Ace of Diamond Act II

Name: Ace of Diamond Act II
Genre: Sports
Released: 2019-04-02

ダイヤのA[エース] actII (Diamond no Ace: Act II)

8.3(51,638)

MAL Score

Ranked #350

Popularity #2371

Sports
School
Team Sports

Episodes: 52
Duration: 24 min per ep
Aired: Apr 2, 2019 to Mar 31, 2020
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Koshien Stadium stands as the “field of dreams” for high school baseball, and Seidou High has finally reclaimed a place there after winning last year’s autumn tournament—returning to the national stage for the first time in seven years. With the spring tournament behind them, their sights turn to the ultimate proving ground: the Summer Koshien, where the nation’s best is decided.

As the third-years approach retirement after summer, Seidou must blend the seniors’ hard-earned experience with the promise of new talent to push past both familiar rivals and fresh challengers in pursuit of a national championship. At the center of it all, Eijun Sawamura remains fixated on earning the coveted No. 1 jersey and taking the ace role from Satoru Furuya, their ongoing duel driving the team forward as they chase glory and the title of true “Ace of the Diamond.”

Otaku Consensus

Ace of Diamond Act II earns its 8.28 MAL score by trusting the long game: Mitsuyuki Masuhara’s direction and Kenji Konuta’s series composition keep a 52-episode sports season focused on training-room pressure, roster competition, and inning-by-inning momentum rather than shortcutting the grind. Critics and fans consistently single out the Madhouse presentation, especially the fluidity of baseball motion, while the clearest drawback is its sequel-lock: Act II rewards viewers already invested in Daiya no Ace far more than newcomers looking for an easy entry point.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Ace of Diamond Act II if you want a sports anime built around internal competition as much as external opponents: the thrill comes from how a powerhouse team manages ego, roles, fatigue, and status under constant selection pressure. It scratches the same itch as Haikyuu!! for practice-culture intensity and team chemistry, but with a more procedural, baseball-specific obsession with form, rotations, and who earns trust in high-stakes moments. The 52-episode run gives the rivalry between Eijun Sawamura and Satoru Furuya room to breathe without reducing either pitcher to a simple obstacle. If you want a shounen sports series where improvement is measured in repetition, coaching, and psychological steadiness rather than sudden miracle jumps, Act II delivers that grind with unusual patience.

Key Characters

E
Eijun Sawamura
Sawamura remains compelling because his loud, emotional surface sits on top of a serious hunger for responsibility, making every step toward the ace number feel earned rather than symbolic.
S
Satoru Furuya
Furuya’s appeal lies in the tension between overwhelming pitching talent and the burden of being measured as Seidou’s standard, which turns his rivalry with Sawamura into a team-wide performance question.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Madhouse handled the animation for a full 52-episode broadcast run, giving Act II the scale of an old-school long sports season rather than a compressed one-cour tournament highlight reel.
2
Reviewers specifically praised the fluidity of the baseball motion, a crucial detail for a series where pitching mechanics, batting timing, and fielding rhythm carry dramatic weight.
3
The season’s structure is unusually roster-focused: instead of treating the team as a fixed lineup, it emphasizes selection pressure, seniority, and the practical difficulty of blending veterans with incoming talent.
4
Kenji Konuta’s series composition supports a slow-burn sports rhythm across a yearlong broadcast, allowing training, intra-team rivalry, and official games to function as parts of the same competitive ecosystem.
5
The AniList tag profile is telling: Baseball is rated at 89%, Primarily Male Cast at 82%, and School Club at 62%, reflecting a series more invested in team infrastructure than off-field genre detours.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Act II aired from April 2, 2019 to March 31, 2020, almost exactly a full year, which is rare for modern TV anime seasons that often run 12 or 24 episodes.
Fun fact 2: The production credits list two character designers, Satoshi Tasaki and Minoru Ueta, an important detail for a large team-sports cast that must keep uniforms, faces, and body language readable across many players.
Fun fact 3: Its MAL profile shows a strong sequel effect: an 8.28 score and #350 rank from 51,638 votes, but a much lower popularity placement at #2371, suggesting a committed audience rather than broad casual sampling.
Fun fact 4: The core craft staff includes specialized roles for art direction, photography, editing, and sound direction: Sawako Takagi, Hiroshi Inoue, Mariko Tsukatsune, and Hajime Takakuwa are all credited in the research data.
Fun fact 5: AniList records the series at 82/100 with 983 favourites, closely matching the positive MAL reception and reinforcing that Act II’s reputation is strongest among viewers who stayed with the long-form baseball format.