General

@Micahmer Baby Steps definitely isn't a show with broad appeal. It's meticulous, it doesn't reward viewers who seek instant gratification, and it's shoe-string budget makes it look like it's a decade older than it actually is. I am interested in getting more people interested in this series, so here's my pitch.

A lot of sports anime establish rivals as just obstacles for the MC to surpass. Baby Steps makes it seem like it's going that route too. Tall and talented Takuma seems like a generic moody rival who hates Ei-Chan (the MC) for no apparent reason. It turns out, Takuma has a reason for being the way he is in the beginning, and he's also nicer than first impressions suggest. As the MC gets better, the gap between the two remains as large as ever. 314 chapters into the raws, and Ei-Chan still doesn't stand a chance against Takuma. Other major characters like Nabae and Araya continue to be competent rivals too.

Another thing to like about Baby Steps is how well researched the sport is. The author of Prince of Tennis only knew the very basics, and the result was a battle shounen with tennis racquets as weapons. Major is probably one of the greatest and most iconic sports anime in Japan, but it failed to explore baseball in a believable way - Goro Shigeno eventually becomes a pro, but the baseball didn't seem any more complicated. The plays weren't that diverse, and the thought process of the players in general is inadequately explored. In Baby Steps, all matches are equally about body and mind, and the thought process of the players is integral to the outcome of the match. Every match feels different because each player has different but believable quirks, and appropriate strategies are formed around that. Every shot in high level tennis is calculated, and Baby Steps shows you a lot of those calculations. At the end of a match, you don't just know the results, you know exactly why the outcome is the way it is. And sometimes, it's not the best player who wins. Upsets are an actual thing and they happen in real life too. Maruo beating a seeded player isn't any less realistic than the major upset at the recent US open, where both Federer and Djokovic lost in the semi-finals to relatively new faces.

Unlike most long-running manga, there is no such thing as highs and lows with Baby Steps. Every arc is better than the last. The more serious and invested Ei-Chan gets with tennis, the more intense the tennis matches become. Even though Ei-Chan has some natural talent, he doesn't suddenly become a prodigy. He learns and experiments in every match, and rigorously trains outside of matches to achieve the build necessary to compete in more serious tournaments.

And even though Baby Steps is sports centric, it still manages to be down to Earth. For example, before Ei-Chan got into tennis, he was a top student and his parents are still expecting him to go to university. So the major challenge from the moment he wants to go pro isn't beating everyone else in his way, it's proving to himself and his family that he has the determination and the ability to carry him there. There's also a side of romance that's slow and natural, which is rare for something of this genre.

@Cawickeng short answer: yes.

Is this really a sports anime? I've watched the trailers and the majority is just talking, barely any tennis.

My fiance watched Baby Steps. She kept getting trying to get me to watch it, but I got so bored. Diamond no Ace is a really good Baseball anime, imo as far as Sports animes go.

Some of the non tennis centric episodes looked great too, like the school festival one, and this one.

[url=http://i.minus.com/ibmUPQn7LvVKCW.gif]Obligatory[/url] [url=http://i.minus.com/i6mbigGXyotJR.gif]gifs[/url].

Lol eh budget was handled alright at least. They put more effort into animating the matches clearly

And now that this is over, it's time for me to watch Haikyuu.

@yellowpikachu It seems quite popular and it's selling a lot of BDs, so I'm sure it will.

If Baby Steps is getting a season 2, Haikyuu better have one too.

I guess it's time to start watching this, now that haikyuu is over..