“Honor student Eiichirou discovers tennis passion, transforming his life through dedication and unique playing style.”
Baby Steps
ベイビーステップ
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Based on your preference for character-driven stories with layered emotional arcs, this title's exploration of identity and belonging would deeply resonate. The pacing mirrors series you've rated highly, and its thematic depth aligns with your appreciation for nuanced storytelling...
However, the slow initial episodes might test your patience given your history of dropping shows that don't hook you early. The art style shift in the middle arc could also be a concern...
Synopsis
Honor student Eiichirou discovers tennis passion, transforming his life through dedication and unique playing style.
Diligent and methodical honor student Eiichirou Maruo decides to exercise more during the little free time he has available because he is worried about his health. For this reason, after seeing a flyer, he joins the Southern Tennis Club at the beginning of his freshman year. During his free trial at the club, he meets Natsu Takasaki, another first year student, who is determined on becoming a professional tennis player due to her love for the sport. In contrast, Eiichirou's study-oriented life exists because he believes that it is what he has to do, not because he enjoys it. However, his monotonous days come to an end as the more he plays tennis, the more he becomes fascinated by it. Baby Steps is the story of a boy who makes the most of his hard-working and perfectionist nature to develop his own unique playing style. Little by little, Eiichirou's skills begin to improve, and he hopes to stand on equal footing with tennis' best players.
What people say
Community consensus
Derived from 35 sampled reviews
What 35 viewers settled on.
Strong agreement
σ 0.94 · scores cluster tight
—
Not enough recommend signal yet
↓ 0.49
Running avg · Sep 2014 → Jun 2025
- 9 “Baby stebs, follow a boy how play Tennis because a nice Girl told to him. Its a sport, romance show! Im happy, that i saw this Anime because its actually really good, the best Tennis anime How I...”
- 10 “I love the realism of this show, putting it over Prince of Tennis for authentic tennis with no bullshit shots like Drive B, realistic call outs, double faults, physical and mental elements, and...”
- 9 “Where sports anime is concerned, Baby Steps is definitely underrated. This anime has all your typical parts to a sports anime but with a way better story and main character. Typical Plot: - The MC...”
Watch Order & Related
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- Format 25 × 24′ eps × min
- Total runtime 10h 00m all episodes
- Aired Apr 2014 – Sep 2014 Spring 2014
- Source Tv media type
- Rated PG 13 - Teens 13 or older
- Ref. BS-8380 catalog
Produced by
- NHK Producer