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Episode 7 also brought the series further in terms of character development, most importantly that of Abe.  Much of the first season was focused on Abe and Mihashi learning to work and be comfortable with each other, but here Abe’s father asks the question of whether they are actually *friends*.  They aren’t, really.  Although they spend more time together as pitcher and catcher, Tajima is more of a friend to Mihashi than Abe, as they speak on the same level, whereas Abe is always talking down to Mihashi.  There’s still quite a way to go before I’d call them friends.

I realized that what makes this show really great is that nearly every single character is someone you would find interesting and likable in real life.  There aren’t any random and uninteresting side characters or cartoonlishly evil ones.  In episode 7 we get a closer look at both Mihashi and Abe’s father.  Miashi’s dad comes off as very awkward shy but with a likable quality to him.  I chuckled quite a bit at the way he resembled Mihashi’s shyness, yet had no problem believing him as an “older version” who at some point could scrounge up the confidence to have found a wife and started a family.  This is something that is lacking in Touch, as much as I love that series.  There are just so many caricatures of characters in that series (such as Tatsuya’s parents, for example), while everyone in Oofuri feels perfectly believable.  The only real outlier is Mihashi’s occasional descents into a somewhat exaggerated awkwardness, but that’s usually played for laughs.

Abe’s father is more outgoing than Mihashi’s, and resembles Abe quite a bit just as Mihashi’s father resembled Mihashi.  For all that Abe seems more mature during conversations with Mihashi, the brief conversation between him and his father at the dinner table brought out Abe’s immaturity just as easily, especially in the way he considers his relationship with Mihashi.  I loved that moment when Abe told his father that Mihashi trusted him, to which Abe’s father thought “He’s using such a heavy word” – deciding not to call him on it for now.  The Abe family is so different from the Mihashi’s, yet I could envision either one of them as my next door neighbors.  It’s the same for their fathers – very different, but I can see how they both would be very good parents.

I’m not sure yet whether the episode count for the series is 13 or 26.  After a string of relatively short games, it looks like the next game is going to be a long one, and that should be very satisfying – the long, drawn out nature of the games sounds boring on paper but was ultimately addictive and compelling last season, and I hope this season tops it.  This is the first game where the opposing side has done substantial research, and it’s going to be a long and hard-fought match.  Just the way the fans like it.