Here’s one of those episodes I like more now than when I first saw it. Partly because I appreciate what it’s parodying more, and partly because I can see what a great job it does with the animation (even with shiny hair Mendou!).
It introduces Tobimaru Mizunokoji, yet another recurring character. Mizunokoji, is based on Hyuma Hoshi from Star of the Giants, right down to the sparkling eyes. He’s the baseball obsessed, woman-hating heir of the Mizunokoji family and rival to Shutaro Mendou.
He shows up at Tomobiki High to challenge Mendou to their annual baseball match. As children they had knocked each other out in a game and since then had duelled each year to prove who was best. So far they have tied 11 times.
When Mendou’s team is take ill with food poisoning he is forced to hire his classmates as a team, promising a month of beef bowl if they win. However it turns out that Mendou’s sister Ryouko is in love with Mizunokoji, and she offers them two months if they help Mizunokoji win. Well, I say in love, as we see in a flashback, he’s simply the first boy who wasn’t her brother that she was incredibly cruel to.
So it ends up with half the class on Mendou’s side and half on Mizunokoji’s, naturally heading into a draw once more. When it looks like Mizunokoji could win, Lum flies and stops any home runs. And when Mendou looks like he could win, Ryouko’s kuroko servants interfere.
Finally it ends when Mizunokoji and Ataru hit the fourth base plate… only to fall into the pit trap that Ryouko had dug there, and thus the game ends in another draw.
Some great gags, and some even better animation here. They go all out in their parody of Star of the Giants, with pin-point parodies of the famous gruelling training sequences and super dynamic, if loose animation in the actual baseball scenes. Good stuff.
—
Second directing outing from Sekita on the show, and the second to feature the shiny hair design for Mendou extensively. A third, and I’m going to blame him for it.
Screenplay: Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Storyboards: Motosuke Takahashi
Director: Osamu Sekita
Animation Director: Asami Endo