- For the original manga series, see Baby Steps (Manga)
Baby Steps (Anime) is the adaptation of the ongoing Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by Hikaru Katsuki.
Season 1[]
The first season of Baby Steps animation series officially premiered on April 6, 2014. It adapts the period when Eiichiro starts playing tennis until he decides to become a pro and go to America to improve his skills. Taishi Murata, Minako Kotobuki and Daisuke Namikawa voice Eiichiro Maruo, Natsu Takasaki and Takuma Egawa respectively.
The series is produced by NHK and aired on every Sunday at 17:30 JST. Pierrot is the studio which handles the animation.
Production Staff[]
- Director: Masahiko Murata
- Series Composition: Katsuhiko Chiba
- Script:
- Junki Takegami
- Katsuhiko Chiba
- Natsuko Takahashi
- Music: Yoichiro Yoshikawa
- Character Design: Masayuki Kouda
- Art Director: Kunihiko Inaba
- Sound Director: Ichi Takakuwa
- Director of Photography: Kazumi Yokoo
- Producer: Izumi Nakazawa
- Animation producer: Naoji Hounokidani
- Color design: Ryoko Oka
- Production Supervision:
- Kenji Saito
- Yuji Shibata
- Theme Song Performance:
- Mao Abe (Opening)
- Babyraids (Ending)
Cast[]
- Taishi Murata as Eiichiro Maruo
- Minako Kotobuki as Natsu Takasaki
- Daisuke Namikawa as Takuma Egawa
- Takuma Terashima as Kojirou Kageyama
- Hiro Shimono as Yukichi Fukazawa
- Tetsuya Kakihara as Takuya Miyagawa
- Tomoaki Maeno as Ryou Oobayashi
- Wataru Hatano as Hiroshi Araya
- Taiten Kusunoki as Yusaku Miura
- Asami Seto as Himeko Sasaki
- Yoshiyuki Shimozuma as Nariyuki Koshimizu
- Yoshimasa Hosaya as Soji Ike
- Takahiro Sakurai as Yu Nabae
- Kentarō Itō as Takayuki Okada
- KENN as Yoshiaki Ide
- Kōsuke Toriumi as Ryuhei Aoi
- Yuuki as Yuki Tajima
Season 2[]
The second season of Baby Steps was announced in the last episode of first season and was officially premiered on April 5, 2015 for the span of 25 episodes. The story focuses on the time when Eiichiro is at Florida to hone his skills until the time when Eiichiro participates at Kanto Teenagers Tennis Championship. Aside from the first season's cast reprising their roles, Hiroshi Kamiya, Megumi Han and Masakazu Morita are among the additional members of the cast.
The series is produced by NHK and aired on every Sunday at 17:30 JST. Pierrot is the studio which handles the animation.
Production Staff[]
- Director: Masahiko Murata
- Series Composition: Katsuhiko Chiba
- Script:
- Junki Takegami
- Katsuhiko Chiba
- Natsuko Takahashi
- Shin Yoshida
- Storyboard:
- Hiroshi Fukutomi
- Kazuya Komai
- Maki Odaira
- Masahiko Murata
- Tomoyuki Kurokawa
- Yukihiro Matsushita
- Music:
- Kōhei Yamada
- Yoichiro Yoshikawa
- Character Design: Masayuki Kouda
- Art Director: Kunihiko Inaba
- Chief Animation Director: Masayuki Kouda
- Producer: Izumi Nakazawa
- Theme Song Performance:
- Mao Abe (Opening)
- Ganbare! Victory (Ending)
Additional Cast[]
- Hiroshi Kamiya as Alex O'Brien
- Megumi Han as Marcia O'Brien
- Takuya Eguchi as Atsushi Taira
- Natsuki Hanae as Krishna Ramesh
- Kenyu Horiuchi as Mike Mcguire
- Akio Katō as Kevin Morland
- Kaori Ishihara as Aki Shimizu
- Masakazu Morita as Sakuya Takagi
Special Movie[]
A special movie which features some of the voice actors in Season 2 can be found at season 2's official site. It highlights some of the important events shown in this season. Taishi Murata (Eiichiro Maruo) acts as the MC for this special.
| Special Movie: Season 2 | |||
| # | Title | Air Date | Guest |
| 1 | Florida Part (フロリダ編, Furorida Hen) |
July 03, 2015 | Megumi Han (Marcia O'Brien) |
| 2 | Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit: Eiichiro vs Miyagawa Part (神奈川県ジュニアテニス大会 栄一郎VS宮川編, Kanagawa Junia Tenisu Taikai: Eiichiro vs Miyagawa Hen) |
July 17, 2015 | Tetsuya Kakihara (Takuya Miyagawa) |
| 3 | Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit: Eiichiro vs Araya Part (神奈川県ジュニアテニス大会 栄一郎ＶＳ荒谷編, Kanagawa Junia Tenisu Taikai: Eiichiro vs Araya Hen) |
August 12, 2015 | Wataru Hatano (Hiroshi Araya) |
| 4 | The Strongest Teacher-Student Partner: Eiichiro and Coach Aoi Part (最強の師弟コンビ 栄一郎と青井コーチ編, Saikyō no Shiteikonbi: Eiichiro to Aoi kōchi Hen) |
August 27, 2015 | Kōsuke Toriumi (Ryuhei Aoi) |
| 5 | The Man Called "Sakuya Takagi", Kanto Junior's 4th Seed Part (関東ジュニア第４シード高木朔夜という男編, Kantō Junia Dai 4 Shiido Takagi Sakuya to iu Otoko Hen) |
September 10, 2015 | Masakazu Morita (Sakuya Takagi) |
| 6 | Kanto Junior Semifinals: Eiichiro-Nabae pair Part (関東ジュニア準決勝 栄一郎対難波江編, Kantō Junia Junkeshō: Eiichiro tsui Nabae Hen) |
September 15, 2015 | Takahiro Sakurai (Yu Nabae) |