It all comes down to Goro's love for baseball, like it's his eternal playmate, friend, and his soulmate; such childlike innocence, straightforward, driven, wholeheartedly embracing the sport with joyous enthusiasm. The bud of his dream shoots out and branches throughout the sky to rain down fragments of hope and light to remind people--especially the people close to Goro--to step up and find their own seeds, nurturing them with faith that they'd be able to sprout a tree so high, trailed with stairs: to climb upwards their own stage of dreams.

In this aspect, I find my heart tugged tight. Goro playing once again with his teammates from elementary until high school and having the time of his life was so comforting to see. To be emancipated from the hollowness resulting from losing sight of a concrete figurehead at the end of one's goal compelled me to express effusive gratitude towards the people surrounding Goro's lives, absolutely contrary to my sentiments ever since. Such a wondrous feeling to actually see people actively loving what you love as well. I feel happy for Goro for that, he deserves it.

The groundwork on the poetry that is Goro's life is undoubtedly attributed to Honda Shigeharu's masterful penwork despite juggling responsibilities as a single father, a professional baseball player, and a person of himself. The establishment of this foundation in earliest Major proves to be solid roots incapable of being poisoned nor destroyed by artificial and natural disasters. Shigeharu is a fucking blessing. Easily top 2 character in the series for his influence reaches the heavens, untouchable. The same appreciation is given to Bullet Joe himself, being cut from the same cloth with Honda Jr. and Sr. themselves. Imagine carrying a cross throughout one's sports career, arduous and authoritative over age, all in the name of repentance and the responsibility to be a guidepost of a son who lost his father due to a single slip of the hand. Yet for more than a decade, he strived to keep his promise to the Honda family. His liberation from that promise to pitch for his own despite his injuries was moving to say the least. People so passionate with their dreams are truly admirable, truly have the charisma to reel external entities in and naturally impel them with the masses' support.

For the first time, a match wrapped me in mist I cannot defog with my own logic, despite weighing the characters' aims. Ultimately, Honda Jr. lost against Gibson Jr. in a home run despite having pitched his best thus far. History repeats itself, carrying on the fate of the fathers yet in different positions. Perhaps, as it should.

Major S5 successfully placed itself as a springboard for further opportunities to love this series, gently leaping me in a graceful arc towards the next part of the story, equipping me with an expectant frame of mind as I follow through Goro Shigeno's journey, an adventure borne from the unexpectedly tender writing of the author.