Daigo's Little League Arc

Daigo's Little League Arc
Kanji	小学生編
Rōmanji	Shōgakusei-hen
Manga
Volumes	10
Chapters	90
2nd 001. Daigo's Dream 2nd 002. If Only I Wasn't the Second... 2nd 003. Why he quit 2nd 004. Hikaru's Abilities 2nd 005. Potential of the Second 2nd 006. Damn it!! 2nd 007. Farewell Hit! 2nd 008. Look Who's Talking! 2nd 009. Talent of Loving Baseball 2nd 010. Ace's Baptism 2nd 011. Pitching Test 2nd 012. Accompany Me 2nd 013. Special Training Starts? 2nd 014. I'll look back at you! 2nd 015. Batting Center's Special Training 2nd 016. Catcher's Charm 2nd 017. A Reunion without Smiles 2nd 018. You're Lying!! 2nd 019. Someday 2nd 020. You're 10 Years Early 2nd 021. Personal Lesson 2nd 022. A New Life 2nd 023. Playball!! 2nd 024. A Coach's Trust 2nd 025. Repeating Mistakes 2nd 026. Urabe's Melancholy 2nd 027. Crow-hop 2nd 028. The Main Forces Pride 2nd 029. One More Person 2nd 030. Get It Back! 2nd 031. What You Can Do Now 2nd 032. A Last Moment Battery 2nd 033. Urgent Pitching 2nd 034. A Beginner Battery 2nd 035. Daigos Decision 2nd 036. The Joy of Winning 2nd 037. Weekday Practice 2nd 038. Yesterdays Practice 2nd 039. Line-Up Announcement 2nd 040. Stealing Measures 2nd 041. Catcher Experience 2nd 042. Eephus Measures 2nd 043. Special Shift 2nd 044. Clue for Attack 2nd 045. Emergency? 2nd 046. A Battery's Breath 2nd 047. The Battery's Decision 2nd 048. Courtesy and Responsibility 2nd 049. A Changed Pace 2nd 050. Trump Card 2nd 051. Turnabout Victory 2nd 052. To Take You Down 2nd 053. The Mayumura Generation 2nd 054. Towards the Biggee Match 2nd 055. Yearning 2nd 056. Urabe's Past 2nd 057. Bunt against Bunt 2nd 058. Before the Match 2nd 059. Unexpected 2nd 060. Strange Feeling 2nd 061. Accident 2nd 062. First Aid 2nd 063. Number 4's Response 2nd 064. The Motive for Evolution 2nd 065. Close Game? 2nd 067. Fastball Showdown! 2nd 068. Cut-Off Feelings 2nd 069. Don't take it! 2nd 070. For Victory's sake 2nd 071. Reliever Effectiveness 2nd 072. The Counterattack...Begins? 2nd 073. Touto Seams 2nd 074. Pitched Ace 2nd 075. The Coach Awakens 2nd 076. Latent Power of the Prestige 2nd 077. Final Chapter...!! 2nd 078. Join from Behind 2nd 079. A Battery's Scheme 2nd 080. Intentional Walk 2nd 081. Left Overthrow 2nd 082. The Last Batter? 2nd 083. Overwhelm! 2nd 084. Do Something 2nd 085. A Blow of Fate 2nd 086. It's my fault 2nd 087. You're Lying!! 2nd 088. A Sudden Return 2nd 089. Family Outing 2nd 090. Like I Just Said
Anime
Episodes
Number of Episodes	25
2nd-Ep1: Daigo's Dream 2nd-Ep2: If I Wasn't the Second 2nd-Ep3: The Two Juniors 2nd-Ep4: The Talent of Loving Baseball 2nd-Ep5: Commence Special Training! 2nd-Ep6: Catch 2nd-Ep7: Some Day, For Sure 2nd-Ep8: Toshiya's Personal Training 2nd-Ep9: Hikaru's Feelings 2nd-Ep10: The Summer Tournament Begins! 2nd-Ep11: Now I've Done It! 2nd-Ep12: Battery Debut 2nd-Ep13: Mutsuko's Melancholy 2nd-Ep14: The Experience Level of the Catcher 2nd-Ep15: The Key to Success 2nd-Ep16: All-Out Battle 2nd-Ep17: I Don't Want to Lose 2nd-Ep18: The Mayumura Siblings 2nd-Ep19: Before the Big Game 2nd-Ep20: The Touto Match - Play Ball! 2nd-Ep21: Daigo and Hikaru 2nd-Ep23: The Hit of Destiny 2nd-Ep24: No Way...! 2nd-Ep25: The Promise

Daigo's Little League Arc (or simply Elementary School Arc) is the first story arc of the MAJOR 2nd manga and the ninth story arc overall in the MAJOR series. This arc is centered around Daigo Shigeno's childhood and his time in the Mifune Dolphins with his friends Hikaru Sato, Mutsuko Sakura, Hayato Urabe and Andy Suzuki.

Summary

Joining the Mifune Dolphins (Manga: Volume 1, ch. 001 - Volume 3, ch. 022; Anime: Episode 155 - Episode 163)

Daigo Shigeno strives to meet his own expectations (and especially those of others) for being Goro Shigeno's son, a former Major League player who conquered the baseball world in the past. After finding out he has no talent for baseball and failing to meet said expectations, Daigo gives up on baseball. After a few years, Daigo has a fateful meeting with Hikaru Sato, son of Toshiya Sato, who formed a battery with Goro and conquered the baseball world with him. Hikaru convinces Daigo to join the Mifune Dolphins, a Little League team that Goro joined during his infancy and where he played against Toshiya and ultimately defeated him. Following them, Daigo's friend Mutsuko Sakura, who were already familiar with baseball for years, also joins the Dolphins team. There, the three meet Hayato Urabe and Andy Suzuki, the Dolphins battery and the strongest players of the team. As they play baseball and learn more about the sport, Daigo sets out to be a catcher, while Hikaru sets out to be a pitcher and Mutsuko shows all-around good skills in both batting and fielding. This leads to a conflict with Urabe and Andy, since they play in the same position. Their battle for a regular position rages on as Daigo receives training from Toshiya and Hikaru hones his piching skills before the Little League tournament begins. Meanwhile, Mutsuko sets herself as a regular fielder already, due to her high potential and skills. As they get to know each other, the team sets their eyes on a single objective: defeating the Touto Boys, a team led by the Mayumura siblings, who are Urabe and Andy's main rivals.

Little League's First Match: Tanigawa Eagles (Manga: Volume 3, ch. 023 - Volume 5, ch. 036; Anime: Episode 164 - Episode 166)

See: Mifune Dolphins vs. Tanigawa Eagles.

Little League's Second Match: Nijigaoka Beetles (Manga: Volume 5, ch 037 - Volume 6, ch. 052; Anime: Episode 167 - Episode 171)

After defeating their first opponents in the tournament, the Tanigawa Eagles, the Dolphins are set to play two matches in the same day. The first is against the Nijigaoka Beetles, a team coached by Daisuke Komori, on of Goro's childhood friends. As the Dolphins manage to defeat Nijigaoka's ace, a player with an extremely peculiar pitching style, they advance to their next match: the Hongo Sharks. The Dolphins make short work of the Hongo Sharks. Meanwhile, the Touto Boys also win their matches, and are paired against the Dolphins in the next round. See: Mifune Dolphins vs. Nijigaoka Beetles.

Little League's Fourth Match: Touto Boys (Manga: Volume 6, ch. 053 - Volume 10, ch. 085; Anime: Episode 172 - Episode 177)

See: Mifune Dolphins vs. Touto Boys.

Post-Little League (Manga: Volume 10, ch. 086 - Volume 10, ch. 090; Anime: Episode 178 - Episode 179)

After being defeated by the Touto Boys in the tournament and the accident with Hikaru, Daigo is left extremely depressed, to the point of quitting baseball again. However, after finding out that Hikaru is well and undergoing rehabilitation, Daigo decides to resume playing baseball and begins studying to join Fuurin Middle.

Manga and Anime Differences

This arc was moderately expanded in the anime. The training section before the Little League is much longer in the anime version, also, the Hongo Sharks game was given a full episode in the anime, while in the manga it was simply skipped. Other than that, some characters make a few cameo appearances before they are introduced, those being: Goro Shigeno, Michiru Mayumura and Hideki and Momoko Shigeno. The characters from the Fuurin Middle Arc: Hiromu Tanba, Takumi Chiba, Kazuki Sugawara, Sota Kitaoji, Yusuke Umemiya, Yayoi Sawa, Tao Sagara and Seira Kandori also appear very briefly teasing the next arc.

Matches

• Mifune Dolphins 3 - 5 Yamate Little (Daigo's flashback) - Ch. 001.
• Mifune Dolphins 3 - 3 Guts Little (practice match, draw) - Ch. 003-007.
• Mifune Dolphins 6 - 3 Minamigaoka Little (practice match) - Ch. 020.
• Little League's First Match: Mifune Dolphins 5 - 4 Tanigawa Eagles - Ch. 023-036.
• Little League's First Match: Hiyoshi Warriors 0 - 3 Nijigaoka Beetles - Ch. 036.
• Little League's Second Match: Mifune Dolphins 5 - 3 Nijigaoka Beetles - Ch. 039-051.
• Little League's Second Match: Shimizu Iron Boys 0 - 11 Hongo Sharks - Ch. 051.
• Little League's Third Match: Mifune Dolphins 3 - 0 Hongo Sharks - Ch. 051.
• Little League's Third Match: Okada Little 0 - 16 Touto Boys - Ch. 052.
• Little League's Quarterfinal: Mifune Dolphins 8 - 9 Touto Boys - Ch. 059-085.

Important Events

• Daigo Shigeno joins the Mifune Dolphins Little League team, but after failing to meet the expectations of others due to being Goro's son, Daigo gives up on baseball and ends up developing an inferiority complex.
• Two years later, Daigo meets Hikaru Sato after he transfers to Daigo's schol. Together with Mutsuko Sakura, they join the Mifune Dolphins, where they meet Hayato Urabe and Andy Suzuki.
• After playing for the Dolphins again, Daigo regains his love for baseball and sets himself free of his inferiority complex.
• Hikaru sets out to be a pitcher and Daigo sets out to be a catcher, while Mutsuko shows all-rounded good skills at both fielding and batting, and becomes an outfielder.
• At the Little League Tournament, the Dolphins defeat the Tanigawa Eagles, the Nijigaoka Beetles and the Hongo Sharks, but end up losing against the Touto Boys, a team led by Ken Mayumura's son Wataru and daughter Michiru.
• During the match between the Dolphins and the Touto Boys, Daigo ends up bumping into Hikaru and severely injuring Hikaru's neck. However, Hikaru's rehabilitation following the accident is a success, and he is able to walk again despite being paralyzed from the neck down for some time.
• After seeing Hikaru's resolve to get better and continue playing baseball, Daigo and Mutsuko both set out to join Fuurin Middle, a school with a strong baseball club, where Daigo's sister Izumi Shigeno played at.