We’ve reached the stage with Major 2nd where I’ve started to wonder about the episode count.  I’d pretty much assumed we’d be starting off with two cours, maybe three – there’s enough manga for it, and I can’t recall many NHK series that only lasted one cour.  But I saw an unofficial comment this week that the series would be 13 episodes, and indeed that’s as far out as the episode titles go.  I know the commercial influence of non-otaku bait sports anime isn’t what it once was, but could the Major franchise really see a one-and-done adaptation?  The manga is a big seller, and it’s still Major – but until we see anything official (maybe a split cour for now) it’s an uncertainty at the very least.

To say that such a thing would be a shame is a real understatement.  The sheer pointlessness of a one-cour adaptation for a series like this boggles the mind – Mitsuda Takuya has been doing this for a long time, and he writes for the long-term.  Old-school sports manga don’t think about resolving major arcs in a few volumes – they’re in it for the long haul (with Major, that haul was over 70 volumes).  The manga has barely scratched the surface of Daigo and Hikaru’s story, never mind the anime – and it’s got nine volumes under its belt.  Two cours would give the anime a chance to dip its toes into the water of the main story – with one it would barely have untied its shoes.

Indeed, we’re at 9 episodes in and this was really the first time we’ve really taken the story into the mind of the co-lead, Hikaru.  He’s been a great foil for Daigo but Hikaru has his own story, just as his father did.  He didn’t get to be the boy he is by chance – his family history is complicated (again, just like his dad’s).  The way Hikaru thinks is already clear when as a very young child, he asks his mother if he can keep the surname of his father after they divorce – because his father is the one who’ll be alone, and Hikaru wants him to know he’s still in his thoughts.

Everything – the reluctance to play baseball, the distance from Toshiya – ties back to Hikaru wanting to ease the burden on his mother.  He even feigns cheerfulness after the move to Gunma because he doesn’t want she or his grandfather to worry about him.  But his mother sees through it, which prompts her to call Toshiya (which one senses isn’t something she relishes doing) and ask him to intervene in his son’s life (which she seems to relish even less).

Meanwhile, Toshiya announces that Goro and Sakura’s training is at an end – and that Daigo has made enough progress that he can at least be a contact hitter in the upcoming tournament.  But training comes in many forms, as Daigo finds out when Kaoru asks him to deliver Izumi’s cleats to her at middle school for a practice match.  There’s much to be learned by watching a higher level match, and by watching Izumi pitch.  There’s been some grumbling in the discussions about Major 2nd that Daigo shouldn’t be so bemused at the idea of girls playing baseball, but it’s easy to forget that for a little kid, the world is often as small as your direct experiences.  While Daigo knows intellectually that Izumi is a good player and that his mother played ball, he’s probably never actually seen either of them play – until now.

Composure, grit, leadership – these are the qualities that this Daigo is going to have to rely on to be a difference maker on the field as he waits and hopes for his body to catch up to his ambition.  Meanwhile Hikaru has the luxury of being able to rely on raw talent, but currently no outlet for it.  That is, until Toshiya shows up in Gunma (at his ex-wife’s invitation) to intervene with Hikaru and make him an offer.  If he still wants to play, Toshiya will buy him Shinkansen tickets to do so – which he can certainly afford, though it’s still a bit painful to see the lengths he has to go to to be a part of his boy’s life.  The dream battery may not be a battery – yet – but at least being able to stand on the field together is a damn good consolation prize.