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Sailor Moon Opening Plays as Baseball Star Shohei Ohtani's Walk-Up Song
posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
Baseball star Shohei Ohtani walked up to home plate to the Sailor Moon anime's opening theme song “Moonlight Densetsu” by DALI and Manish during the Los Angeles Dodgers' April 29 game. Ohtani's wife Mamiko Tanaka personally selected the song; Monday's game against the Miami Marlins was the Dodgers' Women's Night, so the team let the players' significant others select their walk-up songs.
As it turned out, Ohtani belted the very first pitch over the right field for a home run. This was Ohtani's first home run since the birth of his daughter on April 20. The Dodgers beat the Marlins 15-2 in their second game of a three-game series.
(Ohtani's two-finger eye slash after his homer isn't a nod to Sailor Moon's transformation, but a playful nod to his Decorté Cosmetics skincare commercial. He first made the gesture after a walk-off home run on April 2, and ever since, the Dodgers have made it part of their home run celebration ritual.)
Ohtani is no stranger to anime walk-up music. Last season, Tanaka selected “il vento d'oro” by Yūgo Kanno from the popular anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind for the Women's Night game on July 23, 2024.
Sources: Sports Hochi, ESPN's YouTube account, Los Angeles Dodgers (link 2)
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