tl;dr at the bottom
Anime:- Major
*check my previous review on S3 before reading this*
This is for seasons 4,5,6 epilogue and world series OVA.
Genre:- Sports, Drama, romance
As I had said in my first review the first 3 seasons are appetizers, the real deal starts from season 4.
These three seasons are undoubtedly right at the top of sports anime genre, treading a path very few sports anime do. Most of the anime have a school setting in this genre, while a select few like Giant killing, One outs and a few others go on to show us the professional nature of sports. And Major sits on the top of these undoubtedly. While One outs is essentially more of a thriller than real sports, Giant killing manages to portray the problems of a football manager in a professional league rather decently. But between 12 episodes and 72 episodes it isnt difficult to see which of them is more comprehensive. Also major is baseball and GK is football. major is from a players POV while the other is from a manager's.
Season 4 picks off right from where S3 left. As usual things feel a little surreal and rushed, but the anime still manages to be realistic and shows a few of the basic problems someone faces when they go to an unknown country with little to no knowledge of the dialect(or language if you please). The hero is still OP but if you think he is going to breeze through everything well lets just say you might be surprised. Honestly what they show in this season has probably happened somewhere in baseball already. (Its still actually not far fetched at all since lionel messi did worse stuff in Barcelona practice to his teammates than what they show here). in what they very skilfully introduce a growth chart to the protagonist. the matches get way more intense and I can safely say I havent enjoyed baseball matches so match since One Outs, it makes Diamond no Ace matches look stupid. The matches do not drag, are finished within 2-3 episodes, and the main focus is actually more on the humans playing baseball than some tricks(there are tricks but they do not overwhelm the character interactions). Sure a bit of shouneny stuff are thrown here and there, but thats never a deterrent to the actual show. (Those who want to focus on that aspect of the show and bash it are welcome to, but tbh if you use a convex lens so much, you can pretty much give up enjoying anything). And yes this season has some of my favourite character interactions.
S5 goes bigger and better. The main storyline which started from S1 becomes greatly important. And things are settled. But the drama is extraordinarily intense, and tbh I havent seen more drama in a sports anime anywhere. (maybe baby steps, but still the intensity is lower). The final game is my favourite of the entire series and the conclusion is something I did not expect. This season for me was the pinnacle of a drama sports shounen, something that cannot be bettered, ever. But this season was also about romance. Romance started to bloom slowly but surely. And it was interesting to see our protagonist juggling baseball and romance.
I thought it was over with S5 but I was wrong S6 was almost equally brilliant and handled one very important aspect of a sportsman(or two), and they did it very well. They didnt overextend it and neither did they undermine its importance. The focus shifted from the games to Goro(the protagonist) as a persona and his problems, as well as his arrogance which led to his downfall. How he overcomes the odds and how his teammates get inspired from him(In fact the entire series is like that). And finally at the very last episode we get one of my favourite confessions ever. This season had splendidly done drama and showed the life of a player beautifully, the problems and the ups and downs.
The world series OVA was essentially a bridge between between S6 and the epilogue, which had essentially 2 games and more of shounen sports stuff, but it is essential for a sense of completion.
Finally the epilogue. The epilogue is my favourite part of the entire series. I love how they make things go the "full circle". I love how they show the protagonist grown up. I love how at the very end they show the entire 6 seasons in 5 mins while the first opening starts playing. I am a huge sucker for growing up anime, and this was the pick of the lot. I teared up at the end when they showed the entire journey of the guy. I grew up with Goro. Only flaw maybe a timeskip, but they couldnt have done a better job IMO.
There are a lot of things I take back from the anime. And a lot of regrets and wants crop up. I want a love of my life like Goro had, someone to fall for me as his girlfriend did. it taught me that having talent doesnt mean anything unless you practice hard enough because somewhere in the world there will always be someone better than you at what you do. It teaches you to value your friendships. And it made me nostalgic about mine. And finally it showed how life had a weird way of repeating itself(you would know what I mean when you see the anime).
tl;dr:- Incredible drama, the best baseball you will see, a story about growing up, a heart warming epilogue, thats all you need from an anime like this. the most complete sports anime ever.
rating:- (Animation, Music, Story, Characters, Enjoyment)
S4-8,7,8,8,10(41/50)
S5-9,8,8,8,10(43/50)
S6-9,8,9,8,10(44/50)
World series OVA(7,7,6,6,10 36/50)
Epilogue-10/10(sorry couldnt split this one :) )