To preface I have never done a thorough review on an anime before as most of the time it is just me talking about bits and pieces of a show with others. What made me decide to review Battery the animation was because of how conflicted I was with this show. It’s a show that wants to tell more than what it was able to accomplish, and one that lifted off properly but didn’t know how to land ultimately. So, my goal with this review is to hopefully not stray people away from it, but to give some of my thoughts and feelings towards something so promising.

Story (SPOILERS)
This section will contain some spoilers as a fair warning. Battery is a story that I quite can’t put my finger onto. And it is not because it is an overcomplicated story it is just one that isn’t structured in a way that lines up. It starts off as a story about our main character, Harada Takumi, coming to a new school that has a weaker baseball team. But being the already talented pitcher Harada is he felt that he’d be able to make the team better just by being apart of them like his previous team. Which is a simple premise in itself, and one that we have seen in other sports animes. But this plot point gets thrown out the window relatively soon to introduce us to Nagakura Gou. This is to establish the title of the show being Battery, which is the collective of a pitcher and a catcher.
This transition is something I didn’t mind as a show about a duo can be convincing and interesting enough as is. And in normal anime fashion these two after little time practicing start to see that they can match each other and be a battery. Nagakura and Harada are shown to be excellent additions to the junior high’s baseball team, but they run into drama early on as their personalities and ideals don’t match up. This drama doesn’t just occur for the duo as it spreads to the majority of the upperclassmen within the team, and we soon see the vice-captain of the team torture Harada for disobeying and resisting the authority of the team. This ends in the team not being able to practice for a while, and members of the club quitting shortly after club activities resume.
This being the first of many short time skips within the show. This then leaves the team out of the district tournament and looking to prove they can be a competitive team. So, they set their eyes on the best team in their prefecture Yokote. Which seemed like we would finally be getting into some real games. Instead we are met with more drama that comes within the battery after convincing Kadowaki Shugo that there was a pitcher he couldn’t hit off of. What this ultimately does is during the match against Yokote break the shaky battery of Nitta East. And shortly after Harada is pulled from the match it ends.
An ending like this however gives the viewer something to look forward to within the last 4 episodes. But you never get to see that hill climbed over. Instead the last four episodes promise the viewer a rematch along with the battery to come back stronger. And none of that happens as the show struggles to stick to a singular plot point and continues to throw in random time skips with no progression shown within the battery. And once the game finally comes, we are left on a cliff hanger of a pitch. Giving what felt like a promising study into the dynamics of a battery became a battle of pitcher vs batter as the flat lining battery couldn’t fix themselves.
While I like the realistic aspects of the show like how simple disagreements and conflict can hurt a vital part of a team. I think the lack of any meaningful growth throughout this show makes it fall flat. Along with seeing these vast changes after a time skip like, Harada not being able to control a ball after showing pinpoint accuracy throughout the show, without any sort of explanation leaves the audience uninterested. I personally couldn’t help but lose interest as the show attempted to give me nothing but a choppy ending and story that felt like it stopped in the seventh episode.

Themes
What separates Battery from the rest of sports animes is how it tries to convey more themes throughout its runtime. A lot of shows tend to give us this lesson of perseverance and effort will ultimately win within the end. But Battery goes for some different approaches in that talent is what matters the most. And it’s interesting to this theme of talent so heavily emphasized within the Nitta East team and Yokote team.
We see early on that Harada is fairly gifted in that he can aim almost perfectly while throwing the ball at ridiculous speeds. This sort of talent is what defines Harada to almost everyone including himself. And is the main reason for the discourse within the team as vice-captain, Nobunishi, becomes jealous of Harada. As he was someone who listened to his coach, respected the team and authority, but wasn’t even close to being as good of a player as Harada. This ultimately leads him to the torturing of Harada as he wanted Harada to understand how much effort and discipline mattered. But in the end, it only causes more drama for the team, and Nobunishi quits on the team as he can’t accept being wrong to someone like Harada. We see a similar sort of hatred within the Yokote team as Mizugaki despises Kadowaki for being this almost superstar.
Another interesting theme they brought upon was the theme of friendship. One that normally takes place in all anime, but this time it was the opposite of what you imagine. Normally we see friendship triumph all, but this anime shows us that friendship doesn’t come with just being apart of a team or duo. In fact, we hear Harada say that Nagakura isn’t his friend multiple times throughout the show. And while this adds to the drama, they want to show us it also gives us this sense of interest to see if they’ll grow. Unfortunately, this show gives us the lesson that sometimes goals are just for yourself, and that you’ll use whatever tools you can to reach them. And that these tools can be just a fellow teammate and not someone you could ever call a friend.
The themes are often used in a negative light, and I believe it is to shed some realism throughout the show. Especially this early into someone’s life people can come and go, and within sports talent that is fostered properly is often going to go further than raw effort. It is a grim reality and part of the reason as to why this show felt so promising to me.

Characters
I’ve already mentioned a lot about our cast of characters above. But there are some quick notes I’d like to share here. I think our main character Harada is rather interesting when it comes down to things. Sure, he is a cocky, arrogant, and selfish person that can only think about baseball. But it is interesting to see him use these traits to further his argumentative nature. One of the defining parts of the show is how he talks back to his coach when he is told he needs his hair cut. He talks about how there’s no need for his hair to be cut in order to play better baseball, which is something that the audience can get behind. But the coach wanting to almost abuse his authority threatens to not use him as a player because he basically wanted this freshman to bow down and accept whatever he demanded like the rest of the team. This sort of trait within Harada makes him feel more grounded as he asserts what he believes is better for not just him but the team. He also goes against the traditional Japanese ideology of how you’re supposed to respect your elders, while this is frustrating to many watching and people within the show. I believe it’s what makes his character not only more believable but makes him more interesting to watch as you want to see him prove that he is right.
Which brings us to our other main character Nagakura Gou who serves as almost a complete opposite to Harada. As he is much kinder, more mature, and someone who front as being more confident than they are. Nagakura has a lot going for him as his mother wants him to pay more attention to his future rather than baseball. But this plot point is dropped early, and I’m not sure why other than the fact that maybe its something like him just wanting baseball in his future too. But Nagakura serves to be this person that can bring out the talent of Harada but is also insecure about being replaced and throwing his time away. This ultimately becomes the big factor of their dynamic breaking when trying to convince Kadowaki to play their team when Harada stops pitching to his full potential. This scene ends up breaking the dynamic of the battery, and although the show tries to reassure us that they will be fine we see they never recover.
This is where the fundamental issue of Battery starts to show its cracks. As the battery is the focus of the show it breaks along with the dynamic of these characters. And then scrambles to find a new dynamic between Harada and Kadowaki, but this rush and uneventful rivalry further brings the show into a downward spiral of no growth. As none of these characters learn from each other or learn anything at all during this show. Each character stays true to the way they’re introduced all the way until the end. And I think they would’ve been better off trying to flesh out these dynamics in matches rather than trying to fit everything into drama outside of an actual game. It would be interesting to have seen this as it would’ve fleshed out and possibly let these characters and dynamics foster.
Art and Sound
There’s not a whole lot I have to say about the art in this show. Other than the fact that it’s the main reason I ended up watching it. As I really love Shimura Takako’s art as it is simple and soft. I’ve always found this type of art style to be realistic and pleasant to look at especially when animated fluidly like it is in Battery. There isn’t any over the top designs and I think that’s what keeps me coming back to her art in general. The realistic art she produces inside of these stories does add that sense of realism I think people tend to enjoy relating to. And it is in full swing in Battery.
The sound also compliments the art within this show which is why I grouped these together. There isn’t a lot of music in Battery, but the sounds they utilize tend to be soothing piano pieces which goes hand in hand with the softer art style of the show. I also think the opening and ending soundtrack fill the same vibe that the limited musical pieces of the show do. Which is pleasant to the ears in general. Overall, I think these are some of the strengths of the show and are a big part in what got me interested and kept me invested.
Final Thoughts
Battery was an anime that still has me left a bit confused and empty as I write this review. It’s an anime that feels more abruptly ended and incomplete than other shows I have watched. And it’s a damn shame as it starts off establishing a strong dynamic and interesting break from the traditional molds of anime. As it tries desperately to pull away from the traditional sports anime it gets tugged back by the limitation of time I believe. Trying to adapt an entire manga can be challenging especially within 11 episodes, and I think that’s where this anime may have started to fail in the end as it couldn’t flesh out every idea it had. Though I may be looking too far into that.
I don’t want to leave this review on a low note though, so I’ll give a couple recommendations for shows that have similar traits to this one but are done better. If you want an anime with a strong dynamic duo then Haikyuu is the right one to watch. As the dynamic between the two main characters is the most fun and interesting within the sports anime genre. If you want an anime that succeeds at breaking the mold from the traditional anime, then look at Star Align. Battery and Stars Align have tons of similar aspects to them, and I think in general Stars Align conveys a more interesting take on the realism that can affect club sports along with bringing actual stakes to the characters.