Who knew tennis could be so riveting? The first season of Baby Steps was pretty good but I found season two even better. Ei-chan has a great character progression from a boring reserved teenager into a passionate tennis player and we really see the fruition of it in this season. The side characters are also endearing and I found myself rooting for man. The tennis battles are fantastic and created tension in me I haven't felt since I last watched Kaiji and the almost every player Maruo faces is well developed and feels like a real character with their own goals. Perhaps the strongest aspectof Baby Steps is the relationship between the male and female leads. They actually care about each other, inpire and support each other and don't blueball viewers about the nature of their relationship for five hundred episodes.

Yes there are a couple of nitpicks like the life story monologues (often right in the middle of a match) and some awkward animation.These are very minor cosmetic flaws hiding in a very exciting, inspiring and endearing show. The final reminder here is that season two ends in the middle of the manga and there are currently no plans for a season three so you will have to read the manga to see what happens next.