Without a doubt Taisho Baseball Girls has been my favorite anime of the summer of 2009 and it was a strong summer lineup. Baseball Girls does just about everything right. Each episode left me feeling great afterward. It is comedic where it needed to be comedic and dramatic where it needed to be dramatic. There are great strong female characters that grow together and as individuals. But Taisho Baseball Girls makes sure to have a decent amount of male charterers that get screen time and development, too. Other than possible a little yuri fanboy pandering there is nothing objectionable about the series. The only real fan-service is writing so good it’s sexy and plotting so tight it’s scandalous! The ending is suitably dramatic and fulfilling. If you have not started watching Taisho Baseball Girls I suggest you at least watch the first episode and see what your missing out on. It’s a long shot but I would like to see someone pick this up in the States. It’s everything good sports anime should be. I would also love to read the light novels and the manga but I realize when things are pretty much unlicensable in the current market.

I read the last two volumes of Fruits Basket and found it very satisfying. The 22nd volume wraps up the main story with the curse and then the 23rd moves each relationship along its merry way. While I think everyone knew where the story would end, the series keeps the heart from start to finish and readers will be decidedly engrossed. Though some may be disappointed in the fate of characters who they feel have slighted many others on the canvas. If ever you want a story to be definitive this one is like a yes-we-will-be-together-now-and-until-we-are-old-and-die together type. This is a series that I had been following for quite sometime so it was a very emotional ride. But here at the end I can say it is one of my favorite series to date.

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