3ET: Baby Steps

Tennis is a simple game. Hit the ball with your racket and make a stupid face. Grunting optional.

Studio: Studio Pierrot

Director: Murata Masahiko (GR–Giant Robo, Gilgamesh)

Writer: Chiba Katsuhiko (Mahou Senshi Louie, Outlaw Star)

Main Cast:

Murata Taishi as Maruo Eiichirou

Kotobuki Minako as Takahashi Natsu

Character Design: KoudaMasuyuki

Music: Yoshikawa Youshirou (Kyou Kara Maoh)

Another day, another sports anime. This time, it's tennis with Baby Steps, a sport I pay attention to exactly four times a year. The first scene starts with a couple of guys playing a tennis match. Someone in the peanut gallery comments that one of them has only been playing for a year, and is already pretty good. After the end of the game (not the set or the match, just the game), one of the boys goes to a notebook, where he has meticulous notes about each point that was played. This boy is the protagonist, Maruo Eiichirou, who plays tennis as much with his mind as he does with his body. In other words, he's my favorite type of sports protagonist.

At least he is until the real meat of the show actually starts. The real open shows that Eiichirou's meticulous note-taking habit comes from his school days, where he is an excellent student who is very particular about everything in his life. From his notes to the way he eats his lunch to how he wants to spend his free time, everything has to be perfectly neat and orderly. His friend calls him a perfectionist, I think it is a light case of OCD. But, I digress. My real problem with Eiichirou is that he has nothing that really interests him. Yes, he's good at studying, but he doesn't really enjoy it. Even the way he gets into tennis says how detached he is from things. He only joins because he wants to find a way to get some exercise, which is all well and good, but it doesn't make me care about him getting any better at tennis. 

"Gee, I hope nothing bad happens to this notebook you spent so much time writing!"

I guess there is another reason he could be so suddenly interested in tennis, a girl named Takahashi Natsu. She's the standard pretty girl who is passionate about tennis and wants to go professional in it. She's also a bit airheaded, as she is introduced by borrowing one of Eiichirou's carefully made notebooks and staining it with another boy's lunch when she runs into his desk. Now, the lazy criticism would be to ask how she is able to be an aspiring tennis pro when she can't even navigate a classroom, but I'll let that slide. Instead, I'll say that it was surprising as it was funny. It wasn't very funny. Really, my problem with Natsu is that she has no personality. Also, she is the cause of some silly romantic drama where Eiichirou sees her almost kissing another player, and that's supposed to be a cliffhanger for episode two and it's all quite stupid and a waste of time. 

As for Eiichirou learning tennis, it's all very straightforward, almost like an educational video rather than a dramatic story. The same goes for introducing the rules of tennis, it's some very awkward exposition. The training itself concentrates on him hitting a ball against a wall over and over again. This is about as exciting as it sounds. I know I've said that showing someone training is important, but it is possible to do it at such a glacial pace that it does more harm than good. And that is certainly the case with Baby Steps.

Come on, man. Punch him in the teeth! Let's have something happen in this show!

In the end, Baby Steps isn't what I would call awful. It doesn't help that it has subpar animation and metaphors as subtle as brick to the face (hey, lets show Eiichirou walking down a train track while his friend comments on how his life seems to be on a track), but it doesn't do anything to offend me. There just isn't any reason for me to care about Eiichirou and his quest to become a better tennis player. Or get exercise. Or whatever. Now, a show about Natsu wanting to become a professional or her friend's issues with being a player who seems to be squandering great talent could work. But, as it is, Baby Steps isn't compelling enough, and that's why I have to fail it.