Customer Reviews

Big Windup: Part One (Episodes 1-13)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Japan, sports-based anime have been quite popular. From series such as the basketball anime "Slam Dunk", soccer anime such as "Captain Tsubasa", football anime such as "Eyeshield 21' and tennis anime "Prince of Tennis", comes an anime baseball series that is just fun and enjoyable.

In Japan, baseball is a big part of Japanese culture. Aside from soccer and sumo wrestling, Japanese baseball has been covered in manga and anime series such as the popular series "Touch" as well as"H2', "Princess Nine" and "Idol Ace", to name a few.

In 2003, Asa Higuchi began a manga series which is serialized in the monthly seinen magazine "Afternoon" since 2003. The series has won an award such as the "Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize" and the "Kodansha Manga Award" and eventually was made into a 26-episode anime series in 2007. Animation was done by A-1 Pictures (A studio from the Sony's anime production division, Aniplex) and shown on TBS and Animax Asia. What many people don't know is that Higuchi has researched and collected data on Japanese high school baseball for ten years before she started on the manga series.

Now "Big Windup!" (also known as "Okiku Furikabutte" aka Ofuri) will be released in the US via two DVD sets courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. The first set comes with the first 13 episodes of the animated television series.

The series is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima ("xxxHolic", "Genshiken" and "Kujibiki Unbalance), written by Yousuke Kuroda ("Gungrave", "Infinite Ryvius", "Mobile Suit Gundam 00', etc.), character designs by Takahiko Yoshida (who has worked on "Honey and Clover", "Gad Guard" and "Welcome to the NHK") and music by Shiroh Hamaguchi ("Ah! My Goddess", "One Piece", "Sakura Wars" and "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children").

The animated series initially revolves around a boy named Ren Mihashi. Mihashi is a pitcher who has low-self esteem and lack of confidence courtesy of his former junior high school who criticized him because he was made starting pitcher of his junior high school team because his grandfather owned the school. Because of that, he underwent some major bullying from his baseball team, to the point that everyone expects the worst out of him and expect him to lose each game. In fact, Mihashi buys into all the negativity they give him and he blames himself for his teams losses and ruining his schoolmate's love for the game, thus Mihashi's self-confidence is totally shot. So, bad that he's always cringing in fear, always thinking that others are thinking negative of him and that he will ruin things for everyone.

Mihashi decides to go to Nishiura High School and thus staying away from his former classmates and to never play baseball. That is until he is immediately recruited by Maria Momoe, the coach of Nishiura High School's first baseball team.

Coach Momoe is very driven and formerly was a highly skilled softball player and coach but now she is driven to jumpstart the highschool's baseball team. Along with team adviser Tsuyoshi Shiga (who uses his knowledge of psychology, meditation and other subjects to help the team succeed), the two recruit Mihashi and a few other people to become a part of Nishiura High's first baseball team.

At first glance, Nishiura High School's baseball team doesn't look like much of a team. Some members are opinionated, egotistical and are not much of team players at first. But Coach Momoe knows what she's doing, how to get these players to work together but most of all, she believes in her team.

Nishiura High School's baseball team includes:

Ren Mihashi - The pitcher of the team with low self-esteem, low-confidence and is always questioning if people are looking at him in a negative way. He wants to be the ace pitcher but always feels negative towards himself. Always seen crying, whining, hiding in a corner depressed but his friends/teammates know how he is and tolerate him. Even becoming friends with him. Although not known for his speed for fastballs, he has practiced for such a long time that his accuracy is excellent and he is able to throw various pitches. Although he doesn't notice his talent, his catcher Takaya Abe does.

Takaya Abe - The catcher and vice-captain of the team who is good at analyzing players and learns how talented of a pitcher Mihashi is and knows by directing him through his pitches, he can become a great pitcher. Coach Momoe puts her trust in Takaya to watch over Mihashi. Takaya also has has a distrust towards pitchers who have not listened to him. Abe looks at his pitch calling as strategy which he excels at but dislikes when pitchers don't listen to him.

Yuichiro Tajima - Niishiura's cleanup hitter and despite being a small guy, he has the ability to hit the ball wherever he wants 80% of the time, although he's not strong enough to get home runs. But he's the best/accurate hitter of the team and also the third baseman and backup catcher for Takaya.

Azusa Hanai - Made the team captain because he's not afraid to voice his opinion to Coach Momoe. Formerly a cleanup hitter and known for hitting home runs. And at times, his cockiness gets the best of him. He is also the right fielder and backup pitcher of the team.

Yuto Sakaeguchi - The lead off hitter and a person who becomes a good friend to Mihashi. Also, known for having diarrhea when he's stressed out. Sakaeguchi is the vice captain and second baseman of the team.

Kosuke Izumi - Another player with experience and known for his running skills. The center fielder of the team.

Shoji Suyama - The shortstop on the team who is known to help quiet the tensions or stress amongst the others in the team.

Fumiki Mizutani - Not so skilled at baseball and often will drop catches. The left fielder of the team.

Kazutoshi Oki - The reserve left handed pitcher for the team who also plays first base.

Shintaro Nishihiro - More of the player on the bench who cheers for his team.

And characters that do not play baseball but are instrumental to the team are:

Chiyo Shino'oka - The equipment manager of the team. She loves baseball.

Yoshiro Hamada - Also, known as "Hama-chan". Hamada grew up with Mihashi when they were younger. But due to "Little League elbow", unable to play baseball, Hamade uses his energy to become the leader and organizer of the cheering team for Nishiura High School baseball. He is also a friend of Izumi.

The DVD set features a total of 13 episodes on two DVD's:

DISC 1:

* EPISODE 1 - THE REAL ACE
* EPISODE 2 - THE CATCHER'S ROLE
* EPISODE 3 - THE PRACTICE MATCH
* EPISODE 4 - THE PLAY
* EPISODE 5 - DON'T CUT CORNERS
* EPISODE 6 - REQUIREMENTS FOR PITCHERS
* EPISODE 7 - I WANT TO PLAY BASEBALL
* EPISODE 8 - AN AMAZING PITCHER
* EPISODE 9 - THE PAST

DISC 2:

* EPISODE 10 - BIT BY BIT
* EPISODE 11 - THE SUMMER STARTS
* EPISODE 12 - THE CHEERING SQUAD
* EPISODE 13 - THE SUMMER TOURNAMENT BEGINS

The first 13-episodes are broken up into 3-story arcs. The first arc features the development of the team but most of all, how Mihashi, despite being an unpopular pitcher from his old school, they notice he has amazing talent, it was just not utilized well. We get to learn about all characters of Nishiura High School's baseball team.

The second arc features Coach Momoe organizing a competition between Nishiura High School and Mihashi's former teammates from his other school. With Mihashi's self-confidence at an all-time low, Abe rallies his teammates to support Mihashi or else, they will have to deal with his whining and low self-esteem which can be detrimental to the entire team.

For the final arc, around episode nine, the series is less about Mihashi but now focusing on the entire team or a certain member of the team. The Nishiura High School baseball team members become friends, helping each other with their education and trying to gel but most importantly, the group is now preparing for the Summer baseball tournament in which over a 170 high schools take part in.

We also, are introduced to Nishiura High School's cheering team and also the viewers get to learn why Takaya Abe dislikes his former pitcher from his junior high school so much and why he's determined to make things work well between he and Mihashi.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Big Windup!" is presented in 16:9 and sports a lot of painted backgrounds with its baseball field surroundings, neighborhoods but for a TV series, sports quite a bit of detail for its players and their baseball equipment. May it be the dust on the baseball, their gloves or the catcher's shin guards. Each character has their own personal traits and for the most part, animators captured the wide range of emotions of each character quite well. For the most part, there is a country like feel to "Big Windup!" but for the most part, a television series that does look quite nice! Bare in mind, this is not a OVA or film, so for a TV series to a good amount of detail is a major plus.

The series does sport a soft kind of look. The colors are not as eye-popping vibrant as I would have liked but actually is quite consistent with many other television animated series.

As for the audio, the English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound is actually more livelier compared to its Japanese vocal counterpart (featured in stereo). The soundtrack of course is more dialogue-driven, so expect to hear more use of the front and center channel speakers.

There are certain instances such as Sakaeguchi walking through the neighborhood and you can hear the sounds of a car or scooter (or motorcycle) passing by which can be heard through the surrounds, but for the most part this series is dialogue and music driven. But for optimal sound on both soundtracks, for those with a receiver that is able to make all channels stereo, I found this setting to be the best. And both English and Japanese vocal tracks are quite solid.

In terms of dialogue, there is quite a difference in terms of language used as the English dub does use words that some may regard as a bit profane. For the most part, the series is not vulgar, nor is there really anything violent. It's just certain words used in the dialogue that gives the series its TV 14 rating.

Subtitles are only in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

On the second DVD, you can find the textless opening and ending theme plus FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Big Windup!" is an enjoyable baseball anime series!

In a way it kind of reminds me of the classic American baseball film "The Bad News Bears" in which a team of baseball players that were no good, overcame adversity and through teamwork, became an awesome team. In "Big Windup!", it's almost a similar situation which the team has its share of talented players and not-so-talented players but compared in size to the other competition, Nishiura High baseball players are much shorter nor are they physically as strong as compared to the senior baseball players of other high schools, nor do they have a top notch training facility as other high schools and last, this is the high school's first year as a baseball team.

But the strength of the team relies on defense and pitching, with Mihashi having pinpoint accuracy when it comes to pitching, it all comes down to Takaya Abe, the catcher to direct him. At first, Mihashi does get a bit too much (or very annoying) for the viewer as he is always afraid, whining, crying and quite literally is acting like a baby but when the team dynamics start to come to play, this becomes less noticeable and the series becomes more enjoyable.

But overall, I really enjoyed "Big Windup!" and finding myself wanting to watch even more after it ended. This is truly a series about underdogs who have a lot to offer but must go through sacrifice and working as a team in order to become successful. And for the most part, the series balances out the baseball aspect but also the series crazy antics and the humor of each character. It's basically a fun series to watch and enjoy.

"Big Windup!" doesn't take long to get into the action and unlike "Slam Dunk" or "Prince of Tennis", this is not an anime series that really goes into the dramatics of relationships or love triangles or anything like that. Nor is it a series that tries to promote its characters as cool and visually appealing for female fans. It's pretty much an anime series of a group of young teens who want to be a very good baseball team but knowing they have to do many things in order to become successful. And as a viewer, you end up rooting for the underdogs (which of course is Nishiura High School) and hope they can beat their opponents.

If you are a person who enjoys sports-related anime series, "Big Windup!" is absolutely fun, entertaining and definitely recommended! I look forward to Part 02!

I hadn't watched an anime in a while and this popped up on netflix so I decided to check the first disc out. Although Ren's character is way over the top with the self esteem issues, he was a lovable character especially as he is being brought around by his catcher Abe. Though not entirely "healed" by Abe, Ren also is helped out by the rest of his team and his woman coach Momoe. If any of you guys have a thing for women athletes then Momoe is for you. Only a few years outa school, she lends really the only eye candy in the series. But don't let the body fool you she can coach and the boys fall in line quick! The first disc was great as the team learns to play and get to know each other (ep 1-3) and play a practice game against Ren's old team (ep 3-7). The strategy and inner thoughts spoken was really what made the game great and intriguing. I then bought the collection and watched the next disc and though it wasn't bad it didn't move as well. It ended up being what I call "building" episodes, not much action, not even a game played, it was more backround on home life and groundwork for future episodes, but it did end good enough leading into what is obviously the meat of the show: The High School Summer Tournament. I am happy the concluding box set is only a month released from the first so I will wait patiently. In conclusion, this show has heart along with just enough comedy and meanness that I was transported back to my childhood playing sports with my friends. This may be considered a guy show but ladies my wife liked it and like a reviewer previously said, its more about the characters than the game, but don't worry fellas these guys do play to win!

I looked into this series hoping to find a decent Sports Anime to add to my collection. I liked Fighting Spirit and Eyeshield 21, but decided I wanted to look into something completely new. So, I caught a few episodes of Big Windup streaming on Funimation's website, and liked it well enough to add it to my collection.

Now I own it, and even though the first half of this DVD set was enough to win me over, the second half made me fall in love with the series.

Firstly, Big Windup is a Seinen Series, based on a manga aimed at older teens and young adults for the more intelligent consumer. Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, and Mushishi were all seinen series. If you're looking for the "Heart of the Bat," "Zen Baseball," or "Anything Goes Baseball Marshall Arts" you bought the wrong DVD. What I'm trying to say is that it's a methodical view of the game and it's players focusing on the tension between the pitcher, the batter, and the catcher, not just about hitting homeruns. In between games, the players do what real players do: practice.

What initially drew me to Big Windup is the low-key characters and character designs. If you ever seen Eyeshield 21, or other Shonen series, they have characters that are 8ft tall, look like Koalas, and explode at the drop of a hat. The players of Nishiura High look like ordinary highschool students. Because they lack the bombastic qualities of Shonen characters, the cast doesn't leave a strong impression at first. I only know half the characters names at this point. But, the series makes me WANT to know the rest of the players on the team. It's that good.

Yes, this series can be called "a little gay." But, nowadays, any type male bonding is instantly labeled "GAAAAY!!!" So, if that stuff weirds you out, then I guess this series ain't for you. It never gets worse than hand-holding and crying in episode three, though, so decide for yourself if you can handle that.

I love this series, and I'll review the second half as soon as I'm done watching it. Yeah, I already own it.

EDIT: Okay, one this has come to light that I should mention. I'm not a stickler for voice acting, I'm happy to get anything in english, but I was watching Oofuri in japanese and there was some voices worth noting. Mr. Shiga has a very different Japanese voice, but the english VA still seems to have that "teacher" quality. Secondly, in my opinion, Abe sounds better in English than Japanese. Yuichi Nakamura sounds way too old compared to the other teenagers, while Greg Ayres sounds more natural. Finally, but most damning, Mihashi, the main character, sounds WAY better in Japanese than English. Mihashi has one of those voices that's hard to cast, it's my experience. In the original Japanese, Mihashi's voice could be described as "not manly." But the English VA plays it as "wimpy." And a wimpy Mihashi is very annoying.

Still, it doesn't change my opinion of this show, and I still firmly believe this series deserves a perfect score.

If I had to dock it for anything, I'm sorely disappointed in the lack of extras. There's no commentaries or bloopers. Just the clean opening and ending, plus trailers. Kind of a let down.

Big Windup is about baseball , now wait dont go yet. Thing is the show is not about the sport but the players that play it.

This Anime is Beautiful & Stunning to look at. For a new studio its remarkable they were able to produce something of such High Quality.

Please Please Please buy this Anime as it needs to be seen to be believed

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this anime. I'm so completely and desperately in love with each of the characters - of course, particularly Mihashi & Abe-kun. Deliciously suspenseful, packed with action, and yet not lacking the sentimentals - I can watch the episodes over and over and over again. In fact, I HAVE watched the episodes so repeatedly that I've decided to buy the DVD set, lol. There are only 26 episodes in total to this anime series, split into 2 DVD sets. I'm extremely disappointed in the shortness of the series, but hope [with all of my being] that with enough fans and supporters, they will make a second season!! I STRONGLY recommend the Japanese audio/English subs, as the voice acting of the characters is crucial to their distinctive qualities.

From the mass of anime titles available, I definitely think that Big Windup (or 'Ookiku Furikabutte') is one worth owning. Though an underrated series, not as well known as my other favorite animes (e.g. Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, FMA, Ouran HS Host Club..), it is just as addicting and wonderfully satisfying to watch!! In addition to the great story and inspiring character interactions, the artwork is actually extremely good and wonderfully pleasing to the eyes - an attribute that is often overlooked in anime these days.

I'm not what you would call a sports fan. In fact, I probably know as little as possible about sports. So, normally I would have passed on this show, but I saw two episodes of it and was hooked. It's the characters, their relationships, little quirks, and their interactions that make this a great show. I found myself actually enjoying the games they played and cheering them on. I also kept wanting to hug the meek and stuttering pitcher. I guess it's the motherly instinct in me that wants to comfort such a hurt child. I would definitely recommend this show just to about anyone, even if like me you dislike sports, you'll love this show.

this show seems like it was as much about if not more about the mental aspects of the game and not watching a group of teens play ball. I actually liked all the psycological aspects they talked about that are inthe game. But the pithcher on the time is so wimpy and shy that it took away alot the fun of the show. Also alot of the charecters looked very simular from one team to the next. To me it was a good one time veiwing show.

After getting the series Bamboo Blade I heard about this series and after seeing a few episodes online decided to get the series, and after seeing the shows it was truly entertaining and fun to watch this series as well as Bamboo Blade. The series strives to show the value of teamwork, friendship, loyalty, and the strength to never give up similar a lot to the previous mentioned series and like that one the characters on the series will definitely grow on you as each has their own endearing quality that makes you root for them to win their games. The series animation and soundtrack are topnotch fitting together perfectly and the voice cast for both the English and Japanese characters were great as well. If you're expecting anything to dramatic or dark this series will most likely not be fore you, as while some of the episodes are serious and has drama it doesn't make it to hardcore in those departments which I'm thankful for. The extras aren't much a lot like most box sets nowadays just the usual trailers and textless intro/ending songs but still for this entertaining series it's forgivable, so if you're a sports anime fan or just like entertaining series with a nice storyline put into them here's a great series to try out...

The trailer of this anime didnt ruelly look so good, but i had a feeling that it was going to be good and i was right it was great!! I love this kind of stories were in the story the characters think that the main charater is weak but in then later in the story you see and the characters as well see the main character has what it takes to make it big in the world!!

Other anime titles you might like if you liked this anime =

> Kenichi

> Fighting Spirit

Well, if you don't let yourself get caught up on the fact that this is, in fact a Japanese anime title based on a long-standing American game, taking place in Japan but then exported into America, you end up with a surprisingly entertaining little story and a solid deal from Funimation.

Previously released as an online video-stream, Big Windup! was a Geneon property picked up by Funimation that's finally come to dvd format for those of us who prefer to enjoy our anime on the 42 inch plasma with surround sound (rather than in our media players through two tinny speakers that came with the computer monitor).

Coming at a total runtime of 315 minutes, Big Windup! Part 1 consists of 13-episodes spread across 2 discs packaged within a standard-size dvd case. The show wears an appropriate, if not slightly conservative TV 14 rating (no violence, nudity or foul language).

Extras are limited here to textless songs and a nice assortment of Funimation trailers on the second disc.

As is standard fair with sub & dub anime, the language options consist of the original Japanese dialog track (in stereo) and an English language dub presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround with the option of English subtitles available under either choice.

The story goes something like this: Young student Ren Mihashi is a huge baseball buff but unlike smug American kids, feels as if he isn't worthy to participate in the game. The year before found Ren as the starting ace pitcher in the middle school. Don't get too excited, it seems like everyone (including Mihashi himself) is convinced that the only reason he earned the much-desired field position was because his grandfather owned the team.

Long story short, they didn't do so well on the field or in the standings. Then it was off to high school for young Ren where the lovely Maria Momoe, (the team's coach) convinces him to get back out on the mound for the new team (which is seemingly no better than the one he left behind).

Expecting to be rejected by the coach the moment she witnesses his lack of skill, Ren (and the viewer) are surprised when she sees something special that had been lost to the ridicule of his teammates all along.

Ren's high school pitching career begins trail-by-fire-style with a practice game against his bitter ex-teammates while trying to learn to trust his new catcher and coach.

The story's an even-flowing, fun romp through the rigors of both school life and after school sports. It's a bright, clean and pleasant story that uses elements of team-building and personal growth as the backbone to a lot of baseball-game onscreen action sequences.

If this sounds a little odd, don't let the sports-themed arc to trip you up from enjoying a tasty little tale that works for the same reason shonen (fighting-themed anime) is so popular: the viewer ends up caring more about the characters than the specific forms of competition that are used to advance the plot. As it stands however, the baseball animation, scoring-system, and physics are exponentially more realistic (and relatable) than mystical fighting tournaments with monsters and magic spells.

The music is nothing overly dramatic or spectacular but it's catchy and rhythmic in all of the right places. Interestingly, when available as a video stream the only language option was the English dub. Funimation has wisely included the superior Japanese vocal track on this dvd set. Not to suggest that the English dub isn't worthy; the dramatic attempts just simply feel a bit less forced in the chipper and lively Japanese form.

In all, Big Windup! is a fun little show that makes use of some of the livelier aspects of popular shonen anime with a nice likeable cast of characters and some sports elements that nearly anyone can sit down and enjoy.