Same old same old…
Yeah, I’m getting pretty pissed off at Daiya no A again. I’m just so sick of the same old shit over and over again – when Furuya or Nori are on the mound, they’re the beneficiaries of spectacular defense at every key juncture. Eijun, meanwhile, gives up bloop hit after bloop hit on great pitches. Why? What’s the point – is it just sadism against both the audience and the character? And don’t think having him acknowledge how unfair it is makes it better because it doesn’t – if anything, that makes it worse.
As if that weren’t enough, Miyuki’s injury and his refusal to recuse himself basically costs Eijun a run – and once again he’s praised as some sort of hero for doing it. Just to recap that half-inning: Eijun strikes out Miss-shima. Eijun wins against Raichi at last – but Raichi gets on-base anyway. Raichi should have been caught stealing, but injured Miyuki is unable to throw. Sanada pops up another great pitch, but it drops in CF. And Raichi scores on a squeeze bunt. Can you even imagine, under any circumstances, that happening to Furuya? I didn’t think so.
I don’t even know why I keep coming back, because it’s not as though I don’t know this is coming. But I like Eijun and Raichi so much that I really don’t want to quit this series. That said, I’m pretty much at the end of my tether – Terajima has run out of rope to hang himself. If there’s no payoff at the end of this game for all Eijun’s hard work and indignity, I’m done – period. An author can’t have his head so far up his ass that he has no conception of the way his characters are perceived. I hope it doesn’t come to that but at this point if Diamond no Ace were a security, I’d be advising “sell”.
Gigaknight21
February 22, 2016 at 7:15 pmTake a step back – I would say that the fact that you are this emotionally invested in a payoff for Eijun is proof that the show is doing something right…
Look – those bloop hits are, believe it or not, still part of what makes Eijun Eijun. He doesnt quite have the heat, and they discussed that it made him a bad match up here. The fact that he has weaknesses like that is part of what makes DnA (and Oofuri for that matter) so interesting, as opposed to something where our lead is just better than everyone else. The payoff is already there – his teammates know (especially Miyuki) that he is going balls out, and they love him to death for it.
Why is it that a shonen anime creating tension by things going right for the “bad guys” a bad thing? The way you make it sound, you would prefer Eijun just strike everyone out for the rest of the game and go straight to the Majors. I like the ups and downs…
As for Miyuki being the bad guy for staying in and allowing a base advance, I think it’s really interesting. Sure he’s hurt, but who’s to say that a 75% Miyuki isn’t better than his backup? Would the backup guy (I forget his name) have made the play? Would he have called the right pitches to jam them in the first place? I’ve got my popcorn set out for the next episode already – can’t wait!
Guardian Enzo
February 22, 2016 at 8:24 pmNah, I’ve seen enough baseball to not buy that argument. This is preposterous coincidence, plain and simple – Furuya has countless defensive gems behind him at crucial junctures, and Eijun gives up bloop hit after bloop hit. There are plenty of Hall-of-Fame caliber pitchers who’ve made a career out of jamming guys – balls find holes once in a while, but this is divorced from anything remotely realistic. It’s just bad writing.
leongsh
February 22, 2016 at 8:33 pmThe reserve catcher is Ono. He is a calming influence but not a gutsy game caller. Recall the 1st team vs Reserve team match.
The rest of the team know that Eijun is pitching very well and the bloops are just plain unlucky.
The episode ended with him closing out the 1st batter of Yakushi. The next episode will have him face those 2 again in the next inning.
Gigaknight21
February 22, 2016 at 8:47 pmI’m not saying the two bloops are great writing…but I disagree that it’s so preposterous that it makes the show itself un-enjoyable. You are totally right that there are hall of fame pitchers that jam guys…but it the point was made in Seidou’s last match that when Eijun jams guys, they can still overpower him a bit and move it past the infield.
I feel like that’s a reasonably fair way to have Eijun give up a run or two and still maintain his image. If you were writing this match, and you wanted to put Seidou in a position where they have to come back, how would you rather he give up runs? Is there a good answer?
gilraen_tinuviel
February 23, 2016 at 5:16 amMaaaan, this is not about this particular match. Yes, you can use it from time to time in the writing. Please, take your advice and take step back and look at all matches and then you’ll see the pattern, which Enzo is talking about.
Of course, Ejiun’s pitching is more risky, because he pitches to the contact but why is that the team (criticising him all the time BTW), telling him constantly they have his back, doesn’t deliver in critical moments, especially when he delivers perfectly (I’m looking at you, Kanemaru).
And a narration shapes a view of the character. Who do you think is objectively a better pitcher? I’m asking, because from the narration’s point it seems Sawamura is barely good, how much the team criticising him constantly and Furuya is an ace material indeed, how much people loose their shit, when he pitches. But somebody counted actually how much runs they both gave in Fall Tournament for Spring Koshien (vs. Teitou, Ugumori, Nanamori, Ouya, Seikou and Yakushi) individually, because it’s easy to see effectiveness of the pitcher then and facts are contradictory to the narration [I won’t tell the score for the last match obviously and mark it as Un(known)], because Furuya gave up: 1, 7, -, -, 3, Un and Sawamura gave up: 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, Un. It gives us 11 vs. 4 and I wish somebody would sit and actually count it with their fucking score book and give a comment about it (and the author of this manga should do it too).
The author has written himself into a corner. To balance shit out he has to constantly contradict abilities of the characters and shower Furuya in a verbal praises to create illusion he’s a worthy rival of Sawamura. You could say Furuya was nerfed, because the injury but so was Sawamura, because he was fresh after yips and almost two first matches he delivered only with outside pitches and he has gained his abilities back gradually as the tournament was rolling out.
Guardian Enzo
February 23, 2016 at 7:31 amActually, the way the team treats the two pitchers is another major problem I have with the writing. Partly because it’s so irritating in its own right but also because I think the idea that Furuya is better is wrong, if you look at the way the two boys actually pitch, Eijun has been the better pitcher since he got over his yips. He’s had better results. Just because you throw harder doesn’t make you better.
gilraen_tinuviel
February 23, 2016 at 9:03 am“You” as me particularly or “you” in a general sense? You have to know by now what I’m thinking about the title, so I’m confused… little.
Guardian Enzo
February 23, 2016 at 9:20 amYeah, sorry – the royal “you” rather than you personally. There seems to be a general perception that Furuya has been a better pitcher and the team and coaches certainly act that way, and I don’t buy it.
long
February 24, 2016 at 1:01 amEijun doesn’t score, you’ve mentioned many times, Furuya is a monster.
Gigaknight21
February 23, 2016 at 10:48 amCouple things –
1) I think there is a tolerance factor for bad things happening to our protagonist that everyone has, and it’s level varies person to person. I haven’t reached a point yet where I think things are too stacked against him…maybe I’ll get there eventually.
2) There is a general perception that Furuya is better than Eijun in the DnA baseball community at large, but I think that is entirely intentional, and a large part of Eijun’s arc is going to be overcoming that. That’s slightly presumptuous….but I think over the last two games specifically there has been a real shift in the opinions within Seidou toward them at the very least being neck and neck. I think some of the “would rather have Furuya in there” sentiment is for this game specifically, because just like the last game, they think that heavyweight hitters are a worse matchup for Eijun than Furuya…
At the end of the day, I think everyone here who is upset at Eijun’s lot thus far is feeling exactly what the mangaka wants you to feel. I still have faith that eventually it will all pay off spectacularly…
Stöt
February 24, 2016 at 12:17 pmMan, Gigaknight. Just because the mangaka wants you to feel this way, doesn’t make it good writing. You might as well be saying “the mangaka wants you to think that it’s crappy writing”.
You’re asking in which way we would’ve prefered Eijun give up runs in this inning, but take a step back here. Why would you force a narrative when it doesn’t make sense!?
Getting us frustrated about Eijun’s treatment by the team is only a bad thing when the writing doesn’t make sense. That’s it. It simply does not make sense, none of it. It’s terrible writing, and not the first example of it. Let me introduce you to some cardboard friends of mine, Ugha, Kyaa and Yiahaa.
I’m still rooting for Yakushi (and I’m pretty sure the mangaka didn’t actually want us to abandon the team and consistently root for the opponents, even though he does a good job doing that), but it feels cheap to let Raichi score because of shitty bloop hits and a lame injury. Fucking get Furuya out there when it’s tied in the final inning and let Yakushi humiliate him completely.
Jindujun93
February 24, 2016 at 10:41 pmFat chance that’ll happen. With the way Terajima treats Furuya and Sawamura, Furuya would get in at the final inning with a score tied, somehow pull a Goro Honda and pitch more than one inning despite being injured, wins this one by a sheer miracle and gets treated as a hero for it. That’s the kind of frustration I’m pretty much expecting from Terajima by now, no kidding.