I’ve been slacking on my CotW features recently, and I apologize. There are 2 excuses I have. First, I’ve been busy, both getting the podcast running again and  Second, sometimes I just don’t end up reading a chapter of manga in a given week that makes me particularly passionate. I only read about 20-30 chapters of current stuff a week and generally have 1-3 marathon series on my back burner. Recently, I’ve been reading Part 5 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Takano Ichigo’s Orange. Both were good manga, and I might have more to say about them in the long run, but there wasn’t one point in either of them that jumped out as self-evident greatness.

But a win-obsessed former bottom-feeding baseball team led by a charismatic pitcher-owner winning the pennant by taking 3 games in a row, on the road, against the team that ultimately finished in second place? While spoiling their opponent’s victory party each time? That’s some fine stuff.

One Outs is almost done being scanlated (there’s a volume’s worth of aftermath to get through before it’s completely over), but the Lycaons clinched their regular-season championship. The final, decisive game doesn’t even feature the main character, Tokuchi, instead showing the rest of the team using what they’ve learned (play to win, in so many words) along with the residual effects of his tactics, to pull out the win that last one themselves. It’s the last step in the evolution of a championship team, something that’s really fun to watch.

This whole series is like watching the Moneyball A’s, if the entire league was out to get them, they actually won it all, and Billy Beane was also a kickass pitcher. Many thanks to Shinobu Kaitani for what has been a phenomenal ride.