One Outs

A manga by Shinobu Kaitani (also the author of Liar Game) which was adopted into a 25-episode anime series by Studio Madhouse in 2008, One Outs presents itself quite differently from others in its genre. While most sports series are focused on the importance of training, determination and teamwork (more often than not featuring high-school-age players), One Outs is mainly concerned with loads of money and incredible mind games in a pro baseball setting. The anime was produced by the team responsible for Akagi and Kaiji; the protagonist is voiced by the seiyuu of the eponymous characters from those two series.

From Mangaupdates.com :

Kojima Hiromichi is the ace batter of the Lycaons - a notoriously weak baseball team that is often ranked at the bottom of the league. Determined to lead the team to victory prior to his retirement, Kojima takes a trip to a training camp in Okinawa, hoping to discover what factors the Lycaons lack.

Here, he happens upon a game dubbed "One Outs" - a gambling derivative of baseball - and is soundly defeated by a blond pitcher named Tokuchi Toua, who is claimed to have never allowed a hit in any of the 499 games he has played.

Kojima realizes that he has found the 'missing factor' and makes a wager with Tokuchi. Little does anyone know that the outcome of this gamble will dictate the fates of the Lycaons and all those connected to the team.


 * Absurdly High Stakes Game: Sets the series in motion when Kojima wagers his career against Tokuchi's right hand.
 * Accidental Athlete: Kojima discovers Toua Tokuchi largely by chance.
 * Anti-Hero: Toua, of course!
 * Badass: Toua, again.
 * Badass Boast: Toua yet again. When he says he's going to knock someone out in three pitches, he means it.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy: Tokuchi is shown shirtless in the opening animation, but he has no nipples.
 * Batman Gambit: Tokuchi makes quite a habit out of pulling these.
 * Bishounen: Takami Itsuki stands out in series with average-to-ugly characters.
 * Boring Invincible Hero: Toua, for the most part, always recovers his losses and makes out like a bandit at the end of each game or string of games. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary on whether you consider him to be this or a protagonist version of the Magnificent Bastard...
 * Brutal Honesty: Toua does not hesitate to tell anyone exactly what he thinks of them.
 * Butt Monkey: Arai. If anyone's going to look utterly stupid, it's usually him.
 * Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Averted. Tokuchi spots players on a rival team cheating by stealing the Lycaons' signals. Does he call them on it? Not a chance. He mounts a man-in-the-middle attack and makes them lose face utterly.
 * Cheaters Never Prosper: Played straight in the second and third matches against the  -- though Toua's own methods for ensuring their victory were far from honest and by-the-book...
 * Inverted in the third match against the Mariners where, in order to win, both teams have to intentionally and obviously cheat as much as possible.
 * Character Development: By the end of the series Toua is actually going out for drinks with the other members and taking part in pre-match meetings (for his own reasons, but still.)
 * The Chessmaster: Toua
 * Combat Commentator: Obviously, since this is a sports series.
 * Down to the Last Play: Quite a few matches are only won in the final inning.
 * Dreadlock Rasta: Dennis Johnson's hairstyle.
 * Expy: Toua, of Akagi. Their personalities are virtually the same.
 * Evil Gloating: Saikawa delights in this.
 * Flaw Exploitation: Toua almost entirely relies on this to score his victories.
 * Frame-Up: One of the many, many methods Saikawa uses to try to reduce his debt to Tokuchi.
 * Gag Lips: Manager Mihara, whose nickname among his team is "Fat Lips."
 * Gratuitous English: "Big Mama", and Brooklyn's entire character.
 * And the series' title and subtitle, with their questionable grammar.
 * Gambit Roulette: Quite a few times -- but the most notable example was during the third match against the Chiba Mariners.
 * Golden Snitch: The Lycaons' owner, Saikawa, occasionally makes certain games worth 20 times more than others in terms of Toua's wages as well as the amount deducted from his annual salary, should he give up any runs.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: What happens to the
 * Saikawa frequently suffers from this during his attempts to out-gamble Tokuchi.
 * Hyper Awareness: Tokuchi's greatest strength is his super-awareness of everything going on around him.
 * Ideal Hero: Kojima
 * The Lancer: Ideguchi
 * Like a God to Me: Manager Mihara says this to Tokuchi in one episode when he's trying to butter him up.
 * Narrator
 * Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught - The mentality of the Blue Mars team. Subverted in an episode where Tokuchi and the Mariners cheat blatantly and obviously because they want to get caught.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Toua pulls this off a couple of times, despite having a face that looks anything but stupid. Mostly used in the matches against the Bugaboos, during which he
 * Oh Crap: Used by the Blue Mars when they realize the trick ball makes it impossible to pick Toua off at base.
 * The Plan: It's quite difficult to tell sometimes what kind of plan Toua is using but they often work.
 * Porn Stache: Okabe of the Eagles has a classic one.
 * Pose of Supplication: Tokuchi forces a Blue Mars player into one on national TV after a Frame-Up backfires.
 * Put Me in Coach: Inverted. Tokuchi is too good at what he does, and the executive who manages the team deliberately sends him in only when he believes that Tokuchi will make a mistake.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Toua usually has a red aura and his opponents have blue.
 * The Reveal: Lengthy ones after every trick.
 * Rule of Seven: Toua's jersey number is 77.
 * Seinen
 * Shirtless Scene: The opening animation shows Tokuchi shirtless.
 * Sir Swearsalot: Brooklyn and most foreign players.
 * Slow Clap: Tokuchi does this to Ideguchi in a late episode.
 * Smoking Is Cool: Toua smokes like a chimney - especially in the manga.
 * Super Senses: While not stated, there's no other explanation for how people are able to clearly overhear each other from hundreds of feet away. The announcers can always hear every single word Tokuchi says on the pitch, for example.
 * Talking Is a Free Action: Not as blatantly overused as in other sports series -- but there's still no way the umpires would allow players and managers to talk to each other so frequently and long-windedly during a game (without even calling for time-outs). Still, it's understandable - since most of the mind-play is so complicated that few viewers would be able to figure out what was going on unless it was explained in detail.
 * This Cannot Be!: Frequently uttered by Tokuchi's opponents.
 * Trash Talk: Usually started by the enemy, but Tokuchi gives as good as he gets.
 * Underdogs Never Lose: The Lycaons are a pretty mediocre team, but they start winning matches like wildfire after Toua joins.
 * Averted when Toua points out that the reason they've always been underdogs is not due to a glaringly obvious lack of skill -- but strategically weak game plans, bad coaching, thoughtless management, low self-esteem and a great deal of misconceptions regarding what a baseball game is all about.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Really, actual baseball (even in the pro leagues) isn't even one thousandth as interesting as this anime manages to make it seem.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Kojima's spectacled lackey disappears completely after episode 4.
 * Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him: More like "Why don't ya just hire him properly?" Saikawa's henchman points out he could save a lot of money by just signing Tokuchi to a normal player's contract, but he refuses.
 * Worthy Opponent: Tokuchi states he has been looking for one.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: Again, plenty of times; especially during the second and third matches against the Blue Mars.
 * You Are Not Alone: The difference between baseball and One Outs.