Ace of Diamond: Second Season

karlstein12★ 9

Diamond no Ace, a name that might not be heard as frequently as other largely popular sports shows out there. And that has always dumbfounded me. A show doing everything right, also up there as one of the best in its genre, yet still never has broke through the locks and that is evident with the relatively small amount of members it has on MAL compared to other popular sport shows. A collaboration of Madhouse and Production I.G., two of arguably the greatest ever studio's in this industry. With loads of experience behind them and even highly in the sports genre (Madhouse: Hajime no Ippo, OneOuts and Chihayafuru. Production I.G.: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basket and Prince of Tennis) coming together for the first time. And it was a long runner at that, so you could always expect them to deliver the goods. This will be a combined review of both the seasons, and also may contain spoilers. After having agonizingly lost in the finals against Inashiro a year ago and missing out on an opportunity to play at the National level, it was no other way but to try again for the highly lauded Seido High School of Baseball. And with many of the acclaimed senior players retiring from the team, things looked bleak for Seido. With new freshmen joining the team, it was always hard to build back the team and try to challenge other clubs. The characters as players also go through quite a lot development as they try to ramp up their game and take experience from the matches they play. Although Sawamura (aka Bakamura :p) remains the same idiot as ever, he actually does show what he's capable of and gets close to Furuya to become Seido's ace, and that inner battle between the two pitchers was amazing to see as always in the show. Miyuki Kazuya is the new captain of this refreshed Seido side, and we're treated to his super abilities as a captain and a catcher. He's the pillar of Seido which keeps the team intact. Quite a few of rivals and players have stepped up their game too, and we see a new rival for Seido in Yakushi with Raichi the monster-slogger and the cunning Sanada Shunpei, coming to the scene being better than before. The music for DnA too has never seized to amaze me. One after the other, DnA boasts of exciting new OP and ED songs. It also has a great set of OST's and Background Music that totally ignites the fiery and tense moments in a game. Good consistent voice acting all around, too. The animation is convincing for the fifty one episodes. They've stuck to the basics with little exaggerated movements and it doesn't have any sort of flashy moves or any otherworldly techniques that would be impossible to execute in a real match. The better players realize the situations and play accordingly, occasionally taking inspirations from what their coaches or fellow players might've said in the past. So DnA has had that realistic appeal all the time, something that makes this show all the more enjoyable. It's one of the best long-running sport anime there is. The enjoyment is worthwhile for the huge amount of episodes. DnA is a very simple show. We follow the dream of aspiring young baseball players and a club to play in the Nationals. It's a roller-coaster ride filled with endless excitement and emotions.

Tyuzi★ 7

No spoilers... You're probably thinking of an 7/10 a bit of a low rating, but I'm taking in the account of 5/10 being an average. That, I consider an exceptional score. I also currently follow MLB (Major League Baseball) and used to play baseball. I just want you to keep all that in mind. I first thought the 2nd season will be like the 1st season, this was going to be a long drag and have a pretty cliche/predictable story. This is considering having to go through the previous season’s 75 episodes, but still enjoyed it enough for the nostalgia and epic moments. Boy, I was so wrong. Forsports anime, there always the main team's goal to win nationals or blah blah blah, win the tournament. However, for this one, that wasn't really solely that goal. I can't give away anything (cuz spoilers), but this gives a twist to the series I wasn't totally expecting. Still, generally a sport anime story though... What really makes this a great sport anime is the characters. There are so many character that I can’t even keep up. Each character has some kind of unique quirk, style, backstory, or even the way they're drawn is what makes them stand out. This certainly the case for Sawamura and new characters to follow. Many aren’t really one dimensional. The art direction is still solid, but not amazing. What really brought this score down was the art. There wasn’t really improvement since the previous season. I don’t mean the art was bad to begin with, but a lot of the characters are drawn inconsistently and the background NPCs are even worse. The backgrounds are sometimes inconsistent too. But the little details like the strings on the fielding gloves and the designs on the batting gloves are a plus. As for the sound, the OST is still amazing as in the first season and the openings/endings are just as good as well. Sound effects are nice too. This was also prominent in the 1st season as well. I’ve been hearing complaints of during the 2nd season of: “Oh is this Furuya no Ace?” or “When will Sawamura have the spotlight?” It seems some people don’t really understand why this is necessary. Although it is painstaking that Sawamura doesn’t really get to show his stuff and Furuya still butts in, this helps the MC develop. Without Furuya, Sawamura wouldn’t have a burning passion he does right now. Furuya completes Sawamura. Please don’t be like those butthurt fans. I just want you to keep that in mind into the 2nd season from the 1st. Overall, I really enjoyed the 2nd season, well worth going through the 1st. Oh don’t forget the dreadful cliffhangers! ;)