neko's thinkbox

Apparently in Japan cousins can get married! Which comes as a surprise to me because in the U.S.A. this is usually not the case as far as I know. Mizuki is chasing after Aoba, but it seems like Aoba just isn’t feeling it. While there was very little baseball in episode 20, Cross Game still shines.
Beware: Spoilers!

Click the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures.

Let’s see what Nomo has for us this week!

Episode Highlights:
• Mizuki saves a kitten stranded in a tree.
• Mizuki is very popular with the ladies at school as shown by the various girls following him throughout the day.
• Mizuki tells Aoba she is the one he loves. This makes it very awkward for the rest of the episode between Mizuki and Aoba.
• Kou gets diarrhea from drinking expired milk adding some comedic scenes to the episode.
• Mizuki upsets the senior boys by rejecting the girls they like.
• Aoba and Kou are both hiding slight injuries from everyone. Aoba can tell that Kou is injured and vice-versa. However, these injuries don’t seem to be anything overly serious.

Liked:
+ The way Aoba’s feelings aren’t rock solid. At this point in the series I have no idea if she likes Kou more than a friend. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen and that makes it very interesting.
+ The humor found in the episode, I am a big fan of Kou’s character. He seems very carefree at times and easy going, but deep down I think he cares for Aoba and can be very serious when he needs to be.

Disliked:
- Mizuki just seems to bug me a little. While he revealed how he feeled to Aoba and everyone else I just don’t think enough has been revealed about him and what is going to happen.
- The lack of baseball, while character development is essential, I just miss some good old fashion ball.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Episode 20 was a strong episode, further advancing the Mizuki and Aoba situation. Based on the next episode preview it seems that Mizuki and Aoba go on a date. I thought I started to see some jealousy from Kou which is a good thing! I am hoping this provokes Kou to do something about it. Every episode just makes you hope that they reveal their true feelings to each other. I want to see Kou and Aoba as a couple damn it! But I also worry that that could be wrong in Wakaba’s memory. So in that case I don’t know if I would be okay with Kou and Aoba being a couple. In any case, I am very excited to see what is going to happen and how the story will continue to develop!