Ippatsu Kanta-kun is an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 created by Tatsunoko Production

Tatsunoko Production

, often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. Founded in October 1962 by acclaimed anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida along with his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu...

. Along with Temple the Balloonist

Temple the Balloonist

is an anime created by Tatsunoko Production.-Plot:Temple is a lovely little girl who is more fond of music than anything else. She happens to board a balloon one day, and is excited by her journey until she finds herself drifting away from her parents and home. She is in tears until she meets a...

, it was one of the last works for which Tatsunoko co-founder Tatsuo Yoshida was credited as a creator; Yoshida died before the series began airing.

Plot

Kanta lives in the downtown with his mother, seven brothers and sisters, and the house dog. He is very enthusiastic about baseball. However, his mother never allows her children even to talk about baseball, not to speak of playing it since she believes that her husband died accidentally on account of baseball. As for Kanta, however, he continues play baseball secretly from early morning. One day he is asked by his friend to play as a substitute on a team. As Kanta completes a big play, he sees his mother standing there with a grim look. She tells Kanta not to play baseball ever again. But Kanta does not give up. As usual, he goes out to the field early next morning for practice. When his mother who is moved by Kanta's eagerness she decides to help Kanta and even proposes to organize a baseball team of their own.

Never released in English, the anime was a success on television in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (as Il fichissimo del baseball) and in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 (as Baseballista). It is also noteworthy for marking the directorial debut of then-Tatsunoko staffer and future Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell

is a Japanese multimedia franchise composed of manga, animated films, anime series, video games and novels. It focuses on the activities of the counter-terrorist organization Public Security Section 9 in a futuristic, cyberpunk Japan ....

and Urusei Yatsura

Urusei Yatsura

is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...

director Mamoru Oshii

Mamoru Oshii

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...

, as an episode director.