Anime: Touch

Note: All the spoilers in this review are tagged.
I try to be as objective as I can when writing a review. But perfect objectivity is impossible and in my opinion, undesirable.
The average grade is completely irrelevant and shouldn't matter to anyone. I personally rated this show 10.

Overview

Touch is a high school sports romance drama based on the manga written by Adachi Mitsuru, the same guy that is responsible for the more recent Cross Game. Unlike most sports anime out there, the series puts emphasis on its characters and their interactions. As for the actual game of baseball, it is presented realistically, completely free of shounen like special moves and whatnot. This combination made Touch insanely popular in Japan as well as in Europe (even though baseball is essentially non-existent here).

Animation: 8

The art is very pleasing, although some of the side cast doesn't look particularly original. The faces are expressive without using distortions and the body proportions are natural (a welcomed change from contemporary series). Adachi likes to reuse his character designs, but that didn't bother me at all even though I've seen Cross Game just a short while ago.

The backgrounds are detailed enough to maintain and enhance the atmosphere when its is needed. Most of the time though, they're pretty generic for long running series from the late '80s, which means they get the job done.

The rest of the animation is pretty much the same. The movement feels natural most times, especially during critical moments in the games. That being said, there are a few repeated frames here and there and some inconsistencies overall, but those don't get so bad as to detract from the experience.

Sound: 9

The songs are catchy and integrate very well with the opening animations. I rarely skipped an intro, even though I sometimes watched even 6-7 episodes in a row. I really loved the fact that the song lyrics fit with the show and aren't just random. The ending tracks aren't as good, but they're soft and relaxing and work well for what they were intended.

The seiyuu were chosen appropriately and do an excellent job. Minami and Tatsuya's voice-actors are great at expressing feelings through subtle changes in their tone. This, coupled with great directing result in some truly memorable moments.

Story: 9

Touch is a character-driven series that doesn't focus on one particular element. It combines perfectly slice of life, romance, sports, comedy and drama.
The series is the story of 3 childhood friends: the twins Kazuya and Tatsuya and their next door neighboor Minami. The younger brother Kazuya is the school baseball team's ace pitcher. The older Tatsuya is the polar opposite of his brother, both in personality and achievements. The 3 of them are as close as they can get without becoming romantically involved (officially anyway). At first, the main focus is this love triangle. As time passes and other characters are introduced, the triangle becomes an entangled polygon. The sports part increases in significance as the baseball team strives to reach Koushien, the Japanese High School World Series.

Each episode has something to present and advances the plot and relationships a bit further, so it doesn't feel like any of them were wasted (well maybe the recaps aren't necessary if you watch the series on dvd, but I imagine they were important enough in the original TV airing). The pacing is very good but also a bit slow for some people. The important events are granted more than one episode, but never more than 3-4 so they never feel stretched out in any way.

The story never gets predictable which is in no small part due to the complexity of the characters. Some important events that come once in a while change the situation entirely and shake things up, but they are handled logically without unnecessary angst or melodrama.
Every baseball match is different and you never get that deja vu feeling that is so common in long series.

Character Development: 10

Let me make myself clear: I don't like baseball. I think it's slow and reliant on pure luck more than other ball games. I didn't even know the rules until a month or so back. But the characters are the reason this anime was so successful.

The cast isn't very big, but everyone is extremely well detailed and most importantly, THEY ACT THEIR OWN AGE. There are no gimmicks used to define people, no tsundere, no sporty girl, no brainy glasses girl, no loli, no shota, no bishounen, no perfect people, no idiotic pantsu in your face. They are normal people with their own doubts, ambitions, desires, loves. The leads get the most focus, but nobody is neglected.

Kazuya may seem perfect in everything, but has an inferiority complex towards his brother and is a lot more insecure than he shows. Tatsuya is easygoing, clumsy and let's his brother take front stage. He does have his own desires and feelings which get the better of him sometimes, although he tries to deny himself for the good of others. Minami is innocent and protective of the twins and tries to do the best for everyone. Though she is very naive as she hopes everything will turn out ok in the end, she can be decisive when there is no other way out. And all 3 of them are immature kids. They don't realize the consequences of their words and actions, make wrong decisions, are stubborn for little reason etc. But precisely because of this and how close they are to each other, they are so interesting to watch.

Aside from the leads, Kashiwaba, Nitta, Yuka, Nishimura, Harada and Koutarou are the most important. Their personalities are again well presented and outlined through the various situations they go through and their relations to the main characters. I especially liked Harada. He seems to see and understand more than anyone else, but he isn't perfect in his advices, he just gives his opinions. The demon coach Kashiwaba is a welcomed contrast to the good-natured Tatsuya.
Even the parents of the boys and Minami' father are given their time to establish themselves.

They all grow, change and mature throughout the course of the 101 episodes. They don't turn into someone completely different., they become adults.

Value: 8

For a long time it was the most famous sports anime and for good reasons. Now it is definitely a classic, albeit a bit forgotten. The rewatch value is quite good, but only after enough time has passed to forget all the little details.

Enjoyment: 10

I'm not a fan of sports anime. I used to love them when I was a kid, but now I find the idea of succeeding through a huge amount of effort alone rather childish.
But this anime had the right combination of school drama, romance, comedy and realistic sports. Add great characters and I got a series that pulled me in and hasn't let go of me yet. Now, I feel I must absolutely see the 3 recap movies and the 2 sequel ones.

A classic that has its own place among the anime titans of the '80s, like SDF Macross, Kimagure Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura and others.

Introduction: An oldie, but a goodie, is the best way to describe Touch, this was created by one of my favourite mangaka, Adachi Mitsuru. He is recognized as one of the best manga writers of all time. In fact there hasn't been a single manga that I did not enjoy, which he wrote, and I bet many can say the same.
The best being so far, H2 and Cross Game, his more recent works. This is probably because the theme is more modern and appeals to today's youth. However if Touch was released today, it still be a hit.

Animation: Looking at today's standard, the animation was pretty average, and at times bad. One has to remember though, this was made in the 80s so compare to other works during this period, this was pretty good.
However if you've never seen this and planned to see this, then please do be patient with the art work and remember this was pretty good for it's time. So don't just cast it away after a few episode, you'll be missing out on a wonderful story.
The artwork was done by hand so you have to give them props in making and drawing such a long series without much change to characters over time.
If anyone else have read any of Adachi Mitsuru works, would know he has a unique style of drawing. It closely resembles Ranma 1/2 at times, probably cause Adachi did enjoy the writing of Rumiko Takahashi and this could be seen in some of his works. However most of the artwork is very unique and original.
Overall you're not going to be watching this anime for the pretty pictures, cause there really isn't any but it was done well.

Sounds: Okay the voice acting is kind of cheesey, very old school. What else do you expect from an old school anime? It has to have that kind of cheesey acting and really old people trying to sound young. Back in the days there weren't any Hirano Aya, the seiyuu tended to be more older so all the characters have a more mature sound then what we're use to. In the big picture, the voices were average for this kind of anime, even compare to today's standard.

Story: As much as this is a sport anime, this much more a slice of life. It teaches the way youth should approach life, to never give up and to believe that they can be someone. The same kind of morals we see in a lot of other animes. This one however gives more, it takes things to the next stage and really show how tough trying to be the best really is and that sometimes it's just luck that separates you from your dreams.
This is a bit more serious anime but that doesn't mean it's not funny or it can't get a ha out of you. In fact I would say this is what a good comedy should be.
Fans of Adachi would know that his sports animes are actually rarely about the sport, it's much more of a highschool drama where we see the students growing up and using sports to reach their goals.
The love interest is quite linear in the anime, meaning, it follows the same kind of patterns seen in most other stories. However Adachi always leaves room for the out come to go either way. The hero might get the girl or the rival, and that's what keeps the interest alive. You're just not sure if he's going to get the girl or not. This can be highlighted in H2, it has one of the most interesting love stories I've read.
In conclusion, you can't think up a better story for this kind of theme and story plot, why rate it 9 then? Well I just don't believe in such things as a perfect story, so this is more like 9.6 out of 10.

Characters: As much as I went on about how great the story is, the characters were done poorly in the anime. I've read touch, the characters to me weren't like this. That's the saddest thing about it, the translate from manga to anime was just not do able by the skill of the director. Trust me, the characters are far more interesting in manga then they were in the anime. About 80% of the jokes from the manga were taken out just cause they couldn't make it work in the anime.
Truly the only down fall of this series, if only they could have presented the characters as they really were, however this series was a big success so I guess I can't complain.

Value: This thing is long, really long, so be prepared. If you don't want to watch this but is interested in the story I recommend reading the manga. You'll love it far more than the anime for sure. If you plan on watching this, read the manga anyways you'll just enjoy it so much more. If I was to rank the manga out of 10, as a whole, it be 9.3.

Touch is a sports anime centering around the Kantou high school baseball team. Unlink most sports anime, Touch puts a lot of focus on the "internals" -- love, loss, personality, friendship -- and relationships. Especially in the second half of the anime, the romantic elements gain focus.

The characters and the character interactions are truly believable. They aren't propped up, glossed over or exploited for service or for the plot. I think this is probably the only shounen anime I've seen which actually has believable relationships. (Not to disrespect shounen anime, most movies/TV/theater lacks believability.)


The Game

Even if there is a strong romantic element, the true motive force of the show is baseball. The run for Koushien, the "world series" of Japanese high school baseball, provides the force which propels the story.

Koushien is pretty ruthless. At least in the anime, loss of a single game eliminates a team from the competition.

The most amazing aspect is the drama of the baseball games. You can't find better dramatic handling of baseball, not even in classic Hollywood. Of course, there are flaws. For instance, it's wierd that the pitchers are also such great batters. There is perhaps too much stress on pitchers in general. Yet, the unfolding of the game shows that the show was obviously written and plotted by people who really know and love the game.


Artwork

The character design and visual style of the is a good reflection of Adachi's manga style. Colors are all solid; you won't find any shading. You will find a lot of deep blues, and backgrounds that are often left as evocative. Faces are drawn in the Adachi style. Scenes are framed and shot simply.

But don't get the idea that the art is lacking in any way. Maybe the lack of bells and whistles let the anime staff focus on what needed to be focused on: movement and expression. Throughout the entire 101-episode run, the quality is very consistent -- and quite high. There is very little recycling, other than shots establishing location.


Sound

The seiyuu for Tatsuya, the male protagonist, is quite good. Sadly, the seiyuu for Minami, the female protagonist, I found to be a bit flat. Although, that reflected the flatness in Minami's character itself. But fear not, Minami does get depth in the last quarter of the show.

Regaring the OP and ED, I found them varying from good to barely tolerable. Not really outstanding. On the other hand, the show features really amazing background music, foley, and incidental sounds. Silence often used quite well. The director didn't find it necessary to fill the audio track at all times.


Running time

Longer than most anime at 25:40. Here's my breakdown of the timings. Note that these numbers are only approximate.

0:00 - 1:40 op
1:41 - 2:15 recap, title
12:35 - 12:40 midpoint
23:18 - 23:40 preview
23:43 - 25:40 ed

That gives nearly 21 minutes of new story in each episode.


Analysis

Long dramatic shows can model real life better than movies or short series. In a show with 101 episodes, the relationships can really draw out. You can capture a pacing which is really much more consistent with real life than you can in a shorter time period.

However, very few shows really take advantage of this unique feature of long serials. Most series -- anime or otherwise -- eventually settle on a formula and repeat it. Touch avoids this. It truly is a linear, serial show, the true opposite of an episodic show. There are some formulaic episodes, and, even more prevalent, some episodes where little or nothing happens which hasn't already happened before (especially in the second half). Some things are dragged out too long. But there are no filler episodes. In this sense, Touch really outshines long dramatic series like Maison Ikkoku.

Still, don't expect romance to be predominate. It's a sideline. Adachi's preoccupations are with sports: What is required in order to have the dedication required to be great at a sport? Why do athletes subject themselves to the rigors of training? What is the relative importance of hard work versus talent? These are the issues which drive Touch.

I concluded that Adachi had a teaching goal: to prepare youth, his readers or viewers, for the hardship of serious sports. To drum into their heads, there is no victory without suffering. Sometimes, there was a whiff of Sparta. The sports camp parallels the military camp. Comrades at arms who have sweated and bled together. This gives a slightly conservative air to Adachi's work. One gets the idea that Adachi would be repulsed by the slackening of the work ethic after the bubble burst in the 90s.

While Adachi is very famous and popular in Japan, he is virtually unknown in the US. Touch, at the time of this writing, still holds the record as the highest-rated anime in Japan (34% share). Why has his work not crossed over? Does it fail to translate?

Perhaps his work hasn't crossed over because it has such a mainstream appeal. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I think it's possible. There are lots of other mainstream anime are hardly available at all, fansubbed or otherwise (e.g., Sazae-san). I think this is because what appeals to mainstream audiences doesn't appeal to minority of people in the US (and probably other countries) who watch anime. (Then again, maybe the fansub groups are intimidated by the long runs these shows have.)


Recap

In short, a classic. Required viewing for any otaku who likes shounen or sports anime, and even for those who don't.