OP 2: “Amaryllis” by BLUE ENCOUNT

After what might perhaps have been a lull for a couple of episodes (and a one-week break) Mix returns for its second cour.  And it does so in rather fine style, not least with a new OP and ED that are very good and quite classy.  As low as its profile is in English (and that’s a limbo situation) Mix is very popular here, and while it’s not flashy it’s not made on the cheap either.  Happily the episode itself was likewise excellent, a fine start to what figures to be an extremely baseball-heavy second half of the second season.

The one caveat to that is the Harada situation, which has fully reached the annoying stage for me now.  Nishimura-san has spotted him in the video of Mesei’s Koushien win.  Harada has used the name Matsudaira Koutarou in getting a lifeguard (really?) job, and that’s a name that will be as familiar to Touch fans as it is to Eisuke-san.  Yet no one is connecting all the dots (Otomi conveniently doesn’t notice Shouhei in Eisuke’s copy of the same video).  I was fine playing along for a while but enough is enough at this point – just go there already.

Meanwhile the current Meisei’s next opponent is Hiryuu High, a team of delinquents – or at least ill-mannered louts.  Nishiki (who knows something about this subject) is well familiar with their history, up to and including their current coach.  He was originally put in place to reform the club’s behavior and the school’s reputation along with it, but eventually pulled the plug on that after seeing that with Hiryuu, nice guys finish last.  This has set him at odds with the principal (with Adachi, either the principal or vice-principal is always a baddie), but the coach is a lot smarter than his foe.

For Meisei, it’s Natsuno on the mound.  This is actually pretty rare for Adachi, whose baseball depictions have almost always been one main pitcher and that’s that.  Ichiban getting the ball in an elimination game against a decent opponent is a big opportunity for him, and he runs with it.  Apparently his pitches have more movement since he jammed his fingers (so Souichirou told Ooyama-san), and this serves him well early on when the Hiryuu hitters are aggressive.  But once they start making him throw strikes, things take a turn for the worse.

Under the circumstances, 8.2 innings of 1-run baseball is a pretty stellar performance for a first year.  Ooyama certainly shouldn’t be bound by any promises about how long he’ll leave him in, and he was right to get Touma in there for the final out.  But it’s Ichiban’s win (and Touma’s save), and a big win for Meisei too given the wear and tear on Touma’s arm saved.  An Adachi team with two frontline pitchers making a run for Koushien – what’s the world coming to?  If they actually make it in the protagonist’s second year, you’ll know something really bizarre is going on…

ED2: “Ima Kono Toki o” by Little Glee Monster