I discovered the Daiya no Ace anime back when I was still exceptionally biased against shounen not originating from the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine. I grew up with shounen, for the longest of time almost exclusively with series from Jump, and naturally I harbored great love for those types of works of fiction, ones that have largely shaped my understanding and preferences.
Inside the shounen demographic there is a great number of manga that belong to the sports genre. While initially reluctant, since I scarcely ever watch real life sports, trying titles from said category immediately had me realize that it is an arena that encapsulates all of shounen's greatest qualities.
Conflicts, matches and tournaments. Charismatic characters, ambitious goals, interpersonal relationships, clashes, rivalries and team ups. Hard work, training, sweat and tears. Defeat and losses that are highly educational and trigger growth to every character involved. And then, the occassional triumph, an undisputable victory which feels totally earned and has the reader automatically cheer and celebrate it, in a way that can be hardly found in any other type of story. Left in the right hands, a sports series has the road paved to produce a genuine, flawless masterpiece.
Luck had blessed me in a sense that the first few sports anime I watched and manga I read are the ones I still consider as some of the best examples of what the genre has to offer. I guess it is natural since it is a category that shines through its long-running series, instead of the shorter seasonal sports anime we tend to get lately, as in the former case its successful formula has plenty of room to be properly developed, while in the latter things feel rushed and unmemorable. With me being a shounen fan, and specifically a Jump one, I had plenty of choices to opt for and start exploring sports series, some of which would later end up being part of my all time favorite stories.
When Daiya no Ace's turn had come, initially via its anime format, my aforementioned preconception kicked in, and while I recognized it as the amazing experience that it is, I refused to place it amongst the top of its category. Truth be told, it was still a time when I simply consumed anime aggressively, completing in turn all of the most popular or highest rated series in the medium, mainly relying upon the feeling they left me in a more intuitive manner without giving things much consideration or engaging in discussions or analyses. I mean, it is only in the last couple of years that I have decided to properly locate and fill in my favorite anime, manga and other various items on my list, or even score them for that matter.
Around that time, when I had broken out of my comfort zone and after having branched out to many different styles that made my approach to anime and manga a more rounded one and one free of misconceptions, I would often try revisiting the titles that had remained in my consciousness as my most memorable experiences in order to specifically form my opinion about them and understand where they stand on my all-time favorites list. Longevity is one of the most important factors I attribute to a great piece of work after all. So, and without digressing any further, last summer I decided to relive Daiya no Ace as I would experience its original manga for the first time, and a few weeks ago I picked up the Act II sequel as soon as its ending was announced, a choice that upset my reading schedule, yet its result will be made obvious as you keep reading what follows. I will cover both Acts of the manga in two separate reviews, so pick up your bats and swing away.
Daiya no Ace by Terajima Yuuji sensei is a sports shounen manga that was published in Kodansha's Weekly Shounen Magazine that centers around high school baseball. It became successful enough to continue past its initially intended ending, is part of the best selling manga of all time, has won awards and nominations, and is often hailed as the go to baseball manga by professional baseball players, as well as highly impactful by various big universities in Japan. As a person that had no prior knowledge regarding the sport, it also does an excellent job at being as beginner friendly as it can starting by explaining very basic plays and rules, all the while showing high level, competitive matches right from the start. While it never holds your hand, the way that information is presented is always to the point, both in introducing characters, plot points, or the sport itself.
Baseball is the most beloved team sport in Japan, and high school baseball in particular garners tons of attention nationwide, arguably equal to or even greater than professional baseball. Two teams take turns attacking (batting) and defending (fielding). The main nine players of the defending team take their various positions and try to tag out the attackers who swing their bats at the pitched ball in an effort to advance around four bases and score a run. Daiya no Ace does a superb job at presenting the compexity of strategy and tactics required to competitively play the game, and has established baseball in my consciousness as the single most intelligent sport, excluding pure strategy games that are often included in the wider sports umbrella, especially in the field of anime and manga. And despite the above, Daiya no Ace is a manga that flies relatively under the radar outside of Japan comparatively to other well known sports series.
Sawamura Eijun is a loud mouthed, carefree, aloof, friendly, ambitious ball of energy, brimming with positivity and naivete. A child through and through. He is first shown at his final game with his baseball team as a junior high school student, where he wants to achieve total victory and renown, especially because his school is about to close, despite his team lacking in ability. They suffer defeat, but Sawamura impresses a scout present in the game, who in turn will visit his household and offer him a scholarship to Seidou High School in Tokyo. Seidou is a baseball powerhouse, one of the strongest teams in its region offering state of the art facilites, while pursuing to create a team capable of reaching Koushien, the holy ground of high school baseball, and standing atop the nation as its champions.
Sawamura is introduced to us in a way typical of shounen protagonists, sports ones or otherwise, yet Terajima sensei opts to use a high school with a long tradition of being champions, having a distinct and celebrated presense in its field, and one capable of producing professional players as the series' field of action, in contrast to the more common underdog stories that populate the medium. Other than a breath of fresh air, this results in a highly competitive environment between the players themselves for the spots on the main team's roster and a view at a more methodic approach to the team's constitution, demanding training and approach to tournaments.
Our protagonist visits Seidou having mixed feelings as he treasures his friends and does not wish to separate from them, but as soon as he sets foot in the school's training ground and because of an incident and a chance meeting with catcher Miyuki Kazuya, his love for the sport and desire to improve and keep playing wins him over, and he responds to his true calling, vowing to become the team's best pitcher and undisputed Ace. Except reality is not so easy and Sawamura's lack of knowledge about baseball will only serve for him to be mocked with nobody taking him seriously. However, his drive is genuine and even when he is refused the chance to be a pitcher at all because of his own actions of mischief, or when he properly understands the level his teammates are at and all the things that he lacks, he never loses sight of his goal, trains endlessly and well above what is required of him, and never stops appealing towards his goal, nor losing sight of it.
For all the things he lacks, Sawamura has a very unique weapon at his disposal, and that is his natural moving pitches. He is entrusted to Chris senpai, a catcher, in order to build a strong foundation and understanding regarding baseball, but because Chris senpai is not a part of the main team and Sawamura is only interested in Miyuki, he openly rejects the idea and causes friction between the two, bringing Sawamura to a very peculiar situation. Throughout the Chris arc, Sawamura will find deep appreciation and respect towards his mentor, he will grow both as a player and as a person, and even land a spot on the main team's roster.
The team's situation is a little less than ideal than originally presented. The overall team is strong, yet its main pitcher, Tanba, is facing problems and cannot reach his peak performance. Their lack of a true Ace is apparent and with the upcoming Summer Tournament in mind, coach Kataoka is willing to give a chance even to newly recruited first years as long as their abilities can be found useful and instantly applicable. Furuya Satoru, a pitcher himself and Sawamura's rival to be, is a monster rookie, with an exceptionally strong arm that is mostly uncontrollable and only catchers of Miyuki's caliber can hope to handle. Later on, when Tanba will be injured and until he recovers, Seidou will rely largely on Furuya who gains valuable experience from playing in actual games, when at the same time Sawamura is still training on his fundamentals.
Furuya's existence is antithetical to Sawamura in every possible way, be it their demeanor, their expressions, their skillset, or the way they are perceived by their teammates. A brilliant choice for a rival for the pitcher's position, their clashes and parallel growth along different paths is always an intriguing one and easy to follow. In parallel to Furuya gaining lots of attention, Sawamura also gets the chance to display the skills he steadily acquires through his practice and inbetween the tournament's major matches, slowly winning the acknowledgement not only from his own team but his opponents' as well.
Seidou along with Inashiro Industrial School or Inajitsu and Ichidaisan High School are among the favorites of the West Tokyo block to win the ticket to Koushien. Part of the various quirky short term antagonists of every round of the tournament that offer different aspects, viewpoints, or a chance for technical characteristics of baseball to be presented to the reader, there is one that makes waves and brings chaos to the tournament, scoring a turnabout victory over Ichidaisan and rising as a threat gunning for the top spot, Yakushi High School. A team that in any other manga could have been the protagonists, underdogs riding the waves of their emotions, their passion and their strong batting bring them face to face with Seidou in the semi-finals. Yakushi will evolve to become one of the most intriguing and colorful recurring teams for the manga's entire run and Sawamura will extract a hint from their Ace's playstyle as to what will ultimately and after a lot of phases of polishing will develop into his greatest weapon.
The first half of the manga is concluded with the finals between Inajitsu and Seidou. After fighting tooth and nail through every round of the West Tokyo Tournament, applying skills they have been acquiring along the way while working on their weaknesses, they now stand against last year's winners led by the best pitcher of his generation, Narumiya Mei. The arrogant king and his team serve as the final wall to Seidou's goal, and their lengthy baseball game is one full of tension and suspense. At its conclusion, in spite of Seidou's best efforts and always having found a way to miraculously prevail so far, they are unable to bring down the unparalleled southpaw and his team.
The third years that we have come to know and form the main force of the team now face retirement with feelings of grief and unfulfillment remaining. The younger members of the main team are at a loss as of how to proceed and fill in their shoes. Sawamura himself feels broken because of his misplay during the Inajitsu game and having been forced off the mound, which will later be expanded to in a meaningful way towards his overall development. As friction inside the new team increases, the focus shifts to other members of the baseball team who now seek a chance to prove themselves and win a spot as regulars.
The transitional period is rough and everybody has to evolve, refine their plays, find their place and a way to contribute to the team. Amidst the confusion, and as everyone tries to overcome their feelings from the match against Inajitsu, Furuya finds himself more determined than ever, eventually getting the Ace number for himself as the Fall Tournament approaches. On the other hand Sawamura has to face a psychological inability to pitch to the inside corner, losing an important part of what allowed him to fight and be an asset to his team. The one to get him out of his slump is none other than his mentor, Chris senpai, bestowing upon him yet another weapon, thus completing his basic arsenal and giving him the means to stand on the mound once again.
Things are shaken up in an additional way, as coach Kataoka feels the weight of responsibility being unable to bring his team to the Koushien stage for yet another year, and he submits his letter of resignation to the school. A new face, coach Ochiai enters the fray, and after carefully observing the way things currently work at Seidou, decides to apply a different approach and use only players he deems worthy, also throwing away the upcoming tournament, all in an effort to have Furuya gain experience and raise him as the best pitcher in Japan.
Thankfully, he never feels as a threat seeking to actively bring harm to the team, and is mostly a bearer of a separate philosophy and way of thinking when it comes to building a team strong enough to stand on the national stage. He even goes as far as to assist Sawamura, who he initially dismisses as useless as a part of his desired team, and gives him the first practical advice of a new weapon, which will serve as setup for the pitcher's advanced diverse pitching style.
A send off game between the third years and the newly formed team will be a final boost of confidence right before the Fall Tournament begins with the team fighting not only to prove their worth and clear their regrets over the Summer Tournament, but also to give back to their coach, and have him assume his responsibilities and remain as Seidou's leading man.
The Fall Tournament promises the ticket for the Spring Koushien to two teams, but also pits ones not only from West Tokyo but also East Tokyo against each other, which brings more worthy and memorable adversaries to the forefront. As the tournament unfolds, junior high school students watching the game from the stands will serve as new additions to the teams we already know at a later point to the story, Seidou will face a tough match against against East Tokyo's strongest team, Sawamura will get over his yips, Inajitsu will unexpectedly taste defeat at a rising power from the East, Ugumori High School, with a style reminiscent of Yakushi High and will be Seidou's next opponents, and after a couple more new opponents and matches, always quirky and unique as is typical Daiya fashion by now, will play at the final match against Yakushi's explosive batting lineup.
The entire team will showcase the fruits of their labor, and more importantly for the readers, Sawamura himself, will finally in full control over everything at his disposal, now having evolved into a self-sufficient pitcher capable of standing his ground and responding to demanding plays, will be regarded as the alluring, versatile addition to the team he was always meant to be.
Nothing ever is.
Daiya no Ace is a passionate sports manga about a young boy who dreams big and is thrown into an arena that forces him to face his own inability and naivete, mature and steadily conquer the skills necessary for him to reach his lofty goal, and more importantly, himself.
The series pulls no breaks as it builds the world, the various stages our characters go through, and presents information step by step and in an immersive manner, while it is being written and planned out wonderfully. A great story where our characters fight tooth and nail, face hardships, acquire new skills in order to survive in a highly competitive environment, apply those on the go in order to survive in it, and are pitted against a large variety of adversaries each with their own peculiarities and importance to the overall baseball world the mangaka has crafted.
The constant struggle, the importance of defeat and rising up from it, things not working out as intended and the strength of character required to pull through it are all given in an excellent manner and are elements I greatly respect Daiya no Ace for. The presentation of a powerhouse baseball kingdom with a big member count and a main team that can only cover a small portion of them, gives a unique view in the various ways one can contribute to the team even when not playing in official games.
The art is also highly dynamic and communicates expressions wonderfully. While the character outlines felt a little thicker than I would prefer at first, it turned out to be a clever option that allowed the mangaka to create powerful shots with a brush effect for certain close-ups with the thickness of the lines fluctuating and creating said imagery.
The series was originally intended to conclude at the end of the Fall Tournament, which means at the point where Act I ends. Even if it did, it would have been a great manga, one where our flawed protagonist had started clueless, with his only weapon being his natural gifts, and ended up with him acquiring a full skillset and a place to the team, making it to the starting line, being able to properly chase after his dream. A manga in a constant race to evolve and to one up itself, always bringing new and exciting things in the way it progresses.
Thankfully, it did not happen so, and Terajima sensei decided to continue with Act II of the manga, a choice that elevated his body of work to a genuine, undisputed masterpiece. But more on that on my next review for Daiya no Ace Act II, soon.
I hope to have my analysis on Daiya no Ace Act II ready during the upcoming couple of days, where I will properly wrap up my thoughts on the title as a whole. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you will follow my next review, too. Until next time.