One Outs

Another one man show. Tokuchi Toua took it upon himself to get this anime the success it has got. If you think that it is sports anime and that too baseball and are not too aware of it and its rules don't worry because it gives the viewer a complete scenario of what is happening and moreover it has less to do with baseball and more with the psychological situations and gambling in which he seems to have his back to the wall and how he reacts to is what this anime is all about. 25 episodes of mental battle showing that your mind is your strongest weapon in any field you are indulged. Rest all the characters are mere spectator like us watching Toua displaying his talent.

NO SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! READ IT FULLY!!! One Outs is a perfect combo of pshycological and sports anime...each has equal importance and nothing weighs more in quantity and quality over the other, in other words it genuinely gives importance to both the genres in an intelligent way which makes this anime stand out of other sports anime... It is a story about a non proffesional baseball player who gets spotted by a lyacons team legend hiromichi who needed a pitcher for his team desperately and getsgreatly inspired by tokuchi toua to a extent that he urges the owner of the team to sign him and thus starts the Mindfucking One Outs... ART~ everyone in this anime is really well drawn , starting from tokuchi toua whose inspiration is surely taken from hisoka from hunter x hunter but that look is perfect for tokuchi as that surely shows how dangerous he is as a gambler and his captivating personality ...then other players are also well drawn, the stadium,the crowd,the streets..every tit bit is given ample importance...u will like the ART for sure... a 8/10 for me.. SOUND~ the opening is awesome....i really liked it...and the ost track for tokuchi is my favorite... this anime has simple yet spine chilling soundtrack and a super awesome starting track... the soundtrack adds the more captivating and mind playing aura of this anime..it enhances it to a great level... 8/10 for me Charcter~ every one is given ample time for character development...and variety of characters are also included which not only adds upto the variety in sports genre but also adds upto the increasing level of psychology too...mind games just increase potentially with entry of new characters so is the excitement with their sporting skills...and each character has his aura which will greatly affect u too in a positive manner... tokuchi toua being also my top 10 great admiring characters too...he is on another level , even i felt he surpassed light yagami of death note[just a comparison, even i liked light a lot] ENJOYMENT~ there isnt a time in this anime where you will get bored, even if you hate baseball or dont know its basics, i am challenging you after seeing this anime you will see baseball in whole new light and you will start watching it..every concept is well explained , even a dummy like me who dint even knew the ABC of baseball understood and enjoyed it to the fullest... the mindgames of tokuchi toua will take ur sheer enjoyment level to a new level and i bet you just cant wait after finishing an episode and will want to know what happens next... every character, every games, every stadium has a different feel and different charisma to it... i am 100% sure you will enjoy it to the fullest.. 9/10 for me in this sector OVERALL~ I dint expected a lot from this anime as it had baseball as its sports area, but i wanted to see it because it also had psychology genre too...but after watching it i was awestruck and not only became the fanboy of TOKUCHI TOUA but also loved baseball... MINDGAMES are on a different level ..never expected a SPORTS anime to have so much mindgames and psychology control in it.... IN one word i will say its SUGOYEEEE!!!! FOR PEOPLE WHO READ MANGA ~ as it has the anime already, just watch the one outs anime first , its 25 epsiodes will cover the 82 chapters of the anime in a beautiful way.. you all can start reading manga after seeing the anime from chapter- 83... the 2nd half of one outs is even more thrilling and more captivating with new contract than the first one... PLS I URGE YOU ALL TO READ THE MANGA FROM CH-83 AFTER SEEING THE ANIME... I AM DESPERATELY WAITING FOR 2ND SEASON FROM MADHOUSE...I KNOW WAITING FOR 2ND SEASON FROM MADHOUSE IS LIKE WAITING FOR RAIN IN A DESERT WHERE IT HASNT RAINED FOR MANY YEARS :P HAVE A FUN RIDE WATCHING THIS ANIME... ARIGATO MINNA

"The only important thing about a low probability is... it's NOT ZERO." -Toua Tokiuchi For short, If you like a strong character that is intelligent who is not wussy and annoying...then you will LOVE THIS ANIME! *NO SPOILERS* Toua Tokuchi: -Ruthless-Mentally exhausts and scares the opponents with interesting psychology -Experienced =FINALLY nothing like the other anime where the inexperienced dramatically improves...>.>>>I could go on but if you want a refresher with no girls the main character is pleasing and sacrificing for e.g, Over drive, Naruto Shippuden (I love the anime but HATE Sakura) then this is an excellent anime! "Winning is about making your opponents lose, making them taste defeat, crushing a fallen opponent, kicking them when they're down, rubbing salt into a gaping wound. 'Winning is about trampling over corpses. 'It's not beautiful, it's BRUTAL."

Just a short comment, because most of it has been already said: If you like exitement of mind games and try to predict patterns how people react - this anime is just right for you. Forget about baseball and everything else... still its an enjoyable setting - to see how Tokuchi Touya gets under peoples skin .. ♥ Story: its unique and individual. Art : I like it, but its my taste. Some say they dont like it. I just have to look into Touyas eyes.. Character: Touya outshines everything else. Evil boss stereotypes. The other team members are too "naive" .. or "passive" though only 8 Sound & Enjoyment: just try it out.. tastes differ ^^

Okay so ill summarize what this show is in two words, "PSYCHOLOGICAL BATTLES!". The main character is a pitcher, but not in the way other baseball pitchers are. His fastest pitch is only about the speed a high school pitcher throws, and he doesn't throw super crazy unrealistic pitches either that like movie with his mind or anything. What he basically does is play mind games against each and every one of his opponents. He throws the pitch you plan to not swing at, but then when you plan to swing at it, he throws the pitch you wont. Its almost that simple, but then again its way more complex. The story is, this pitcher using his abilities to play in the majors in japan, but not being paid an annual salary like everyone else, instead he turns the whole game into a gambling match. He gains money for each out he gets, and loses money for each run he gives up. The big catch is, the amount he loses for a run much much higher then what he gets from an out. The show is especially good, because you don't hear the plans from the main characters mind, but you hear the thoughts of the victims. So the whole time you feel as if you are a part of the struggle to get a hit off this pitcher that is playing mind games with everyone. Ill tell you right now, you may think you and your team are winning the battle, but in reality you are sinking in a deep mental trap and are losing the war. If you like shows like Death Note, Code Geass, Kaiji and others that have a psychological aspect that feels a lot like intense action, you will like this show and be eager for another season of it. If you like my review you can add me to MAL friends. This is my second review : )

One Outs is a sports anime based on the long-running manga of the same title by Shinobu Kaitani, one of my absolute favorite manga artists. To call One Outs a sports anime is a little misleading. While it does revolve around a baseball team, the anime is more concerned with the psychological workings of its main character, Tokuchi Toa. Tokuchi is a gambler by nature. At night, he can be found playing a very popular game called One Outs with a platoon of stationed American soldiers. The rules of the game are simple: pitcher versus batter. If the pitcher manages to strike out the batter or make the batter hit the ball within the infield, the pitcher wins. If the batter manages to hit the ball outside of the infield, the batter wins. People place bets on either the pitcher or the batter, and major money is on the line. Tokuchi is always the pitcher. Always. And he’s remarkably good. While he only pitches roughly 75 mph (slow in comparison to most major league pitchers), his record is practically flawless. He strikes out batters like nobody’s business and is an arrogant prick about it too. Enter Hiromichi Kojima, a famous major league baseball player in Japan comparable to Sammy Sosa out here in the States. However, in all his long years of playing baseball with Lycaons (a fictional baseball team) he’s never won the championship, despite his individual prowess on the field. Kojima challenges Tokuchi to a game of One Outs with “their arms” on the line. If Tokuchi wins, Kojima will give him a ridiculous amount of money. And if Tokuchi wins, Kojima gets Tokuchi’s arm. Tokuchi Toua will be forced to join the Lycaons. Now I bet you can all guess that Tokuchi loses. After all, the show would be pretty damn boring if Tokuchi won a butt load of money and went off to buy a yacht or whatever. So now Tokuchi has been thrust into the world of professional baseball and is pitching for the Lycaons. The main device of this story, however, is Tokuchi’s contract with the crooked manager. Tokuchi believes in merit equaling pay-out. To that end, he sets up this deal: “For every batter I get out, I get 5,000,000 yen. But for every run I allow, I pay you 50,000,000 yen.” The manager thinks he’s struck gold when it comes to this dumb rookie pitcher. But Tokuchi’s skills prove otherwise, and the manager has to think of dastardly ways to take down the miracle newbie. The show follows Tokuchi’s adventures with Lycaons baseball team as he tries to protect his yearly salary and make a killing in the ultimate gamble. He comes up against a variety of tough opponents, each one needing to be outwitted or outplayed. One Outs is an interesting series to swallow. First of all, you don’t necessarily need to like baseball to like this show. In fact, if you’re a baseball fan, you may find this show hard to stomach at first. (I know I did.) There are things about the way these guys play baseball that is just not realistic. In fact, some stuff is just plain ridiculous. But if you ignore the glaring flaws when it comes to the baseball logistics, you can actually really enjoy yourself. Tokuchi is an interesting main character. Not necessarily likeable, as he pretty much is entirely self-driven and seems to only care about money. Still, his selfish motives end up helping a lot of other people out indirectly, so you can forgive him for that. He’s also disturbingly anti-social and kinda scary to look at. However, he is just a bit of a genius, and watching him take out his opponents one by one is both frightening and exhilarating. The supporting characters are somewhat well done. Unfortunately, most of the time, they exist to simply explain Tokuchi’s genius and stare dumbfounded at just how damn smart he is. Kojima is redeemable in the fact that he’s the only one on the team who doesn’t positively fanboy over Tokuchi. Ideguchi, the catcher, is another story. He’s pretty much Tokuchi’s number one fan, and while he’s certainly likeable (rookie catcher = kinda adorable), he hardly ever gets to do anything cool himself. Most of the time, he’s just following Tokuchi’s instructions. Then again, he arguably becomes Tokuchi’s best friend on the team (catcher and pitcher relationship for the win!) and you forgive him his initial ignorance as he matures and wises up over the course of the show. There are few characters who are purely comic relief, but they do it well, especially considering the main character of the show is about as funny as a petting zoo catching on fire. After so much “bazball iz seriuz bzness!” you need a bit of a break, and these guys provide it just fine. Tokuchi’s opponents are actually very well done. They’re not complete dopes at all. In fact, most of them are quite skilled and give Tokuchi a real problem to work his way out of. I wish the final opponent had been a bit more threatening and epic, but eh, twenty five episode anime is twenty five episodes. The OST is generally pretty good, although the opening and ending themes leave something to be desired. The actual BG music in the show is pretty good though. I wouldn’t mind DLing it and giving it another listen for nostalgia’s sake. Unfortunately, the anime becomes very “villain of the week-ish” after Tokuchi joins the Lycaons. Don’t get me wrong, the baseball games last more than one episode – in fact, some can span as many as five or six. But the formula is more or less the same for every single opponent and Tokuchi never really grows as a character. In fact, no one really grows that much. The Lycaons decide they actually want to win, but other than that, no single character really discovers anything about themselves. The main device of the plot is Tokuchi and his money. Which can get a little old after awhile. Visually, the anime is pretty stunning. It followed Kaitani-sensei’s original designs pretty well, adding in a bit more detail and attractive coloring to make a generally great looking show. The anime, unfortunately, is only one season long and cuts off before the original manga ended. So the ending is not exactly unsatisfying, but incomplete. Sports animes should end with the team winning the god damn championship. That’s how it works. Unfortunately, time constraints meant that this anime would have to settle for ending after a semi-important game. Overall, One Outs is one of those shows that you watch purely for fun. If you enjoy puzzles/psychological thrillers/sports/blonds, then you’ll probably enjoy this show. I’m a fan of sports anime and of psychological stuff, so this one was a winner in terms of enjoyment for me. Is this one of my favorite animes? Eh, not really. But it was fun while it lasted. But having a main character who is hard to relate to can isolate audiences. If you can’t find a reason to like Tokuchi, you won’t like this show. But I do like Tokuchi. It’s fun watching him pick apart his opponents’ psyches. So I really did enjoy One Outs. Overall: 8/10 (But the OP really is ridiculous.)

Who said gamble mixed with sport isn't good enough? Well, those who have opinion like that should consider to watch One Outs. As the synopsis above, One outs is mostly about gambling in baseball world. Yes, gamble and baseball. Although, the gamble in this term isn't about manipulating score or something like that, it's more one on one gamble, in this term it's Touma vs the club owner. One outs really did its job in delivering entertaining pyshcological anime by mixing gamble who really has that pyschological things + baseball tense. As we know, sports anime aren't only about winning and losing, but also how they win and lose in which may affect their mental/pyschological. Just imagine those gambling tenses in a must-win baseball match. Yes, those tenses are what will you feel along this series. Eventhough one outs is great in terms of pyschological things, its baseball may seem a little bit unrealitic. As the synopsis above, Touma pitches' speed are merely 134 kmh which is very normal and mediocre among pro players, but he's able to contribute a lot of things to his team and also striking out their enemy just by playing with some pyschological things. I know, some said that when you can read your enemy mind, you can win the game, but it seems unrealistic for me, personally. All that said, One outs is a very must watch anime for those who love pyschological anime, because you know this is Death Note in baseball version for me, but i won't recommend this for those who love baseball anime because it may seems unrealistic at some moments. I have watched/read baseball matches, anime and manga, so i know what a baseball anime should look.

My language is not good, so do not look for mistakes this anime talk about baseball but not like major or corss game. it sport with gamble , I think this first anime talk about baseball and gamble so its different from the Other animes. In this Anime you will find cunning, deception and greed. the anime stop in 82 ch in manga .. story : 9/10 the story is great .. talking about gambler called tokuchi and the man gambling with baseball. the story is amazing and keep you going to know what next Eps, but in Eps 25 in 11 min how the voice Players is showing in TV!!! Art : 10/10 The art is very good and distinctive I like it . The art from madhouse always stunning. Sound : 9/10 voices characters ..and a private voice coach wonderful ..and also Other of the voices is very suitable, but OP and ED is bad for me. some soundtrack like in the end in Eps 25 same soundtrack Rainbow anime. Character: 9/10 Tokuchi is amazing he very smart, he one of the best Character I seen. the coach also is good Character also the Owner . Enjoyment: 10/10 Although Tokuchi every time wins.But I do not care so much ..Because character Tokuchi most important thing here for me. "ONE OUTS Nobody wins, but I!" is beautiful quote and also like "Those who use fraud as a weapon of cheating in the end stifle" the overall for me is : 9.4 In any case you should see this anime.

Have you ever thought of a baseball player who is actually has a smart mind and can calls the shot around everyone who think they will beat a intelligent man, put that together with a manager really wants you lose so bad that throws you alot of situations to prevent you win the big gold? That's what this series is all about, winning at all cost. Story(8):Meet Toua Tokuchi a gambler, and a One Outs baseball champion undefeated who is improving at his best at pitching. All of a sudden, things changed when Hiromichi Kojima is the first man who defeats Toua after his rematch.After the match, Kojima makes Toua to join this baseball team called Lycaons(the weakest team in baseball) to help out the team win their first championship.After he joins the team, he meets the manager of the Lycaons who requests Toua to sign the One Outs contract to include huge amounts of money if he wins a match. But, if Toua loses the manager will take Toua's money down the drain.Toua accepts the deal, and that's when the exciting adventure of Toua just getting started. The story is actually quite amazing to watch just to see what Toua's actions are going to do with the opponents he is about to face. One minor problem from making the story of a masterpiece is the ending is...... what say it makes you want something more out of it to see what's happening next. And, sometimes the arcs makes it feel like it is predictable which is not bad but it gets sorta tedious from it. Out of that the story is very nice that it is very different from what you usually see from regular baseball with some huge twists. Art(8):Nothing to say anything bad on the art. It features red background face whenever Toua makes a grin on his face when he defeats opponents which is good. The characters looks nice which is nice though the whole art ain't memorable to look at you finish watching the show. Sound(8): The sound is fantastic, with you first hear the opening theme song features slow beat that gives you goosebumps from listening to it. Also, the ost is pretty good when something get interesting going on to the characters at the right time. One problem aspect to the sound is sometimes the songs get repetitive to hear once you already hear it again it gets annoying. One example is after the ending theme the preview songs comes, and it brings it again in some occasionally with a scene. It gets annoying that you want a new song come in so you don't have to listen to it again. Character(9): One Outs has the greatest characters you will ever see. Their personalities are very unique that it makes you wanting to like them. Including the villain(manager) makes you really want to him so bad, and Toua(sorta like a hero to the team of Lycaons) makes you like the characters. The rest of the characters did a very good job as their role to this series including the rivalries of the Lycanos. Enjoyment (9):This show has very high enjoyment. With huge twists type of cat and a mouse in the whole sport of baseball. It makes you very entertained that it you will be wondering, "why baseball isn't like this type of show?" Overall(9):Best sport show you will ever seen. If you like baseball, not a huge fan of baseball, or not even a fan of sports in general but just like smartful characters,than this one will like the show even more that you will be cringing your teeth, and have your edge on your seat.If you like physiological shows with a smartful character and a evil villain morals his plans to bring a character than you will like this show for sure like I have been enjoying it for me.

MY FIRST REVIEW OF MY FAVORITE ANIME one outs is the best anime i have watched so far a gambler pitcher named tokuchi toua how brillant this protagonist is. he is strategic, badass and cooler. i consider him like my brother i want the season 2 of one outs so much story 8: good concept a pitcher like gambling and tokuchi defeat people art 7: pretty old animation of Madhouse but i love the animation on the anime sound 9 : the op and ending was pretty good and all the ost are sick character 9: just because i love tokuchi enjoyment 7: the begin was really interesting but the middle was a little bit annoying but love it

It can be difficult to find a good mind game anime that doesn’t water down on the suspense. One Outs is a classic example of this. The story follows our main character Toua Tokuchi who loves two things: baseball and gambling. After having been set to play for a professional team, he proceeds to demonstrate his skills in both pitching and out thinking his opponents. While this may seem like a rather simple premise on paper, there's actually quite a bit of depth to this setup. Tokuchi is more than just a generic badass mc. His wit and quick thinking are what keeps the show interesting. The ways and extent to which his opponents will go to win some of these games is truly mind boggling. The stakes continue to grow and it becomes more daunting to see how he gets out of these situations. He also knows how to make the most out of his teammates both utilizing them and giving them advice. I find this to be a nice character trait as it shows that he has a compassionate side as well instead of just being a blank slate. Each of the games is just as enticing as the last featuring new ways that the game of baseball can be exploited. Now I’m not really big into baseball nor do I know many of the more obscure rules to it but after watching this show, I have come to witness just how far you can push this sport especially in a must-win situation. It’s honestly hilarious sometimes the crazy yet cleverly constructed ways they come up with in order to win. It doesn’t feel bloated and quite honestly, we as the audience can understand how these things work. The gambling aspect of the show is what leaves a constant looming threat in the air as Toua is forced to comply with the demands of his organization’s owner. This guy is about as greedy as a person can get as he tries to foil our mc any chance he gets trying to put him into debt and raising his own profits. It really makes you hate the guy. The pacing in this show is fairly consistent throughout. There are sparse moments of downtime as things usually pick back up as soon as a new inventive tactic is introduced. One thing I will give the show credit for is that each game introduces a different aspect of baseball that we have not seen before. One Outs also makes excellent use of its sound and audio. From the windup to a pitch to the intense inner monologue these characters have, everything works well to build up tension and suspense. There was never a moment where I felt it was poorly timed or didn't fit the scene. For a show that's essentially a psychological thriller, the tension is there and can leave you at the edge of your seat. It’s a shame that this show isn’t more popular and doesn’t have a sequel, however, it was satisfying for what it was. If you aren’t turned off by the art style or the fact that this is a 'sports' anime, give this show a watch. It truly is a stand out among the rest of its genre and demonstrates that psychological anime can be both fun and incredibly intense.

I don't really watch sport anime since this is not genre I enjoy but this is actually a gambling anime in disguise as sport anime. The anime has it pros and cons: The Good 1. Mind game The mind game and the plot twist is not as thrilling as Death Note, Liar Game or any other mind game anime/manga but it is still enjoyable to watch. 2. Gambling anime disguise as sport anime This is something we don't see quite often so this is actually quite unique because it felt new. Not to mention, it can easily attract people who is not interest in sport anime. So, for people who never watch sport anime or never interested in sport anime, this will be their first sport anime. The Bad 1. Art style Weird and uninteresting art style. Especially the main protagonist looks like blond hair Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter. 2. OST The ost is not really that nice or memorable. 3. Gambling anime disguise as sport anime This depend on people actually. If the people who is like me, not really interested in sport anime, this is the anime where we will find quite enjoyable and new but for those who is into sport anime, might be a little disappointed since this anime aren't typically baseball anime they used to watch unless they are ok with psychological genre (of course, don't expect the mind game to be better than other psychological anime have watch before) 4. Baseball I know nothing about baseball so sometime when they explain the rule of baseball really confuse me and not to mention, they mix it with mind game which sometimes make me more confuse. It would be appreciate if they do what Death Note does. In Death Note, in the middle of every episode (aka commercial break) there is "How to use Death Note" rule explanation so we anime watcher can pause the video and read the rule and when we understand the rule a little, we can get what is going on with the story. Overall Despite its cons, the anime is still enjoyable however, if you are watching this anime because of baseball, then I suggest it's best you skip this because it is not the same baseball anime you used to watch before unless you are ok with psychology genre but do not expect the mind game is as good as other psychology anime because the plot twist is not really that strong. This anime is worth to watch when you don't have good anime to watch this season because it's still an enjoyable anime to past your time.

(Check out my profile for a link to my site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!) I don't know the first thing about sports, which shouldn't come as a surprise since I have a MAL account, and I have about as much interest when it comes to engaging with sports at all. I went to a baseball game when I was a little kid and cried that it was too hot (it was) until I was taken home. It was boring as hell, but the cartoons they played during half-time were pretty cool. Thus, if anything was going to make me reconcile with baseball it was my love for gambling anime. The mysterious Toua Tokuchi is a brilliant pitcher who is scouted by Lycaons ace batter Hiromichi Kojima during a gambling baseball game of "One Outs". Tokuchi is persuaded to join the Lycaons and save them from the bottom of the rankings by using his genius strategies that also utilize psychological mind games with the opponent, both of which more than make up for Tokuchi's slow pitching speed and basic technique. That's not all though. In order to join the team Tokuchi enters into a "One Outs" contract with team owner Tsuneo Saikawa where he gains about $46,000 for every batter he strikes out, but loses $460,000 for every run that goes through while he's pitching. The greedy Saikawa only cares if his Lycaons team makes a profit for him rather than if they win and stops at nothing to defeat the taunting Tokuchi. Tokuchi also has to contend with the rest of the talented but easily pessimistic team and their lapdog doofus manager. If you are like me and express any concern over such interesting situations coming out of an old pastime like baseball, let me immediately tell you that you shouldn't. One Outs is full of endless surprises and tricks that demonstrate the seemingly infinite variety of strategies the game is capable of. To state something that would normally be in the conclusion of anyone writing that had an actual affinity for sports, One Outs made me respect baseball much more than I did before. The game's rules are intricate and the ways each player can take advantage of them are clearly shown to be even more complex. On top of this, One Outs has its own unique contrivances due to its "One Outs" contract constantly strangling Tokuchi's movements, and the spread of enemy teams that each have their own distinct strategy for handling the Lycaons. It did not get old. While I was entertained by One Outs at all times, I did however feel it had a tendency to drag. The 25 episode anime actually only really goes through three teams, with an average of six episodes dedicated to each. That sounds very fair on paper, but I felt pressured knowing the series's premature run and wanted to see as many new characters and strategies as I could before it finished. There were times when Tokuchi had already beaten the opponent to the brow so much that there were diminishing returns on seeing them crushed. There's a pattern for the opponents to already show themselves as frustrated and in a corner, and this is when the sense of risk is decreased. I found that my favorite matches were against the BlueMars team, the token cheaters in every sports anime. Due to their willingness to cheat in every aspect of baseball there is a constant introduction of new tricks that rely on a totally different base strategy rather than variations of the same one, such as the Bugaboos's reliance on a fast runner or the Mariners with their star batters. It kept things fresher than the other teams because we hadn't seen Tokuchi approach each new trick in any way before. Though the other teams didn't have as steady momentum in their episodes I quite enjoyed the new unique characters that were sort of like rivals to Tokuchi rather than generic players. The Mariners had several of these which is why they're my second favorite match, and since they're ranked first in the league the sense of risk is the highest in the series. Like Akagi in his titular Mahjong anime, Tokuchi is clearly a cold undefeatable genius. It's of very little question that he'll win, which was something that worked against the Akagi series. However, One Outs circumvents this by introducing an emphasis on cooperaton and thus character building that other gambling anime lack. It's impossible for Tokuchi to succeed completely on his own because his agency is limited by the sheer number of players on the field and the roles he can't play in. It's not enough for Tokuchi to pitch well; he must also become a spiritual mentor to the Lycaons and influence their attitude and performance. Because Tokuchi can't have control over the entire game on his own a sense of unpredictability and the idea that everything could fall apart with ease still exists. Though Tokuchi appears to inspire faith in the Lycaons it's unfortunately often temporary and little growth is felt from what we see in the series. Though there's much to be desired when it comes to establishing the other Lycaons team members it's still an effort that exists and contributes greatly to the tension and feeling of victory in the show. Being a Madhouse production, One Outs has above average animation quality. However, this is far from one of Madhouse's most dedicated projects. Though stock footage is used very little in a subject that easily welcomes it and the framerate isn't at all bothersome, the illustration is average to downright ugly when it comes to backgrounds, and there's little movement in many scenes. This is not at all a great example of production, but motion is felt and feedback through sound is strong enough that One Outs isn't limited by its production either. There's a soundtrack too but it's utterly disposable including the opening and credits themes, which is a shame. One Outs has its restraints and they're what you would probably expect. Its sole focus on the games of baseball comes at a cost of any character or setting development and it never really goes anywhere because the anime doesn't completely adapt the manga, but it's a riveting ride while it lasts and I can't deny that it kept my attention more than the last several anime I watched. That means I liked it more than most despite limpness in several important areas, and I believe most people would like it as well. To put it another way: if One Outs were fully adapted and some 100 episodes longer, I would still be excited to continue watching it.

It’s almost a sin to call this a baseball anime, though I suppose that is technically true. But it’s really a battle of psychological warfare with one ultra-cool antihero. The Lycaons are a professional baseball team who won the championship in distant memory but have recently been ranked last. Tokuchi Toua is a pitcher whose skill is not so much in pitching as it is in gambling and analyzing his opponents’ weaknesses. Discovered in a gambling den, Tokuchi arranges a special contract with the team where he gets paid for each out he provides—and pays them for each point he allows. Tokuchi has what may be the coldest, most calculating eyes in anime. He’s a conceited nightmare: smoking and sleeping openly in the dugout, not bothering to practice, wearing his cap backwards, seemingly bored with everything—and yet he manages to unite his team behind him and be a true ace. I loved him instantly. It’s a delight to see everyone initially fail to take him seriously and then slowly come to realize what a grave mistake they’ve made in underestimating him. This is truly an anime of epic mind games: Tokuchi vs. everyone, and the enemies can come from anywhere, including within the team itself. I’d recommend giving this anime at least three episodes to get going, because once the street gambling ends and the actual baseball begins, it’s engrossing and kept me guessing what clever maneuver Tokuchi would come up with next to thwart rival teams and even the owner of Tokuchi’s own team. After a while, I even started to like that stupid overbearing infodump narration. The problem with this anime, though, is its lack of character development (partially because we never get into Tokuchi’s head and only see him from an outsider’s perspective). But maybe it’s more fun that way, watching Tokuchi psychologically manipulate his opponents. I found myself laughing aloud at his cleverness and sheer audacity. Needless to say, I’d love a second season.

One Outs is a story about some loser team aiming for the top with their veteran, Kojima, and the new guy, Tokuchi. Well, that's the story from the Lycaons' perspective, which we don't really care about. The real deal is going on behind everyone's backs with some shady deal between Tokuchi and the team's owner. The story focuses on things like deception, mind games, and cheating. [+] I didn't like the opening theme. It sounds kinda emo or something and flaunts a half-naked Tokuchi. The ending theme didn't catch my attention, so I didn't watch/listen to it even once. [+] Hearing Kaiji's voice from Tokuchi was a little weird, but I think I mostly disliked the lack of emotion in Tokuchi's character. [+] The art was fine for the most part. I thought it was annoying and unfitting how they'd sometimes make it seem a little bit like a gag manga, throwing in some "THAT'S THE JOKE. LAUGH." moments. I was also annoyed when two players were getting excited and shouting with some "exciting" background, both of them remaining rather still... it wasn't very convincing. And now for the main course of my review, the characters. I probably already spoiled your appetite, but you're still reading this, so let's proceed. K O J I M A I never imagined myself to be someone that would enjoy sports anime (other than Hajime no Ippo), but I really liked Kojima. He was introduced as a man aiming for the top through hard work and dedication. When he faces Tokuchi for the first time, you don't feel like cheering for Tokuchi, the unstoppable pitcher. You want Kojima to win since he's just such a great and respectable guy. This was the only real moment in the series that felt suspenseful to me. Would Kojima win or would he lose? We all know this anime is about Tokuchi just by watching the opening theme, so how will things turn out? Indeed, a very interesting moment made possible by Kojima's character. I D E G U C H I This guy is pretty useless, but he's smarter than the other team members. Tokuchi pretty much treats him like crap, but Ideguchi doesn't let that cloud his judgement; he can see that Tokuchi is an incredible man and he has a deep respect for that. In fact, when Ideguchi isn't busy taking up 5 minutes to think of a scheme that turned out to be 100% useless, he often likes to think to himself "Wow, Tokuchi is really amazing!" We come to like Ideguchi since he's in the know and Tokuchi trusts him, plus he's probably the only other player on the team that's really in it to win it. In the end, I don't think he really added that much to the story, though. T O K U C H I I'm a bit disappointed, really. He's unstoppable and has virtually no weaknesses. He's unrivaled. This makes things a little boring since there's never any sense of danger. He's never really cornered. Everyone else is always freaking out, but Tokuchi knew everything would come to that moment and he already knew the way out. Sometimes he needs a little more evidence to come to his conclusion, in which case he sends out a few pawns to be sacrificed, then all is clear. He's definitely put into some tough situations, but the problem is that Tokuchi is too perfect and that nothing is ever a challenge. One nice thing about his character is how he improves the team and gets those losers to actually show some spirit, though that should probably be Kojima's job. Overall, this was pretty enjoyable, but Tokuchi ruined most of the suspense.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I love this show. This was my first rewatch after initially watching it many years ago. It's clear why that's the case. It's one of a kind in a few ways. First of all, let's talk about the animation style. It's definitely kind of old, kind of cheap, but you know, pretty average for the time. So why is it unique? I'm afraid that even the mediocre animation style will never be replicated in modern times. That's because people really think that slapping crappy low polygon CGI models of infielders and outfielders on the field is more cost effective than just doing what this show did: reusing animation frames and doing a lot of close ups. Think about it: despite the show having a lot of closeups of people picking up the ball, catching it, or hitting the ball, there's not a lot of high fidelity scenes where a player is running with a detailed background. That's okay! The show had pretty average budget so they decided to storyboard more closeups while still maintaining the feel of a baseball game and having the viewer understand the action involved. Nowadays, if an animation studio wants something cheap, they'll just try to recreate a high quality scene with no budget and the result is some crappy CGI rigs running on a field with a poorly animated and reused running sequence of the main character in the scene. Unfortunately, hiring people in Indonesia to poorly animate 3D models is much cheaper than actually trying to storyboard with what you got. This show, despite having relatively bad budget, made the most of it, used good storyboarding and animation to still tell a good story. Second of all, and of course, the more important and less technical is the fact that it's a psychological baseball anime. Everyone knows that when you play baseball, the mind games between the battery and the person battery is crucial in determining the outcome of a duel. This show definitely capitalizes on that. What if you had a main character who could literally read the minds of the person he's facing? Well, the batter would never hit the ball. And that's Tokuchi. Bordering complete mind-reading levels of ability, Tokuchi is able to pitch balls effectively with 120 mph fastballs with no breaking balls to professional Nippon Professional Baseball players and get strikeouts because he can predict exactly what the batter is thinking and pitch accordingly. But that's also super unfun to watch. How is Tokuchi different from Echizen from Prince of Tennis, for example? Echizen effortlessly wins official games no matter how the tides are against him, similar to Tokuchi? Well, the difference here is that Tokuchi is playing a team game, and everyone is out there to get him. It's not just a game of baseball, it's a battle of wits against hostile agents that want to maliciously harm Tokuchi. It's about abusing baseball rules and mechanics on both sides to try to get the better of each other. Tokuchi has to listen to the manager? Well, how can we convince a manager who got bribed to not screw over Tokuchi? Similarly, how does Tokuchi use his extremely smart wits to manipulate his own teammates, the enemy team, and other people to meet the conditions of certain obscure baseball rules that come into effect that benefit Tokuchi in the end? It's very fun in that you get to learn a lot more about how baseball can be manipulated, even in official games, and because of how Tokuchi is always on his toes because anyone can try to screw him over. It's definitely not a battle shouenen where Tokuchi perfects his craft and becomes friends with his catcher while he's at it. No, it's about a degenerate gambler that's highly intelligent, in a highly unfavorable contract and situation, unbeatable in orthodox terms, but still has use his wits in order to outsmart the people around him. What about the people around him? How are the characters? I love them! Again, it's not a traditional baseball show. Why bother characterizing each baseball player on the team? It's not high school baseball either. There's many substitutions being made, and it isn't feasible to characterize a whole cast of Nippon Professional Baseball players. Instead, you have just a select few characters that you know and love. You got Kojima, one of the main characters. He's the star batter of a terrible team, Lycaons, and he's desperate to win. He's in awe in how he got defeated by Tokuchi and recruits him to the team. Tokuchi the pitcher needs no introduction. The catcher Ideguchi is in a similar boat with Kojima, being one of the few players that is deeply in awe of Tokuchi's skill and you can say that these are the characters in Tokuchi's camp. They'll basically follow every order of his and they are his loyal allies. Fujita and Imai are regular professional baseball players on the Lycaons, they represent the naive majority that are subject to manipulation. Not to say they're bad characters, I actually love them too! They're fun to watch as they joke around and comment on the state of things without knowing too much. Finally, we have the Owner of the baseball team himself. You can say that the Owner is one of the cornerstones of the story. He's hilariously evil. You can say that his only personality is that he's a rich CEO that uses underhanded methods to gain money. Basically, the typical CEO in real life. He doesn't care about the fact that the team he owns sucks. It brings profit margins. He just sucks out all the money he can while putting as little money as possible to make profit. It kind of reminds me of insurance companies in the USA denying essential healthcare claims because it cuts into their profits. Oh capitalism! Tokuchi is described as a gambler. He only cares about the outcome: win or loss. Ultimately, with a similar drive to the Owner, Tokuchi wants to win money and he'll do underhanded methods to do so. However, there are a few major distinctions. Tokuchi uses all his cards in his disposal to win, but he's actually talented. After all, he's OP and can read minds. He's literally the best baseball player and gambler ever. The Owner is a typical money grubbing CEO. He isn't particularly talented at anything, doesn't contribute anything to the team, and even if he had the drive to create a team that would win the championships, he'd probably fail at it. He's narrowminded enough to never consider that he made a mistake in his decisions to deal with Tokuchi, and he goes through every illegal and underhanded method in order to prove that he was correct. He literally risks bankruptcy just to prove that he is smarter than Tokuchi. Secondly, and you can say the most important distinction though, is that Tokuchi honors his promises. Tokuchi did verbally promise Kojima that he would help him with the championships. That is to say, there's nothing but trust in a verbal promise that binds Tokuchi to the Lycaons. Tokuchi could have easily backed out of his agreement with Kojima, but due to his own stubbornness and also gracefulness of taking a loss, Tokuchi actually follows through anyway. If the owner was the one making this promise, I'd have to get it legally binding for it to be worth anything. After all, he'd probably just back out saying that he never said such a thing. Overall, the dynamic between Tokuchi and the owner is one of the most fun things to watch. and It's obviously easy to keep the viewer engaged because Tokuchi is the "underdog" while the Owner with all his power is trying to crush Tokuchi down however he can.

I just watched this in 2023 and I must say that this is the most underrated anime I have ever seen!! Such a shame that they only made one season. I love the fact that this feels from another era. The characters drink alcohol and smoke. You don't see this anymore in today's animation (not that I agree with those habits, I personally don't do neither of those) If you are looking for a charismatic hero and some witty content, give this a try. I only give it a 9/10 since the art style of the main character could have been a bit better.

One Outs is a very positive surprise and another hidden gem that has not received as much spotlight as it deserves. I was initially very skeptical about watching this series as I am not very familiar with Baseball. However, the full-of-suspense story and the mentally strong protagonist are extremely captivating. The story focuses for the most part on mind games, strategy, gambling, cheating and deception to achieve one's goal rather than the sport itself. The protagonist reminds a lot of mentally strong characters and tacticians such as L from Death Note or Lelouch from Code Geass. The story has a good pace with a lot of anxious anticipation of how the main character will overcome the challenges presented to him. It is realistic and provides some valuable life lessons. Overall, it is a great series and a very enjoyable watch. If you are a fan of strong and dominant protagonists, mind games, gambling and psychological warfare, do not miss this one!

This is literally AKAGI playing baseball. Aside from the same voice actors and the genre, it's actually different if you think about it. When I first watch this anime, in my mind I was pretty confused because it's reminded me of Akagi. You know, that feeling when you get by watching a certain type of anime that hits you in a good psychological way. It makes you want to be that person deep down inside of you. Trying to escape from your mind. I can't really explain it in term but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks of this. But that is for another day, we here to talk about One Out. While I do think this is a "cheap" version of Akagi, Akagi alone is a masterpiece by the way. Making this "cheap" version an outstanding anime on its own. Finding this type of animation story is just impossible. I'm pretty sure there are only like 5 or 10 of the animation project around. The opening song and the ending song is good, I bought the digital copied of mine years ago. The story is at a medium pace, meaning you can easily understand where this is going but at the same time it is so complex, it makes you think what will happen next. Overall, it's definitely a show I would recommend to anyone who loves this type of gambling anime. Yes, I said it gambling because despite it's a sports anime. The main focus of this show is not the sports BUT gambling. Oh and I forgot to mention it has a lot of psychological moment happen between the scene.

-This review is in English and Spanish. -Esta Review esta en Ingles y Español. ENGLISH An anime betting,what could go wrong? Well, almost everything. I really like psychological animes and more even if they have bets, mainly because you can see how a character thinks in a mental struggle, his motivations coupled with the tension of the game and the use of interesting tactics,but this anime does not have any of that. First thing, the story is very simple, it's just your typical sports anime with the addition of the bets, only these do not influence much in the game, then if the bets do not influence nor is it a story of self-improvement this is a excuse to put the protagonist in a baseball team and that's it. Even with that you could do an interesting anime with interesting duels and others, but no, the anime also fails there because it's baseball, not a sport too complex, in fact for the end of the anime resort to cheap and unreal ideas to put emotion , Besides that its resolutions are horrible so neither so. About the characters I can not say much, the motivations of the protagonist are a mystery (because they do not exist) and except for two or three the rest have no idea of ​​anything (I doubt that the characters know how to play baseball except for the protagonist),besides that it has no tension because one of the things that makes an anime of bets entertaining is that they win or lose and how it influences them and here as you do not know anything of the protagonist I can not feel anything for him.A curious thing is that to be a team sport is curious that depends of a single person,only one.The characters are flat or are nonexistent, except for one or two who detain them some time, because they do not dedicate time, they only dedicate themselves to talk about the techniques and others. As the visual section is good, good fluidity and an appropriate palette coupled with a good quality of the drawings, but not that it is spectacular,sadly I can not say the same of the sound section, although some environmental issues match the anime, a large part are forgettable. In general I can say that he has tried to be a different sports anime, getting new things, the concept is good but between the flat characters and his plot that I try to change but stayed in your typical sports plot that everyone praises for being different. Even after everything I said the anime was entertaining, but nothing else. FINAL NOTE 5/10 ESPAÑOL Un anime de apuestas,¿que podría salir mal? Bueno,pues casi todo. Realmente me gustan los animes psicológicos y más incluso si tienen apuestas, principalmente porque se puede ver cómo piensa un personaje en una lucha mental, ver sus motivaciones,unido a la tensión del juego y el uso de tácticas interesantes, pero este anime no tiene nada de eso. Lo primero de todo,la historia es muy simple,es sólo tu anime típico de los deportes con la adición de las apuestas,sólo éstos no influyen mucho en el juego,entonces si las apuestas no influyen,ni es una historia de auto-mejora ¿esto que es? Una excusa para poner al protagonista en un equipo de béisbol. Incluso con eso podrías hacer un anime con duelos interesantes y demás, pero no, el anime también falla allí porque es béisbol, no es un deporte demasiado complejo, de hecho para el final del anime recurre a ideas baratas e irreales (y predecibles) para poner emoción , Además de que sus resoluciones son horribles así que ni eso. Sobre los personajes no puedo decir mucho, las motivaciones del protagonista son un misterio (porque no existen) y salvo dos o tres personajes el resto no tiene idea de nada (de hecho dudo que sepan jugar al béisbol),además de que no tiene tensión porque una de las cosas que hace un anime de apuestas entretenido es que ganan o pierden y como les influye y aqui como no se sabe nada del protagonista no puedo sentir nada por el.Una cosa curiosa es que para ser un deporte de equipo dependa de una sola persona, solo una. Los personajes son planos o inexistentes, salvo uno o dos que les dan algún tiempo, porque no dedican tiempo a los personajes,solo se dedican a hablar de las técnicas y demas. La sección visual es buena,buena fluidez y una paleta adecuada junto con una buena calidad de los dibujos,aunque no es que sea espectacular,por desgracia no puedo decir lo mismo del apartado sonoro,aunque algunos temas ambientales coinciden con el anime,una gran parte son olvidables. En general puedo decir que ha intentado ser un anime deportivo diferente,que intento cambiar, el concepto es bueno pero entre los personajes planos y su argumento que trato de ser diferente pero se quedo en tu tipoco anime de deportes que todo el mundo alaba por ser diferente. Aun después de todo lo que he dicho,el anime estuvo algo entretenido,pero nada mas. NOTA FINAL 5/10