Ōkiku Furikabutte

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Ōkiku Furikabutte
Cover of volume 1
おおきく振りかぶって
Genre	Baseball, Comedy
Manga
Author	Asa Higuchi
Publisher	Kodansha
Demographic	Seinen
Serialized in	Afternoon
Original run	2003 – ongoing
Volumes	10
TV anime
Director	Tsutomu Mizushima
Studio	A-1 Pictures
Network	TBS, MBS, Animax
Original run	April 12, 2007 – September 28, 2007
Episodes	25

Ōkiku Furikabutte (おおきく振りかぶって, lit. "Greatly hold it high"^?), also known as just Ōfuri (おお振り, Ōfuri^?) is a baseball manga series by Asa Higuchi, serialized in the monthly seinen Afternoon magazine since 2003. It has been adapted into a TV anime series, animated by A-1 Pictures, which premiered on TBS.

The manga series won the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for best creative work in 2006. In 2007, it won the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.^[1]

1 Story
2 Creation
3 Characters
4 Other
5 Anime
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Story

The series, set in Saitama, follows the story of Ren Mihashi. Mihashi was the previous ace pitcher in his middle school's baseball team, but it seems that he only got the position because his grandfather was the owner of the school. His teammates (especially the team's catcher) hated him, and they always lost their games. Mihashi is thoroughly convinced that he is a lousy baseball pitcher and he graduates to high school with extremely low self-esteem. He then transfers to Nishiura high school with plans of quitting baseball, because he does not believe he is good enough to succeed at baseball. However, he is dragged into Nishiura's baseball team by their coach. Assisted by his new teammates (and especially the catcher, Takaya Abe), he grows in stature, confidence and skill, helping his team excel with his own abilities.

[edit] Creation

While growing up in Saitama, Asa Higuchi became familiar with baseball by reading the manga Dokaben. When she was in high school, the story of a local baseball team wound up inspiring her to come up with the idea for her own baseball manga. Higuchi states that it's the earliest origins of the series, although Mihashi never spoke in the original version, and characters like Momoe, Kanou and Haruna didn't exist yet. Following that, she collected data on high school baseball for over 10 years in order to create the manga, and she worked with the school she had attended in the year prior to the serialization.^[2]

Five months prior to the serialization of Ōkiku Furikabutte in Afternoon, Higuchi published a one shot in the magazine titled "The Basic of Basics". The story was centered around the characters of the Musashino Dai Ichi school, who would show up in the series itself.^[2]

[edit] Characters

[edit] Nishiura

Ren Mihashi (三橋廉, Mihashi Ren^?): Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga; The series's protagonist, a first year in high-school. He is very shy and lacks confidence in himself and is scared easily at the beginning of the series.; He was the ace pitcher in middle-school at Mihoshi Acc, which is run by his grandfather. Due to his grandfather's position the rest of the Mihoshi baseball team believed that Mihashi only got his position as starting pitcher because of his grandfather. Although as stated by Kanou, Mihashi is a good pitcher and has perfect ball control. But the rest of the team refused to believe this and did not see his talent. Because of the constant bullying by his teammates Mihashi transferred to Nishiura high-school.; On his first day Mihashi was forced into becoming the new starting pitcher, by its new female coach. Through the encouragement of his new teammates and friends, namely Abe, the starting catcher, Mihashi gradually becomes more confident in himself.

Class: Year 1 Class 9
Position: Pitcher
D.O.B: May 17
Blood type: AB
Height:165cm
Weight: 53kg later in series 50kg
only child, with both of his parents alive.

Takaya Abe (阿部隆也, Abe Takaya^?): Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura; Despite being a regular in the Senior League during Middle School, Abe chose to go to Nishiura to join the new baseball team as the starting catcher because he did not want to form a battery with an arogant pitcher, like his partner during middle school. Instead, he finds Mihashi, a pitcher with absolutely no confidence in himself or his pitches. Though Mihashi is a good partner and always follows Abe's leads, Abe easily (and often) loses his temper with Mihashi because of Mihashi's timidness. As the team grows, Abe helps Mihashi to grow as well, and thus learns the importance of his role as catcher, being a good supporting partner for the pitcher.

Class: Year 1 Class 7
Family: father, mother and a brother
Position: Catcher,and vice captain
right-hander
Uniform number: 2
D.O.B: December 11
Blood type: O
Height: 170cm
Weight: 55kg

Yūichirō Tajima (田島悠一郎, Tajima Yūichirō^?): Yūichirō Tajima - Episode 3; Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

Tajima is a clean up hitter and a baseball prodigy, however because of his small build he is unable to hit home runs. He is a naturally out going person and can thus make up for Mihashi's shy nature. Mihashi and Tajima have been shown to get along well as they share their love of baseball and bad school grades. During middle school, his great-grandfather had to go to the hospital, but because no one informed him, he had spent the night at home alone, worrying, while the rest of his family had been at the hospital and then went out to eat dinner, completely forgetting about him. Thus, Tajima decided to attend Nishiura because it is very close to his home (5 minutes away), so if his great-grandfather or his grandparents ever go to the hospital, he would know immediately and not be left behind again.

Class: Year 1 Class 9
Position: Third baseman, catcher and first baseman
D.O.B: October 16
Uniform number: 5
left-hander
Blood type: B
Height: 164cm
Weight: 53kg

Azusa Hanai (花井梓, Hanai Azusa^?): Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama

Though he was the clean up hitter during middle school, Hanai now bats fifth at Nishiura. He is a very level-headed and relatively smart and observant person. He is reliable, knows his own abilities, willing to help when needed, but also is not afraid to talk back to Momoe-san, all of which are qualities that got him unanimously voted to become team captain. At first he tries to compete with Tajima, but eventually Abe acknowledges the fact that Tajima is a better batter.

Class: Year 1 Class 7
Position: Captain, right fielder and pitcher
right-hander
Uniform number: 9
D.O.B: April 28
Blood type: A
Height: 181cm
Weight: 67kg

Yūto Sakaeguchi (栄口勇人, Sakaeguchi Yūto^?): Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki

Sakaeguchi is a very friendly person, whom we often see try to do numerous things to set Mihashi at ease. Since he went to middle school with Abe, Sakaeguchi is able to help Mihashi and Abe communicate with one another more easily. Under stress, Sakaeguchi is known to have to use the bathroom, a trait revealed to everyone by Abe. During batting, Sakaeguchi is exceptionally good at bunting.

Class: Year 1 Class 1
Position: Second baseman, and vice captain
right-hander
Uniform number: 4
D.O.B: June 8
Blood type: O
Height: 169cm
Weight: 54kg

Kōsuke Izumi (泉孝介, Izumi Kōsuke^?): Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama

Class: Year 1 Class 9
Family: Father, Mother and an older brother
Position: Center fielder and third baseman. He is a switch hitter.
Uniform number: 8
D.O.B: November 29
Blood type: O
Height: 168cm
Weight: 55kg

Shōji Suyama (巣山尚治, Suyama Shōji^?): Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura

Class: Year 1 Class 1
Position: Short stop and third baseman
right-hander
Uniform number: 6
D.O.B: April 6
Blood type: A
Height: 175cm
Weight: 64kg

Fumiki Mizutani (水谷文貴, Mizutani Fumiki^?): Voiced by: Kenichirō Sumi

Class: Year 1 Class 7
Position: Left fielder and second baseman
right-hander
Uniform number: 7
D.O.B: January 4
Blood type: B
Height: 172cm
Weight: 57kg

Kazutoshi Oki (沖一利, Oki Kazutoshi^?): Voiced by: Takehiro Satō

Class: Year 1 Class 3
Position: First baseman, pitcher and outfielder
left-hander
Uniform number: 3
D.O.B: July 20
Blood type: A
Height: 172cm
Weight: 60kg

Shintarō Nishihiro (西広辰太郎, Nishihiro Shintarō^?): Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura

Not quite a regular on the team, Nishihiro is often seen sitting in the benches cheering his team on. He is supposedly one of the smartest first years at school because he never has to study for tests.

Class: Year 1 Class 3
Family: Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother and a younger sister
Position: Outfielder.
right-hander
Uniform number: 10
D.O.B: February 10
Blood type: O
Height: 170cm
Weight: 60kg

Chiyo Shino'oka (篠岡千代, Shino'oka Chiyo^?): Voiced by: Misato Fukuen

She is the manager of the baseball team. Very hardworking and earnest, she has great pride in the baseball team, and does her best to help out the team in anyway possible, from making rice balls to writing detailed reports about opposite team(s). She has said herself (in chapter 17) that she has no romantic interest in anyone on the team.

Class: Year 1 Class 7
right-hander
D.O.B: March 25
Blood type: AB
Height: 154cm
Weight: 42kg

Maria Momoe (百枝まりあ, Momoe Maria^?): Maria Momoe - Episode 1; Voiced by: Risa Hayamizu

Momoe-san is the supervisor of the baseball team. She was part of the softball generation at Nishiura. She loves everything about baseball, to the point that she willingly spends all of the money she saved from her part time jobs on the baseball team.

Age: 23
D.O.B: April 18
left-hander
Blood type: O
Height: 163cm

Tsuyoshi Shiga (志賀剛司, Shiga Tsuyoshi^?): Voiced by: Takehiro Murozono

The teacher advisor responsible for the baseball team. Though he is a math teacher, Shiga-sensei appears to have a great deal of knowledge about the body and how it works.

D.O.B: November 26
Blood type: A
Height: 180cm
Weight: 79kg

Yoshirō Hamada (浜田良郎, Hamada Yoshirō^?): Voiced by: Atsushi Kisaichi

A childhood friend of Mihashi who also lived in Creaky Creaky Villa, Hamada failed to move up and so is required to repeat his first year. Though he used to play baseball with Mihashi when they were young, Hamada has quit playing for an unknown reason, supposedly because of an elbow injury. He now is in charge of the cheering squad, and is very good at sewing.

Class: Year 1 Class 9
D.O.B:December 19
Blood type: B
Height: 183cm
Weight: 70kg

Keisuke Umehara (梅原圭介, Umehara Keisuke^?): Voiced by: Takashi Hikita

D.O.B:October 3
Blood type: O
Height: 177cm
Weight: 67kg

[edit] Musashino

Naoto Kaguyama (, Kaguyama Naoto^?): Voiced by: Kiyotaka Furushima

Postition: Pitcher

Motoki Haruna (, Haruna Motoki^?): Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze

Position: Pitcher

Kyouhei Akimaru (, Akimaru Kyouhei^?)

Position: Catcher

[edit] Tosei

Junta Takase (, Takase Junta^?): Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama

Class: Year 2 Class 4
Position: Pitcher
right-hander
Uniform number: 10
D.O.B: February 2
Blood type: O
Height: 177cm
Weight: 69kg

Kazuki Kawai (, Kawai Kazuki^?): Voiced by: Eiji Hanawa

Class: Year 3 Class 6
Position: Catcher
right-hander
Uniform number: 2
D.O.B: June 15
Blood type: B
Height: 180cm
Weight: 78kg

Shimazaki Shingo (, Shingo Shimazaki^?): Voiced by: Satoshi Hino

Nakazawa Riou (, Riou Nakazawa^?): Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano

Position: Bench, reserve Catcher

[edit] Mihoshi

Shuugo Kanou (, Kanou Shuugo^?): Voiced by: Jun Oosuka

Position: Pitcher
right-hander

Atsushi Hatake (, Hatake Atsushi^?)

Portal

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Hiroyuki Oda (, Oda Hiroyuki^?)

Portal

[edit] Other

Mihashi Ruri (, Ruri Mihashi^?): Voiced by: Marina Inoue

[edit] Anime

The series is adapted into a TV anime series, animated by A-1 Pictures, which premiered in Japan on TBS from April 2007. It also aired during the same month across several of TBS's affiliated TV networks, including MBS, BS-i and CBC. One month later, the series also aired on the Japanese Animax.

[edit] Staff

Original Work: Asa Higuchi's Ōkiku Furikabutte (serialized in the monthly Afternoon magazine)
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Series Composition: Yōsuke Kuroda
Character Design and Chief Animation Director: Takahiko Yoshida
Action Animation Director: Jun'ichirō Taniguchi
Accessories Design: Takuya Suzuki
Art Director: Yukihiro Shibuya
Color Design: Miyuki Satō
Photography Director: Ei Rōhei
Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
Sound Director: Hiromi Kikuda
Mixer: Riyō Yamada (Sound Team)
Sound Effects: Tomozaku Mitsui (Sound Box)
Music: Shirō Hamaguchi
Production: A-1 Pictures

[edit] Theme songs

Opening theme

Dramatic (ドラマチック Doramachikku^?)

Performance: Base Ball Bear

2nd Opening Theme

Seishun Line (青春ライン^?)

Performance: Ikimonogakari

Ending theme

Medaka no Mita Niji (メダカの見た虹^?)

Performance: Kozue Takada

2nd Ending Theme

Arigatou (ありがとう^?)

Performance: SunSet Swish

[edit] Episodes

#	Title	Original airdate

1	"True Ace" "honto no eesu" (ホントのエース)	12 April 2007
Mihashi a freshman in high-school, and has just transferred to Nishiura High, a school not known for its baseball. But after he gets forced into playing by its new female coach, he befriends the the catcher Abe, who becomes his main supporter in the future.
2	"A Catcher’s Role" "kyacchaa no yakuwari" (キャッチャーの役割)	19 April 2007
The baseball team at Nishiura High heads out to a training camp. As everyone is preparing for their first practice match against Mihashi's old school, Abe realizes that the catcher's role is not just on the field but is also to encourage and to protected the pitcher and his well-being.
3	"Practice Match" "renshuu shiai" (練習試合)	26 April 2007
The practice game between Nishiura High and Mihoshi, Mihashi's old school, is about to start. However before the game starts Mihashi loses his confidence and runs behind the club building, Hatake, the catcher from Mihoshi, followed him and begins to harassing him to the point of threatening to break his arm for the lost games in middle-school. It becomes apparent that Mihashi's lack of confidence stems from the constant bullying and scorn of his former teammates. Mihashi is rescued by Abe who convinces him to play and thus the game begins.
4	"Play" "purei" (プレイ)	3 May 2007
summary not available yet
5	"Don't Ease Up!" "te wo mekuna" (手を抜くな)	10 May 2007
summary not available yet
6	"The Requirements to be a Pitcher" "toushu no jyouken" (投手の条件)	17 May 2007
summary not available yet
7	"I Want to Play Baseball!" "yakyuu shitai" (野球したい)	24 May 2007
summary not available yet
8	"Amazing Pitcher?" "sugoi toushu" (スゴイ投手?)	31 May 2007
summary not available yet
9	"Past" "kako" (過去)	7 June 2007
summary not available yet
10	"Steadily" "chaku chaku to" (ちゃくちゃくと)	14 June 2007
summary not available yet
11	"Summer is Starting" "natsu ga hajimaru" (夏がはじまる)	21 June 2007
summary not available yet
12	"Cheering Party" "ouendan" (応援団)	28 June 2007
summary not available yet
13	"Summer Game Beginning" "natsutai kaishi" (夏大開始)	5 July 2007
summary not available yet
14	"Challenge!" "idome!" (挑め！)	12 July 2007
summary not available yet
15	"First Point" "senshuten" (先取点)	19 July 2007
summary not available yet
16	"Do Not Underestimate" "anadoruna" (あなどるな)	26 July 2007
summary not available yet
17	"Third Runner" "third runner" (サードランナー)	2 August 2007
summary not available yet
18	"Additional Point" "tsuikaden" (追加点)	9 August 2007
summary not available yet
19	"Tosei's Abilities" "tosei no jitsuryoku" (桐青の実力)	16 August 2007
summary not available yet
20	"Reversal" "gyakuten" (逆転)	23 August 2007
summary not available yet
21	"One More Point" "mou itten" (もう一点)	30 August 2007
summary not available yet
22	"Defend!" "fusege!" (防げ！)	6 September 2007
summary not available yet
23	"Strictly" "genmitsu ni" (ゲンミツに)	13 September 2007
summary not available yet
24	"Conclusion" "kecchaku" (決着)	20 September 2007
summary not available yet
25	"One Victory" "hitotsu katte" (ひとつ勝って)	27 September 2007
After the game against Tosei ends, Mihashi is taken home with a fever. Abe, Hanai, Tajima and Izumi come over for curry and wrapped up in that they end up discussing the game and assuring Mihashi that everyone on the team is happy.
26	"Basics of the Basics!" "kihon no kihon" (基本のキホン)	Unaired episode from the 9th DVD
summary not available yet

[edit] References

^ 過去の受賞者一覧 : 講談社漫画賞 : 講談社「おもしろくて、ためになる」出版を (Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
^ ^a ^b Higuchi, Asa (2005). "Omake", Ōkiku Furikabutte Volume 3. Kodansha, 165-173.

[edit] External links

(Japanese) Official website of the anime
(Japanese) TBS's official anime website
(Japanese) MBS's official anime website
(Japanese) A-1 Pictures's official production blog

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