Audience reviews
13 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AkiraTendo
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Oblivion Battery is a spiritual successor to Haikyuu. That is the highest praise I can give this hidden gem of a baseball anime.
In 12 episodes, the show managed to do what so many sports animes fail at: Introduce a cast of unique, likeable characters, get me invested in their story, and hit me with impactful scenes.
Plot:
The anime is reminiscent of the first season of Haikyuu. The first season is mostly about introducing viewers to the cast. There are two baseball games in the anime, but the rest is training and getting to know the team. If the show had a second cour with more matches, it could have reached a 9. As a standalone, it’s an 8.
Where Oblivion Battery shines is the character backstories. The author managed to create a cast of characters wit…
Read at the sourceoricon89
A legendary battery, one brilliant pitcher, one catcher who forgot everything — and somehow that's played mostly for laughs.
Oblivion Battery has a genuinely interesting premise. Two elite players who could have gone anywhere end up at an unremarkable school with no baseball reputation, surrounded by rivals who quit the sport after losing to them. The setup practically writes itself.
The comedy lands often enough to keep things moving. The catcher's shift from tactical genius to lovable goofball works for a while, and the cast has decent energy throughout.
But the series never fully commits. It teeters between serious sports drama and absurd comedy, and the balance doesn't always hold — the comedic tone softens any real stakes, and the baseball itself rarely feels urgent.
Watchable sta…
Read at the source7boogie
Not sure how to feel about this one. I think some people will enjoy it, but others probably won’t find it that memorable.
The biggest issue for me was how much it overuses the amnesia trope. It feels like the story leans on memory loss way too heavily instead of developing more unique or interesting plot points. At first it seems like it could lead somewhere meaningful, but after a while it just feels repetitive and predictable.
There also isn’t really anything that stands out as particularly special. The characters are decent and the baseball theme has potential, but nothing about the story, animation, or character development felt unique enough to make it memorable compared to other sports anime. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t really push beyond average.
Overall, it’s a watchable series…
Read at the sourcegafoe13
I once saw an interview with an old man who had been a starter for his high school baseball team that made it all the way to Koshien. He recalled the moment when his team was just one out away from victory—two outs, bases loaded. The last batter hit the ball, and all he had to do was catch it. Instead, the ball slipped from his hand, and the runner made it home. His team lost, and he said he still has nightmares about that moment even now, remembering it as vividly as if it happened yesterday.
This anime captures that very kind of struggle. It doesn’t just show the usual joy, glory, or winner’s perspective in baseball—it dives into the emotional and psychological scars players carry, and how they continue to face them because of their love for the sport.
It bravely touches on heavy theme…
Read at the sourcesymiel
It's a good sports anime. Not revolutionary, but solid. The problem was the first 3 episodes that almost got me to drop this series. Oblivion Battery didn't make the greatest first impression. It starts out pretty slow and one of the main characters (Kei) seems really annoying. Thankfully, as more cast is introduced, focus on his antics is somewhat dialed back and it becomes bearable, even endearing in a way. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome, but at this point his flagship joke "nipple hair" gets a chuckle out of me.
Story:
It's simple and fairly standard - an underdog public high school team aims for Koushien. What sets it apart is Kei’s amnesia, which is not my favorite plot device, but the premise of an elite player becoming an amateur again is interesting enough. It remains to be seen ho…
Read at the sourcePixelB
Oblivion Battery is a largely character-driven show that also has a great deal of focus on baseball. The balancing act generally tilts toward character development, but I never considered baseball a throwaway theme in this show.
First of all, I want to say that this show is extremely smart with the introduction of the baseball team. It feels so....genuine. Realistic. Now, I'm not going to say that a premise that chance coincidences of genius players coming to a nameless public school alongside Kei, an amnesia-ridden former genius catcher is realistic, but if you suspend your disbelief of the setting of the show, you'll come to realize that the rest of the pieces fall together like a perfectly built puzzle.
I love the way characters get brought into the team. It's with purpose, and not wi…
Read at the sourcejoyxxse
Unexpectedly good. It is indeed the hidden gem of the season. Didn't have high expectations as there was not a lot of hype around it. First episode might make it seem like your average sports anime, but it gets a lot better in the last few episodes. The comedy might not appeal to everyone and quite of lot of them don't come across well the same after translation. These 12 episodes only adapt first few arcs of the manga, which acts more like an introduction of characters and their backstory, so makes sense if some think it's not very exciting.
P.S. Episode 11 is superb!!!!
Read at the sourceWrosgar
Watch episode 11.
Overall a good enough show. If you're into sports anime and a team coming together, there's a good chance you may like it - only if you overlook one of the main characters being overly obnoxious and almost had me stopping multiple times.
Whether you give the shot a shot or not, watch episode 11. Even if you give up part way through, or if you don't watch it at all. Watch episode 11. I think most people can grasp any missing info based on context in the episode, so no concern about being lost. But the overall animation and production level of that one single episode soars through the roof and as a standalone is a 10/10 episode. It's absolutely fantastic, and highly recommend anyone and everyone to watch that single episode if you appreciate high quality animation, stando…
Read at the sourceTablekun
Boukyaku Battery is a solid anime for baseball enjoyers, unquestionably. Myself, being a catcher in my high school days, can relate to the pitcher/catcher dynamic, and so I quite enjoyed the series. The show does have a troubled plot, and almost feels like a slice of life. It does present enough growth of the characters and the team, so I had no problem watching week to week. For a MAPPA show, I expected a bit more production value. It is good in some scenes, but cheap looking in the majority.
Animation 7/10
- Some scenes present as "MAPPA", but they are few and far between.
Sound 7/10
- Nice OP/ED, good sound design.
Story 2/10
- Rather simple premise, not very deep on the issue of amnesia. More of a team building arc.
Characters 8/10
- I enjoy the characters, both mains and supporting c…
Read at the sourceJozuwa-_-
To anyone who dislikes the "It gets good later on" kind of show, this might not be for you. But for anyone who has enough patience to watch half of the show before deciding whether it is for them or not, this might be worth a try.
I say that because in my opinion, the show only became interesting when it's telling the backstories of the main characters, and that only started during the 6th episode.
The 2 MCs have not been interesting so far. Kaname has been doing nothing but forced and redundant "comical" bits for the most part, which now became so tired and irritating. But his character did get a development relating to his Amnesia before the season ended so, that at least gave him a little pump of interest. Kiyomine on the other hand still doesn't have any personality other than being o…
Read at the sourcebobthebuilder_
I came into this anime with some expectations. I wasn't expecting something really good like Haikyuu but for it to be good. A feel good watch after a long day. It did the job but the MC is annoyingly unbearable. The other characters that isn't Kei are great. They're all distinct from each other and are likeable. The MC (Kei) got on my nerves every episode with his attempts at humour and aloof-ness.
The story itself is average. It is your typical small team making it big plot-line every sports anime have. The thing with OB is that it took them about 7-8 episodes before Kei regain his memories. It would've been different if he never regained his memory and relearns baseball and got back his passion. But him regaining his memory made the first half of the anime useless. Like I watched them…
Read at the sourcesarybelle
Oblivion Battery is a hidden gem of the Spring anime season. It gives you everything you want out of a sports anime: the hype and excitement, the friendship and teamwork, the growth and character development, and on top of that it’s genuinely laugh out loud hilarious.
This anime is not Ace of Diamond (which some people seem to be disappointed about for some reason). It doesn’t have a super original or unique plot. But it doesn’t matter because it does the plot very well. The humor is very teenage boy-ish, but it doesn’t cross the line of being TOO over the top and the comedy is great.
With Mappa on the animation, Mrs. Green Apple on the opening, and an insanely talented voice acting staff, including Mamoru Miyano who steals the show, Oblivion Battery is a fun, easy, enjoyable watch.
Read at the sourceKANLen09
Oblivion Battery - It's a game of baseball...with more attitude to offer?
If there's one genre in the AniManga space that proves a hard task to nail, it would be the sports genre, regardless of its source origin. And believe me, I've tried a fair few sports shows over the past few years, from the likes of soccer/football (i.e. Ao Ashi, Blue Lock) to niche ones like Spring 2021's Shakunetsu Kabaddi, and I definitely have mixed feelings so far. It's less often than most that studios are given a once-in-a-blue-moon rein to produce something out of their ballpark, and this season, it would have to be the infamous studio MAPPA being assigned to yet another sports show, the last being Masafumi Nishida's Summer 2021 show of Re-Main that focuses on water polo (which was mediocre to fine). 3 years…
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