So speaking of sports animes, we have a very unorthodox one today. In typical sports anime, you get friendships, growth, fair competition, working hard to improve, and all those things. Not in One Outs though. You see, this anime is more psychological than a sports anime and focuses on the dirty side of competition. In this anime, it is not like the MC is extremely talented, but he knows his opponents so well that his pitches never miss.
So welcome back to another edition of our anime recommendation series! This week, let’s take a look at an underappreciated sports anime, One Outs. Although again, calling it a sports anime is almost a mistake. Cause you know, it does not play fair like a normal sports anime and does not shy away from the politics behind the scenes in sports. So let’s talk about it today.
Introduction
One Outs is based on the manga of the same name by Kaitani Shinobu. The manga originally was serialized from 1998 to 2006 in the Business Jump Magazine. The anime is 25 episodes long and is made by good old Madhouse studios. The anime came out back in 2008 and as I said, it is a psychological sports anime. You’d be really surprised to learn just how well those 2 genres meld together in this particular series.
Plot
One Outs follows the extremist gambler Tokuchi Toua who ends up joining a baseball team due to reasons I won’t spoil. He brings his gambler mindset to completion and uses it to defeat his opponents. He even strikes a unique “One Outs” contract with the team owner rather than a simple annual contract. According to this contract, Tokuchi gets a certain amount for every out he scores but he loses 10 times that amount for every run he gives. The series follows how he manages to keep making money between the owner’s tricks and increasingly tough opponents.
So the series tagline “Nobody wins, but I” is very on point. That is basically the entire plot of One Outs. The whole series is a huge game about Tokuchi outsmarting everyone and coming out as the winner in the end. The plot is simple but the amount of tension and hype it can give you will always keep you on your edge. The plot never lets up.
Characters
As you might imagine, Tokuchi does solo carry this anime a little. He is definitely the stand-out character in the anime. And you know, that is completely fair as the is about him. But what people don’t notice is that the series also has some other really good characters like Kojima who learn a lot from Tokuchi. The same goes for the rivals, they do lose in the end but it is always fun to see them come up with different strategies against Toua,
Animations and Soundtracks
Well you know, it is Madhouse we are talking about here. We are all well aware of how they do stuff. The art style is probably more subjective, even I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me over time. You know, this is an old series we are talking about so obviously the art feels a little dated but, the animation pulls up rather nicely. As for the soundtracks, they hold up pretty well as well. I still really like the opening and ending themes of the series.
Why should you watch One Outs?
Quick pointers on why you should check out this series:
- Great plot
- Good characters
- Lots of twists
- Tokuchi
Conclusion
Well, that is all for now. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. One Outs is a really really good series and you guys should definitely check it out. With that said though, I will take my leave here. We have lots of good stuff coming for y’all this week. So stay tuned. See ya!!
