And the rest, how they say, is history
Summary of Baby Steps Episode 1
- Eiichirou Maruo is an honor student who always takes detailed notes, so much so that he’s become a local celebrity at his school. One day, a girl from the class over named Natsu asks him if she can borrow his notes, to which he agrees. Later on, Eiichirou is talking with his friend and suggests that he try a free day at a local tennis club. Eiichirou agrees, and goes to the club, only to find that Natsu is already a member. After he is introduced to the club, everybody does warm ups, to which he promptly passes out. When he comes to, Natsu talks to him and tells him that she wants to go pro. The next day at school, Natsu talks to Eiichirou in the hallway and says that she would like him to continue coming to the club.
My Take
- Well, here’s a surprise; I love tennis. No joke! Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved either playing or watching tennis, so I’m somewhat of an expert on the technical jargon of the game. Even though that love for tennis has definitely waned over the years, I still enjoy a good story about the sport, and the strangely titled Baby Steps seems to be exactly what I was waiting for.
Isn’t it obvious? Tennis is going on here
- The basic story revolves around Eiichirou, a high school honor student who is famous for his in-depth notes and ability to put all other students to shame academically. After meeting a girl in the class next to his named Natsu, he comes to the conclusion that he needs to start getting more exercise. His friend suggests he try a free day at a tennis club, to which he accepts. When he gets to the club, however, he finds that Natsu is already a member of it, but he decides to stay. So naturally, he is completely out of shape and not prepared for the warm up. Trust me; I know that feeling.
- It might be a little early to say this, but I already love these characters. I love them not only for what they said or did in this episode, but more for the potential they all have to be great characters. Our main character, Eiichirou, appears to be very studious and hard working, but it’s implied that he doesn’t really enjoy doing so much school work. He also says that he works extra hard because he has a difficult time learning. Both of those factors will probably play a big role in his character development later in the series.
- Natsu, on the other hand, first appears to be ditzy and unconcerned for her surroundings. We then find out that she actually is a very serious person who plans on working towards tennis to go pro. The interactions between her and Eiichirou are both convincing and heartfelt.
- This series looks very nice, and has a unique art style which I’m pretty fond of. Eiichirou’s hair, however, looks somewhat ridiculous.
Watching women play sports isn’t perverted, is it?
- One complaint I have with this episode is how it’s all a flashback, with the exception of the intro. Everything that we see after the intro takes place one year prior, so it sort of kills the buildup for me. If we already know that he becomes a good tennis player, then why would I want to follow his journey to getting there? I assume that a big portion of the series is going to focus on getting up to the point where he’s a proficient player, so why tell us part of the ending? It doesn’t really ruin it for me, especially since I don’t know exactly when that part takes place in the whole story. Maybe it takes place just a few episodes after this one, to which I’d say its fine. I really hope that’s the case.
I literally can’t wait until he tells people
- After the first episode, Baby Steps feels like a nice sports anime that doesn’t require the viewer to be very knowledgeable on the sport itself. In that way, the audience gets to learn the game that same way as Eiichirou does. The potential this series has to be great is astounding, and I can’t wait to watch it live up to its potential.
