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How grounded it is. There are no freak moves, no flashy abilities … there’s nothing that a normal player in real life can’t do. 

Even their hair colors are normal.

And the scenes we get outside the court are brilliant, showcasing each character as a person, not just a player, and that’s so, so important in any anime–to get to know the characters, establish their personalities. 

And how it’s important to fail at the beginning–and keep failing, as you train–to become stronger, as was the case in the Training Camp arc. How many dives did they have to do at the beginning? How many? They lost every single time, all the time, in those first few days.

You get to care for each and every single character, opposing team or not.

Characters have to deal with real, personal issues that we can relate to, and that makes us connect with and care for them that much more.

Females don’t take the back seat.

Coaches don’t take the back seat.

Meaningful, complex relationships between setters and captains that are built upon mutual trust, respect, and loyalty.

Relationships between players are free of fan-service. No blushing, no intimate close-ups … everything is conveyed through either a single, meaningful look or gesture. And that makes it that much more powerful.

Each team is a family. Each and every team. It’s conveyed and felt so deeply that it’s impossible not to cheer them on.

Superb, gradual, slow-burning character development.

Characters are not confined to tropes. The stoic will beat himself up for missing a point; the king practices till his fingers are blistered; the anti-social gamer is the backbone of the team.

Gorgeous soundtrack.

Gorgeous, fluid animation.

Find me boys more willing to toss aside everything to win.

Seriously, this show.

Seriously, Furudate.

From Up on Poppy Hill

Garden Of Words

Ponyo

Shokugeki no Souma

Ladies VS Butlers

Sword Art Online

Red Data Girl

Tamako Market

Servant x Service

Samurai Flamenco

Yumeiro Patissiere

5 Centimeters per Second

Summer Wars

Wolf Children

Shokugeki no Souma 

Ponyo

Howl’s Moving Castle

Tamayura Hitotose

was captain and ace of his middle school team, and is known as a big brother figure among his friends.

is an only child. 

is pretty much Kuramochi’s gofer and favorite punching bag. 

has a pretty hot childhood friend, who secretly has a crush on him. 

prefers any kind of food but natto. 

loves and enjoys reading Shoujo Manga. 

ranks 3rd as the most friendly and most sociable in the Seido Baseball Club Secret Rankings by the managers. (Toujou is first) 

greatly values teamwork and camaraderie. 

started playing baseball because of Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū series

was recruited by Rei Takashima. 

chose Seido after his meeting with Miyuki. 

is better than Miyuki in Shogi.

is very blunt with Miyuki and usually treats him as someone of his own age. He also has a habit of calling him by his full name. 

looks up to Shunpei Sanada as the kind of pitcher he wants to be.

read books like the Book of Five Rings, which led him to call his superiors old Japanese military ranks and switching his speech pattern to flowery language from time to time.

is fond of giving nicknames to his teammates. (ex. Cheetah-sama, Metabolic-senpai, Beard-senpai, Wolf Brat…LOL XD) 

bears a surname that shares the same Kanji character  村 (Mura)  with Okumura Koushuu ( 奥村 光舟) . (Sawamura Eijun>>  沢村 栄純)  

is based on Eiji Sawamura, a pro baseball player who played for the Yomiuri Giants. 

wears his school uniform neatly and properly. 

gets cat-eyed when flustered. 

is very emotional and cries easily. 

has suffered from YIPS, a career-ending disease, and overcame it. 

is a southpaw pitcher with unique timing. 

has a naturally flexible body with supple joints, allowing him to immediately change the pitch’s direction. (Also the reason why Kuramochi likes to practice his wrestling moves on him.) 

has pitched for 2 full games.

is quite competent with infield defense and pick-offs.

specializes in throwing idiosyncratic pitches.   

has an arsenal of pitches that includes a 4-Seam Fastball, 2-Seam Fastball, Cutter, Changeup, and Splitter.

unknowingly threw a Cutter to strike out Sensen’s Ace, Maki.  Now  the Cutter has become one of the key pitches within his repertoire.

learned the Changeup overnight. 

managed to piss off Mei Narumiya when he first pitched the Circle Changeup in an official game. 

developed the ‘Numbers’ system with Miyuki for his pitching repertoire.

used to struggle with control, but he has improved considerably and is able to locate pitches consistently.

has an unorthodox pitching form that doesn’t allow the batter to see the release point of the pitch, which consequently messes up the batter’s timing. 

is also surprisingly level-headed in critical situations.  He is always able to pull off amazing pitches in a pinch, which never fails to amaze Miyuki.

is the best “bunter” in the series, which earned him the title of “Bunt Master” or “Bunt Meijin”. He is also referred to as the “Kawai of Seidou”. This nickname is a reference to Masahiro Kawai, a former player for the Yomiuri Giants who was known for his defense and bunting skills.

hero-worships and deeply respects Chris.  

considers Chris as his valuable mentor and sometimes calls him ‘Master’. 

brought back the light into Chris’s eyes and motivated him to play with the team. 

has the funniest and silliest expressions. 

is the team’s mood-maker. 

is praised by Coach Ugai for his motivational skills. ( “ The spice called motivation gives birth to good synergy. With such a kid on the team, the team is bound to get stronger.”) 

has a PRAISE KINK. 

usually offers bunting advice to his teammates. 

is very loud and rambunctious (and it’s up to Kuramochi to keep him in line). 

is just one of the cutest ever. 

is a total dork. 

acts like an adorable dog at times. 

is very beautiful.  (Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too PURE FOR THIS WORLD  (●´艸｀)ヾ )

has a bright and charming smile that can rival the sun. 

has an amazing pair of eyes. 

is strong-willed, competitive, outspoken, and courageous. 

is tough on himself and evaluates himself relentlessly. 

Don’t forget that Eijun is more than just this silly, noisy and obnoxious guy. He is very cute and precious, and a very hard-working person. He has come a long way since he began his high school career in Seido. He’s undeniably one of the key players of the team and has improved tremendously. ヾ(:3ﾉｼヾ)