It really is too bad there isn’t more of the Mix manga out there, because the series continues to be as big a hit in Japan as it is a non-entity overseas. This week’s ratings might have gotten a boost from the Koushien finals (won by a “home team” from Osaka) – at 5.8 they were the highest for the series so far. Not only did it crush One Piece, Mix even beat out perennial all-ages titan Chibi Maruko-chan (though Sazae-san, of course, remains unassailable at the top). We’ll be waiting a couple of years, but you can bet a second season of Mix is coming as long as Adachi Mitsuru is able to keep writing.
The truth is, Kaio Nishi was always a bit of an afterthought as an opponent. Which means that no matter what the scoreboard looked like, they weren’t going to take Meisei out – it just wasn’t on the table. In fact I think Adachi realized this, because he didn’t even bother to show us anything of their 4-run rally in the bottom of the 9th to win 7-6, just the opposing pitcher going down with a muscle pull. Call it the baseball Gods or the shounen bible, there was no way Meisei was going out in this game, so Adachi didn’t even bother to try and make it dramatic.
Acknowledgement of the obvious is a bit of a theme here, as Adachi also applies it to the fanservice. Of course there are no hard and fast rules that sports shounen has to have it – it’s an Adachi rule, if anything. Leave it to him to pre-empt the criticism by pointing that out himself (which is one of his favorite tricks). At least he got most of it out of the way early, so the rest of the episode could focus on the coming battle with Toushu.
If the Kaio Nishi result was a foregone conclusion, the Toushu game is anything but. It’s true that Seinan awaits in the other semi-final (yes, there are two of them), but with their star being a tenth-grader too (like Arai Tomohito) nothing that happens in this tournament is a given. It’s Mita Hiroki who’s the white whale here, not least for Arai-kun himself. His coach says that it wasn’t his dream to play in the Koushien – his dream was to hit against Mito. Now the only way that can happen is in the pros – and as the coach points out, that’s an extreme longshot no matter how dominant a player seems in high school.
Courtesy of Punch, there’s an interesting encounter between Otomi and Touma (who’s fled the hordes of alumni who’ve descended on practice) and the aforementioned Arai-kun. As Touma points out, the better he does in this tournament the better that reflects on Arai, who was the only one to produce a run against him. Who would Tomohito-kun be rooting for in this game, I wonder? It’s an interesting question given the complicated entanglements he has with both sides.
As for Toushu, they have no reason to fear anybody but their coach admits that he’s rooting for Kaio because Touma is “creepy”. As the better team, the worst thing for Toushu is a wild card, an X-factor – and that’s just what a super-talented and previously unknown 10th-grader is. Not even Souichirou seems to be confident heading into the game, and there’s no reason he should be. But with a pitcher who fears nothing and with nothing to lose in a game they’re expected to lose, not even the shounen Gods would feel safe in predicting the winner.
Proto
September 1, 2019 at 11:49 amGiven that I’m up to date with the manga I haven’t feel very motivated to go through the anime adaptation so far, but this is a good moment to marathon it as ever. Thanks for covering it every week. 🙂
Guardian Enzo
September 1, 2019 at 6:22 pmI don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Kim
September 1, 2019 at 9:53 pmI do really enjoy this series and hope it will get a second season.
But the unnecessary fanservice was so dumb. And no the 4th wall jokes don’t excuse it.
Kim
September 1, 2019 at 10:32 pmAlso was thinking maybe they can animate H2 in the meantime. That’s an Adachi series I want to experience. The old anime was never finished.
There was a poll of unfinished anime series Japanese fans wanted to see get new series and I believe H2 was in the top 5
Aiueo
September 2, 2019 at 10:37 pmIf you hate such tame fanservice scenes in this episode of Mix, you won’t like H2. I can tell because I read both manga. H2 MC is a REAL pervert and he’s proud of that as well LOL. The blatant amount of fanservice in H2 is enough to scare casual anime watchers in present day, but it’s actually not that offensive. Also, Mix is a monthly manga compared to H2 a weekly one, so one episode/chapter of this level of fanservice is nothing.
Guardian Enzo
September 3, 2019 at 8:09 amH2 is not among my favorites on a level with Adachi’s best work. But I suppose if I were to pick an unadapted Adachi manga to see anime (apart from Jinbee, which would never happen in a thousand years) H2 might be the best option. I really liked Over Fence but that was from Adachi’s start ‘em and abandon ‘em period.
For me, a Touch reboot still makes the most sense and holds the most allure. Still not sure how that’s never happened.
Aiueo
September 3, 2019 at 6:05 pmI don’t care which one gets adapted, so long as more reasonable fans would try reading and buying his manga instead of ONLY watching dumbed down adaptations. But yeah, can’t be helped for Jinbe’s doomed-to-exist adaptation, same with Katsu! and Niji-iro Togarashi. I’m more of a manga reader anyway.
Kim
September 3, 2019 at 7:53 amI can hate the fanservice and say it is unnecessary (because it literally adds nothing of value). It’s just completely random shots of girls T&A which is completely tasteless. I don’t care if it’s tame to you.
However I am also otherwise a fan of Adachi’s works and want to watch an adaption of H2 because next to Touch & Cross Game it’s often cited as his most popular work
So yeah its possible to criticize an aspect of something you otherwise really enjoy
Aiueo
September 3, 2019 at 5:43 pmAh…Alright, I think we had a bit of a miscommunication here. Believe me, from your first two comments I had the impression that you had complete negative exp watching this ep of Mix due to the fanservice. So in return I made a tongue-in-cheek reply with full intention of warning you and people who are unfamiliar with Adachi’s work as a whole and H2 in particular: that fanservice in H2 is more of a recurring trope than Mix and it would detract from viewing experience of the entire work for people that don’t like little fanservice in Mix, obviously. If my impression is wrong, and in reality you actually enjoy this Mix episode despite the fanservice, then that is absolutely wonderful. It would be even better if more people are the same as you in that regard.
To be fair, I have my own qualms about this Mix adaptation as well. Let’s just say the manga is worth rereading a few times for readers to see the subtle Adachi-esque character defining moments that the anime has cut down for some reasons. If interested, you should try reading Mix manga (and H2 please!) to see how moderately low-key the way he portrays the interactions and the character traits compared to how the adaptation handles them. I hope you can fully enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and simple comedic moments from his works.