Hello friends and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we will check on the Nishiura boys again and see if they can finally relax after that exciting first round. Faced with the first reigning champions of the summer tournament, Abe and his teammates had to pull out all the tricks they could just to stay alive, let alone achieve a victory. But between his opponents’ initial underestimation of his abilities, his own clever handling of his opponents’ weaknesses, and the capricious will of the heavens themselves, Nishiura somehow managed fair pull through.
That game of the entire season was one of the most impressive sporting spectacles I have ever witnessed. Rather than relying on flashy animations or melodramatic personal twists, each turn of fortune here was based on solid, coherent tactical dynamics: the difficulty of mastering Mihashi’s pitches, the strategic fundamentals of base management, the impact of rain on both the field and the players. Tosei’s team presented itself less as a mountain to climb than a diabolical puzzle to solve, and with each step of that journey clearly articulated, Nishiura’s victory felt like the natural culmination of their training, tactics, and mutual trust. There is a clear art to mechanically based conflict, and Big Windup! is an example of the form. Now let’s see how our boys handle their newfound fame!
Episode 25
Man, even I feel a visceral sense of relief at the conclusion of that game. After all those incredibly tense episodes, this opening sequence of players taking the field offers a unique and deeply satisfying feeling: the feeling of having already participated in a group sporting event and now being able to relax and watch something. other the players do all the work
Of course, completely relaxing after a win is a bit of a trap in itself. I imagine that learning to handle that instinct is one of the reasons Tomoe insisted that the team practice immediately after the game: we must learn to psychologically handle victory. and failure
We then flash back to a snowy day the previous winter, when Mihashi revealed to Shu-chan his plans to change schools for high school but continue playing baseball.
Strong compositions convey Mihashi’s sense of isolation and entrapment, varying between partial close-ups that echo his attempts to hide his feelings and mid-distance shots that emphasize the walls both in front of and behind him.
Also a design of intelligently subdued colors, which emphasizes the coldness of the scene and presents it as distant, a memory stripped of vitality by distance.
Nice fluid animation of the character as he crawls into bed in the present.
Also some excellent character art as we move into the following afternoon, with a strong sense of personality and weight even in the still shots of various athletes lounging fieldside. If you are careful in conveying posture and the way clothing hangs from the body, you don’t even need movement to convey a sense of vitality in the background characters.
Apparently it’s Sports Day at his school. All of these collective school events really help make Japanese high school classes feel like genuine communities, rather than groups of friends trapped among strangers. That, in turn, helps ease the feeling of pressure and nostalgia of high school-focused anime.
Yes, the character art in general looks particularly impressive in this episode. Many expertly drawn still images that inherently convey a sense of personality in how the boys carry themselves and inhabit their outfits.
Apparently, the team plans to stop by Mihashi’s house for lunch and enjoy his curry.
Nice dynamic low angle composition while watching a basketball game. I particularly like the use of a player essentially standing around the frame with his fist dangling; Its leftward movement, in contrast to the rightward movement of the basketball, creates a pleasant sensation of spinning momentum.
It’s curious that some of the show’s smoothest animations so far are dedicated to animating section leader Hamada’s basketball game.
Abe, as always, is worried about Mihashi’s mental state. His briefly amused question of “Does Mihashi hate me?” shows that despite his overall confidence, he still suffers from the same irrational high school fears as anyone.
And Mihashi is still in bed. No wonder; High school baseball is ridiculously grueling for pitchers, and with the second half of the game taking place in the rain, it’s a wonder he didn’t suffer at all.
Strong text message joke from Abe accompanied by him grimly announcing his own name.
“He’s coming to yell at me and he’ll bring the captain!” Damn Mihashi
A more deliciously noodle character acting by Mihashi as he greets the team. Again, it’s pretty strange that the post-game episode is perhaps the smoothest of the season, but I’m certainly not complaining.
Tajima apparently stressed his hand during his last at-bat. As expected, changing your grip mid-swing meant you put more pressure on your wrist and fingers than you intended.
With the immediate concerns in the field behind us, we return to Abe attempting to temper his inherently brusque accusatory sensibilities and thus build a greater sense of trust between him and Mihashi. A Natural Progression: Abe was too stressed to really control his temper at the end of the game and therefore must now actively assert a kinder tone.
Fortunately, they have something much more impactful that unites them: eating a lot of curry. It’s often the simple things that really bring us together
It’s nice to see the guys just hanging out and talking about other teams. It’s not surprising for a program like Big Windup!, which has always prioritized player psychology, but it’s still important to illustrate their bonds as individuals off the field, which will naturally inform their timing and confidence on the field.
In the wake of Mihashi’s heroic efforts during his first game, it seems clear that players feel more sympathy toward him than toward Abe’s short temper.
Hanai reflects on his own frustrations regarding Mihashi, including how Mihashi always seems surprised when his teammates encourage him. While that’s obviously just a reflection of his own insecurities, to an outsider it simply seems like he’s rejecting what they presumed to be a mutual trust, as if the members of his own field team were strangers to him.
“If I had met him in high school, he probably would have been one of the bullies. It’s a good thing I met him in high school!” An excellent quality in a leader, being able to recognize one’s own biases and weaknesses.
Mihashi reveals that he attended Nishiura for practical reasons: they would provide him with uniforms and bicycles, and it was actually his mother’s school. His words emphasize that the glory of baseball was not even on his mind at the time.
Nishiura was basically his only hope to escape from Mihoshi, so he studied like crazy to get in.
Tajima chose Nishiura to stay close to his elderly family. Nice humanizing beats for each of them here.
“Everyone seems to be having fun. I’ll stay as quiet as possible.” Mihashi remains certain that if things are going well, it must be despite his presence.
The fact that Mihashi’s release is explicitly mentioned in the news only adds to his sense of shame. Any praise you receive must be undeserved and will likely provoke resentment from your teammates.
Oh my god, that’s intense pressure. I knew the high school summer tournament was important, but not the “news announcements for every game.”
Abe finally demonstrates some emotional growth of his own, gently guiding Mihashi away from his feelings of self-hatred, first validating them and then saying that his actions were reasonable. You can’t just replace Mihashi’s heartfelt reaction with a series of more “logical” feelings, you have to guide him from where he is to where he should be.
The ever-sensitive Izumi then lifts Mihashi’s spirits by offering him extremely complimentary team reflections after the game.
As expected, Abe’s comment is the only neutral one and simply expresses his desire not to repeat such a close game.
“None of us are particularly nice people or anything.” A lovely sentiment: we are all normal people and it is normal to expect so much support from each other. Mihashi has been passing on high school resentment, born of years of frustration, to everyone she meets, and that’s not a sustainable way to live.
“Is it normal to be so happy?” Oh my god, Mihashi
Thus, we finally come full circle, as Mihashi now possesses the confidence to renew contact with his former teammate.
and ready
That was delicious! With so little time to decompress after their victory last episode, I’m really glad this episode decided to explore the team’s different responses and even offer new context about their various routes to Nishiura. Having done so much to impress their teammates during the match against Tosei, it was interesting to see the team reconsider their previous dynamic and actually challenge Abe’s attitude towards Mihashi. Initially, only Abe’s ruthless tactical mind saw any value in Mihashi, but now that his team is established, Mihashi is finally learning that friendship need not be exceptional or conditional: it is simply the natural result of decent people coming together. It doesn’t cost much to be kind.
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