Just in time for the MLB postseason (which I admittedly don’t have much of a rooting interest in this year), Gurazeni is back – and just as wonderful as ever.  This is probably the best anime there’s ever been about professional baseball, apart from the latter arcs of Major.  During its first cour I wavered on covering it, then did so in digest form for much of its run, but this time it’s a pillar of the schedule.  Part of that was me underselling just how good this series is, but part of it too is that Spring was a fairly deep season and Fall… isn’t.  At least not on paper.

There’s no denying that Gurazeni is produced on the cheap (as so many Deen series are, especially lately), but with a strong seiyuu cast and an absolute beast of a director in Watanabe Ayumu, I’ll gladly take the bargain.  In fact Deen didn’t even produce a new OP or ED apart from a few new shots, which is rare for a split cour.  But that makes the decision about the naming convention easy – if they’re going to plow straight ahead as if no time has passed, this is certainly Episode 13 rather than Season 2, Episode 1.

In fact, of course, time has passed – both on-screen and off.  Three months after we left Gurazeni four months have passed for Bonda Natsunosuke, and they haven’t been pleasant ones.  The reason soon becomes clear.  An illness to the scheduled starter has given Natsunosuke another precious change to start a game – he’s sent ahead to Nagoya to prepare.  But the opponent, the Nagoya Wild Ones, have a disruptive pair at the top of the order.  Keeping them off the bases is critical, but the leadoff man bunts for a hit and the 2-hole second baseman repeats the feat (after the first baseman drops a pickoff that had the runner nailed).

We really see the resourcefulness of Bonda here – he’s a good athlete, almost making great plays on both bunts.  Then he picks a man off first (or should have) and makes a great play by faking a throw to trap the leadoff between second and third after the second bunt hit.  But so eager is he to make an impression that he tries to complete the double play himself, tagging the first runner out and then breaking his wrist (fortunately the right) diving to apply the tag to the second.  And then he aggravates the injury by running before the break has fully set.  But eventually, after four long months, Natsunosuke makes it back to the Spiders – and right in the middle of a pennant race.

A great sports series needs a great protagonist, and Bonda Natsunosuke is certainly that.  He’s so easy to root for because he’s such a humble and determined fellow who can’t coast on massive natural ability.  It hurts to see him set back just on the verge of the biggest breakthrough of his career, but as his friend Tokunaga reminds him, this is the first injury as a pro.  “The best ability is availability” indeed – for a pitcher, a robust body that resists injury is a huge advantage.  Natsunosuke has already gained his managers’s growing trust once – he just needs to start over and do it again, and with his work ethic and mad desire to make more money I believe he’s going to get his chances to shine.

There’s another element to Gurazeni that was teased in the first cour of course, and that’s romance.  Considering her prominence in the ED (and eyecatches) Yuki wasn’t much of a presence in the first cour, but I’m hoping that will change in the second.  From what little we saw of her she seems like a perfect match for Bonda – neither one of them are exactly gravure idols, but both are endearingly real people.  There was great chemistry there and I’d like to see more of it in the next three months (which the OP and ED suggest is a likelihood).  All in all it should be a great season for Gurazeni – let’s hope it’s a great one for Natsunosuke too.