Cross Game 40 - Sigh I’m sighing because I’m not terrifically happy about the changes to the OP and ED this week. I always pay a lot of attention to credits, because they often telegraph the themes of the story arcs they accompany. I really like the new ED song, but I’m annoyed that the focus of this arc seems to be shifting onto the Akaishi/Akane/Kou love triangle. Obviously, I would prefer if focus remained on the Azuma/Aoba/Kou love triangle, but I recognize this is also kind of a secondary rivalry (le sigh, part deux). To tell the truth, the primary love triangle in this story is the one between Aoba, Wakaba and Kou. Akane serves as a symbol for Wakaba, so focus on Akane/Kou/Aoba if you must (since Kou and Aoba ARE the main characters) but centering the attention on Akane as the new ED credits seem to do is just frustrating. The main reason I’m frustrated is probably just because I don’t like the character of Akane very much. She’s a bit of a wet noodle in my opinion. Just another pretty, perfect girl who draws well, yawn - she lacks the tenacity of a Minami or the strong personality of an Aoba. She’s constantly being compared to Wakaba, who she famously resembles, but she doesn’t show the same “genki”-ness or mischievous streak as the younger Waka. I will admit I liked her for choosing to draw Aoba on the Koshien poster though. ^__^ I think it is the fact that she is so suddenly and fully accepted by all of Wakaba’s friends and family that rubs me the wrong way. Everybody is so quick to embrace Akane that we don’t really get to see her working hard or proving her own identity at all. (I suppose you could say she is working hard at something at the current point in the manga, but that’s a bit too convenient for me as well.) Anyway, I’ll be disappointed if the focus on boys mooning over Akane takes any screen-time away from the other real main character, Aoba. Plus as far as secondary characters go, y’all know I’d rather see either of those Azuma lads than Akane, hehe. On a more positive note, I’m still really excited to see where Aoba’s anime-original women’s baseball career opportunities are leading. So far, it is the only significant diversion from the manga storyline and I can’t wait to see how the anime is planning to play it out.
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