21 minSeason 1 • Episode 50
LatestThanks to Ko, Seishu has earned a one-run lead in the twelfth inning, but pitching eleven innings is starting to take its toll on Ko.
Kō Kitamura, whose family owns a sporting goods store, has known the Tsukishima girls since he was born. The Tsukishima family runs a batting center and cafe, and they have four daughters. There's Ichiyo, the responsible eldest; Wakaba, Kō's cheerful best friend; Aoba, who doesn't get along with Kō; and Momiji, the energetic youngest daughter. When Kō enters high school, he aspires to lead his baseball team to the Koshien National High School Championship as their ace pitcher and make Wakaba's dream come true.
Writing
Mitsuru Adachi's masterpiece — dialogue that stings with what's unsaid.
Direction
Episode 1's time jump will wreck you immediately.
Acting
Miyu Irino's deadpan delivery hides oceans of feeling.
Miyu Irino
Kō Kitamura (voice)
Haruka Tomatsu
Aoba Tsukishima (voice)
Akemi Kanda
Wakaba Tsukishima (voice)
Megumi Toyoguchi
Ichiyō Tsukishima (voice)
Noriko Shitaya
Momiji Tsukishima (voice)
Takahiro Sakurai
Yūhei Azuma (voice)
Masako Nozawa
Nomo (voice)
Yoshinori Sonobe
Daiki Nakanishi (voice)
Daisuke Kishio
Keiichiro Senda (voice)
Yuka Hirata
Risa Shidou (voice)
Kenji Nomura
Osamu Akaishi (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Koshien is Japan's most sacred high school baseball tournament — making it there is life-or-death for these characters.
Mitsuru Adachi refused to let this be animated for years; he finally approved when he saw the care given to the source material.
JP
