Gurazeni is another one of those weekend “no comments for a month” shows this season, which I still find fucking depressing even though I should know better.  This is a series that was never going to generate much discussion either here or anywhere else in English, but I’m still entitled to feel sad about that because this is a damn good sports anime.  It’s a damn good anime, period.  And not only that, it’s not a mass-produced model – the approach Gurazeni takes is the road less traveled for sports series, and that’s yet another reason to appreciate it.

This arc is in effect what Gurazeni has been building up to for two seasons, no question about it.  The title of the series is “Money Pitch” after all, and that’s exactly what we’re getting here – “pitch” is a word that has more meanings than simply hurling a baseball (as the final moments of this episode remind us).  But the first big takeaway from this ep is the way it reminds us of just how different this process is in Japanese baseball as opposed to the major leagues.  Chalk and cheese, really.

It’s hard to know where to begin on that front.  For starters, I didn’t see an agent in the room anywhere during these contract meetings with the team.  I assume it’s different with superstars (who we pointedly don’t see here), but in this case it’s the player, the GM and his assistant – they hand the player the offer and he (usually) takes it, or counters.  And of course, this also points out that most players (again, excluding the elites) are on year-to-year deals, with their number going up or down based on their performance.  As assessed by the club and their “algorithm” of course.

As you’d expect, Natsunosuke is an expert at predicting what contract players will be offered by the club.  What a fascinating fellow he is – a mercurial, thoughtful athlete who sees the big picture with startling clarity.  We mostly focus on Bonda’s Hiroshima fraternity here, and they each get exactly the raise Bonda predicts they will.  There’s also a look at Kawasaki-san, a 39 year-old hurler who holds out for a multi-year deal despite the Spiders’ staunch refusal to offer one.  It’s Natsunosuke who sees through his subterfuge – all Kawasaki’s talk of his dream of pitching till 45 and winning 200 games (he’s at 150) is a cover for his real goal, which is to get the club to cough up an extra 10 million Yen on his one-year contract (taking it to ¥70 million) – which they eventually do.

Naturally Bonda’s contract meeting is teased until last, and the night before it’s to happen he goes to Yuki-chan’s shokudo for his usual comfort food and a steeling of his nerve.  But things take an unexpected turn when someone – finally – recognizes him.  This leads to some handshakes and requests for autographs, with Natsunosuke adorably embarrassed at the attention.  When the oba-san who owns the place overhears she sends Yuki over to get an autograph for the shop, with predictably awkward results – especially when she realizes he’s “King Tut” and thus also the guy she rudely thanked for putting her Tempters in the Japan Series.  The horrified oba-san has Yuki deliver free side dishes and beer, and join Bonda at the table to keep his glass filled.  It’s hard to say which of the two is more embarrassed at all this, but at least it amounts to relationship progress (of a sort).

Finally, the big moment arrives.  Natsunosuke is expecting an offer of 25 million – which is exactly what he gets after the GM and his toadie act out their standard song and dance about an “extra ¥500,ooo”.  But Natsu’s encounter with Yuki has emboldened him to hold his ground and “appeal” – though it strikes me that in this setup the players have very little bargaining power (which is of course exactly the idea).  Of course the club are weasels – sports ownership are pretty much always weasels – and right after saying they “won’t hold it against” Bonda for being injured in action, they tell him he’d have approached ¥40 million if he hadn’t been.  The mere 1 million Yen Natsunosuke is asking for here is a pittance, really, but I’m glad to see him fighting for himself – this is the real money pitch, and I’m curious to see what kind of curveball he throws next week.