I’ve put aside the Mix manga since the anime was announced (which admittedly wasn’t that hard given the pace of the translations, which I nevertheless appreciate).  But I’ll certainly pick it up again after this season ends, because it’s going to be a good while (my guess is 12-18 months) before we see Mix Season 2.  And truthfully I have to have an Adachi fix once my appetite has been whetted for it – there’s nothing else out there that satisfies.  And episodes like this one are a big part of the reason why.

Given the weighty nature of this Kenjo (that’s how their uniforms Romanize it, so I guess I should too – even if it’s wrong, ROFL) matchup, it would be easy to forget it’s only the first round of the East Tokyo qualifier – even though Natsuno-kun does helpfully introduce a short recap in true Adachi fashion.  Lots of notable things were happening in the bleachers this week, including the obaa-san high schooler reading a copy of Touch as a well-disguised figure walked past.  Adachi, you goddam shameless tease…

There are certain rules in place for Adachi sports manga (that aren’t usually that different from other sports manga, not surprising as he’s one of the ones who wrote them), not least as regards what the heroes can and can’t do in their first year of high school.  But again, this is only a first-round game – so Kenjo or not, it would have been a little anti-climactic to see Meisei’s run end here.  That meant they had to come up with a couple of runs from somewhere, and while the top of the order was due in the Meisei 8th, that doesn’t inspire much confidence with this specific team.  And indeed, the first two hitters go down without much of a fight.

It’s no surprise Kita would pitch around Souichirou here, as the only other hitter who’s troubled him is Touma and he’s batting 6th (indeed, Ooyama-san was right to question whether he’d screwed up with his batting order).  It’s considerably more surprising that he should walk Imagawa-kun, but maybe Touma was on to something when he said Imagawa had his “cleanup vibe” working (for a change).  That left things up to Ogi, the right fieler (again, Ooyama-san’s lineup) but he lucks out and hits a blooper to the one Kenjo fielder who’s subpar defensively, the right fielder Todoroki-kun.  Given the situation diving was definitely the wrong move – but sometimes wanting it too much is the biggest problem an athlete can face.

As for Touma, he actually makes an out and ends the inning, though it takes a great defensive play to retire him.  And he has to deal with the top of the Kenjo (the former Sumi Tech) order in the 9th, but that proves no problem for him as the top two hitters add to his run of seven straight strikeouts.  That leaves Todoroki as the only thing standing between Meisei and victory, and between Akai-kun and a chance to flip the score once again.  The results are not necessarily what you’d expect.  Nor is the fact that Todoroki’s situation ends up having rather a lot of pathos despite his never being introduced by name until this point in the story.

It’s interesting that Adachi chose to resolve this game the way he did – neither Tachibana brother proved the hero at the plate, and Akai-kun never got to hit (after Touma promised to end it by striking him out). Baseball is a team game after, all, and Kenjo’s mercenary coach is left to wonder how he missed out on such a dominant battery in his own backyard (Nikaidou knows the answer).  Akai Ryou incurs his brother’s wrath at home by claiming not to know who Meisei beat in the first round (fibber) and Nishimura-san is pumped up to see an old rival drag itself out of the swamp of obscurity and back into relevance.

As for Tou-chan, one suspects after that performance the one thing he wants to do is sleep.  But that proves impossible as Otomi demands a pitch-by-pitch recounting of the game, and Touma actually has to slip away to the bathroom to catch a few winks.  Sou offers to bail him out, but this is an Adachi hero after all, who’d never sleep when duty calls.  Besides, he declares to Souichirou that the reason he worked so hard on the field was to “see that expression”.  Read into that what you will (Sou certainly is)..