I think there are two ways you can approach an Adachi Mitsuru story at this point in his career.  You can be irritated by the way he rips himself off constantly.  Or you can embrace the absurdity of it (as Adachi himself does), and revel in the familiarity.  It really is kind of absurd when you consider it, just how many things he recycles.  Add to that, Mix is the first true sequel he’s ever done (that I remember) which makes the temptation (and the realization) that much greater.  With something like Cross Game, you had something so dynamic and powerful that it transcended the ouroboros effect, but Mix isn’t that.  So in the end, you have to make a choice.

I fall mostly in the latter camp, obviously.  There is comfort in the familiar, first of all.  And there’s really nobody better than Adachi at executing this stuff, even now.  So the extended romcom gag and the bit with the completely rando criminal impacting the plot were just “If it’s Saturday…” moments.  Hell, he even had the hero bean the crook with a baseball again – though this time it was by accident and off the bat.  Which is pretty ridiculous when you think about it, but that’s another rabbit hole and I don’t want to dive down again…

Anyway, it’s spring again (more fourth wall-breaking humor at that expense).  That means Otomi is finally going to be starting high school (that’s where the “romcom open season” gag kicks off).  And, not inconsequentially, Natsuno-kun and Akai Ryou.  With the Meisei side still woefully short on impact talent even with Nishiki in the fold, Natsuno is likely to step in as an immediate starter (and their #2 starting pitcher).  He’s talented, he’s ambitious, and he loves the game – that’s a no-brainer.  But with Ryou things get a lot more complicated.

That the Akai brothers don’t get along has been established pretty much since the beginning of the series.  But I don’t recall it being confirmed until now that they too are step-brothers, just like the Tachibros.  This resentment between them seems mutual and deep, and whatever the cause it’s been enough to keep Ryou off the diamond and in shin pads despite his obvious interest in baseball.  But something is obviously going to change that, and I can see it being one of two things.  Either he and Tomohito have some sort of truce where the elder pushes the younger to play, or Ryou decided the best way to get revenge against Tomohito is to play baseball and beat him on the field.

The romance angle remains a very significant secondary storyline here.  Otomi and Touma still seems like a virtual shoo-on to me.  She’s completely smitten with him and Adachi continues to signal it in no uncertain terms.  That will break Ichiban’s heart, of course, but it would make Risa happy.  She’s worried enough about Ryou’s interest in Otomi that she sends her off to a bogus location for the school hanami party (and into the path of the aforementioned crim).

Interestingly, Nikaidou seems not to be fading from the scene as one might have expected.  He’s still friends with Tadashi – he visits him at home after the latter hurts his back, and the banter with Tadashi’s mom makes it clear he used to be a fixture (that “yeah yeah, see you in another five years” line cracked me up).  He’s obviously not a factor as a player anymore, and while it’s hinted he’s still suffering from ill health, just how he still ties into the main Meisei storyline isn’t clear.