I don’t know if you’ve ever been a kid, but as someone who has, this episode of Major 2nd was quite impactful.  I find that adults tend to dismiss the concerns of kids pretty cavalierly (see Tsuki ga Kirei).  But you know, when you’re young your universe tends to feel very small.  And when something like a best friend moving away without notice happens, it hurts in a very profound way.  Loneliness, betrayal, heartbreak – easy to make light of it as an adult, but that just means you have a short memory.

Of course, that heartbreak is something Satou Toshiya knows all too well (among other heartbreaks).  I’m not crazy about the way the adults (however well-meaning) in this series deal with Daigo sometimes, but I think they basically got it right with Hikaru’s departure.  His mom gave him space to grieve and didn’t try to immediately push him back into baseball.  That cuts against the Japanese “Gaman!” school of child-rearing which is dominant here, but it was what Daigo needed.  And when Satou dropped off the letter from his son, he didn’t hang around and try to inject himself into the moment.  It wasn’t really about him, and he knew it.

Daigo isn’t the only one whose concerns are being taken lightly by the adults in their life.  Sakura is still being stonewalled by her parents in her quest to play baseball.  Is there a fair dose of sexism in this?  Absolutely – and the fact is, sexism is still pretty widespread in Japanese child-rearing.  Admittedly Sakura had every right to be pissed at Daigo for lecturing her about giving up on baseball too easily – he’s not one to talk.  But it was good advice just the same, and probably just what she needed to hear in that moment.

There does seem to be a hand of destiny at work here, just as there was in the original series.  Baseball is the common bond joining all these kids together, and it’s a battle between their love for the game and the challenges life throws at them as they try to pursue it together.  Hikaru’s goodbye letter was enough to instil a change of heart in Daigo – because, let’s face it, he desperately wants to be passionate about baseball.  And even if his absentee father isn’t around to help, Daigo is smart enough to know how lucky he is to have Toshiya coaching him.  When he accuses Sakura of being jealous, she doesn’t even try to deny it – why bother?

Fact is, under Toshiya’s tutelage Daigo is making real progress.  The elephant in the room as far as Daigo is concerned is his weak arm, but Toshiya pushes back hard when he tries to say he has “no talent”.  It’s an exaggeration to say that a 12 year-old can’t be judged in those terms, but when it comes to something like arm strength it really is too early to say.  And as Toshi says, there are other paths to take if you aren’t a freak like Goro – technique, conditioning and understanding situational baseball can go a long way towards mitigating the absence of a strong arm for an outfielder.  Of course Daigo’s aim is to be a catcher like Toshiya, and it’s a little harder to do so at that position – but Daigo still has plenty of time.

As for Sakura, she takes Daigo’s annoying lecture to heart and finally faces down her parents about joining the Dolphins.  Even if her mom isn’t 100% wrong about there being a hidden agenda here, Sakura’s love of baseball is genuine – and so, apparently, is her talent.  It’s late in the game as far as little league is concerned, but baseball life doesn’t end after 6th grade – and once the door has been opened, Sakura’s parents are surely going to find it difficult to close…