Diamond no Ace: Second Season

No spoilers... You're probably thinking of an 7/10 a bit of a low rating, but I'm taking in the account of 5/10 being an average. That, I consider an exceptional score. I also currently follow MLB (Major League Baseball) and used to play baseball. I just want you to keep all that in mind. I first thought the 2nd season will be like the 1st season, this was going to be a long drag and have a pretty cliche/predictable story. This is considering having to go through the previous season’s 75 episodes, but still enjoyed it enough for the nostalgia and epic moments. Boy, I was so wrong. Forsports anime, there always the main team's goal to win nationals or blah blah blah, win the tournament. However, for this one, that wasn't really solely that goal. I can't give away anything (cuz spoilers), but this gives a twist to the series I wasn't totally expecting. Still, generally a sport anime story though... What really makes this a great sport anime is the characters. There are so many character that I can’t even keep up. Each character has some kind of unique quirk, style, backstory, or even the way they're drawn is what makes them stand out. This certainly the case for Sawamura and new characters to follow. Many aren’t really one dimensional. The art direction is still solid, but not amazing. What really brought this score down was the art. There wasn’t really improvement since the previous season. I don’t mean the art was bad to begin with, but a lot of the characters are drawn inconsistently and the background NPCs are even worse. The backgrounds are sometimes inconsistent too. But the little details like the strings on the fielding gloves and the designs on the batting gloves are a plus. As for the sound, the OST is still amazing as in the first season and the openings/endings are just as good as well. Sound effects are nice too. This was also prominent in the 1st season as well. I’ve been hearing complaints of during the 2nd season of: “Oh is this Furuya no Ace?” or “When will Sawamura have the spotlight?” It seems some people don’t really understand why this is necessary. Although it is painstaking that Sawamura doesn’t really get to show his stuff and Furuya still butts in, this helps the MC develop. Without Furuya, Sawamura wouldn’t have a burning passion he does right now. Furuya completes Sawamura. Please don’t be like those butthurt fans. I just want you to keep that in mind into the 2nd season from the 1st. Overall, I really enjoyed the 2nd season, well worth going through the 1st. Oh don’t forget the dreadful cliffhangers! ;)

Starting this series was an impulsive decision, but I don’t regret it. Even though I’ve never watched a real baseball game and the sport is non-existent in my country, I quickly grew to like it. *Contains NO spoilers* Characters - 8/10 Its dynamic characters are Diamond no Ace’s (DnA) strong suit. They're all unique - in character design, personality, and purpose. I fell in love with most of them from the first season and that didn't change during this one. The plot makes you admire the players' efforts and camaraderie. The start of this season was bittersweet for me because the Third Years (who I loved and namedmy cats after) left. Was I worried that DnA: Second Season wouldn't be able to fill the resulting hole in my heart? Yes. Did it compensate for the loss by doing something that I've always wanted this show to do? Yes! They finally upped the focus on the non-First-String players this season. With our favorite seniors gone, these guys had big shoes to fill and the opportunity to make their senpais and coach proud. Even if they didn't make the team, some characters still contributed significantly to it (in ways I won't spoil). DnA has a huge cast, so its focus on side characters during the first season was refreshing. Sometimes, after learning the stories of opposing teams and their players, I wasn't sure who I wanted to win a match. I also loved that each coach had an adorable quirk. This time around, some side characters just felt like cardboard. They could have done much more with Raichi in particular, who spent 65% of his screen time laughing asininely. We didn't need to see so much of the pair of journalists covering the games either. Art - 7/10 The animation was pretty good. My only qualms are that some scenes could have been done more fluidly with fewer (loooong) freeze frames and split panels to make parts of the game more exciting. DnA gets it right at key points during gameplay but not consistently throughout it. Even when the more artsy route is explored (for example: adding auras or other elements to a character/scene at crucial parts in the game), it fails to be compelling. The series makes up for it in the more humorous scenes featuring chibi forms of characters, though, and the result is HILARIOUS and cute! Sound - 5/10 The sounds effects were lacking. Some sounds were overused (constantly reused), which made hearing them more of a nuisance than something that improved the atmosphere of a scene. I grew tired of the random "ping" that they used during tense scenes, split frames, or when a ball was hit. Plus, hearing that ONE track introduced whenever the game picked up (if you watched season 1, you know what I'm talking about) frustrated me. The soundtrack needed more diversity. I would have also appreciated hearing a common cheer that I could chant along with the team/crowd, like the crowd does in Haikyuu!!. Now for the good: the opening and ending themes were great. Never skip them. ^_^ Story - 9/10 The story's pretty straightforward. A baseball team that missed out on nationals in the previous season tries again to achieve their ultimate goal. But the journey to nationals isn't as straightforward. You'll enjoy seeing the team members and coach develop throughout the season. Why? Because of the support they afford each other and the challenges that certain opponents pose. This is not the story of an overpowered MC. It's an authentic tale about the benefits of healthy rivalry, tenacity, and teamwork. As a total novice to baseball, I appreciated how explanations of pitches and plays (basically of anything baseball) were seamlessly incorporated into the storyline. My only issue is with the directing; the pacing was horrible sometimes. Some games were far too long, and the LITTLE plot development accomplished in one episode would annoy you. For me, that dulled the excitement. Overall - 7/10 Watch it: It's a good anime that you'll learn worthwhile lessons from. Some lines make great inspirational quotes. For example: "Doing the same boring thing over and over every day will surprisingly give you strength when it really matters. I want to live an easier life...but...life doesn't work that way."

Holy hot damn, this anime just keeps surprising me. I'll tell you what, the end of this season had me so stressed that my heart was beating as though I'd just run the mile. I'm gonna try to keep this review short because my review of the first season was pretty through in explaining why this anime is so good, but I'm gonna hit some of the points that got better for me this season or things I noticed more. This go around, I was really able to appreciate how the music was working to further the plot. I don't believe the main pieces were changedtoo much, but they were used just as well. You can perfectly understand what's going on in the story just through the music, and that's really special. It's even better when the plot follows suit and then completely switches gears immediately after. The sound design did really well to draw the viewer into the moment and then kick them out just as quickly. When the music stopped, you knew something was up, even if the plot hadn't revealed it yet. It's so well done. Since I'm bringing up the plot, I wanna talk about the story. I was serious about my heart racing like that of an athlete in the middle of a match. The first season did well with tension, too, but this season stepped it up for sure. You absolutely cannot know what's going to happen. Even if you guess correctly, the plot is gonna make you second-guess it over and over. The result of the story using tension so well is that the successes and failures hit that much harder. It's able to make you hope, and then it either rewards it or snatches it way in the most technically amazing way possible. Something unexpected always happens, and the story becomes so phenomenal because of that. This series also takes brilliant care of its characters and their development. It's something I have difficulty describing while still keeping it vague, but any time a character gets a chance to grow, you really feel like you're taking every step with them. Whether they're good steps, bad steps, or something in between, nothing is written lazily. This anime has made me connect with certain characters more than any other anime in this genre. Since the writing takes the care to develop the characters slowly and realistically within the parameters they've set for realism in the anime, it makes them a lot easier to sympathize with and love. I can't praise this anime enough. I'm never gonna be able to stop praising it, and I'm glad I get to have all these new experiences because of the quality of it all. I'm sad that it may end soon, but it's something I'd never give up because... I'm having so much fun. I guess I'm off to burn more calories through stressful watch-time, so I'll see you at the end of the next one.

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