NaN/100 votesLoading...#1 - Determination and Presentation
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 8/3/2014
Eiichirō investigates going Pro, but his reaction from his parents is less than he expected. Eiichirō joins Natsu at the first round of the All Japan Pro to watch the debut match of Ike Souji.
Director: Ho Pyeon-gang
Writer: Junki Takegami
NaN/100 votesLoading...#2 - Meat Buns and Yakisoba
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 8/17/2014
Eiichirō participates in a tournament after 3 months of hellish training. He learns about active rest while participating in the tournament and makes it to the final. Terashima is his opponent.
Director: Maki Kodaira
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi
NaN/100 votesLoading...#3 - Fundamentals are the Weakness
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 8/31/2014
Yu Nabae matches up with Eiichirō and realizes they really are two players that are virtually the same. He realizes that what Eiichirō lacks is experience with the fundamentals, as he has never played anyone like himself, and after losing the first set Nabae begins to pull away and goes up 5-2.
Director: Yoshihiro Yanagiya
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#4 - Duty and Desire
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 9/14/2014
Eiichirō runs to watch Natsu's match when he learns she is in danger of losing. Afterwards they return to STC where he Ryuhei Aoi, a man who will become his new coach.
Director: Yoshinori Odaka
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi
NaN/100 votesLoading...#5 - The World and the Wall
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 4/5/2015
Eiichirō arrives in Florida, and Coach Mike introduces him to Marcia, an upcoming junior whose older brother just made the Pro's. Marcia and Eiichirō play a match, and Marcia decides Eiichirō must be training for the French Open because of his slow play style.
Director: Maki Kodaira
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#6 - A Vicious Circle is Lucky
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 4/12/2015
Eiichirō begins closing the gap on the others at the Florida Academy, but during everyone of his matches he has one moment where he presses too hard, costing him a set and eventually costing him the match.
Director: Kiyoshi Murayama
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#7 - Data for the Future
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 4/19/2015
After winning his first match in America, Eiichirō finally gets to play Ike in a one set match. Ike gets it approved at the New Years party where many of Eiichirō's new friends first learn of Natsu.
Director: Kiyoshi Murayama
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#8 - Awakening to Simplicity
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 4/26/2015
In his final day in Florida Alex agrees to play a best-of-3 match with Eiichirō. Alex realizes that Eiichirō's notes contain all of his weaknesses and that he will have to adjust his play style to win the match.
Director: Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#9 - Takuma's Decision
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 5/3/2015
Eiichirō returns from Florida and is given a day off to adjust his body to the time difference. After the day off Eiichirō begins a new strict training regime to help him get ready for the Kanagawa Prefectural.
Director: Hiroshi Fukutomi
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#10 - First Encounter by Scouting
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 5/10/2015
Coach Aoi explains to Eiichirō that he stopped the match against Takuma because his body wasn't developed to serve like Takuma yet. If he had continued to serve that way, he would have injured himself and forced himself to give up his tennis career.
Director: Norihiko Nagahama
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#11 - Revenge at the Critical Moment
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 5/17/2015
The Kanagawa Prefectural begins as Eiichirō faces off against Araya's new underclassman Nishimura. Araya has told Nishimura all of Eiichirō's weaknesses from the year before, making Nishimura very confident in his chances of winning.
Director: Yusuke Onoda
Writer: Junki Takegami
NaN/100 votesLoading...#12 - The Speed of Evolution
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 5/24/2015
Eiichirō and Miyagawa face off in the second round of the tournament for their second match. If Eiichirō loses he knows he'll lose all chance of going pro. If Miyagawa loses he knows his path to become a pro will take longer and might force him to go to college first.
Director: Masahiko Murata
Writer: Shin Yoshida
NaN/100 votesLoading...#13 - Baffled by Intuition
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 5/31/2015
Coach Ryuhei Aoi decides to teach Eiichirō the importance of relying on instincts during a match instead of relying solely on data. In order to teach him how to play against a player who relies solely on instinct Eiichirō is forced to face off with Natsu.
Director: Kiyoshi Murayama
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#14 - Start With a Roar
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 6/7/2015
Araya and Eiichirō begin their match in the Kanagawa Prefectural Final. At first both are holding serve and the score is at 3-3. However Coach Aoi realizes Eiichirō doesn't have the knowledge on how to deal with left handers since he's only played Araya once.
Director: Maki Kodaira
Writer: Shin Yoshida
NaN/100 votesLoading...#15 - Choices and Explosive Power
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 6/14/2015
Eiichirō throws out a couple of unexpected dropshots in set 2 and begins to alter the speed of his game. After trailing 30-love to begin match 2 of set 2 Eiichirō is able to rally with this new strategy and pull off a break.
Director: Motohiro Abe
Writer: Shin Yoshida
NaN/100 votesLoading...#16 - Full Force Toward Adversity
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 6/21/2015
Araya and Eiichirō prove to be even and are both unable to break each others serve. Making things worse is there will be no tiebreaker., Instead an individual must win by 2 games.
Director: Hiroshi Fukutomi
Writer: Junki Takegami
NaN/100 votesLoading...#17 - Gathering of Rivals
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 6/28/2015
The gang begins their third and final year of high school in different classes. Eiichirō and Natsu both realize their classes seem to be moving on without them as they are getting ready for cram schools and entrance tests.
Director: Masaaki Kumagai
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#18 - Moonlight and the Sound of Waves
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 7/5/2015
The final door on the way to the All-Japan Junior, the Kanto Junior Tournament, is just around the corner. Eiichiro psyches himself up as he confirms his promise to his parents that he'll give up if he doesn't win the All-Japan Junior, and then he sets off with the other STC members for Chiba, where the Kanto Junior will be held.
Director: Masahiko Murata
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi
NaN/100 votesLoading...#19 - A Hero and Loud Cheers
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 7/12/2015
The Kanto Junior Tennis Tournament begins at last, and Eiichiro is facing Yakabe Tadanori in his first match. Although he had watched videos of Yakabe's matches from a year ago, Eiichiro is bewildered by his opponent's much taller stature and completely different play style, and all the unexpected factors lead him to consider blanking all his mental data and starting from scratch.
Director: Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Writer: Shin Yoshida
NaN/100 votesLoading...#20 - Whish, Then Fwoom
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 7/19/2015
Eiichiro is stunned by all the cheering Ide receives as their match begins. He struggles with the unpredictable plays of the intuitive Ide, but he recalls what he learned in his match with Natsu and concentrates on watching his opponent. Meanwhile, Ide also struggles to keep up with Eiichiro's constant changes in tempo and starts to tune out the world as he tries to focus.
Director: Yusuke Onoda
Writer: Junki Takegami
NaN/100 votesLoading...#21 - Dramatic by Nature
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 7/26/2015
Ide's remarkable ability to adapt instantly to everything has Eiichiro struggling, and reads his notes again to regain his focus. This improves his movements and leads to more impressive rallies, making the match even more exciting. Neither is willing to yield as the match comes down to which player can manage to hold serve...
Director: Kiyoshi Murayama
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#22 - Visualize the Pressure
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 8/2/2015
Eiichiro thought he was successfully ignoring the crowd's roaring cheers for Ide, but his body was reacting to it more than he realized. The pressure of playing in front of a dramatic, Ide-centric crowd is troubling Eiichiro.
Director: Maki Kodaira
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
NaN/100 votesLoading...#23 - A Rude First Meeting
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 8/9/2015
Eitaro, upon winning spectacularly in his fight against Ide, decides to go to the National Junior's. Coach Aoi explains that towards the end of the match, Eitaro was completely in the zone.
Director: Kiyoshi Murayama
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi
NaN/100 votesLoading...#24 - Psychological Warfare and Self-Control
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 8/16/2015
The match against Takagi begins. Just as Yukichi warned, Takagi's style is unique.
Director: Taisuke Mamori
Writer: Shin Yoshida
NaN/100 votesLoading...#25 - Good, Evil, and Rules
Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 8/23/2015
Even if it seems to lack etiquette, Takagi's play style continues to work in his favor by disupting his opponent's pace. Eiichiro struggles to deal with Takagi's tactics.
Director: Hiroshi Fukutomi
Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba
The Worst Episodes of Baby Steps
Every episode of Baby Steps ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Baby Steps!
Eiichirō Maruo (nicknamed "Ei-chan" for his grades being straight "A") is an honor student, bookworm, and is not interested in anything other than studying. In...
Genres:AnimationComedy
Network:NHK Educational TV
Worst Episodes Summary
"Determination and Presentation" is the worst rated episode of "Baby Steps". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Ho Pyeon-gang and written by Junki Takegami, it aired on 8/3/2014. This episode scored NaN points lower than the second lowest rated, "Meat Buns and Yakisoba".