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Touch
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Animation - 7.7 |
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Sound - 8.5 |
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Story - 9.2 |
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Character - 9.6 |
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Value - 9.0 |
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Enjoyment - 9.1 |
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Average - 8.9 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Touch is a very enjoyable and satisfying coming of age story. The plot descriptions really do not do it justice. Its a classic series with gradual character development and believable, sincere characters who are thoughtful and realistic rather than anime archetypes.
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Avalanche |
(2008-11-11 12:11:57) 2008-11-10 12:35:33 |
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| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Before I get started with this review, I would like to make a disclaimer: I have no knowledge of baseball. All I know about the sport is that there is a pitcher, three strikes and nine innings. So, if anything Touch was a sort of educational anime for me. Haha. Also, this series was the first anime which had sports as a main component. So it should be kept in mind that the impact it has had on me might have been greatly lesser had I watched other series like Hajime no Ippo, Okkiku Furibate, Eyeshield 21 or Major first. Now on to the review:
Touch is a series with a very simple premise – Tatsuya and Katsuya are twin brothers who have a childhood friend called Minami. All three have grown up together, but as they hit puberty things started to get complicated as both the twins fell for the same girl. At the same time, Katsuya is the ideal boy – good in studies, hard working, sincere and a rising star of the baseball team – great things are expected from him. Tatsuya is the underdog, he is the good for nothing child. He does not even mind being in the shadow of his brother but when it comes to love (Minami) – what will he and his twin do? The series has drama, romance and sports written all over it. Considering I was in the mood for the first two, I jumped right in.
And I was not disappointed. The first few episodes proved that the three main characters were complex ones with many layers. There was comedy, there were some great sport scenes but all the time there was a tension because of the triangle between the two brothers. What highlighted the tension even more was that the two brothers were shown to be very very close to each other. Considering the series was 101 episodes long, the creators of the series took their own time in fleshing the characters out wonderfully. By episode 15, the main characters were fleshed and things started to move forward – culminating in a momentous but disastrous anticlimax. And after this, the main plot of Touch unfolded. I am not going to go into details about which boy gets the girl and what is the heartbreak. You will have to watch it for yourself. :)
Is it any good? As far as romance and drama are concerned, the first 25 episodes have a lot of both. They get equal footing with the sports element of the series. And then the romance simply fades away. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed but then this is how the creators decided to continue but there was no arguing with that. The relationship reaches a sort of mutual understanding by episode 40 or so. Despite a few hiccups on the way due to the introduction of secondary characters like Nishimura, Nitta and Yuko, the relationship remains status quo. To put it bluntly – it goes no where. There are a few memorable scenes in a few episodes but they were far to less to satisfy my cravings for romance. Which was quite a shame considering that the relationship is easily one of those which could have become a legendary relationship in anime-community (like Kaoru-Aoi, Keiichi-Belldandy, Jinto-Lafiel etc.) Why did the makers of the series decide to make the romance so subdued certainly left me mystified. So what does Touch offer if not romance?
Baseball. Lots of it. After episode 28 or so, baseball is the heart and soul of the series. The series starts out with Katsuya making a promise to Minami that he would take her to Koushien (which is apparently the most prestigious event in school level baseball in Japan). This is what drives the series till the very end. All other things are secondary. Character development, romance, drama all happen – but this promise is what keeps the series going. You might think that this would make the series a bit dull and for the episodes 40-75, this is indeed true. But the good part is that these episodes are a huge buildup for the final season. Which I must say is good despite the lack of romance. The ending is satisfactorily as well.
Did I like Touch? It depends on which way I look at it. As a series with baseball at its heart, this series is awesome. If I put my baseball cap (that is if I had any! haha) – I would love the series to bits. As a series with character development, this series will also rate highly. But as a series in which you would like the couple to take their relationship forward – this fails. Despite the fact that I liked both the male and female a lot, I will have to admit that I have seen relationships which are executed with a lot more maturity and finesse.
In the end, I was pleasantly disappointed. I went into Touch expecting a romantic series with a lot of focus on the heart. Instead I got a series with little (but good) romance and a lot of high quality sports action. Which reminds of the Rolling Stones song “You can’t always get what you want!” I hope this clearly indicates the mood/attitude you need to take this series in. I can’t really recommend any series which can be seen if a viewer wants more except for the two sequel movies which aired in 1998 and 2001 respectively.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Another underrates series. Underrated fortunately only by the younger generation who kicked the older fans out and grew with fansubs, but missed the great series of the 60s, 70s and 80s that were popular not only in Japan but worldwide.
I do not plan to watch many 100+ episode series but Touch was an exception. One of Japan's best directors was involved after all and also some very good animators that participated in many great series. Note also that it got the SECOND highest TV rating in Japan regarding anime, with 34 %.Chibi Maruko-chan was the first with 39.9 % (sorry newcomers, but Nippon Animation and TMS produced the best titles and you had to watch some of their titles while you were children and rewatch them again as adults in order to appreciate them)
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I gave to it 10 points in each category. The reason is that I think this anime is a self-sufficient masterpiece. Every piece and part fits each other, and the result is the thing that lives inside you, as if it was part of your own life. It was like listening a music, it totally carries you. Sometimes details are just piercing your heart. And to be fully honest the net effect is a light dizzy feeling of being in love (without a particular subject unfortunately). I wish more people watch this anime.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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kusanagiz |
(2006-05-25 19:15:33) 2006-05-25 18:59:28 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This anime was made in 1985 and spans 101 episodes so the animation and sound in this day and age leaves a lot to be desired. However, if you can look past that, you'd find a true treasure in this classic anime. I realized after watching this, the modern anime is missing something...a truely compelling and complete plot. Nowdays the focus is on action, horror, and silly antics. I'm glad I found this. One thing I love is how circumstances always play out in today's anime and you've come to expect it (and yet still enjoy it) but in this anime I've been fooled plenty of times. Surprising in an anime this old. I think the direction is just superb.
Someone mentioned that this anime may not be for those who just started watching anime w/ the direction it's going now. I sort of agree. If you can appreciate anime for it's ability to tell a nice story, I recommend this anime wholeheartedly.
I'm on episode 60 and I'm dreading the moment when I hit episode 101 when this becomes the last episode of the series for me to watch.
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Poom |
(2005-09-08 00:00:11) 2005-09-07 23:59:17 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Godly Series. Adachi PwnT
Adachi drawing might give you a headache at first but his story and playwrite are superb. Touch always have touching moments that give out the title name. Every character in Touch got their personality and it's really come to life like they were REAL. Althou there aren't many major character that appear from the beginning through the end, but every char got their chance of showing their best potential for us to see how great they are and what're they lacking. Some who didn't finish their own story come back later and get another shot to it.
While character come and goes. It never have conflict with story. Story always come first and Adachi would place/bring out char at the best time and place; giving us a smooth road without any bum or skid. But some of you might find this kinda slow and boring, but romance and love conflict is always there to waiting for. And there's always some new flame buring in the story to give us a hot warm seat so we won't get so bored to sleep. Also they always keep thing in limited, everytime the story/char reach their boiling point to where one might got off and punch each other, Adachi would make thing easier for us to watch. Another grest is you can't predict the major turning points in Touch, things always get interest and keep you wanting more. Even you not a baseball(I'm not) fan there're other sport to looking for like boxing or beautiful gymnastic. I can assure you Adachi never mess up the sport scenes so even thou the art is lame, every sport scenes are well-done draw.
Overall Touch is very Well plan of story and character. Sound giving perfect 85' mood to the story. Voice sound perfect in both girls and boys. Minami's voice sound so good. I could watch this again and wouldn't be bored. While there's lazy-drawing art, face expression were never mess up not even once(althou other things might).
WATCH THIS IF YOU LIKE SMOOTH SAILING WITH A GREAT ROMANCE STORY PLUS AN EXTRA INNING FOR BASEBALL FANS.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| You do have to get past the animation, but keep in mind this is a much older series. The ost is not bad, some songs are actually pretty catchy, although they tend to be overplayed. The best part about the show are the different characters, there are major developments, although somestimes slow. Ofcourse there are still some annoying personalities, but that's to be expected. As mentioned in other reviews, the pacing is slow and the recaps have no value. Basically you don't have to watch all the episodes to enjoy it. And to sum it up, this show is memorable...hell it even got me interested in baseball.
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nauXolo |
(2005-04-27 04:03:46) 2005-02-28 23:02:06 |
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| Average |
8.6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Just when I thought I wouldn't ever find another lovely, simple-hearted and funny anime that has it all, all I had to do was look for older animes.
Despite it being old, the quality of animation is quite high. Touch includes very simple animation and therefore one can't complain abot how crappy the detail is. It is appeasing to the eyes and doesn't detract from watching the series.
Sound is actually quite impressive, when one considers that it started in 1985. I loved one of the openings, but the ending songs aren't that catchy. They have a pretty good theme song for some characters, and voice acting is superb, but it is kind of simplistic if you are picky about these things. (The important thing is it didn't ruin the mood of anything)
I enjoy watching this anime a lot!
Sports and humor/love, everything is here. I'd say its about a 70/30
split between it these two attributes. Despite these split, everything is done well and i enjoy the story very much.
A slight summary: the beginning focuses more on character development with Tatsuya, Kazuya, and Minami, which sets up the environment for the majority rest of the show.
After this, it is mostly focused on achieving Koushien. I was kind of disappointed with the low intensity romance relationships develop between the Tatsuya and Minami.
While they aim for Koushien, all the side characters fit into the story extremely well. their presence really changes the pace of the story. unlike most anime where there are basically 2 or almost 3 characters, this one involves everyone. In most sports anime, there is only a focus on one character. 2 at best, if at all. But in this anime, one really feels with everyone's trials. It really gives the sense that this is a team aiming for Koushien. However, again, the side characters seem to take the spotlight away from Minami and Tatsuya
There are too many episodes to summarize and comment on and also for this reason, the replay value for this isn't that high. I wouldn't mind watching a few select episodes here and there, (probably with those episodes with relationship development)
Overall, the 101 episodes felt too short and I wish it were longer, especially towards the end, where it focused a lot on baseball.
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Full Moon |
(2004-12-05 18:58:41) 2004-12-05 02:13:54 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| *The Classic*
Just finished watching this really reeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllly long anime =)...and all i want to say is *WOW*
I loved it.
This whole anime is about human relationship, fulfilling & believing ur dreams... (and sorta make one realize that you can accomplish anything as long as you put your heart into it. And even if you didn't, you still know that you tried your best.)
It's not one of those actions anime, that has fight all over, or those usual sport type anime that has the main character as the unbeatable without doing nothing
This anime gave me a very calming feeling, is very simple, yet real. Everyone could just relate with at least one person in the anime, it's sorta like an everyday life story. Sure the plot line is slow, yet u can't stop watching it for some odd reasons.
I don't really want to talk about the story line here..coz i dun want to ruin this anime for anyone, but just want to say that there's part that got me crying, many parts that got me laughing, and many many parts that kept me going "omgomgomgomgomg!!!" Especially the second last ep
for me the story of this anime doesn't starts until the 2nd season, which is around the 27th ep!!!
Neventhless, without the first 26 ep of intro, and built up for all the characters, and EVERYTHING that had happen, the story afterwards, wudn't be good...without that trigger event, the anime might haven't been as succesfully, and as touching...
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I guess one could say this is a shounen sports anime, but I feel like the baseball is more a backdrop to the story of the characters. A wonderful anime, slow moving at times.
I always warn people, when I first started watching this series, I read about it online, thinking it was just going to be a typical love triangle type of anime, but ended up reading a major spoiler that occurs less than 1/3 through the TV series & wished that I hadn't...
This may be one of my top 10 anime series...
I will be honest & say I have not watched all of the TV episodes yet, but have watched 1-26 & seen the first 4 movies (movies 1-3 are synopsis of the TV series). I have started to read the manga as well.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| I'm going to have to say this mainly because of the large amount of newbies to anime today(those of you who only started anime within the last few years). The 80's were what made anime what it is today. I have only met a few people who got their start on modern anime who understand how good they are. I'm not saying all don't but the overwhelming majority can't get past the dated animation and the what is today called cliche stories. My ecouragement to all anime fans is try them out. Give them some time and one or another might grow on you. This show is a gem as are many made during this time and please even if you can't appretiate it understand that thanks to anime like these that anime is what it is today.
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Rupan |
2003-08-21 17:13:13 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ahhhh !!!
A legendary Mitsuru Adachi Anime !
Of course it's his best shot !!
I watched this anime at least 3 times now and everytime with the same pleasure !
What's so great about this anime is that there is no aliens, robots, super powers, heros... It's just a childhood romance, a story that we'd hope to live in reality. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream and finally you'll become also a mitsuru adachi fan ^^ join our club :p ! watch this incredible anime full of joy, romance, sports & youth !
I'll just finish saying that as a boy, Minami is just THE anime girl I whished to see in the real life, the life of tatsuya and her is the kind of teenage life everyone would dream about ^^
A strong relation ship, love that will never be broken full of great memories !
:3~
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| very nice anime. i like it a lot. the whole story is very charming. I like the way the story goes from too funny to very serious in a matter of episodes. one of the most unpredictable plot swings i've ever seen.
i have the hk DVD of this, and it has really good vid/audio quality for an old anime.any fansub group who's interested in fansubbing it, email me @ y2niko@rogers.com
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| The characters, the emotions, the story, just about everything in this anime is great--its a classic after all.
Then why is the enjoyment rating a 3? Is it a mistake? Nosiree, that's a pure-hearted 3. Why? The pacing: it's worse than DBZ in terms of plot development. The "in-between" eps aren't even fillers: they are long, drawn out still shot/panscan scenes.
Then, there's the "coach" saga, which I will now dub, the "angst ridden P.O.S." saga. Having watched through the 20 or so episodes that comprise this saga, in which there is literally no humor, no happiness, no joy, none of the usual Touch charm you find in the first half of the series, in one sitting, I feel utterly depressed, subjugated to the downsyndrom of an endless run-on sentence that makes you proud of pondscum compared with the anime. Yes, that's right, horrible pacing, compared to angst not even displayed in Dawson's Creek, which had a wonderful ending, btw, makes for a good, solid, 3.
[Edit] Okay, 30 episodes worth of "Coach" saga. More angst. More hatred. More failure. Btw, this is around episodes 50-80. In order to reflect the negativity of my enjoyment during this period, I have lowered all the rest of my scores accordingly.
[Edit2] The series finished on a strong note, after the "Coach Revenge" saga, so adjusted ratings accordingly. Reviews of Movies 4 and 5 forthcoming.
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