Ace of Diamond: Sawamura Eijun's Unyielding Spirit Keeps the Excitement Going

Note: The following article contains spoilers for the series. Proceed with caution.

When the anime Daiya no A actII finished airing and the original manga ended, I assumed we would never see a continuation. I felt a sense of loss. But this spring, along with that distinctive cheer, Daiya no A came roaring back! So let me talk about the one who keeps coming back and rising up time and again: Sawamura Eijun. I’ll be sharing my unabashed, biased take on him.

What is Daiya no A?

Daiya no A is an anime series based on the manga by Terajima Yuuji that ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine. The encounter with catcher Miyuki Kazuya changes the life of 15-year-old boy Sawamura Eijun. To test his own abilities, he says goodbye to his friends and knocks on the door of Seidou, a prestigious baseball school. There, he finds proud players who have put everything on the line.

The currently airing Daiya no A actII -Second Season- depicts the exploits of Sawamura, now a second-year student in the Seidou High School baseball club. Sawamura is a left-handed pitcher who was entrusted with the ace number starting from the summer tournament. He has a strong mentality and a fiery spirit, and serves as the team’s mood maker. He specializes in tricky pitches thrown from a hard-to-read, timing-disrupting form.

To be honest, even though I volunteered to write about Sawamura’s appeal, I felt nervous starting. That has never happened before. I thought, “I can’t lightly verbalize Sawamura’s hard work…! Can I even put it into words? Help me, Kanemaru (Kaneharu Shinji)!” But as if to encourage me, I heard Sawamura’s energetic “Oshioshiooshi!” from the screen, so I take that as a cheer and let me talk—no, let me make you talk about Sawamura Eijun!

The Rival Who Was Too Far Ahead — The Writer Despairs

First, when talking about Sawamura, you cannot ignore the existence of his rival, Furuya Satoru. The two classmates had a common point at the beginning of joining the team: they didn’t even understand the rules of baseball. However, that was their only common point. In terms of both ball speed and physique, Furuya was far more talented.

Furuya immediately displayed his blazing fastball and was promoted to the first squad early on. He even got catcher Miyuki Kazuya, whom Sawamura had wished to catch for him, to receive his pitches right away. Not just in baseball, but in sports, physical differences are not something you can change overnight. Honestly, if I were Sawamura, I would have despaired and given up on becoming ace right away.

But Sawamura is different. He desperately latches on, never looks down, and never gives up on becoming ace. At first, his own desire (wanting Miyuki to catch for him) drove him, but after learning about the coach’s and seniors’ passion for Koushien, he gradually began to accumulate what he could do.

Sawamura’s Rapid Rise and the Dismally Low Evaluation

“He’s worked so hard. Can’t he catch up to Furuya now?” I naively thought, but that wasn’t the case. Sawamura felt responsible for the team’s defeat in the Koushien qualifiers and developed yips, while Furuya kept moving further ahead. I wonder if there has ever been a protagonist given so many trials. It breaks my heart (thinking about it makes my eyes blur with tears). But Sawamura still doesn’t give up. For Sawamura, an overwhelming rival is not a hated enemy he wishes didn’t exist, but a “guidepost, a wall to overcome, and an important teammate.”

He continues to work hard, stays the mood maker, overcomes his yips, gains a new weapon—the Numbers—and polishes his pitching. My favorite episode featuring Sawamura’s outstanding performance is the Ichidaisan High School arc in Daiya no A actII. After the spring invitational at Koushien, Furuya’s condition worsened a bit. The coach stubbornly kept Furuya on the mound as ace, hoping he would recover, but his condition didn’t improve, and Sawamura took the mound. In the past, Sawamura would have been nervous and gotten “cat eyes,” but this time he was different. He shined in both pitching and batting. Since acquiring the Numbers, Sawamura’s performance has been remarkable, but this episode’s rapid advance made me shout, “Wow! What is this! What is this! He’s amazing!” It’s the best episode no matter how many times I watch it.

At the same time, I felt anger at the undervaluation of Sawamura. Sure, the ace is crucial to a team, but our great angel Sawamura is also incredible! He should be properly recognized! I almost became a complainer, but that’s between us.

The Sight of Sawamura Wearing the Ace Number Moved Me to Tears

Sawamura finally wore the ace number. “Am I going to die?” I was so moved I still remember. Sawamura himself seemed so happy that he tried to look at the number on his uniform in an awkward pose, and even slept while wearing it. His joy was so cute I nearly ascended to heaven.

But I managed to hold myself together. When his classmates cheerfully said they would come support him from the stands, Sawamura scolded them, “Are you okay? The sun keeps blazing in the stands. There’s no roof like the bench, so it’s incredibly hot! Don’t underestimate the stands!” while still worrying about them. On the other hand, he also showed his cool side by saying, “But thanks. We’ll do our best to live up to your support.” Having grown mentally and physically as a baseball player, Sawamura now has an air of composure. There’s no enemy left for him. Yes, I ascended.

As the team’s ace and as a classmate, the cool Sawamura clashes again with Ichidaisan High School in the battle to decide the Nishi Tokyo representative for the National High School Baseball Championship. What really thrills me is the ace showdown with Amekuni, who recognized Sawamura’s ability early on, even exchanged contact info, and discusses baseball with him. Everyone else focuses on Furuya, but Amekuni goes straight for Sawamura, and it feels like he speaks my thoughts. “Thank you, Amekuni boy (more than the Ichidaisan coach inside me).”

Who could have imagined that Amekuni, the ace of a powerhouse school, and Sawamura, who once had almost zero baseball knowledge, would pitch against each other as aces? For Sawamura fans who had despaired that he might stay as the second pitcher forever, this development is a huge joy.

How will Sawamura, the man who never gives up, perform as ace against Ichidaisan? The pitching duel between Sawamura and Amekuni begins with episode 6 of Daiya no A actII -Second Season-, titled “Oohiro” (The Unveiling). In episode 8, “Ace’s Philosophy,” airing on May 24th, the tense battle continues with both teams scoreless. In the top of the fourth inning, Sawamura is pitching rhythmically, but an error by first baseman Maeguchi sends a runner to second base. The batter is the cleanup Hoshida, just like the second inning. Ichidaisan gets another chance to score first.

Broadcast Info

Network: TV Tokyo network 6 stations every Sunday at 17:30, AT-X every Sunday at 21:00 and other channels. (Broadcast times subject to change without notice.)

Streaming: Netflix streaming immediately after broadcast; also available sequentially on other streaming services.

Staff

Original: Terajima Yuuji (Kodansha, Weekly Shonen Magazine)
Director: Ooba Hideaki
Series Composition: Konochita Kenji
Script: Konochita Kenji, Fujisaki Junichi, Uda Takahiro
Character Design: Toukairin Yasuhiko
Music: Momoi Hajime
Art: Kato Kenji
Photography: Satou Atsushi (Studio Shamrock)
Color Design: Satou Naoshi
Editing: Kojima Toshihiko
Animation Production: OLM Team Yoshioka

Cast

Sawamura Eijun: Ousaka Ryouta
Furuya Satoru: Shimazaki Nobunaga
Miyuki Kazuya: Sakurai Takahiro
Kuramochi Youichi: Asanuma Shintaro
Kominato Haruichi: Hanamae Natsuiki
Kawakami Tsuyoshi: Shimono Hiro
Maeguchi Kenta: Tajiri Hiroaki
Shirashu Kenjiro: Shimotsuyu Yukiyoshi
Asou Takashi: Murata Taishi
Watanabe Hisashi: Ishida Akira
Kaneharu Shinji: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu
Toujou Hideaki: Aoi Shouta
Okumura Mitsuki: Uchida Yuuma
Yuuki Masashi: Takeuchi Shunsuke
Seto Takuma: Yamashita Daiki
Yui Kaoru: Murase Ayumu
Asada Hirofumi: Hatano Wataru
Yuuki Tetsuya: Hosoya Yoshimasa
Kominato Ryousuke: Okamoto Nobuhiko
Takigawa Chris Yuu: Namikawa Daisuke
Masuko Masaru: Hatano Wataru
Kataoka Tetsushin: Higashijima Naoto
Ochiai Hakkou: Akaki Susumu
Oota Kazuyoshi: Takeuchi Eiji
Takashima Rei: Uchiyama Yumi