It's a quintessential scene of Japanese youth: Young boys out in baseball uniforms jog across their school grounds, the white and maroon of their gear contrasting with a clear blue sky. In the bleachers, an earnest-looking high school girl named Minami, in a jersey that matches the team's uniforms, eyes them with a book held tightly to her chest.
The book is not a practice journal for the boys' baseball club, it's a copy of "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices," a popular business book penned in 2001 by the late Peter F. Drucker.
So begins "Drucker in the Dug-Out," a 10-part animated series showing weeknights on NHK starting April 25, whose Japanese title is "Moshidora." On the surface, the anime looks to be your standard television fare, but for viewers watching for the usual dramatic subplots of team solidarity and friendship, "Drucker in the Dug-Out" will also throw viewers a curve ball.