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REVIEW: Baby Steps Episodes 1-12 Streaming


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gerbilx



Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:30 pm Reply with quote
What a pleasant, even handed review of a pleasant, even handed show. That said, I would humbly suggest the writer proof the document for a few awkward wordings. (>")>
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KidOblivion



Joined: 18 Feb 2014
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:32 pm Reply with quote
This show is slow, but fun, it's no where near as enjoyable as Ace of Diamond in my opinion, but I really do like the show. It's very similar to Haikyuu in a lot of ways, so if you like this I would check that out as well.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 4:01 pm Reply with quote
Easily one of the best sports shows ever made (which admittedly isn't saying all that much; the genre has more than its fair share of stinkers). Baby Steps deserves a B+ or maybe even an A-, because of the relatable characters, the methodical way the story is told and the realistic way the sport in question - tennis - is played.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:03 pm Reply with quote
I actually like the effort the show goes through to highlight the main character to let the audience really get to know him. Perhaps the story is a bit slow and ironically, the series is called Baby Steps so it's going slow like that...

Anyways, the charm of the show is there and this is one of the most underrated and imo adoring sports series I've been following.
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jymmy



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:21 pm Reply with quote
I've watched and enjoyed a few sports shows, but I'd call Baby Steps one of the best. (That said, I haven't watched any of the classics, like Slam Dunk, Hajime no Ippo or any of Mitsuru Adachi's works.) I love the methodical development of the story and Eiichirou. Natsu is also a pretty great character.
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KidOblivion



Joined: 18 Feb 2014
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:09 pm Reply with quote
[quote="jymmy"]I've watched and enjoyed a few sports shows, but I'd call Baby Steps one of the best. (That said, I haven't watched any of the classics, like Slam Dunk, Hajime no Ippo or any of Mitsuru Adachi's works.) I love the methodical development of the story and Eiichirou. Natsu is also a pretty great character.[/quote]

If you think THIS is slow.. Slam Dunk is almost 15 episodes for ONE GAME, seriously, it's way way too slow. The manga is leaps and bounds (lol) better than the anime IMO. I would love to see a remake of it though, I personally think it's better than Kuroko.

Back on topic, normally, main protags in sports anime and manga and are bit Shonen. The MCs from Ace of Diamond, Haikyuu, Slam Dunk, Kuroko, Eyeshield 21 and many others are all found in standard Shonen manga. But Baby Steps MC is really relatable outside of his stupidly good grades. He's a normal high school student, which is really a big plus in my eyes.
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:15 pm Reply with quote
I liked the first 12 episodes of this, but heading into the back 12 I started to get bored. Everything slowed down and it seemed repetitious in the matches. There was no stake, as you said, which meant I didn't care who won. So I started skipping the matches. Then I figured, what's the point of watching? So, while a slow, pleasant sports anime is refreshing at first, it kind of put me to sleep after a while.
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meepsheeps



Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Posts: 399
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:47 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
Easily one of the best sports shows ever made (which admittedly isn't saying all that much; the genre has more than its fair share of stinkers). Baby Steps deserves a B+ or maybe even an A-, because of the relatable characters, the methodical way the story is told and the realistic way the sport in question - tennis - is played.

This. It's one of the most realistic ones. I wouldn't say best (because there's Chihayafuru, Hajime, Ping Pong, Major, and several other contenders)
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:18 pm Reply with quote
sunflower wrote:
I liked the first 12 episodes of this, but heading into the back 12 I started to get bored. Everything slowed down and it seemed repetitious in the matches. There was no stake, as you said, which meant I didn't care who won. So I started skipping the matches. Then I figured, what's the point of watching? So, while a slow, pleasant sports anime is refreshing at first, it kind of put me to sleep after a while.


The match with spoiler[Araya] did take a few episodes but it was very good, and the show has taken an interesting path. Recent episodes that deal with the aftermath of the tournament (and beyond) have shaken things up a bit.

meepsheeps wrote:
This. It's one of the most realistic ones. I wouldn't say best (because there's Chihayafuru, Hajime, Ping Pong, Major, and several other contenders)


Well, I did say "one of the". I can think of plenty of other sports shows that are better. But if you look at the entire genre, Baby Steps is definitely in the top ten percent (maybe even the top five percent). That's a pretty darn good showing for such an underappreciated show.
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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9116
Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:32 pm Reply with quote
I certainly appreciate everything about the show, and I have learned a few things. Problem is, tennis bores me, so it's difficult to watch this each week as most of the time it feels like its crawling slower than Tamayura
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15427
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 12:55 am Reply with quote
Probably a bit unfortunate that this show is being shown along with Haikyuu which is an amazing sport anime. Baby Steps is different, and its slow somewhat realistically grounded style is not bad.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 2:02 am Reply with quote
I'm no expert, but i don't think it's especially "realisic" for a guy who never did any kind of sports before (as far as we know) to catch up to people who trained since they were little kids in such a short time (not to mention that he's almost readyspoiler[ to go pro now])...

That aside, it's a pretty enjoyable show which managed to avoid pretty much all the things i dislike in sports anime so far: the matches aren't over-dramatized, no super-human powers, the protagonist isn't unbeatable and the rivals aren't EVIL.
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Sylpher3



Joined: 27 Jul 2013
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:35 am Reply with quote
While I absolutely love the manga, the anime adaptation is severely lacking in quality (similar to Slam Dunk). I’m not even sure whether the problem is the low-budget adaptation itself or if the series just doesn’t translate well to the screen. The many monologues and lack of action isn't a problem in the manga, but for anime I need fast paced gameplay and flashy moves.

Baby steps has wonderful content, but a lackluster presentation.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4064
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 8:57 am Reply with quote
I couldn't stand the manga as the guy could have put his OCD tenacity towards anything and that would be the series, it just happened to be tennis because the author choose it.

So much worse than "disinterested but a natural" or "driven natural", even "driven noob" would have made more of an impact on me than "disinterested perfectionist".

This and Silver Spoon, is there a blind spot for character motivation these days? "This show is about [blank] because the main character has chosen to do it instead of nothing."

For proper impact, it has to be said in a dull monotone.
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meepsheeps



Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Posts: 399
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:11 am Reply with quote
Merida wrote:
I'm no expert, but i don't think it's especially "realisic" for a guy who never did any kind of sports before (as far as we know) to catch up to people who trained since they were little kids in such a short time (not to mention that he's almost readyspoiler[ to go pro now])...

It's possible. I'm one of those people to learn a musical instrument in a few months and play better than those who've done so since they were younger. Some people just learn fast and adapt easily.
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