"Gurazeni" depicts the harsh world of professional baseball and money in a realistic way, depicting the joys and sorrows of the characters that have never been seen in baseball manga before. Many famous scenes have been born from it. This time, we will announce the ranking of famous scenes in "Gurazeni".
10th place: Toku-san's great commentary
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!・Kodansha
Toku, a former pitcher for the Jingu Spiders and current commentator for baseball broadcasts, was on the brink of being taken off the show he was in charge of. But when the special week came around, Toku, wanting to somehow get some results, did thorough research. But he couldn't figure out who the starting pitcher was. Then, when he was asked to commentate, the starting pitcher was reliever Natsunosuke Bonta. Toku, who knew Bonta inside and out since his playing days, gave a detailed commentary that no one else could imitate, and somehow managed to keep his regular spot.
9th place: Touko's performance
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!, Kodansha
He is the fourth catcher for the Jingu Spiders, and although he is usually a player in the second team, he sometimes plays in the first team a few times a year. When he was promoted to the first team for the first time this season, his college motivations encouraged him to retire and get a job, and he was even forced to consider retirement if he didn't produce results. But Touko's batting skills exploded. Objectively speaking, it would seem that he would have a better life if he had retired and gotten a job, but this result ended up extending Touko's playing career.
8th place: Natsunosuke Bonta decides to undergo Tommy John surgery
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
After transferring to Bunkyo Mopps, Bonta was overworked as a relief pitcher in the championship race and injured his elbow. While he was thinking about how to return to the team, his pitching coach recommended that he undergo Tommy John surgery. Considering that undergoing Tommy John surgery would mean missing a season but allowing him to recover, Onda decided to undergo Tommy John surgery.
7th place: Sekiya's competitive strength
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
He is a batter for the Wild Ones and is known for his strong batting when the opportunity arises. He's a rare player these days, with a Showa-era vibe, and sometimes he only walks until the morning, and often plays defense while hungover. But when it really counts, he has incredible concentration, and his presence is intimidating. According to Bonta, he's a carnivorous baseball player.
6th place: Bonta Natsunosuke vs Doterui
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / Sky Perfect! ・Kodansha
Doterui, a big hitter for the Setouchi Carbinats, has not been able to perform to the level of his annual salary in recent years and was on the verge of being removed from the team's plans. Meanwhile, he will face off against the Spiders' Bonta Natsunosuke. However, the ball thrown by Bonta hit Doterai's right wrist, causing a fracture and forcing him out of action. The team's management had been considering dropping Doterai from their plans, but with a dead ball they could not do so, and the team's lineup became rigid.
5th place: Bonta Natsunosuke gives up on his desire for pitching power
Source: Gurazeni ©Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!・Kodansha
With advice from batting pitcher and scorer Kuriki, Bonta Natsunosuke tries to improve his pitching form to increase the power of his pitches. At first, he enjoys the way the batter is pushed back by the power of his pitches and gets stuck in the middle, but at the most crucial moment, his control is weak and he gets hit. This failure leads him to go back to his original pitching-focused form, but this scene represents an important turning point for a professional baseball player.
4th place: Eating habits of baseball players
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!・Kodansha
When Natsunosuke Onda and Korekawa are struggling with a slump, they visit a yakiniku restaurant and vow to bounce back by eating a healthy diet that focuses on vegetables and avoids alcohol. However, players from other teams eating nearby are eating in a lavish manner, eating large amounts of meat, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes. While Onda and his team are doing the right thing as athletes, it may be important for professional baseball players to refresh themselves after fighting through the year.
3rd place: Pitching by Hara Takemi
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Hara Takemi of the Setouchi Carbinats is a pitcher who is affectionately nicknamed "Bancho" by fans. He doesn't have a prominent pitch type and has low physical ability, so he's not a great pitcher, but he is good at suppressing opposing batters with skillful tactics. Sometimes, he takes his time to tease the batter, or suddenly, he throws a straight pitch, somehow managing to hold the opponent back with these pitching techniques that catch the opponent off guard.
2nd place: The challenge of Ohno and Natsunosuke Onda
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!・Kodansha
Oono of the Jingu Spiders, who was struggling with poor batting performance, was ordered by Toku-san, a former professional commentator from the Yamanashi Prefectural Association along with Natsunosuke Bonta, to achieve a batting average of .300 or hit four home runs in the next four games after the first 29 games. To achieve this, he must hit at least one home run per day. Natsunosuke Bonta, who was also in attendance, had also been hit hard recently, so he was ordered to get his ERA in the 2-point range by the same 29 games. In response to such an unreasonable request, Ohno decided to just go for the home run and successfully achieved the order. Meanwhile, Natsunosuke Bonta improved his form from there and continued pitching scoreless games, but unfortunately he just missed the target with an ERA of 3.00.
1st Place: The Habits of Natsunosuke Bonta
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Natsunosuke Bonta is such a salary maniac that he can recite the annual salaries of first-string players from other teams off the top of his head. Also, in professional baseball, the mindset is that it's all about making money, so the opponent's salary can even affect the outcome of a game. For example, against players with lower salaries than himself, he can pitch down to them, so he can hold them back, but against players with higher salaries he shrinks back and gets hit. Meanwhile, when he played against Komori of the Blue Comets, Komori's salary was 18 million yen, the same as Natsunosuke Bonta's. For Natsunosuke Bonta, whose game depends on the salary of his opponent, it was an interesting game to see how he would fare against an opponent with the same salary. The result was a close-timed grounder to the infield, but the opposing manager protested and the call was overturned, so it ended in a game that was neither a win nor a loss.
Summary
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Unlike other baseball manga, Gurazeni has many unique memorable scenes. Such scenes are born because it realistically depicts baseball players who struggle day and night to earn money. It will be interesting to see what kind of activities the characters will do in the future.
