Audience reviews
12 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
GakutoDeathGlare
As an avid tennis fan and player for almost twenty years now, I stayed away from tennis anime like the plague, for fear of anticipating constant cringe in an anime, from a sport that I know and love. Let's just get one thing out of the way, I REALLY like tennis and have been pretty obsessed with it in the past. I mean, absolutely balls deep into the game, following the professional tour every tournament, playing down at my local club 3-4 days a week (used to me more back in my School days), learning and studying the techniques, the grips used, the rules, the players, the history of the game, etc, the list could go on and on.
These days, I don't have as much time to keep up with the tennis world as intensely and rigorously, as I once had, and I have a couple of other interests that also s…
Read at the sourceFlameling
Paced quickly, nothing ever lingers or over stays its welcome. This season maximizes the set-up and progression of the main characters to it's fullest, putting them in situations where they bounce off nicely each other or where they can show growth that feels earned after season one. It's everything a second season should be.
But apart from how it relates to the first season, it's own achievements are worth mention. For a 25 episode show, characters never looked off model and animation remained smooth in most all moments. The season introduces many new characters, some that feel like are set up for a third season. The OST while more than just satisfactory isn't the most memorable part of the show. Most of the best auditory moments are from the sounds of running, the ball or the net, the…
Read at the sourceWiddall
Who knew tennis could be so riveting? The first season of Baby Steps was pretty good but I found season two even better. Ei-chan has a great character progression from a boring reserved teenager into a passionate tennis player and we really see the fruition of it in this season.
The side characters are also endearing and I found myself rooting for man. The tennis battles are fantastic and created tension in me I haven't felt since I last watched Kaiji and the almost every player Maruo faces is well developed and feels like a real character with their own goals. Perhaps the strongest aspect of Baby Steps is the relationship between the male and female leads. They actually care about each other, inpire and support each other and don't blueball viewers about the nature of their relationship…
Read at the sourceIndexXx
Yoshi!... Is what I like to say but I can't. The second series is a total fiasco in my opinion considering how good the first series was. So what made me decide that the anime is a letdown? First of all, a lot of things happened in this series that you wish they didn't do through out the story. They gave short back story to all the supporting characters except for the female MC which I find very boring since they decided to put romance on it. They should at least put an episode for the character instead of giving them all to the male MC.
I actually find Maruo's character this time very annoying, imagine a 25 episodes series and half of it was used to emphasize his training abroad, work out and practicing his serves just to lose a match. For me, I feel I wasted my time rooting him and want…
Read at the sourceMAND4
Baby Steps oftentimes gets praised for being one of the most realistic sport anime out there. This point stems from the fact that all the moves MC pulls out are thought out and explained in a rather elaborate manner, and we see everyone, not just main character, struggle to get better match after match. Yet, everyone seems to forget that Eichiro - as talented and as gifted as he may be - has only been playing tennis for so long. If you wish to thread the line of realism, it's impossible for him to beat people who have been playing tennis their whole lives.
On the flip side, Baby Steps definitely is amusing. To be honest, it's really kind of like a shounen battle manga translated into sports, with a dash of well-done romance (if you'd believe it, I consider it to be the most realistic asp…
Read at the sourceFurankuSan
There are some things in my Baby Step's 1st Season that I am not going to mention again here. If you haven't seen this show, I recommend you read my first season's review here:
http://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=205243
This season is way better. Comparing this season to it's previous season, you can see a vast improvement in terms of story and character development. The beginning of this season shows the start of Maruo's training in Florida. It starts of slow, but the thrill of tennis kicks in this season.
The first season tennis matches weren't that thrilling, but the thrill is really found on this season. I am impressed on how they really pace and execute the badminton matches (Of Maruo). I was literally shouting and jumping while watching this show and I haven't done that since I…
Read at the sourceNelsonFerreira19
I am not a native english, but i will try my best to express my thoughts.
To be honest, I thought I wasn't going to like this anime as much as i did. If you have seen some sports anime, you know that generically the MC is overpower from the start or maybe he has a great capacity of growth, and eventually he will accomplish his main goal in a near future. Don´t get me wrong, it doesn´t make them bad, and some of them are really amazing. However, baby steps´s main character, is weak and loses frequently, which makes this series REALISTIC. Besides, it isn´t just that point that makes it realistic. The main character was pretty good at school and had a guaranteed future, but he decided to drop it and tried to get better in something he loved doing, despite of being bad at it, aiming then for…
Read at the sourceShiro_shi
An Almost Too Deep Vision of Tennis Hinders Character Development.
Story - 8
Story and characters go hand in hand. What helps or hurts one can also help or hurt the other. This story follows a "I must get better to win" concept that is at the competitive heart of most sports anime.
What it tries to do, it does well, but it doesn't try to do enough. The knowledge of tennis I gained from watching is really incredible. I went from knowing almost nothing to really understanding on a deep level what actual pros might think about during a match.
There are enough surprises and changes of pace to keep you guessing, but during matches it can get very repetitive. I understand the need to build tension, but watching every single point of a set does get old when you aren't actually there.
The stor…
Read at the sourceittou_shura
"I used to think Maruo was the insecure type who isn't capable of having big dreams. But that's not right. He's the type to have countless smaller dreams that he can achieve perfectly, one by one. They may be small individually, but as they keep coming true, they quickly become one huge dream."
Baby Steps is a realistic, mentally engaging sports anime. It's well paced and subtle in its delivery of drama and romance, preferring to focus on the physical and mental aspects of playing tennis. The show has a good use of inner-monologues to display realistic and intriguing thought processes of each character throughout the matches.
This second season of Baby Steps introduces slightly older and more mature characters. They start to think about their futures more seriously, whether that be going…
Read at the sourcewalker6
Baby Steps is my favorite pure sports anime.
I really do not write reviews ever (this is my first time writing a review on MAL as well) so I am just going to do a short write up talking about why this is my favorite one.
Baby Steps is about big payoffs, watching the show you start slowly. With each step of progress the main character (Maruo) makes you can feel the weight of that step immensely because of the time and buildup leading up to that moment. The title speaks for itself, it's about Maruo's journey from being a novice at tennis to getting better through hard work and determination. Things like romance, outside life, pressure to succeed, and more all drive the story forward, with an excellent cast of characters to help push things along.
At the top I said Baby Steps is my favorit…
Read at the sourcetreebornkettlgrl
First time review, and I'm only doing this to get something off my chest, really.
Baby Steps really pulled me in during the first season. It was great to see a sports anime that had a more realistic vibe to it, unlike some I've seen. The characters are all likeable; protagonist, antagonists, supporting characters. The plot is clear, and easy to follow without it getting too convoluted by sub-plots and the like. A very solid story. The reason I'm giving it an overall score of 7 is because it left me feeling like more needed to happen.
Story: 9
The story gets a solid 9 from me. Mauro (Ei-Chan) is a meticulous note-taker who becomes fascinated by the world of tennis. After YEARS of hard work, and painstakingly long hours of reviewing his notes, he becomes a solid player fit to one day go pr…
Read at the sourceJustlike1984
I've only done review for poor shows so now here's a good one. After the experiencing the incredibly strange and very disappointing Prince of Tennis, I was hesitant to pick up another tennis series. But after marathoning a slightly slow but promising first season, I continue into the even better second season of Baby Steps
Story and Characters:
Maruo Eiichiro continues on his path to professional tennis, having only just started playing 2 years previously. Maruo goes to THE LAND OF THE FREE, to do some training and improve. The show keeps things interesting and continues to show how he grows and improves at the sport. In this aspect it may be the best sports anime. It details Maruo's training regimen and the numerous hours he spends while being believable. Along with that it shows differe…
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