Review of Baby Steps
Baby Steps is sports anime done right. No power ups, final bosses, character gimmicks, overpowered main characters, or formulaic plot. The shonen battle-arena format is done so thoughtfully that it hardly feels like one at all. While the story ultimately consists of a generic underdog main character training and battling against increasingly stronger opponents, it manages to feel unique and refreshing due to its detailed and compelling portrayal of competitive tennis. The underdog trope is used to successfully make Maruo's (the main character) foray into competitive tennis at a late age (sixteen) feel intimidating, challenging, and all the more impressive when he nails it. Maruo doesn't catchup to everyone else because he has prodigious talent or a super gimmick, he earns it though lots and lots of methodical practice and careful analysis of his every mistake and success. He isn't motivated by a desire to be the best, or his love for a girl, or avenging someone; he simply found a great community surrounding an activity that he truly enjoys, and he is inspired by the passion of his peers to try and become a better player. Maruo does have a love interest and she is part of his inspiration for playing tennis, but Maruo plays for himself.
Unfortunately, it is hard to stay fully interested in a show that is entirely about tennis. While the show features a decent cast of characters, none of them are fleshed out at all. The narrative is very impersonal and all of the characters are defined entirely by their tennis careers, which makes for little drama and boring character relations. The show establishes a few interesting relationships in the first episodes, but they are never developed later on. Maruo's drive to become a better player is the only thing moving the plot forward, there are no stakes (this is fixed somewhat later in the series) and no external events occur that change the course of the story or add new elements to the it. There's very little to break up the monotony of practicing and playing tennis to keep the show from feeling tiring and repetitive. You're never really left wondering what's coming next: it's always more tennis.
Where this show really shines, and where most sports shows SHOULD shine, is in its portrayal of its sport. The show is done in a limited third person point of view, meaning there is no narration but we get to hear our main character's thoughts and a take on his perspective. This makes for very exciting matches, where Maruo is constantly observing his opponent and trying to figure out what he is thinking. Maruo's thoughts are detailed and analytical, he makes challenging but believable estimates of his opponent's abilities and strategies, all backed by real data that he gathers mid-match. Maruo's powerful mental fortitude allows him to relentlessly try his hardest, and emotions are never central to any conflict. The matches are engaging and believable, by having realistic and complicated strategies, constant mind games between players, and the abuse of each players' strengths and weaknesses. The opponents are not gimmicky (except for one guy) and they are convincingly strong players - they don't have bigger muscles or special moves; they have specific skills and strengths that Maruo must find a winning strategy against, while they try to resist having their play-styles dismantled by Maruo's analytical prowess.
Baby Steps has plenty of exciting moments that can last for episodes at a time, but there is very little to fill the void between matches. Maruo's relationship with Natsu is only developed in a few episodes, and by the end it still feels extremely awkward and superficial. He never has to face any legimitate problems other than tough opponents, he experiences no growth as a character outside of playing tennis, and there is practically nothing else going on in the story. Side characters contribute nothing, Maruo's school life is just an occasional backdrop, the opponents are one-dimensional in everything but their styles of tennis, and the plot is completely defined by Maruo's training and tournament schedule.
It's worth the watch for exciting tennis and viewing the growth of a player from newbie to amateur star, but that's about it. If Maruo wins his matches, he goes on to play more tennis, if he loses, he still plays more tennis. There's not a lot to keep you interested aside from the matches themselves. Some exploration into what it's like being a student trying to go pro (other than practicing a LOT), expanding on Maruo's incredibly simple relationships with all of the support characters, some actual development of his relationship with Natsu, or simply making Maruo a realistic teenager instead of an naive goodguy with infinite motivation and the most boring personal life imaginable would have made the story a lot more interesting.