This adorable pitcher is the main character. Doesn't he alone make you want to watch it?

Every so often, Steph will write reviews of sports anime and manga. Why? She likes them and she thinks you should watch them, too. If you like sports, you’ll like these series.

This is my all-time favorite show. I’m not even going to beat around the bush with that one. It’s actually taken me some time to write this review because I don’t even think I can begin to give this show the justice it deserves. It’s woefully underwatched in the United States, too. When I’m at an anime convention and somebody else knows the show, I immediately exchange online contact information with them so we can make friends – that’s how rare it is to find people who like it outside of the internet.

Anyway, let me take a few minutes to tell you all why this is the greatest show ever made and why you all need to watch it immediately, especially if you love baseball. This isn’t a cartoon. This is an extremely realistic depiction of baseball that happens to be animated. I have looked high and low for a better depiction of baseball. I have yet to find anything that captures the heart and essence of the game as well as this show.

The show’s title in Japanese is Ookiku Furikabutte, shortened to ‘Oofuri‘ by the fanbase. Its first season received an English dub and went under the somewhat painful sounding name of ‘Big Windup!’ but most fans generally choose to ignore that name because it sounds silly. You can find stuff regarding it by searching for either name, however. (In fact, if you search for a specific character on Google, I’m one of the first results to come up. But let’s not talk about that.)

» Continue reading “Review: Ookiku Furikabutte/Big Windup”