A N I M E / O T A K U : PART 7

Cross Game

Type:

TV

Aired:

April 5, 2009 to March 28, 2010

Source:

Manga

Genres:

Comedty, Sports, Drama, Romance, School, Shounen

Synopsis:

The main character is Kou Kitamura, son of the owner of Kitamura Sports. In the same neighborhood is a batting center run by the Tsukishima family. Due to their proximity and the relationship between their businesses, the Kitamura and Tsukishima familes have been close for many years, with their children going back and forth between the two homes like extended family. Because Kou and Wakaba were the same age and always together, Aoba was jealous of all the time Kou spent with her older sister. Aoba is a natural pitcher with excellent form, and Kou secretly trains to become as good as she was, even while publicly showing little interest in baseball.

Characters and Voice Actors:

- Main:

Kou Kitamura

Birthday: June 10

In 5th grade in Part One, enters Seishuu High School at the start of Part Two. Kou lives down the street from the Tsukishima family and is treated like one of the family when he visits their house, batting cage, or coffee shop. He has been practically inseparable from Wakaba since their birth on the same day in the same hospital. While he shows little interest in baseball to outsiders, he has practiced daily at the Tsukishima Batting Center since he was old enough to swing a bat, enough so he is an excellent batter, especially against fastballs.

Spoiler:

After Wakaba's death, Kou is inspired by Aoba's excellent pitching form to become a great pitcher himself, and secretly adopts Aoba's daily training regimen. Although he doesn't play baseball in junior high, his friends convince him to join the high school baseball club. Because Kou and his friends don't take the placement test, they are put on the second string team (called the "prefab" team). With his changeup fastball, he becomes a well-known ace pitcher in the eastern conference.

- Irino, Miyu (Japanese)

- Eom, Sang Hyeon (Korean)

Aoba "Ao" Tsukishima

The third daughter of the Tsukishima family, one year younger than Kō and Wakaba. Aoba is jealous of how much time Wakaba spends with Kō, and frequently tells Kō how much she hates him. She is an excellent pitcher, Kō modeling after her. She has a poster of Ryota Igarashi, a famous fastball pitcher, hanging on her bedroom wall, and says she is only interested in a guy who can pitch a fastball at 160 km/h (about 100 mph). She loves to pitch in practice games, even though as a girl she cannot play in official baseball. However, she rarely shows her real speed as most catchers can't handle it. Her name means "blue leaf."

Spoiler:

Upon entering high school she has joined the baseball team despite saying previously she would not. She has been asked out repeatedly and is constantly refusing boys. Yuhei has recently expressed feelings for her, and while she admits to Junpei that she likes Yuhei a bit, she only thinks about it when asked. There is indication that she likes Kō as well.

- Tomatsu, Haruka (Japanese)

- Yang, Jeong Hwa (Korean)

- Supporting: