

I'm curious as to why Cross Game is named so. The "cross" appears in the anime
in various forms:

  1. Before the beginning of each episode, when the Tsukishima family advises the viewer to watch the anime in a well-lit room and from a distance, in the form of a cross between clover leaves:

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PqqXd.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PqqXd.gif)

  2. In the opening song's video, again in the form of a cross between clover leaves:

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fi6Bh.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fi6Bh.jpg)

  3. In the advertisement interval of the episodes, much more prominently:

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/suERP.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/suERP.jpg)

However, does it have special significance in relation to the plot/story of
the anime?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-04-03T21:29:10.180
31142
2023-05-01T19:56:40.613
2023-05-01T19:56:40.613
19307
18431
question
cross-game
Why is Cross Game named so? What is the significance of the title?


I know jack-all about _Cross Game_ , but I can tell you that the Japanese
title (クロスゲーム _kurosu geemu_ ) is [baseball lingo for "a close
game"](http://www.sports-rule.com/baseball/words/ku.html) in the sense of "a
game in which both teams are closely matched". Obviously, this sense of
_kurosu geemu_ is borrowed from English "close game".

When altered to fit Japanese phonotactic constraints, both "close" /kloʊs/ and
"cross" /kɹɔs/ end up as クロス _kurosu_. So, I guess, for whatever reason,
Adachi seems to have chosen to make the English/romanized title "Cross Game".


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-03T22:08:13.440
31144
2016-04-03T22:08:13.440
1908
31142
answer


It could also be symbolic, because the clover leaves look like four hearts
split by a cross, so they could be symbolizing the love between the characters
and the cross the division and also the connection between them. Most likely
that wasn't the intention when made, but it's an interesting and fitting idea.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-16T18:37:27.490
50861
2019-02-16T18:37:27.490
45005
31142
answer