Battery

Genjutsuhh★ 4

Every so often comes along an Anime within the sports genre which gives us more fun games to explore and exciting moments to look forward to, but how often do we get a sports Anime that goes slightly beyond the standard. One that attempts to push the envelope, one that tries to introduce a thought provoking idea, all the while presenting its sport of choice by its side and using it as an enhancement to its overall storytelling. Battery… Was ‘supposed’ to be one of those shows. Story: One thing that I strongly feel a need of getting out before anything else is that this may ormay not be the kind of Anime you’d expect or hope it to be. What I mean when I say that is, it’s not the standard hype-inducing kind of sports Anime that focuses most of its matter into the game being played. Battery chooses to use baseball as more of a platform, it’s a medium through which the Anime presents its story. Thus it doesn’t really focus on the game itself very much. So what is it really about then? Well it’s actually more of a drama and focuses heavily on the interaction between its characters which also makes it rather difficult to say if it really even has much of a ‘story’ per se. It provides a general setting to which like I mentioned before; the characters are what provide most of the material. That being said, quite sadly, it doesn’t manage to carry itself all that well. The kind of situations that are presented to us and the drama that comes along with it feel… well… Pointless. It’s like a struggle that feels like it could’ve been told better but the drama just feels so empty and everything feels so bland that it’s hard to really care much about anything that goes. It’s quite obvious that a bigger topic is trying to be discussed behind the innocent front of a baseball show but it’s just too bad that the message doesn’t properly come across unless you genuinely make an effort to really reach out for it. Art and Animation: The art is rather plain but it’s not dull in any way. The color pallet used adds a soothing feel to the visuals which compliments the overall look of the show quite well. As far as the animation is concerned, it’s rather ordinary. At times the quality of animation does seem to increase where needed, such as during the scenes when a baseball game is being played and there’s a need to showcase the swift movements by the players, but overall the animation stays somewhat chunky for almost the entirety of the show and never actually impresses. Sound: Like most of its other aspects, the soundtrack also has a pleasantly soothing touch to it and as a whole, the musical score is quite nice but unfortunately there’s only a select few tracks in total and even those are hardly used. Most of the show goes by without the use of much music, which wouldn’t be a problem if the show somehow fills in by the use of natural sound effects. Unfortunately with the type of show this is, most of those scenes just feel empty without a soundtrack. There’s not much life to them. The opening and ending sequences were both really well done. The songs along with the visuals were very nice and did a really good job of setting the tone and atmosphere for the show itself. Characters: Like I mentioned earlier, Battery focuses more on its characters and the interactions between them. For the most part, we’re shown characters that slowly grow as events go by and their growth is presented in an ever so subtle manner that you really begin to appreciate it for what it is, until… when it’s all said and done, there’s no real sense of achievement. You feel like the characters came ways but never really found anything in the end. While there were some things to be had by the end, they all just feel so insignificant that you could hardly even care. More than often, when it came to the characters, it just felt like the show left you in the dust. At times they even felt lifeless or as if they had no emotions whatsoever. It’s hard to really tell what’s going on in their heads or what exactly their stance is on numerous occasions. Like with other parts of this show, it was just unable to come across properly. Presentation: It was quite evident that Battery attempted to tell a deeper story than what was portrayed or perceived, but it’s exactly because of the lackluster presentation that the deeper part of the show was unable to surface properly. An attempt at making a more natural and pleasant kind of atmosphere for the show backfired and ended up making the show really bland and unengaging. I should also mention that even though the show doesn’t focus on baseball as a game all that much, the parts where the characters are shown playing the baseball matches were possibly some of the most boring moments in the show. An entire match lasts for a few minutes and there’s absolutely no direction as to how it’s played out or what goes on in between the occasional frames with pitches and swings. There’s hardly ever even any sign of emotions by our characters during it all. Conclusion and Verdict: While Battery seemed to have a nice start and a fairly good idea, it was unable to carry it all the way till the end. It failed as a sports Anime and didn’t really manage to stand out much as a drama either. With a rather empty plot and difficult characters, it lacked anything for viewers to truly take away. I wouldn’t really stop anyone from watching the show, but chances are; even if you aren’t turned off by the blandness of the show, you’ll probably just end up bored halfway through anyways.

thelectricow★ 4

TL;DR at the end ~Contains Spoilers~ Baseball is a great sport. It's the kind of sport that can be modified to fit the capabilities of whatever type of player is playing, something humans of all shapes and sizes can enjoy. However, when comparing it to other sports on TV, in most cases, the action is severely lacking. Summer 2016's 'Battery' takes boring to a whole new level. ________________________________________ STORY: 3/10 Our protagonist, a cocky, arrogant brat who was already good at baseball before the show begins moves into a new town and joins the baseball team. He's a dick to everyone there, even his partner and brother. People don'tlike him at first and go as far as whipping him but they all eventually grow to because he's good at baseball and had already created enough needless drama. They play a good school. The end. I told you it contains spoilers right? Jeez, you shouldn't have started reading if you didn't want the whole plot explained, iiiidiot. In all seriousness, Battery has no development whatsoever, and ends exactly where it started. Not ideal, especially for sport anime, but it has been proven to work before. In Battery's case, it does not. The only thing happening between point A and point B is a bit of baseball and drama created between Harada and friends. But that's how it's supposed to be. Boring as it is, Battery is down-to-earth unlike many other anime, and is a refreshing change needed every once and a while. While some people may disagree with me here, I think Battery was a very levelheaded show that was nice to just sit down and watch. For most people. though, it probably won't be your cup of tea. ________________________________________ ART: 5/10 The thing that pushed Battery into the realistic zone was this. The animation isn't very good and, actually, the art isn't either. That said, it fits the style of anime and achieves exactly what it could within it's limits. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. ________________________________________ SOUND: 5/10 Seeing as there is barely any sound in Battery anyways, I had to dig deep just to hear it play... and was it worth it? Well... not really. Though they may be pleasant to listen to, the OST, OP and ED are just there because it would be weird if they weren't. The sound affects don't help that much, contributing virtually nothing aloft the norm. The voice acting then becomes the major factor in sound, which usually backfires if you rely solely on seiyuu to get into their roles. Battery didn't have this quandary. The voice acting is great for the main characters and the protagonist's family, and while lackluster side characters drag it down quite a bit, the vocalization is still amiable. ________________________________________ CHARACTER: 3/10 Just like the voice actors and animation, the characters just feel like an excuse to drive the plot in a way to create as much drama as possible without straying from it's element of realism. Takumi Harada, our protagonist, is quite the querulous guy. He has an obsession towards baseball and is just a total jerk to anyone and everyone, even his own teammates, only agreeing with them when things go his way. There really is not much more to say that hasn't already been summed up. _________________________________________ TL;DR: 4/10 +Very realistic +Realistic art style +Decent voice acting for the main characters -No plot or character development -Baseball is not a good TV sport -Art and Sound are only sufficient not good -Main character is annoying -Side characters are boring -Other main characters will argue with Takumi, but he eventually wins even if he's wrong Battery is a good anime to kick back, relax, and just enjoy. But that's not the anime most people are looking for, especially in the sports genre. Even if you DID want an anime to kick back and relax to though, there are much better choices than this. Another one bites the dust.