to her demonic nature, Shia was forced to return to hell to regain her health; She loses her memories of her life as Shima as her original memories are restored. Due to Taro's ailing health, Shia returns to the human world and unconsciously searches for him. She regains her memories of her human life when Kotarou reveals her past to her and attends Taro's funeral; ignoring her demonic nature to feed, Shia dies shortly after.

 In the anime, Shia has no relation to the Higuchi family and travels to the human world to complete her demon apprenticeship. Shia's good nature causes her to fail and her existence is annulled; she is brought back to life as a human by Misha at the end of the series^.


                                                                Klaus Rosenberg (NYA)

 Klaus Rosenberg is a demon who accompanies Shia and encourages her to act like a demon. He disguises himself as a black cat in public. While in cat form, he is named Nya by Misha and is credited by that name in the manga and anime.

                                                                        Hiroshi Mitarai

 Hiroshi Mitarai  is Kotarou's classmate.He strives to better himself in order to become a dignified head of the Mitarai family. In the anime, Hiroshi's story remains the same

                                                                       
                                                                        Kaoru Mitarai

 
 Kaoru Mitarai is Hiroshi's younger sister. She admires her brother and attacks anyone who insults him. She develops a crush on Takashi which overcomes her admiration for her brother.In the anime, Kaoru's story remains the same


                                                                               Sasha

 Sasha is Misha's older sister and an angel. She is strict, formal, and often berates Misha for her laid back personality.

                                                                                 Shino

 Shino is Kotarou's maternal cousin. Since her mother's death, Shino has been cared for by her and Kotarou's great-grandfather. Like Kotarou, she can see angels, demons and spirits. She moves in with Kotarou later in the series.

Love Chart Anime only

 I don't do this for all the anime I watch but Pita Ten is great enough that I went out of my way to make one. The Manga is different.

MOE defined. Cuteness overload.

Kotarou is the main character. This boy with the purple hair lives with his dad,( his dad is a typical salary man that is consumed with work, always running late for work, at work or going to work. The disney formula of the "Mother is dead" is in play here. A sad and overused gimmick to give us availability to the main char.)

Can't decide who is more MOE

 Kotarou despite all that happens to him he is an elementary school kid. like the bumbling can't fend for themselves age.....but this kid , wow, with the loss of his mom and his dad having to work, has grown up quickly.

Run kid

He first encounters Misha . Misha is this clingy angel that wants to be his mother. WTF?  Kotarou immediately takes offense, (after that in 26 episodes you hear about it once more) Kotarou's mother is kind of a mystery. Always.

Kotarou's two friends from... well, he is in elementary school so...... Pre school? Pre school friends Ayanokoji and Koboshi. These two are Kotarou's support and boy he needs it.  Ayanokoji is a big hit with all the lady....uhh- girls. All the girls his age are falling for him and he is top ten in his class. What is ironic is that his name can be read as "TEN" which is mentioned in the story.

Baby Koboshi hurt her face something MOE!

Koboshi is the main girl that adores Kotarou. In pre school she hurt her face and, OMG My heart. someone help her she's hurt! Wow. I want to cry with her. MOE what a feeling.  Dont worry because Kotarou wishes her pain away. She is now enamored with him he of course is oblivious. Koboshi gets up in Misha's face when she clings to Kotarou and it doesnt let up for 26 episodes.

SD MOE

 This show has comedy, MOE, tragedy gut wrenching sorrow to a bittersweet ending that that is a bit predictable only because of the setup. Obviously something has to give and they wait for the very end to do it.

As I've been making these posts i've learned that the anime and manga differ radically, I'm going to have to fully read the manga. 8 tankoboun shouldn't take long.

Surprise maid episode was actually entertaining. Shia needed a job and the crew supported her Thamks to Ayanokoji's uncle.

Anxiety MOE

 Fucking swamped with pervs trying to sneak a peak at loli's

Bwah It's YOU

 The anime acts like we are familiar with the manga. It eludes to things like familiarity even though this is the first time Sasha and Nya have met.

Awkward misunderstandings like this were comedy gold even though it didn't fit the characters.

Japan, you so crazy.

                                                                      Awkward racialism

Nothings coler than Ice,  Mishi's ICE!

Fanart for a bygone era is always fun to see. People were obviously big fans back then. It stretched to several corners of then net. There is still plenty of clip art. Now I'm going to run through the manga to see how it compares.

Luck and Logic Fan of FROZEN no doubt

Fan of FROZEN no doubt