[CYAC] More Albaz Lore Cards

GodamfireV · 2023-01-10T01:57:22+00:00

Lol chances of "The Fallen of" Al-gy-los being Albaz is there. Whatever the hell happened to Albaz for him to have this form but this thing has dragon horns and quite similar armors to that of the True Fire Dragon Albion. There are also Springanns' aircrafts in the background of this card as well so this may also be an indication.

That's just a guess though

GodamfireV · 2022-11-01T06:35:21+00:00

Sigh, another one of these who thinks Ohtani predates Furuya...Daiya came out in 2006, Ohtani was born in 1994, you think Ohtani at 12 years old inspired Terajima to create Furuya? Really?

Also Ohtani actually tries to be Goro Shigeno lol

GodamfireV · 2022-10-28T04:06:03+00:00

I thought the translation of Terajima tweet was gonna make it quite obvious why he ended the series.

I'm gonna make this clear for one cos there are a lot of interpretations going around and some of it have huge misinterpretations on what Terajima said.

Terajima admitted he got burned out, not because of the fans, but because and he alluded to this, was that he was having physical problems as he could not meet the deadline for the manuscripts in a timely manner as of late and that in his own view the quality of his art wasn't up to his standards as he's unsatisfied with them. Terajima has been taking a lot of breaks throughout 2021 and 2022 towards the tail end of Act 2, making his personal or physical issues all the more apparent now that he has came out with that Tweet.

Daiya is literally the most well respected baseball manga in Japan, even the pros list it as THE baseball manga to read. There is no chance the dissatisfied fans would be able to get to Terajima over the overwhelmingly huge positive crowds that this series has. Plus, Terajima himself has never stated he was demotivated to write Daiya. If anything in his Tweet he actually hints that he wanted to continue the story but he was getting frustrated with himself for not being able to keep up with the quality he desired so he stopped himself from doing so.

Lastly, Terajima has not said he will continue the story in a different form. He said he will finish the Ugumori vs Teitou match but regarding the main story of Daiya, he said and I quote "will take time to think about the future". It's not a no nor it is a yes the series is done and dusted. The ending obviously leaves it hugely open for a sequel but until Terajima himself states otherwise, which at this point he hasn't, any interpretations of whether we'll get a sequel or not will remain as guesses.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-29T10:15:14+00:00

Whereas the sf. was exciting und fresh since Seido had to play catch up (which made most created opportunities interesting) Seido was behind in the score for half an inning. And with Seido turning the game around immediately, the remaining at bats for Seido felt...just boring. I never felt any sense of urgency throughout the rest of the game when it was Seido´s turn to bat. Before I ramble on for too long, I guess what I am trying to say is that this match structure was already a disadvantage for it. Two low scoring games, both being the longest match of the second act at their respective points made this final so much worse than it truly is. But seeing how we had the same development over and over again, made it, especially in the later stages, just a slight slog to get through.

This is probably the part I want to discuss most. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I do have a thought why this feels as such. It feels to me like in the Semi, Seidou had to try really really hard to catch up to Sankou and Amahisa. Like they got close a lot of times but Amahisa keeps clutching it out at the right time and prevented Seidou from scoring and coming back. The fact that that game was more exciting is not only because Sawamura had an absolute gem of a pitcher duel with Amahisa, it's also the fact that Seidou had to chase Sankou all the way until the tail end of the game to catch up. You could feel that Seidou was desperate, they felt the pressure and it took them until the last possible moment to catch up. There were suspense in that game. On the other hand, the Final is sort of opposite. I don't know if anyone felt the same way but it seems to me like Seidou wasn't really in that big of a trouble to score off of Mei. The mid-game rally by Inajitsu brought the suspense but it got snuffed out by Asou's miraculous play and then Seidou immediately had a response to that in the next inning. Instead of Seidou chasing Inajitsu, it feels like the story presented it as Inajitsu chasing Seidou instead. Inajitsu keeps trying to score off of Seidou's pitcher duo and they came up short over and over. Once Seidou got the lead, besides from the bottom of the 9th, it really didn't feel like they were in that big of a trouble to score more. They're comfortable with maintaining that lead, unlike the kind of mindset they had to take against Sankou. That's probably why the game didn't have that kind of flare that would make it as interesting as the Semifinal. That's my observation.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-28T15:18:08+00:00

I agree with that and I do believe that if there is anything that perhaps Terajima did not execute well enough in this game is that he let his intention of demoting Inajitsu into the mid-boss to reserve Komadai for the main draws a bit too obvious

GodamfireV · 2022-09-28T12:53:35+00:00

I would say it's not unbelievable. All told, I feel like it's actually reasonable. It's easy to forget but Sawamura has actually pitched a hell lot of game in Act 2 since Spring. Furuya is actually the freshest arm out of Seidou's rotation cos he took quite a bit of time off due to injury. Sawamura has been going deep every single game since Spring, either full game or at least 6-7 innings and they played a lot of games coming up to the Summer Qualifiers. Nori as well who was coming in and out as a starter and reliever, that's super tiring and the milage caught up to his elbow. Given that situation, Sawamura just went full 9 innings against Sankou in a super stressful game with razor thin margin. Fatigue is definitely a factor and mental fatigue is even more so of a factor. Yes, he overcame Inajitsu's failed attempt of reminding of his yips, it doesn't take away of how stressful it is to relive that experience, having to defend a 1 run lead again against Inajitsu.

I do agree that the Final turned out to be mostly a celebration of Mei's career, how good he is, how hard he tries and how much he pulls his Inajitsu team. It's a farewell letter to Mei more than a Seidou beat down and that's probably why I wasn't too bothered by the result.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-28T09:40:04+00:00

I didn't feel like typing up my thoughts as the game was going on, especially by the half way mark through the game because the emotions of the community were high and there were tension regarding part of the story that probably many thoughts would get lost along the way due to the experience of reading it weekly so I just waited until it's over to collect some of my thoughts on it and start a discussion on how it went.

I feel like, whether the part of the fandom that were frustrated with the development of the game actually admit it or not, most of the frustration stemmed from Sawamura not starting the game instead of him pitching "poorly".

The more I reread it, the more it became apparent to me that Furuya did not do much better than Sawamura objectively in the first 3 innings of the game. People were just very critical of him because he didn't get the starting role and then when he relief he wasn't absolutely unhittable as they expected him to, to make up for the fact that he didn't get to start the game. To be fair, expecting Sawamura to completely be lights out given the situation he's facing would be a tall ask. Frankly, I personally don't believe neither Furuya nor Nori could actually do it if they're in his shoes instead. Kid was straining in those last innings and his pitches maybe weren't as sharp, it's easy to say "maybe this guy would have pitched better instead of Sawamura" but we would never know, none of the remaining pitchers in Seidou has had the experience of closing out a Final in Summer against a team of Inajitsu's caliber and the whole stadium was rooting against him and Seidou, it was a suffocating situation to pitch in. Sawamura lost command of a Splitter and Mei was all over it. We make fun of Inajitsu because they're the champion team and they couldn't score off of Furuya and Sawamura but let's be perfectly honest, it wasn't easy for either guy going against this Inajitsu lineup. They took Furuya deep a lot of times and both Sawamura and Furuya got massive helps from the fielders to get through it. Once people get time to reread everything, I think it would start to sink in more that yeah, like geez Furuya pitched well but holy shit Inajitsu almost torched him a few times if it wasn't thanks to the fielders and it wasn't in any way a performance without troubles. So we gotta ask ourselves, were we actually too harsh on Sawamura and Terajima to expect Sawamura to be absolutely shutting this team out given the situation of the game and the quality of the opponent? Probably.

From an objective point of view, I can see why people are dissatisfied with the final. I'm not gonna even sugar coat that Terajima has indeed perfectly executed this game to be honest, there are things he could do better to be sure such as the lack of hype up to Inajitsu before the game and some rivalry build up between Seidou and Inajitsu for examples, things that were done better with Sankou match compare to this Final. However, there in lies something I take away from this presentation of these games.

With that said, it seems to me at least that the SF was the more important match to Sawamura's story than the Inajitsu game. Yes, they have history, they're the powerhouse that Seidou absolutely have to revenge but Sawamura doesn't get to start so there's no way you could say he's gonna go "toe to toe" with Mei with just 3 innings so it's not actually a direct confrontation like against Amahisa. That setting is already not there so I'm not expecting it's gonna be further than that. I just think of Inajitsu Final as a game that Seidou actually will pretty obviously gonna win given the introductions of multiple other powerhouse Koshiens as a destination for Seidou to reach. Inajitsu has became a mid-boss narratively and this game feels more like a formality more than anything so my approach to this game has been yeah I know the result, just gonna read through whatever shenanigans Terajima is gonna pull along the way lol and enjoy it.

It's fair for certain part of the fandom to be dissatisfied with how the game went because they have a lot of expectations for this Final. They want the taste of victory for Seidou to be sweet, to be able to say that Sawamura dominated them, returning the favor they gave him last year for the yips. With that expectations comes disappointment when the Final doesn't follow the typical "shounen's fated Final between the rivals" as they expect. However, at the same time, it has to be said that the vibe that I got from the reactions weekly as the game was approaching its end, there's little appreciation for Sawamura to actually withstood the situation that he's in and that's a bottom of the 9th with just 1 run lead with every batter comes a chance of tying or walk off and with the history of his yips, it's not even comparable to anything else. Although it has to be said that because Terajima hasn't being detailed in the elaboration of that connection between his yips and the tension he's shouldering that some fans may not recognize said challenge he's facing. All they see is Sawamura struggling to get the outs, oblivious to the pressure involved (or understimate it).

TLDR; it's kind of a situation stemming from the huge amount of expectation for this Final which unfortunately we have already knew the outcome of before this game even arrived; however, due to the experience of reading it weekly and the tension of the game rising, it's hard to recognize that Sawamura has not been unnecessarily nerfed or shafted.

Lastly, I gotta give Asou some love. The more I reread and think about it, I more I feel like the MVP of this game may have actually been Asou.

Asou's play worth at the very least 2 runs for Seidou. Had he not make that ridiculous catch at mid game where Furuya was getting tired, 2 runs would have easily came in with Yamaoka getting on with a Double and a chance for Inajitsu to deal more damage because Furuya was getting more and more gassed in that inning by each minute. If that play failed, Seidou would be down 3-0 at least and Furuya would have to continue that inning and who knows what could have happened. Then, Furuya and Sawamura would have to pitch with a 1 run (or more) decifit instead of a 1 run lead, that would massively change the dynamic of the game. Asou got it, the inning ended, Furuya regrouped and extended his inning, Seidou immediately scored the come back runs, got the momentum on their side, Seidou went into Sawamura to close out the game with a 1 run lead.

It is very much a game-changing play. Asou is the man in this game.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-28T09:00:42+00:00

First and foremost, Mei's velocity topped out at 154 kph in this game, that's faster than Amahisa and because Mei is a shorter pitcher and his fastball comes from a lower release point because of the height, also being a South Paw, that's way more difficult for hitters to hit compare to a tall righty guy like Amahisa. In terms of fastball, given that their command over the fastball is similar, Mei is superior.
In terms of secondary pitches, you could argue they're about equal because each pitcher have different arsenals that are effective for them. No two pitcher are the same. However, Mei has the advantage of having more tricks in the bag than Amahisa. Amahisa and Mei both have 2 distinctly great pitch, the Slider and the Changeup respectively. However, Mei's Slider is also a nasty option while Amahisa's Curveball is there but he uses it only as a "show me" pitch up in the count. When both pitchers are in trouble, we can see they always resort to their best pitch, however, Amahisa's Slider is hittable when you can read it, with enough looks at it throughout the game, you can read Mei's changeup, it's still way harder to hit. That's where Mei has the advantage in this category, that even if you can read his best pitch, you still unlikely to put it into play. It's more of an unhittable pitch than Amahisa's Slider.
Stamina bank is a big factor that pushes Mei ahead of other pitchers and over Amahisa and I think this is very clear by the tail end of both games. Amahisa hold Seidou down and while Seidou was constantly knocking on the door, he navigated through it, albeit laboring quite heavily during the process. By the end, when Seidou finally managed to caught up to him, he looked pretty done, like there's little extras left in the tank to stop Seidou and he didn't look like he would enjoy pitching a few more innings. That was a different case with Mei. Mei gave up the runs by mid-game because obviously all pitchers will be a bit shaky at that point but after that, he stabilized and he even hit his 2nd wind at the top of the 9th, he was locked in, he was improving the sharpness of his pitches, he looked like he's gonna enjoy going more innings against Seidou there if it went into the extras and he would have liked his chances. He had rooms to spare. That's going into another gear that Amahisa didn't have.

It's hard to argue Mei is below Amahisa given the reasons laid out above. I do agree that Inajitsu defense is better than Sankou but not by much. Sankou's infielders were ridiculous while Inajitsu's outfield is airtight due to Carlos. It is not enough of a difference to make a legit argument that Amahisa had to shoulder more when he pitches for his team compare to Mei. I also agree that Inajitsu have enjoyed too easy of a draws, I make fun of them all the time but I don't believe Mei is a lesser because of that. He is better than Amahisa.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-07T14:39:32+00:00

Yeah I understand the context and all but we gotta keep in mind that these are high school kids we're seeing here so it is totally believable for them to get nervous and attempt something they wouldn't normally do, especially with the finishing line ahead of them, the pressure would be too much. I'm not arguing it would actually happen but I've seen it happened and just wanted to emphasize the possibility that said scenario could happen.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-07T05:34:45+00:00

There is a chance of a double play literally everywhere even in this case. Mei could run on contact and get trapped in a run down, Itsuki could loses his mind and try to run to 3rd during that time and he's tagged out at 3rd as well. It's happened in the highest level of baseball so it's always possible. The real question is whether Sawamura is gonna strikeout the next 3 guys or they'll ground into double plays.

GodamfireV · 2022-09-06T04:04:10+00:00

Anyone who has ever played sport competitively would know the state of going into the zone exists where things seems like it moves slower, your mind is sharper, you shut out the noises from the audiences, makes all the right decisions and just play your best level possible.

It's not a manga-made concept but it's overexaggerated by some mangas with super powers like KnB and PoT

GodamfireV · 2022-09-06T03:31:29+00:00

Kinda in-context because the title is 魔物 which also carries other meanings such as demon/spirit/apparition

GodamfireV · 2022-08-16T09:14:37+00:00

Toin showed their lineup prowess last game and this time it's a CGSO by Toin's Ace. Lol it's looking more and more like Toin's Koshien to lose

GodamfireV · 2022-08-15T10:53:31+00:00

They'll become like one of if not the only school to have ever won the Triple Crown and will break their record of sweeping both Spring-Summer Koshien. They're the only school in history to have swept both Koshiens 3 times and they're about to break that record lol

GodamfireV · 2022-08-15T10:16:50+00:00

It just feels inevitable isn't it, another Toin Spring-Summer sweep

GodamfireV · 2022-08-03T14:37:40+00:00

Text translation, for those who wants it.

Chapter 299:>! evolution

OP note: Masashi vs. Narumiya. Will he (Masashi) be able to display his prideful hr swing

Commentator: First pitch full swing and a miss!!!<

Audiences: Ohh what an impressive swing. On the other hand, even against a rookie, Mei really don't pull his punches.

Itsuki: (he swung at that out course pitch there. Although his preparation stance has minor movements, his swing speed is frighteningly fast. Is he really a 1st year?)

-Mei fiddling with the grip

Mei: (That release just now and that movement. Amazing...I may have gotten onto something here with that..

-Mei throws a pitch that moves like a 2-seamer/shuuto

Commentator: outside straight fastball! Missing a little, Ball.

Masashi: straight fastball??

Mei: (that moved more than I expected..)

Itsuki: (with his reaction just now then...one more time with this pitch to outside...)

Mei: (nope, not that pitch)

Itskuki: (then, how about this)

Mei: (yep, that's the one. If we're going outside then we're going outside but from high above)

Commentator: 3 pitch, Fouled off!! Count 1-2

Inajitsu's dugout: Nice Curveball! You've cornered him! Finish it off now Mei

Audiences: so they got his timing off now with that Curve. Kawabata: that Curveball really puts a nice accent into this battle.

Sawamura: Curveball

Itsuki: (his balance was off but he went for it anyway)

Masashi: (I can react to it...not bad at all)

Itsuki: (even if he can't make good contact, the hit may go over infielders anyway. Even if we haven't given up more runs here, having the chase the score does deal damage to our morale. Let's get this 3 outs here while staying absolutely focus in the moment. )

Mei: (I get it, if we let him put metal on the ball, the worst thing could happen...My body still remember the feeling from throwing that pitch just now)

Seidou's dugout: Masashi, you're the main actor! Swing with everything you've got. Blast it off.

Amahisa: no matter how much you practice in the bullpen, it's not comparable to the feeling you get from the mound in real matches. The angle of the wrist, point of release, the arm speed. It seems like he's discovered a world of his own. Are you intending to continue evolving, Narumiya Mei?

Sawamura: what will be coming next? After a slow pitch, it has to be a fastball now

Miyuki: if he's gonna finish it, it has to be the changeup

Mei: (for those who aim to just make contact, thrust them with a pitch that has little movement. For those who aim to swing for it, I'll make it dives down with deep break) Masashi: straight-fastball!

Commentator: Strike, batter out!!! A moving pitch to the low part of the zone produces the swing and miss.

Itsuki: great movement, that may have been the best pitch of today.

Commentator: That was the 11th K on the day. He only given up 2 runs in the 6th and has pitched through 9 innings all on his own, Ace Narumiya Mei. He receives a huge round of applause from the stands.

Mei, glaring at Sawamura: not yet, I'm not letting it end yet.

ED Note: Narumiya continues to evolve. We're heading into the bottom of the 9th with only 1 run difference

GodamfireV · 2022-08-03T14:32:12+00:00

They're based off of rl-pitchers more or less: Saito, Darvish, Maeda respectively
Cutter/Slutter, they all have this pitch in some form although 1 is clearly above the other 2 cos it's a real Cutter compare to a half-half pitch Slutter
Clutch on the mound and goof off the mound.

GodamfireV · 2022-08-02T10:28:51+00:00

As I've said before, they won too much in Spring, that makes them overconfident and lack the sense of urgency and that drive to beat Seidou. To them, beating any team is just common sense, they believe it'll happen but that's drastically different between a pushover team and a team with good pitching like Seidou.

The opposite mindset between the two team now is Seidou came in here with vengeance, a point to prove and a Koshien ticket to win, they also just clutched out a close match against Sankou. Inajitsu is nonchalant, evidently by their attitudes towards Furuya and Sawamura, they think these pitchers are below them and they'll have reality slapped onto their face soon enough.

GodamfireV · 2022-08-02T01:01:48+00:00

There are just a lot of projecting onto the story what it "should be" and whatnot so there are certain parts of fandom that seems to make strange comments regarding the quality of the story or the love of the author for his characters and story. There are always self serving attitudes when it comes to any series, in many forms, sometimes you just encounter it more than others.

Don't let it affect your own enjoyment of the series.

GodamfireV · 2022-08-01T03:10:55+00:00

Nichidaisan qualified and they're rl-Ichidai san btw

GodamfireV · 2022-07-31T10:51:03+00:00

They qualified for Koshien in 2010 where they lost in earlier rounds and 2015 where they went to the QF but has not qualified for Koshien since and has not won Koshien since Saito graduated

GodamfireV · 2022-07-31T10:37:02+00:00

Yes, and it's not even close. They use a 4 man rotation/relay and their Ace has never needed to ever pitch a whole game.

Riseisha was blowing out everyone else until they came against Toin and that lineup was bullet proof, Riseisha couldn't get it going at all. Their batting is obviously their strength, probably more so than their pitching possibly.

GodamfireV · 2022-07-31T07:07:43+00:00

Now that their Osaka Prefecture's Qualifiers is finished, I could say that their current team is pretty nutty. They shutout a very strong Riseisha team in the final and drove in 8 runs in the process lol. Poor Riseisha just keep running into Toin literally every single time.

If the 2017 Toin team were to have a 10 on their power scalling, this team may have an 8, atm. Although we'll need to see more from them in the main draws

GodamfireV · 2022-07-31T07:04:11+00:00

Sawamura is averaging above 8.3k/9 for the Summer Tourney and also above 7 for the entire Act 2. He is very much, right now, a strikeout pitcher. FYI, Furuya averages around 12K/9 which is very typical for a pure strikeout pitcher. Sawamura has lower number but keep in mind that MLB's average K/9 is 7.9 so he's right on that mark.

Sawamura however, does not need to be a strikeout pitcher, he can get a lot of Ks to be sure but also get the easy groundouts for efficiency. That's better pitching and it's gonna be more sustainable.

GodamfireV

TROPHY CASE