Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Taisho Baseball Girls is an animated sports drama exploring the world of baseball and the passion for the sport by a team of girls. Created by Atsushi Kagurazaka, Taisho Baseball Girls features original character designs by Kōtaro and Sadaji Koike. Taisho Baseball Girls features animation production by J.C. Staff (A Certain Magical Index, Aria the Scarlet Ammo).

Produced by Hitoshi Murakami (Suzy's Zoo Daisuki! Witzy, To Love Ru: Darkness), Katsumi Koike (Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Squid Girl), Sanae Mitsugi (Den-noh Coil, Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee), Shinichi Nakamura (The Demon Girl Next Door, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid), and Tomohiro Fujita (Amagami SS, Spice and Wolf II). Featuring voice-performances by Kanae Itō and Mai Nakahara. A sports anime with a good message about the importance of gender equality in sports.

War might be on the minds of the people of Japan and World War is never a time of total peace and solitude. Yet despite the evils of war and the brutality of war, some good things must live on – with baseball being a beloved pastime for many. While Japan worked on reinventing the rules back in 1925, Japan encountered some changes in the sport of baseball.

Baseball was previously almost exclusive to male players. Women were not traditionally allowed to participate in the sport. Yet girls with a passion decide to make it their mission to start a baseball team of female players. Koume Suzukawa (Kanae Itō) and Akiko Ogasawara (Mai Nakahara) have a new mission in life.

The motivation? Hearing the sexist remarks of male players that the girls should stick to housekeeping and being women at home rather than being out on the field. Causing commotion and scandal at the school just at the thought involving women playing baseball, the journey is only just beginning – because baseball is meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

The characters on Taisho Baseball Girls are charming and the passion for baseball makes for a nice element to the characterizations. The characters certainly display their passion for the sport. The character designs by Kanetoshi Kamimoto (Burst Angel, So I Can't Play H) are excellent and well designed.

The animation is one of the highlights of the series. The art direction by Shichirō Kobayashi (The Adventures of Gamba, Golgo 13: The Professional) is creative and offers some compelling production visuals. The chief animation direction by Kanetoshi Kamimoto (Hinamatsuri, So I Can't Play H) impresses and adds to the production, too. The animation certainly has a heartwarming style to it and the animators wanted to give a positive and engaging energy to the series.

The score composed by Takayuki Hattori (Martian Successor Nadesico, Slayers - The Motion Picture) is enjoyable and one of the best aspects of the production. The score is charming and has a light breezy quality to it that works well for the genre. The music does a good job working within the sports anime genre and enhancing the series.

Written and directed by Takashi Ikehata (Genshiken, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue), Taisho Baseball Girls is a sweet and charming baseball anime series exploring the passion of girls wanting to make their own successful team. The series has a charming style and the directing is well-done. Sports anime fans will be happy with the results.

Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, Taisho Baseball Girls is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The animation looks well-reproduced on the release but the presentation does have some drawbacks. The source animation has some inherent softness and the image clearly isn't as crisp or sharp as some might prefer. The animation looks a bit dated by today's standards in terms of clarity and resolution. Despite a high-definition presentation the transfer looks softer than expected and it simply lacks as much finesse compared to more modern anime series. The colors are also a bit less robust looking and could be a bit more vibrant. Nonetheless, the transfer seems to be faithful to the source – given the production period – and looks decent enough in high-definition.

Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio quality on the release capably reproduces the dialogue and soundtrack. The audio clarity is reasonably good. A worthwhile audio encode and one that provides a nice sense of depth for the audio encoding. On the other hand, unfortunately the release does not include an English dubbed option. The release could certainly have used an English dub and it would be nice if Sentai considered going back to produce a English dub in the future for fans who would rather experience it with an English voice-cast.

Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:33)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 1:33)

Tokyo Bushi

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases by distributor Sentai Filmworks: Yuyushiki (HD, 1:34), Princess Tutu (HD, 1:01), Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 2 (HD, 00:47), and My Next Life as a Villainess, All Routes Lead to Doom! (HD, 1:32)

Taisho Baseball Girls: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Taisho Baseball Girls is a charming sports anime about a team of girls determined to make their dreams come true in the field of baseball. A sports anime with a big heart, Taisho Baseball Girls is worthwhile for audiences who appreciate these types of sports anime dramas. The Blu-ray release features a reasonable high-definition presentation. The release could have used more supplements. Fans of the series might wish to consider picking up the release for their Blu-ray collection. Recommended.