What They Say:
Baby Steps centers on an honor student named Eiichiro Maruo who becomes frustrated with his life and decides to join the tennis club. Despite lacking experience and physical strength, he utilizes his studious nature to develop a strategic approach to playing tennis. Taking notes of his opponents’ habits and tendencies, he is able to predict their next move before they even react. He also meets Natsu Takasaki, a beautiful girl with a passion for tennis. With her help, he aims to become a professional tennis player.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The tournament aspect of the show has moved on well here as we get to the next one, which has timed well with what the coach has done to make sure that Eiichiro’s body is ready to make that next leap. Pushing him and training him in his evolution has worked well for him so far as he’s discovered that all that training has put him in a very good position where his body feels lighter, his hits stronger and his speed faster. But there are also troubles with that because you have to adapt your play a bit when you really realize it and you have to adjust against your opponents. Eiichiro has made steady progress since the series began, but once he went into pro training, he’s made some significant leaps and that takes time to catch up with.
With his match against Nabae that we see going on here, it’s one that has taken a bad turn for him as it’s progressed because Nabae has managed to figure out what Eiichiro’s weaknesses are and has essentially started to predict everything that Eiichiro is doing. That sends Eiichiro into a bit of a panic, causing him to hesitate and miscalculate what’s going on. With Nabae’s ranking having been pretty high already, it’s the kind of challenge that Eiichiro needs in order to understand what kind of players are out there and how to cope with his weaknesses being attacked like they are. There’s some really good, tense moments that come from this as it goes along as well as some interesting moments that happen as Eiichiro starts to figure out the way to push back and you can see how both of them are taking a new look at each other as they can feel the tide shift, though not completely.
The match has a whole lot of back and forth to it as it dominates the episode and we see each of them pushing themselves. Eiichiro has a lot to go up against and he’s really finding himself being pushed to his current limits in terms of the stress and strain of playing such a strong opponent. He’s looking for ways to push back, finding them briefly at times, but then being pushed back against himself. What’s rather welcome in a way though, since it’s not something that we’ve really had a lot of, there’s a moment when Natsu arrives after finishing her matches and she mouths words of encouragement to him. While we all work, play and live to the best of ourselves most of the time, there are moments where encouragement is both needed and welcome in inspiring us to go beyond the constraints we set for ourselves. With Eiichiro, a few words of encouragement from Natsu that he can’t even here can change his mindset, intensity and view of the game. While I’m glad we haven’t had that as a constant motivator – he’s been his own motivator – having it come in at a critical time like this is very welcome.
In Summary:
Baby Steps hits some really good stuff here, though it’s taking this match as one that will cover a couple of episodes instead of most of the rest that were dealt with within one episode. I continue to like the dynamic it presents in doing so because you realize as this match goes on that it’s a very important one and it’ll become a bit of a defining piece for Eiichiro as he faces a really strong player that understands how he plays and uses it against him. Growth through experience is the key here along with some really smart encouragement that comes from just a few words. It’s less the words and more the person, but the combination is what works the best. Definitely a strong episode simply in the tennis play itself that’s made all the more engaging by the internal dialogue and understanding of the struggle at hand.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
