With visual mediums like film or anime, how we engage with a work and its subjects has a lot to do with the audio-visual language a director constructs. In previous weeks, I wrote about the visual component of anime using Mob Psycho 100 and Bungo Stray Dogs as examples. In both of these articles, I touched upon how directors and animators can relay information to the audience via cinematography and artistry. To build off of that thread, this week’s column will be touching upon the aspect of sound direction in one this season’s lesser known gems, Battery.
To give some background, Battery is an adaptation of Atsuko Asano’s award-winning children’s novel that is directed by Tomomi Mochizuki. Battery tells the story of two young boys, a pitcher named Takumi and a catcher called Go, who both dream of playing baseball at a national level. While Battery certainly boasts the cover of a sports anime centered on baseball, it’s a much quieter piece in comparison to other works in its genre. This is because Battery places more emphasis on its two leads and the pressures they experience growing up, as opposed to fast-paced sports matches. For some audiences, Battery may feel a tad uneventful, but if one is able to move past the slower approach, they’ll find a gripping and down-to-earth character study.
Mochizuki is a criminally underappreciated director in my opinion, perhaps because he’s more concerned with a portrayal of life that adheres to reality as opposed to one with heavily romanticized undertones. This leads to Mochizuki’s style being low-key at times, but this isn’t to say that he doesn’t have a directorial voice. Two of Mochizuki’s most successful works in my view, The Ocean Waves and House of Five Leaves, are youth and period dramas respectively that use music in a sparse and nonbiased manner to explore the cast’s emotional struggles. Similarly, Mochizuki’s minimalist approach to audio in Battery is a perfect fit for what the anime sets out to accomplish.
Characterization is one of Battery’s strongest suits, and this has a lot to do with how Mochizuki enforces Takumi and Go’s friendship and dedication to baseball through unspoken communication. In Takumi’s case, he’s a very straight-faced individual who is training to become a world-class pitcher. Go, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of Takumi, as he’s more carefree and easygoing with people, yet shares a similar passion towards improving his proficiency as a catcher. As a result, the two boys establish a rapport with each other and begin to develop a sense of camaraderie as they train together.
Seems pretty straightforward, but what makes Takumi and Go’s friendship stand out is how genuine and believable it is. One of the most understated yet striking moments in Battery occurs when Takumi and Go venture to a vacant lot to practice their pitching and catching. The most notable aspect of this scene is that it manages to be tense without any background music whatsoever. Mochizuki instead relies on ambient noise and the sounds of the baseball being thrown and caught to naturally establish a mood. The tension in the scene comes from the dull thuds of the ball hitting Go’s glove and the disappointed expression on Go’s face when he realizes Takumi isn’t pitching at full strength. In this case, the absence of a musical track is without pretension – it never expects you to feel a certain way and allows Mochizuki’s cinematography and the characters’ body language to take center stage; the scene’s honesty is in its silence. Takumi and Go’s love for the sport and their consequent respect for each other is quiet but powerful.
Another effective instance of Mochizuki’s audio direction occurs during Battery’s second episode, when Go’s mother approaches Takumi with the goal of getting him to tell her son to quit baseball. Go’s mother views baseball as more of an outlet for his stress, but is concerned that it is beginning to interfere with his studies. From the perspective of Takumi, who quickly makes attempts to brush her off, this seems like a pretty unfair demand. However, the anime never forces us to side with Takumi nor does it vilify Go’s mother by casting dark shadows over her face or by playing unsettling music. Instead, the scene features the calming lighting of a sunset while the only sound that can be heard is the rhythmic clicking of a car’s turn signal light. The absence of music and the diegetic sound form an unpronounced atmosphere of tension, helping us emphasize with the pressure Takumi feels while still allowing us to hear out Go’s mother’s plea over her son’s future.
Likewise, there’s a scene later in the second episode where Takumi’s mother attempts to discipline her son about his standoffish attitude. In a similar manner to the earlier scene with Go's mother, the anime does not antagonize Tamkumi's mother, but rather presents her strictness as both a character trait and concern for her son’s behavior. This is an important point because Battery presents the concept of family as both a nurturing and constraining force in Takumi and Go’s adolescence. The duality would not be nearly as effective had the anime adopted a biased portrayal of the adults in order to dramatize the youths’ struggles.
Battery is an unassuming show that has unfortunately slipped under many people’s radars, but is well worth checking out if you fancy quieter and more realistic portrayals of life. Additionally, if you’re interested in checking out one of Tomomi Mochizuki’s best works, I’d strongly urge you to watch House of Five Leaves on Crunchyroll.
Have you seen Battery yet? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!
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Brandon is a Brand Features Writer for Crunchyroll and also writes anime-related editorials on his blog, Moe-Alternative. Hit him up for a chat on his Twitter at @Don_Don_Kun!
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