Baby Steps Episode 11: Tiebreaker

Going out with not a bang but a whimper.

Baby Steps is a fantastic series. Just like its protagonist Ei-chan (who I will definitely talk about in a bit), this series knows when to take risks with its story, and manages to stay true to itself and what it stands for, while portraying a wonderful and extremely engaging story of self-improvement and what it takes to be good at something you love.

Or what it takes to WIN at something you love, really, because it’s clear the basis of this week’s episode was not Ei-chan trying to be /better/ than Miyagawa – it’s just not possible really, and Baby Steps knows this. This is where Baby Steps really shows it’s true colours, it knows itself well – the sport in question, the characters, and it shows. This week was all about Ei-chan understanding that on level ground he can never beat Miyagawa, especially so when he doesn’t have an offensive stroke and has only truly mastered the basics. Yet he never lets that fact put him down, and he decides to observe his opponent’s tendencies, take risks, and is willing to accept the consequences of a possible failure. He is constantly trying, not to better his game, but to keep things unpredictable for Miyagawa, who does respect Ei-chan’s skills, but chooses to play it safe. It’s not because he’s overconfident either, but it’s because it’s really the only way he knows how.

And it’s all thanks to Ei-chan that Miyagawa understands that being good at tennis never guarantees a victory – you have to understand your opponent, work your way AROUND your weakness (not try to get rid of them during the game!) and step out of your comfort zone. A win is a win, and as long as no cheating is involved who’s to say the winner doesn’t deserve the victory? Ei-chan understands this and makes the proactive effort to change things up for himself, and Miyagawa, who only truly understands this concept Ei-chan’s being playing by during the tie-breaker, was just a tad too late.

I did get pretty emotional this week too, not just for Ei-chan’s win, but also because Miyagawa has learned something invaluable for himself. He has always submitted to the fact that he was quite the awkward player since young, and he took the effort to practice to the point where he specializes in game-deciding strokes, claiming that he couldn’t do anything else when that wasn’t entirely true either. After this match, I am certain Miyagawa will step up his training and work all this into his regime, and what a match it was indeed.

It just goes to show that we don’t need dragged out matches and ‘shonen power-ups’ for a protagonist to win a fight, and a fair one at that. Baby Steps is just so good because of this – it remains thematically coherent and manages to convey a great story without the dramatics (not to say this wasn’t an exciting episode, because damn!), and uses this step to bring Ei-chan’s understanding of tennis to a new level. He may not have ‘improved’ skill-wise, but as a player he has certainly done so. His adaptability, his ‘lack of pride’ as Takuma calls it, and his amazing skills of observation have all played a huge part to this victory of his, which is without a doubt, rightfully deserved.