Team Home Run: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

[onceakoala]

TEAM: Team Home Run
MEMBERS: Tea onceakoala, Ria anguishofmylove, gyul sukidayo, Buni buni_emoji, Nox nox_pff
RATING: G

TITLE: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
SERIES: Ookiku Furikabutte
MAIN SHIP: Team Nishiura & friends (Gen)
SIDE PAIRINGS: none
CHARACTERS: Mihashi Ren, Abe Takaya, Tajima Yuuichirou, Hanai Azusa, Shinooka Chiyo, Momoe Maria, Izumi Kousuke, Sakaeguchi Yuuto, Oki Kazutoshi, Riou Nakazawa, Kanou Shuugo, Haruna Motoki
MAJOR TAGS: None
ADDITIONAL TAGS: timeskip, future au, college au, everybody grows up

SUMMARY: In their third year, Team Nishiura finally manages to make it to Koshien. Then, five years later, they meet again and see how far each of them has come, and how much things have changed -- or how little.

WORK LENGTH: 11 images
SCRIPT: text under images
NOTES: we hope you enjoy our small comic!





Wide shot of a stadium, then Mihashi staring at the field, his teammates around him
Tajima, hugging Mihashi from behind: Ready, Ren??



Tajima: C'mon, you'll be great! These batters suck

Tajima (shouting): Hey, Abe! Tell Ren about their batters!
Abe: They suck. (we're gonna win)

Tajima: See? What did I tell you?
Izumi: Is Ren worried again?
Hanai: Alright, Mr. Confident, time for warm-ups!

Tajima (pushing Mihashi towards the field): Okay, okay! We're going!
Izumi: You better enjoy it this game, you may not be the only pitcher next year, eh, Ren?



Mihashi (panicking): Not... The only... P-Pitcher? !!!

Abe: Hey, don't distract him!
Tajima, his elbow resting on Mihashi's shoulder: Haha, oops!
Abe: We can talk about college all we want tomorrow.



Abe: Today, we've got to focus on the match
Tajima: Koshien! Koshien!!

Mihashi, shaken out of his panic: !
Mihashi shakes his head vigorously
Mihashi holds up his fists, determined

Mihashi, sprinting toward the mound: mound!
Tajima, chasing after him: Yeah, Ren! That's more like it!
Abe, looking tired: exhausting...
Oki, holding up his glove: Warm ups? Throw it here!
Sakaeguchi: Wait for me!

Koshien round one: begin



Alarm clock rings

silhouette is seen stretching, taking shower, grabbing bag

Person: Bye! I'm heading out now!

Woman: Don't stay too late! You need to be early for your reunion!

Invitation to 5 year reunion lying on table
Person: Yeah, yeah, I will.



Several faceless people mingling, having unreadable conversations

Tajima, waving: Hey guys! How you been lately?

Hanai (age 23): Hey, finally arrived?
Shinooka (22) and Sakaeguchi (23) and Hanai are standing in a group

Tajima (23): I'm not that late today, right?



Tajima: So I heard you finally got into a pro team, O captain, my old captain!
Hanai: Ahaha yeah! It's a pretty good team but probably nowhere near yours.

Tajima: Ugh sure. But practice has been hell! I can't catch a break!!
I've been dying man!

Sakaeguchi: Damn am I glad I'm not playing anymore! It's so much easier just coaching.

(with Momoe squeezing out oranges with her arms in the background)
Sakaeguchi: Momoe-san really helped teach me the ropes of coaching, even if it's just as an assistant coach to kids.

Sakaeguchi: But sometimes she's still too intense for me.



Shinooka: Sakaeguchi-san, you're getting so good at coaching!
Tajima (from offscreen): I wish my coach was as nice as Yuuto!!

Hanai: So, what's it like playing with old rivals?
Tajima: It's weird, but definitely also fun!

Tajima: some people are way easier to work with than others!
(a scene with Haruna trying to explain complicated batting techniques to a confused Tajima)

Tajima, remembering something abruptly: !

Tajima: Oh yeah!
Tajima: And I'm gonna have to play against Mihashi at the end of this week!
(Mihashi, on the pitcher's mound, up against a batter as his catcher gives him a sign)



Abe: Speaking of...
Mihashi: H-Hi!

Mihashi trips

Abe (catching him): Whoa there!
Mihashi: A-Abe-kun!
Abe: What a presentation, huh?

Mihashi: Ah - sorry! And thank you

Hanai: Mihashi!



Tajima: I'm happy you came!

Tajima: After last week's match, all you need is a super relaxing reunion with the gang!

Tajima: I mean, you compete with Kanou every day for pitching
Mihashi: I-It's okay! It's nice to have someone to back you up.

Mihashi: (is softe)

Hanai: Yeah? Well, I'll crush you both in next week's match!
Abe: Please don't. crushed bodies are not pleasant to see.
Abe: and yet players get hurt all the time.. they are a pain in the ass.



Hanai: Okay, thank you, this is super dark now.
Hanai: Let's just play this match!

Mihashi is pitching to Hanai, with Riou as catcher.
Mihashi's pitching has gotten much faster.

Kanou steals a base while Abe and Haruna can be seen watching the practice game, chatting and laughing where they sit on the bench.

Comments

COMMENT : TEAM STARMATES

[hibari1_chan]

God, that was so GOOD !!! The art really captured their expressions well and they're all so cute !! I love the fact that they reconnected and immediately thought : We gotta play baseball together again XD Thank you very much for this comic !!

COMMENT: Team 29 Balls to the Face

[augustgreatsword]

This was so cute! I'm admittedly not familiar with the original work, but this was still such a cute read. I liked how y'all decided on a reunion where they really just picked up where they left off it seems (~~unlike some of us~~).

Also I'm so flattered that you used one of my gifts!

Comment: Team 29 Balls to the Face

[joshllyman]

I don't know anything about Oofuri, but this is really cute! I really like the beginning part of the comic where they're playing at Koshien, and there's the juxtaposition of being excited for this opportunity but also they're going to be moving on to college and moving apart soon. It's really bittersweet, and it's nice to see they're still friends after all the time passes.

COMMENT: Team Setter Squad

[lilija_yuuzel]

This is adorable!
The paneling is really good and the story flows nicely. The characters look really cute as well and I love their expressions. This was really fun to read!

COMMENT: TEAM STARMATES

[hanavmaki]

this was extra adorable!! i've never watched/read the source material, but it's extremely endearing how they're all so close & how they banter with each other!! even after 5 years their reunion goes smoothly, and i like how their conversations let us know what they're up to now; as though we're catching up w them too!!! (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)

the story flows v well, and their expressions are so well drawn that the mood of the story is conveyed effectively!! c: i feel so warm from reading this!!! 11 images (/manga pages) is an incredibly huge feat to someone like me bc i can't draw for nuts; i think y'all are amazing!!! thank you so much for this wonderful work!!!!

COMMENT: Team Seijoh Third Years

[tsukisyama]

This was such a cute comic! I haven't gotten to watching Oofuri yet, but this certainly makes a compelling argument :) I felt myself really enjoying the expressions in the third and fourth images in particular! Thank you for an amazing entry!!

Comment: team seijoh third years

[haijikiyose]

Oofuri is one of my favorites, and you all did a great job of capturing each character's personalities. The second to last image was one of my favorites, I love how you drew the background characters in the last panel. Thanks again!

COMMENT: TEAM SEIJOH THIRD YEARS

[blackjackals]

Some of my other team members were telling me about this entry before I'd seen it, so I knew it would be really good, and man, you guys did not disappoint! I found the humor in each of their expressions to be infectious, you all did a wonderful job with that. The fifth image was one of my favorites in that it showed some domestic scenes that made me feel like I was actually there with them. Thank you for your time!

COMMENT: Team Seijoh third years

[kuramochis]

the expressions and comedic on this one were simply!! chefs kiss!! perfection!! you're all such great artists, I really like the panels where each of the characters are laughing in particular!! their personalities really shone through throughout - thank you for posting!!!!

COMMENT : TEAM GRANDSTAND - KARASUNO FIRST YEARS

[jae494f0]

I’ve never read the canon story, so I’m really impressed that you put together a comic and were able to introduce the setup! It’s a lot of work, so right off the back, amazing job. The facial expressions on the characters are really funny and cute. The reunion scene was also well-executed and really relatable with folks coming back and catching up. I like the transition to the game; it feels very smooth and as if saying that all the characters have matured. All-in-all a cute read; thanks for creating this!

Comment: Team Seijoh Third Years

[kanonicity]

this is my first time seeing something for oooiku, but I really enjoyed how y'all combined comics with parts of scripts. the flow of the panels and story itself are really cute and captivating! this was super sweet to read the characters picking up in their relationships with where they left off.