The BEST episodes directed by Osamu Sekita

#1 - Dream

Initial D - Season 6 - Episode 4

The intense downhill battle between the two drivers are reaching an end, as Takumi and Shinji race to their absolute limits. As this battle comes to a close, and the reign of Project D finally ends, the true meaning behind the "D" will be revealed. As the characters go on different paths, Takumi's passion to be "the fastest one out there" will never end.

#2 - Chiharu Harukaze and Kayura Tsurugino

Hayate the Combat Butler - Season 4 - Episode 9

Top of the Hakuou clock tower, Chiharu is doing a speech pattern when Aika caught her unguarded. Aika responds that side of her is cute. Chiharu believes there are others who are more unguarded than herself, as she hangs out with Nagi due to their common interest. Later, Chiharu decided a barbecue for the tenants, and she has Hayate give her grocery shopping assistance. She questions Hayate what would he do if a girl confesses to him; he gives a serious answer. Ruka arrives at the Violent Mansion as she accepted Chiharu’s invitation. Ruka asks Ayumu if Hayate would become her boyfriend even if it means kissing him, which irritates Ayumu. As Hayate and Chiharu return, he responds to Ruka and Ayumu that Chiharu asked him the same question, but they misunderstood it, then everyone celebrate for the barbecue. Kayura is eating the kebabs and making weird remarks. In a flashback, Hayate and Nagi remember when they first met Kayura (and pitching up a tent). After Kayura rented a room at the apartment, she enrolls as a transfer student at Hakuou Academy, so Hayate and Nagi gladly give her a tour around the campus until they reach the clock tower and Hayate casually shows them Hinagiku changing. Back in the present, after the barbecue and the tenants go to their rooms, Kayura states that you should not take your instant feelings too seriously. Hayate accidentally sees Hinagiku changing again; prompting that Hayate is the one who is most unguarded.

#3 - Isumi Saginomiya and Sakuya Aizawa

Hayate the Combat Butler - Season 4 - Episode 4

The Saginomiya residents are curious to why they don't have a maid to support them in any way. So Hatsuho went to request Hayate to handing out flyers to recruit suitable maids use to overcome Isumi's weakness of smartphones. Fumi chose to be a maid candidate confident in her skills. In the end, both Isumi and her mother rejected Fumi because she did not meet the standards of understanding how to use smartphones. Nagi responds Isumi doesn't need a maid. At the Aizawa mansion, Chiharu as Haru is teaching Sakuya to be modest. In a flashback, the story goes on how Chiharu been hired to be Sakuya's maid. Makita & Kunieda reach agreement that Sakuya needs a maid by choosing one at her café. Sakuya asks Nagi why she hired Hayate as her butler in the first place; she replies that it was fate. In an arcade, Sakuya and Chiharu play virtual games together, and felt faith in her so she had Chiharu become her maid. Back in the present, Sakuya visits Nagi then discovers Chiharu there at the Violet Mansion. She drags Sakuya away and begs her to keep her maid identity a secret. They search for ideas to draw a manga, ditching Sakuya since she can't read manga. Isumi tries to help Sakuya to entertain herself. Sakuya hopes Nagi can still rely on her.

#4 - Katz's Sortie

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 15

Amuro Rei is under house arrest at a great mansion in Cheyenne. Amuro has lost much of his fighting spirit during his seclusion. This angers Katsu, who has looked up to Amuro as a hero. Beltorchika Irma, emissary from the association of former White Base crewmembers who support AEUG called "Kalaba" arrives in a replica biplane. She tells Quattro that the Kalaba can get three of the earthbound AEUG Mobile Suits back into space to rendezvous with the Ahgama. She is anything but shy and openly displays an amorous interest in Amuro. Rosamia attacks Audomura in the Gaplant again in an effort to regain Braun's favor. Katsu goes out in the Mark-II in order to shame Amuro into fighting. Rosamia almost kills the boy before Camille, in the Rick Dias, and Quattro, in the Type-100, fly to his rescue. Irma is something more than sympathetic as Amuro berates himself for his own inability to do battle. Katsu redeems himself for creating the current crisis by defeating the Gaplant with a surge of Newtype power. Hyato is angered by his son's actions but grudgingly forgives him as Audomura changes course for the Kalaba base at Hickory.

#5 - More Than Anyone in the World...

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 50

In the bottom of the 12th with Seishu leading 2 to 1, because Ko is tiring, Akaishi tells him to pitch all out to decide the game now. With two outs and a runner on first, Mishima comes to bat. Still pitching in the high 150s km/h, after reaching a full count, Ko walks Mishima with what Junpei calls the fastest pitch of the day. As Aoba watches Ko strike out the last batter, she remembers what he said before the game: that Seishu would go to Koshien, he would pitch 160 km/h, and he loves her more than anyone. After the game Ko hugs Aoba, who slaps him, saying she hates him more than anyone, then cries into his chest. The morning before traveling to Koshien, Akaishi visits Akane in the hospital, Nakanishi consoles Azuma for losing Aoba, and Aoba and Ko meet at a cafe near the train station, where they talk about Wakaba and Akane's influence, and then leave holding hands. During the closing credits, a newspaper headline says that Ko's final pitches reached 160 km/h.

#6 - How Should I Know?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 16

Before the scrimmage Daimon tells Azuma that Shido will not fire him even if the varsity team loses, and Shido confirms this. However, during the first inning, Tubby's grandfather, who is the school's chairman, tells Shido and Daimon he is ratifying the wager with Maeno. During the first two innings, Ko allows the bases to get loaded before striking out the next three batters, and to focus him, Akaishi tells Ko to pitch as if it were late in the game. In the sixth inning, the game still scoreless, Daimon asks Azuma who were the portable team's opponents in their practice matches; Azuma says they played top teams from the prefectural tournament, and that Ko pitched easily the first six innings to give his team fielding practice. In the seventh inning, Aoba hits a single and then scores on Senda's sacrifice fly. During the final innings, Azuma asks Daimon if he wishes he had better hitters in his lineup, such as Miki, and as Ko strikes out the final three batters, Azuma says Ko is now the best pitcher they have played against all year. As the portable team celebrates their win, Aoba silently tells Wakaba that Ko did it.

#7 - Black Tri-Star

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 24

A mole inside the Federation tips off Zeon HQ, who then send the Black Tri-Stars special team ordered to destroy the White Base and her prototype mobile suits.

#8 - Escape

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 43

The Battle of A Baoa Qu reaches a critical point; White Base is deep within enemy territory, Amuro and Char's relentless duel continues, and Kycilia Zabi struggles in command.

#9 - Big Zam's Last Stand

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 36

As the battle continues, a hulking mobile armor piloted by Dozle Zabi inflicts heavy losses on the Federation; Amuro and Sleggar come up with a plan to stop its onslaught.

#10 - The Heated Escape

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 20

Camille sulks over the loss of Four, refusing to get out of bed. Amuro understands his feelings, having still not come to terms with his own feelings about Char. The Garuda continues to pursue the Audomura. Hyato gets word from Hong Kong that the Ahgama will soon be in range for another shuttle rendezvous as Four leads a squad of Hizacks against the Audomura. Amuro goes out to meet them in the Rick Dias, followed by Camille in the Mark-II. Four, determined to make up for past defeats, orders the Hizack squad to stay back while she flies in close to destroy the Audomura. Hyato responds by launching the new Nemo (MSA-003). Camille holds back until Four captures Amuro's Rick Dias, his attack coinciding with another flashback. The battle rages across the North Pacific, until Camille and Four confront each other mentally as well as physically. Through their psychic bond, Four learns of the death of Camille's mother and he feels her longing for the freedom of space. Wooda orders all noncombatants off the Garuda as he prepares to ram the Audomura, but Four rams the Garuda with Psyco Gundam first. She tears a rocket booster loose before being shot down by Wooda. Amuro convinces Camille to use the rocket booster to return to the Ahgama, and then rams the Garuda with his flying sled, which crashes through the fuel cells and blows the super plane to atoms as Amuro flies to safety. Camille thinks of Four as he returns to the Ahgama, where Fa is now with Quattro.

#11 - The Mirror of Rosamia

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 48

The asteroid Axis, last seen plowing into the Titans' asteroid headquarters in episode 45, has made a semi-orbit of Earth and is now heading for an imminent collision with the moon. It's on course to plow directly into Granada, a major base of support for AEUGO and the home of its sponsor Anaheim Electronics. The AEUGO forces are ordered to drop whatever they're doing and save the corporate headquarters from imminent destruction. While the AEUG fleet consolidates around the colony laser, the Agama is sent to Axis for some reason that currently escapes me. Camille, nosing about the asteroid, runs into the mighty Psyco Gundam Mk.II, piloted by "sister" and artificial newtype Rozamia Badam. The Psyco Gundam gets stuck in the asteroid's innards, and Camille, Rozamia and Fa begin chasing each other around on foot. Rozamia is a total basket case (still), and Camille keeps getting these Four vibes from her. Fa tries to talk the addle-brained artificial newtype down, but no dice; she rushes back to the Psyco Gundam and the battle is resumed. In the end, Camille has no choice but to kill Rozamia; she thanks him for releasing her from her torment. Meanwhile, Scirocco eliminates his only remaining rival for control of the Titans. Basque Om's flagship, the Dogos Gear, is guarded by artificial newtype Geits Kappa, who is simultaneously "coaching" Rozamia; when she dies, the psychic backlash kills Geits as well, and Scirocco's forces (led by Reccoa) swarm over the Dogos Gear and blow it to bits. AEUGO uses the colony laser to fire at the asteroid Axis and divert it from its collision course.

#12 - Lalah's Dilemma

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 40

The Gundam is upgraded and Lalah's Elmeth enters combat for the first time; Amuro and Lalah cross paths again but this time as enemies.

#13 - The Cotton Drifting Chapter - Part 2 - Takano

When They Cry - Higurashi - Season 1 - Episode 6

The day for the Cotton Drifting Festival has arrived, and during Rika's ritual performance, Keiichi is taken to see the sacred festival storehouse.

#14 - The Illusionary Strawberry Underwear / Misunderstanding or a Wrong Guess?

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 1

While Manaka Junpei goes to his school's roof he bumps into a girl and see she is wearing strawberry panties, the girl runs away but leaves behind her a notebook. Manaka finds out that the notebook belongs to Aya Tojo, but he believes that the girl was Tsukasa Nishino the most popular girl in school and confess to her. After Tsukasa agrees she becomes Manaka's girlfriend. On their way home they talk about going to the same school and Manaka agrees. Manaka asks Aya to help him study so he will get accepted to the school he wants to go to.

#15 - The Ladies' Man Has Neither Money Nor Power

Durarara!! - Season 2 - Episode 8

Masaomi contemplates friendship as he travels far from Ikebukuro. Mikado receives an unexpected visit from Aoba. Akane explains the real intention behind her attempt to kill Shizuo. And as Toramaru retaliates against the Dollars, Chikage confronts…

#16 - Shaky Love in the Study Group / The Illusionary Beautiful Girl Again!

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 2

After Tsukasa finds out that Aya is helping Manaka study every morning she decides to talk with Aya and in the end decides to join them. Komiyama finds out about this and joins them at the library. At the day of the entrance exam a beautifull girl appears, it is the girl from the roof. When the test start the girl enters the class and declares that she is Aya Tojo. Manaka can't stop thinking about her and in the end of the day he realizes that he loves her.

#17 - Troublesome High School Life / The Wrong Heart and Mind

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 4

Manaka got a video camera for his graduation and goes filming in the park. While he was filming a girl the wind came and showed her panties to him. On the first day of school everyone is attracted to Aya and before class Manaka finds out that the girl from the park is in his class and her name is Kitaouji Satsuki. The next day Aya comes to school differently and by accident starts a fight which in the end causes Satsuki to understand something. Manaka wants to revive the film club but in order to do it he needs 5 members. He asks Komiyama and a also a guy named Sotomura appears and wants to join. And finally Satsuki offers that she will also join the club. Manaka meets Aya on the roof where she tells him that she already joined a club and runs away. Satsuki come to ask what happened and while talking to Manaka she tells him that she likes him. On his way home, Manaka meets Tsukasa.

#18 - A Sudden Outburst! The Civil War / Christmas of Past Loneliness

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 7

#19 - Valentine's Chance Encounter / Sweet Bitter Chocolate

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 9

#20 - Present of All One's Might / Unknown Destination of Feelings

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 6

It is Nisino's birthday and she waits for something that will happen, what is this thing she's waiting for? In the night she and Manaka meet. In order for Manaka to decide on who he loves and should date he goes to Oukusa for help. Manaka decides and tells Satsuki something that would surprise her.

#21 - The Dangerous New Member / Determination! Birthday

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 11

#22 - The Dream Continues Once More / A Hug in the Middle of the Snow!

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 8

#23 - Across the Atlantic Ocean

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 28

Thanks to intelligence acquired from Miharu, Flanagan Boone and his Mad Angler squadron attack the White Base en route to Jaburo headquarters in South America.

#24 - Another Meeting in the Rain / A True Heroine

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 12

#25 - The Gratitude of Levelling Up / Heart-pounding First Date!?

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 10

#26 - Panic IN MY ROOM / Raging Waves of the Summer Camp

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 5

Manaka invites Aya to his house in order to find an idea for their film. While they are there Tsukasa, Satsuki, Komiyama, Yui, Sotomura and Oukusa apears and everything goes wrong. For their summer camp the filming club goes to the beach. At night Manaka meets Satsuki in the hallway and they talk.

#27 - Are You Having Fun?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 49

In the seventh inning, Ko strikes out Mishima with pitches reaching the high 150s km/h, though Ko is disappointed he did not show Aoba a 160 km/h fastball as he promised before the game. In the eighth inning, Oikawa tries to repeat the previous year's line drive to Ko, but Ko catches it. In the bottom of the ninth, Ryuo manages to score, sending the game into extra innings, tied 1 to 1. In the top of the 10th, Azuma hits a triple, after which Oikawa intentionally walks Akaishi and Ko, to load the bases with no outs. However, Seishu's last three batters are unable to hit, stranding the runners on base. As Seishu takes the field, Azuma warns Ko to not let Mishima get on base or Ryuo will keep the momentum. With Ko still pitching in the high 150 km/h, Mishima hits a hard line drive to first that Azuma barely catches. Aoba remembers seeing Ko cry while practicing pitching shortly after Wakaba died. In the top of the 12th with two outs, when Ko comes to bat he remembers hitting home runs in the Tsukishima batting cages, and as he does so hits a home run.

#28 - The Newtype: Challia Bull

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 39

Gihren Zabi sends Char a Newtype to pilot the new Braw Bro; Amuro's own Newtype abilities are growing as he senses the presence of Lalah.

#29 - Breakthrough

Mobile Suit Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 32

A task force of Musai cruisers and Rick Doms led by Dren attempt to destroy the White Base as it heads towards the neutral colony of Side Six.

#30 - Four-Leaf Clover

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 1

Fifth-grader Ko Kitamura was born on the same day in the same hospital as his neighbor, Wakaba Tsukishima, who treats him as her boyfriend as a result. One day during summer vacation, she makes him take her to swimming lessons on his bicycle. On the way back, to avoid classmate Osamu Akaishi, who has a crush on Wakaba, Ko joins a sandlot baseball game organized by another classmate, Daiki Nakanishi. Because he has never played before, Ko fields badly, but because he has practiced in the Tsukishima family's batting cages he hits the game-winning home run. After their joint 11th birthday, Wakaba gives Ko a schedule of birthday presents for him to give her through age 20. Soon after this, Wakaba drowns while saving a younger girl at an overnight swimming camp. Ko does not know how to respond to this until, the evening after her funeral, he sees Akaishi weeping outside Wakaba's house and realizes he just needs to cry. The closing credits show time passing and by the end, Ko and Wakaba's younger sister Aoba Tsukishima are in junior high school.

#31 - All Right

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 48

Aoba arrives at the stadium in time to see Ko's first pitch at the bottom of the first inning. On the mound, Ko tells Akaishi about Akane's surgery, and Akaishi is annoyed at being kept in the dark. Ko consistently pitches over 150 km/h and retires all three batters with two strikeouts. Before batting in the second inning, Azuma tells Akaishi his only regret staying with Seishu is never getting to face Ko's pitches. Ryuo's pitcher Oikawa walks Azuma but strikes out the rest of the side. In the bottom of the second, Mishima gets on base with a drag bunt, and while on first base tells Azuma he did it to keep Ko from having a no-hitter. No other batters get on base in the first six innings except by walks. In the seventh inning, Azuma hits a single, then is batted in by Akaishi, a hit that Akane watches from her hospital room. Seishu leads 1 to 0.

#32 - That's Tough

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 17

After the scrimmage, Shido and Daimon are fired and most of Daimon's varsity players follow him to another school. Yuhei Azuma stays and begins living with the Kitamuras because the baseball dorm is closed down. Because Ko's stamina flags during the fall prefectural tournament, Azuma makes Ko begin jogging to school instead of taking the train. A boy asks Ko for an introduction to Aoba, and Ko congratulates him as the 100th person to do so. When Azuma asks Ko about a photograph of Wakaba, Ko admits that he was in love with her, and Azuma responds that "you guys" have it tough. To get the five most persistent boys to stop asking her out, Aoba goes on a date with all five at once. When Junpei asks about his pitching form, Ko is surprised but says that he based it on Aoba's. Aoba explains to Ko that Junpei's promising career as a pitcher was ended by an injury before he could go to Koshien, and that Yuhei is trying to reach Koshien in his place. Ko tells Aoba he is also serious about going to Koshien, to make Wakaba's last dream come true.

#33 - Revenge Battle of Fate

Initial D - Season 5 - Episode 4

Kanagawa's Second Line will be against RT Katagiri, where Takumi encounters Kai Kogashiwa: a former rival from Irohazaka; graduated from street racing and now a professional racer with his MR-S. However, Takumi is starting to show a "Zone" that had evolved from the Purple Shadow races, a zone that even Ryosuke cannot explain. The winner of this race is up in the air.

#34 - Collage

Gatchaman Crowds - Season 1 - Episode 12

Chaos ensues with more citizens using Crowds and fighting against each other as OD calls Katze out to the Gatchaman's hideout for a showdown. As Katze makes his way to meet OD, Hajime talks with him and promises him she will not kill him, inviting him on a "date" after everything is settled. Katze and OD fight, and although OD is heavily damaged by Katze, he manages to retrieve Rui's NOTE and deliver it to him. Rui then sends every GALAX user a Crowds app to take part in a "Tachikawa Crowds Game", setting up various types of games to encourage users to help out the community and defeat the Neo Hundred Crowds. After the situation is dealt with, Hajime gives her mother a call and reassures her that no matter what happens she will always be herself, and then goes to meet with Katze for their "date" showdown. A year later, the use of Crowds has become widespread, and Hajime, now in her third year of high school, makes her way to school while talking with Katze, whose voice comes out from Hajime herself.

#35 - Gamification

Gatchaman Crowds - Season 1 - Episode 11

The Gatchaman look back on how Hajime has influenced their lives since joining them. Meanwhile, Rui manages to get reunite with X once more, allowing the Gatchaman and the citizens to receive assistance from the GALAX network. Hajime gets the Prime Minister Sugiyama to broadcast on the Gatchannel, where he shows more of his honest side and requests everyone sign up to GALAX, before he helps with the evacuation efforts. However, Katze suddenly appears in the guise of Sugiyama, luring the citizens to utilize Crowds.

#36 - Bindweed

Ghost Talker's Daydream - Season 1 - Episode 2

Follow Misaki as she dodges cops, fights psychos, and exorcises the dead. Fast-paced, smart, and sassy, Ghost Talker's Daydream is everything you loved about the anime and much, much more.

#37 - Something Not Human

Alice & Zoroku - Season 1 - Episode 4

Minnie C and her group took advantage of a moment's negligence to kidnap Sana. Left behind at his office, Zoroku demands answers from Naito as to just what Sana really is. Meanwhile, the giant "arms" controlled by Minnie C have Sana completely trapped, and Minnie C asks her, "Did you think that you were human?" Just when it seems all hope is lost, Sana's powerful thoughts take the situation in an unexpected direction...

#38 - Can I Lie?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 47

Ko promises Akane he will tell Akaishi that she will be out in a couple days, saying that he is a pretty good liar. Akane tells him that her surgery will be on the day of the tournament final against heavily favored Ryuo, so she will have to put off their date, then asks him to tell Aoba the truth. Ko tells Akaishi the lie, then asks Aoba to visit Wakaba's grave with him. While there, he prays that the surgery is successful and tells Aoba that Wakaba would not let her cry again. At practice, when Aoba jokingly asks Azuma out to a movie, he asks if she means to ask him out so lightly, saying he seriously likes her. The morning before the game, Aoba asks Ko if he likes Akane more than herself, to which he asks if he can lie. While warming up in the stadium, Ko spots Momiji, who flashes him a peace sign, after which he celebrates. At the hospital, when Akane's surgery is over, Aoba tells Momiji by text message to give Ko a peace sign to tell him it was successful.

#39 - Second Button of Memories / Childhood Friend is a Spring Storm

Strawberry 100% - Season 1 - Episode 3

After the exams everyone has passed and entered the school. In the day of graduating Manaka meets Tsukasa that tells him she know he likes Aya and she's not going to the same school as he is. They break up and Manaka and Aya meet at the roof again. One morning Manaka wakes up and sees his childhood friend Yui half naked. Yui tells him that she came to check out schools for next year and they go out to look. On their way back they they see two dogs which Yui is scared of and Manaka save them from being attacked. In the morning Yui was supposed to leave she slept too much and missed her train.

#40 - Wipe That Smirk Off Your Face

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 11

Knowing they will not be promoted, Maeno's third-year players stop playing hard, but after the portable team manager, Hiroko "Tubby" Ōkubo, tells Makihara that Daimon injured Maeno's head as the latter pleaded to give a third-year player a spot, Makihara plays with renewed effort. At the end of eight innings, Ko notices that if the score remains 5 to 3, he will win his bet with Aoba. In the top of the ninth, the portable team gets runners on first and second and Makihara advances them with a sacrifice bunt. Ko hits both runners in with a single to tie the game. While Ko is on base, Azuma criticizes his pitching, to which Ko says he did not expect Azuma could hit him. In the bottom of the ninth with a runner on first, Azuma comes to bat and deliberately fouls out twice before being struck out by Ko. On the bench, Azuma silently tells Ko to stop smirking, and the next batter hits in the runner to win the game. Afterward, Ko visits Wakaba's grave to tell her about his debut, only to find Aoba had been there first.

#41 - Do Ghosts Grow Older?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 31

The girl, Akane Takigawa, apologizes to Ko for the construction noise. Later, Ko tells Azuma he does not know whether Akane really looks like Wakaba would now, because in his mind Wakaba is still in fifth grade. Mizuki invites Aoba to a summer festival the next day. Ko dreams of going to the festival with Wakaba, as she promised before she died, then of running to meet Akane at the Takigawa's soba restaurant. The next day, the anniversary of Wakaba's death, Aoba tells Ko to report his tournament result to Wakaba when he visits her grave. On his way back, he meets Akane wearing a yukata similar to Wakaba's. On her way to Wakaba's grave, Aoba sees them walking together and asks Mizuki if ghosts grow up. At the festival, Akaishi also sees them and asks Nakanishi the same quesiton. Ko and Akane meet her parents at the festival, and after parting with them, Ko meets Momiji, Ichiyo, Aoba, and Mizuki. When Aoba asks where his companion went, they begin to squabble but suddenly stop when the Tsukishimas see Akane at random through the festival crowd.

#42 - I Hate You!

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 2

Four years later, in the fall of her second year at Seishu Junior High School, Aoba is a pitcher for the baseball team, and still hates Ko for having monopolized her dead sister's time. Starting pitcher Keiichiro Senda, who considers himself popular, asks her out on a date without waiting for a response. When she does not show up, Senda goes to her house but is frightened off by the family cat. When Ko (in his third year at Seishu Junior High) delivers baseballs to the Tsukishima batting cages, he hits four home runs, which annoys Aoba, especially since she cannot match it. In a flashback, she remembers Wakaba telling her about Ko's potential to one day pitch 160 km/h fastballs, which Aoba claimed was her ideal in a man, but that if he does, Aoba cannot take him from her. Meanwhile, inspired by Aoba's pitching, Ko has been obeying Wakaba's order to follow Aoba's workout routine.

#43 - For Real?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 3

Nakanishi recruits Ko for a rematch of the sandlot game from fifth grade. When Ko warms up with what he calls a few soft pitches, Nakanishi has him play right fielder instead, claiming he wants a friendly game. Meanwhile, when Aoba plays catch with her little sister, Momiji, she is startled to learn that Momiji can handle her hardest throws because Momiji has helped Ko practice. Akaishi, now captain of the junior high school baseball team, watches the sandlot game and is reminded of Wakaba's boasts about Ko's abilities. With Ko's fielding and batting, his team wins in a close game. Afterward Nakanishi learns that Ko did not join the baseball team, despite his surprisingly fast fastball, because Nakanishi had been kicked off it for fighting. During practice, Aoba and Akaishi discuss unsettling rumors about the Seishu High School baseball team, which has had a second straight losing year. In his office at Seishu High School, Acting Principal Shido tells a man dressed as a coach that he is pleased with his plans.

#44 - The Messenger From Axis

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 33

Wong Lee boards the Zeon ship Gwadan and Haman Karn introduces him to the current leader of the Zeon, Mineva Lao Zabi, the last surviving Zabi. Char's grudge against the Zabis doesn't help the AEUG's deal, and Scirocco plans his move for a deal with Zeon.

#45 - February 14th

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 35

Because of their fall record, Seishu is not invited to the spring Koshien tournament. Akane wins that year's Koshien poster art contest with a painting of a pitcher that Aoba claims depicts Ko's form. Ko corrects her, saying that Akane based it on his photos of Aoba, which he had used to model his pitching style. From Akaishi, Akane learns of Wakaba's relationship with Ko. Aoba tells Azuma she will try out for the women's national team in March, and when she teases him about being given chocolates for Valentine's Day, he says the only girl he would consider going out with is her. For Valentine's Day, both Aoba and Azuma receive many chocolates. When Aoba drops Ko's chocolates off a bridge, she buys replacements, including one extra to give to Azuma for her. When Ko delivers it, Azuma says that he likes Aoba because she is hard to figure out, because she is not true to herself. That evening, Akane asks Ko to show her photographs of Wakaba. As she looks through his albums, she comments that it is obvious Wakaba loved him, and would still love him today. As she leaves, she gives him chocolate.

#46 - Departure

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Season 1 - Episode 2

The Titans believe that Quattro is the Red Comet. Kamille steals one of the three new Gundams and escapes with him. Bright challenges Bask Om about running military tests in civilian colonies but the Titan Kacricon Cacooler doesn't have respect for Bright.

#47 - I've Got a Bad Feeling

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 46

Akaishi and Aoba visit Akane in the hospital, where she tells them that she promised to go on a date with Ko after the tournament, and that she may require surgery. In the semifinal, Seishu plays Nishikura, a team that has come from behind to win every game by one run. Senda hits a home run on first pitch of the game, and Nishikura scores a run in the first inning as well. Spurred by Akane's worries, Akaishi hits another home run in the second inning. In the eighth inning, with Nishikura having failed to get on base since the second inning, Seishu scores six runs. Nishikura does not score in the bottom of the inning and the game is called for Seishu, 8 to 1. After the game, Ko finally visits Akane in the hospital for the first time, where he praises Akaishi's performance and then asks when her surgery is.

#48 - Let's Do This!

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 9

As the scrimmage starts, Daimon tells Shido he is using Senda as starting pitcher to test his team's fielding. In the top of the first inning, the portable team is quickly retired. In the bottom of the inning, Ko quickly pitches out the first three batters, which Daimon attributes to luck but Azuma recognizes is based on Aoba's batting data and Ko's ability. After Senda gives up three runs in the top of the second inning, including home runs by Ko and Akaishi, Daimon kicks him off the varsity team and Maeno substitutes him in as shortstop for the portable team. Ko pitches fastballs down the middle to Azuma, which Aoba calls foolish and Azuma hits for a home run. The portable team quickly retires the rest of the side but has trouble hitting against the best varsity pitcher. After Daimon chews out his players for failing to hit against "small fry," they manage only one run in the third inning. At the end of three innings with the portable team ahead 3 to 2, Ko complains of being tired.

#49 - You Two Are Alike

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 8

When Akaishi meets Momiji, he is startled by her resemblance to Wakaba, who died at the age Momiji is now. Ichiyo reminds Aoba that she resented how Ko monopolized Wakaba's time, and both Ichiyo and Akaishi tell Aoba that she and Ko are alike in their competitiveness. In the park, Momiji plays catch with an old man who is a regular at Akaishi's family's liquor store. Daimon tells Shido that an upcoming scrimmage between varsity and portable teams will demonstrate how much better the varsity players are. Because of a rumor that portable players who perform well might be promoted to varsity, the third-year players train hard. Before the scrimmage, Ko has Aoba catch his pitches because he has never played in a real game and so has no comparison for his pitching. She calls them okay, which pleases him as the best compliment he can expect from her, and makes a bet that he will hold the varsity team to ten runs, which she changes to five runs after looking at her bruised hand. When Aoba arrives at the scrimmage, Momiji's old man tells her Shido has ordered the audience to sit and cheer only on the varsity side of the field.

#50 - Who Are you?

Cross Game - Season 1 - Episode 6

Ko enters Seishu High School and joins the baseball club along with Akaishi and Nakanishi, where they are put on the second-string "portable" team headed by former Head Coach Maeno. Most of the varsity team are ringers recruited by new Head Coach Daimon from around the country, including power hitter Yuhei Azuma, the boy from the batting center, and Daimon promises Shido that he will take the school to the national spotlight of Koshien within three years. When Aoba, now captain of the junior high school team, visits a high school team practice, she is surprised to see Ko playing baseball, and he tells her he was inspired by her pitching. In class, Azuma does not recognize Senda (who is on the varsity team) but does remember Ko from the batting center. Azuma tells Daimon that he only remembers faces of significant people, of which there are four on the team. One day as the portable team practices on the junior high field, out of sight from the varsity players, Maeno has Ko pitch at full strength once and Aoba realizes Ko is Akaishi's "secret weapon" for getting off the portable team.