Recommending: Ookiku Furikabutte -- baseball manga & anime

Ookiku Furikabutte.
Baseball. Boys. Burning youth. Holding hands.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I've been flailing since I saw the first anime raw and read the first manga chapter. Oofuri is a golden combination: a great sports series and lots of scope for slash.

Ookiku Furikabutte -- Oofuri for short -- is a sports series about a high school baseball team. Mihashi was the starting pitcher at his junior high, not due to skill, but to family connections. He was hated by the rest of the team and, without their support, never developed any self-confidence. Now, at Nishiura High School, he reluctantly joins the baseball team and it's up to Abe, the experienced catcher, to build Mihashi up and turn him into an ace.

I have followed a lot of sports series and this is the first one since Slam Dunk to make me this excited. Unlike most baseball series, Oofuri doesn't focus on the hotshot pitcher. Instead, it's about team work, partnership, pulling together, learning to fly. And lovely boys.

( Great characters )

( Manga and anime )

( Downloads )

( Communities and sites )

Why you should watch & read Oofuri

Because it is the BEST THING EVER. *flail* Also:

Oofuri is a great story with a fresh take on sports series, especially baseball. You can enjoy it just for that, but there is so much potential for slash as well, lots of pairings, both with Nishiura and the rival teams. Even though I'm supporting the True Battery Love of Abe & Mihashi, I already have two other Mihashi pairings I'm looking forward to writing. I haven't seen a series with this much pairing potential since Prince of Tennis and I've followed a lot of sports series.

There's not much by way of English fanworks yet but I'm hoping that as the anime and manga become available in English there will be more. In the meantime, there's fanart and doujinshi to keep us going. Jump on the bandwagon with me! We'll ride in the parade!

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