Taishou Yakyuu Musume - Episode 5

Despite the potential disasters of the last episode beind averted, Akiko's baseball team is still one girl short, a fact that even Yuki's procurement of some baseball uniforms for all and sundry isn't going to cover up. This predicament isn't helped by their teacher Anna's insistence upon basic training in lieu of having a full complement of team members, with the constant running almost destroying the girls physically.


With this in mind, the girls go on the look-out for a new member to complete the team, but rather than picking someone up randomly as before they instead look to find someone fast to add to the overall ability of the squad. After rather dimly proving unable to fathom out such an obvious direction, they are eventually pointed in the direction of the school's track team, who seem to have just the girl they're looking for in the form of one Kochou Kikusaka. She's fast over small distances although not so much over longer stretches, making her perfect for baseball - But will she want to join the team?

Five episodes in, I'm actually starting to get a bit more used to the lilting and fun nature of this series - Despite my previous concerns about the lack of character depth, all of the girls offer up relatively fun, bright and breezy personalities, and this helps to keep things moving with a generally sunny complexion. This particular instalment also seems to get the comedy and slapstick humour angle pretty much spot on, to make for some pretty amusing moments which only add to the charm of the series. My only criticism here is the vague nature of Kochou's concerns throughout the episode - While these could and should have been clear, they were somehow left unsaid and feeling rather muddied, which actually detracted for the fact that she was torn between her desire to be a fast track runner and to be accepted into a sport in which she should have more natural ability. Thankfully that wasn't really enough of an issue to spoil what was otherwise an enjoyable episode, and while Taishou Yakyuu Musume isn't threatening to become a hugely memorable show it remains nonetheless entertaining to watch.