Sports anime typically fly under the radar for most fans of the animation medium. However, Oblivion Battery is one that shouldn’t be missed, as this story of baseball and amnesia is the best anime of 2024.
Oblivion Battery Is the Best Anime of 2024
If you were to tell me that a sports anime animated by Studio MAPPA would be the best anime of 2024, I wouldn’t be surprised. However, if you were to tell me that sport was baseball, that would change things a bit. Baseball isn’t a sport that I would think to be suitable for an emotional story of memory loss and internal struggle with self-hate, but here we are. Oblivion Battery is based on the manga of the same name and tells the story of the duo Haruka Kiyomine and Kei Kaname, a middle school superstar and genius battery (pitcher and catcher) who decisively and conclusively destroy any baseball team they go up against. Their names strike fear into opposing players, and many dreams are consequently crushed by this duo.
It’s really Kei Kaname, his team’s catcher, who leads the charge. His goal of propping up prodigy pitcher Haruka to stardom is achieved through extensive training, studying, and extreme tactical planning when facing some of the other great baseball teams. However, everything changes after an accident leaves Kei with amnesia, and the once genius catcher is now an airhead with an incredibly immature sense of humor. The duo that was once destined for a prestigious sports-centered high school is now two first-year students flying under the radar in a school without a baseball team.
Oblivion Battery Is as Funny as It Is Heartfelt
On the surface, Oblivion Battery comes across as an unconventional comedy with the backdrop of being a sports anime. Thankfully, it’s anything but that. Looking past the initial humor and trope-filled premise, there is so much more going on. Oblivion Battery is determined not only to provide its audience with laughs but also to provide an in-depth look at the sport of baseball and the athletes who are in love with it. Slowly but surely, the 12-episode season introduced us to players who have also retreated to the same school as Kei and Haruka in order to hide from their passions and obsessions.
The pacing of Oblivion Battery’s first season is impressive, and each episode does an excellent job of introducing the people who will make up the school’s first-ever baseball team while also dealing with each character’s personal struggles. Aoi Todo, a shortstop whose dreams were crushed by Kei and Haruka, is an excellent example of how impeccable the storytelling for the series is. Todo reluctantly joins up with the battery, who wishes to form a new team, and with his addition comes the exploration of the “yips,” a common mental and physical struggle in sports.
The episode exploring Todo’s mental struggle and how he addresses it with Kei, Haruka, and the rest of the team is incredibly powerful. As someone who is not at all invested in baseball, I found myself engrossed in the explanations of Todo’s position on the field, the character’s mentality as he gets into fistfights to distract himself after quitting baseball in the past, and how the team creates unique practices and game plans to help Todo cope with his performance issues.
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Oblivion Battery Tells a Story Only a Sports Anime Can
With each new teammate, Oblivion Battery not only provides stellar character writing and development but also manages to give viewers insights into the psyche of athletes and the world of baseball. The series also juggles some truly hilarious meta-humor on top of all of these other aspects, which is incredibly impressive. Kei Kaname could be considered the main character of the series, and his playful and carefree nature is a far cry from the Kei shown in flashbacks, who works with precision and seriousness to destroy his opponents.
Even Kei’s offbeat sexual humor is a ruse (albeit an incredibly entertaining one) hiding a real struggle underneath. Kei’s memory loss and disdain for baseball at the beginning of the series are attributed to a physical injury from a game. However, by the time the first season comes to an end, viewers discover that Kei has developed self-hatred due to the way he and Haruka approached becoming the best players they could be – by destroying any confidence or passion their opponents had for the sport.
It’s with the powerful season finale that Oblivion Battery comes full circle. Amnesia Kei wins his first baseball game thanks to the contributions of his teammates, showing a better way forward for the character with a fractured psyche. It’s clear that Kei has regrets about his sportsmanship, and he seems to be using this memory loss as an opportunity to make a new path to success, one that has him relying on more than just the strength of Haruka and his own intellect. It’s a beautiful message that could have only been told through the lens of an athlete.
Oblivion Battery Makes Baseball Fans Out of Anime Lovers
Oblivion Battery made me care about baseball. Studio MAPPA not only crafted an engaging character study but also beautifully animated the sport. Best known for their work on anime like Attack on Titan or Jujutsu Kaisen, MAPPA clearly also put a lot of care into this adaptation. Every pitch, hit, strike, and base stolen is detailed to show the fluidity and physicality of the players.
With so many moving parts in terms of its tone, story, and characters, it’s honestly a miracle that Oblivion Battery works as well. The funniest moments of the series rank up there with the most heartfelt ones. There have been other anime in the past that have struck out when trying to tell a story this nuanced. Thankfully, Oblivion Battery is a home run and the surprise hit that’s the best anime of 2024.
Oblivion Battery is streaming now on Crunchyroll.
Published: Jul 30, 2024 07:45 am