Yowakutemo Katemasu (2014)

I've waited to watch this drama for a pretty long time, mostly because of cast reasons (it has both Kanata Hongo and Dori Sakurada together, I had to see how that turned out), so I wasn't expecting too much out of it other than what a typical sports drama in high school entails. And it is, kind of. But it's also a welcomed surprise, in some aspects.

The drama has the main tropes of a sports high school drama: one team initially divided, one teacher who is there to change their fates, a girl coach with an attitude, a reporter, bonding and lots of failing.

But not all of it is exactly as it seems. The team is actually bad, really bad and, from day one, they recognize they suck. They won't try to change miraculously overnight, they won't try to out-power their more qualified competitors, they will do what they can with what they have. It's pretty much a Dragon Zakura take on sports, if you will. Which, honestly, is a welcome change in my opinion.

The teacher, who seems to be there to change their fates and lives (played by Nino), is actually kind of really done with everything. All the time. And not in a "I pretend I don't care but I'll stay up late cleaning" kind of done, he seems to genuinely not care. Which, of course, has deep roots in memories and a background story to be resolved, but it pays off because, when you get to see emotional Nino, you feel the intensity much more clearly.

In dramas like this, with so many cliches, what really makes them stand out to me are the characters and their growth. I have to say I was invested with almost all of them (with the exception of a love triangle I really didn't care about enough at all). My special mentions go to Kanata Hongo, Shotaro Mamiya and Kento Yamazaki (those last two have some really interesting story and development together I was very interested in).

All in all, yes, it's filled with cliches, but most of them have their own spin, and it's worth a try. Most of all, my favorite thing about it is that it's unapologetically honest and raw at times. There's a certain scene which is very emotional, for example, and it has absolutely no background music at all, which I thought was a great move to make it even more intense. If you like sports dramas but want something a bit different and don't mind the drama, try this one.

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I watch this for Yamaken, but it turns out I love the whole casts (^o^)

As the title said, this drama is talk about sport (baseball), but it’s not only sport they’ll tell. Spirit, self-esteem, teamwork, leadership and of course friendship. And those aspects alone makes this drama become the great drama which worth a 10/10 for me.

The casts are great and have a superb acting skill to support this drama become a great drama.

This drama also have a great quotes and beautiful ending! The ending squeeze my heart and make me cry, but not in a bad way (^_^)

P.S. Their school hymn is so good <3

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Being a big fan of Japanese baseball (as well as of the "supokon" manga genre so popular in Japan - to name but one author: Adachi Mitsuru!!!), I had really great expectations for this "Yowakutemo Katemasu" aka "Baseball Brainiacs". Unfortunately it couldn't really live up to the tremendously interesting premise (reminiscent of the "Moneyball" story, for those of you familiar with the Oakland Athletics management's "sabermetric" approach to baseball, popularized by Michael Lewis' book, adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt): how could a weak team, made of students spending a lot more time with books than with bats and gloves, get a chance to win against all those yakyuu clubs competing twice a year to get to the Koushien (the Japanese High School Baseball Tournament, held in the eponimous stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture)?
I was expecting a lot of witty tips and so much strategy to make even your regular chess player pale in comparison, but nope, all we got instead were a bunch of "motivational speeches" filled with, let's be honest, boring bla-bla, and guess what, the obvious "practice your swing a thousand times a day"...duh!
Too bad, 'cause the cast did pretty well, and the characters were mostly interesting; the drama also had OK music and a decent production value, so it could've been much, much better, had the writer had a proper knowledge of baseball and more respect for the game and for the baseball fans among the viewers.
(it didn't help either that the original subber also showed no knowledge of baseball, constantly confusing "strikes" with "hits", *sighs* >__<)

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A not so good sports drama that doesn't follow the lines of the
original sports dramas. The performances were good and the teacher was
easy to understand and read really, even from episode number one.
Actually, the movie was more about the teacher rather than the
students, which would have created more interest, even if the students
had just a little more TV time. The sport thrill never really was
developed enough, as well. You expect the thrill of a victory in this
kind of dramas, but, unfortunately, this time, there was non. The small
stories were okay, but the first few episodes that had some comical
element in them were the ones that saved this drama that other than
that was a bit dull and the final episode seriously without point.

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