Win or Lose

Overall, though, Win or Lose is a pleasant surprise. It’s not a traditional baseball tale and is less interested in the minutiae of sports than the minutiae of those who play them. It gets at various issues bigger than baseball—anxiety, financial pressures, loneliness—but seamlessly weaves in curveballs through funny gags and inventive bursts of animation.

Win Or Lose manages to tell detailed stories about each of its characters, with emotions rooted in reality while taking advantage of Pixar’s ability to create a fascinating visual landscape.

This is the best Pixar project since Turning Red, and despite some corporate interference, it represents an exciting new direction in a sequel- and spin-off-heavy environment. Plus, it’s the funniest Pixar cartoon in a couple of years.

Some characters elicit more interest than others, which could very well remain the only reason to see what’s in store, and it’s not uncommon for a background character or two to add a bit of weight to their own story several episodes later.

I would almost be tempted to call it a home run — if not for one egregious error that tinges what should be a clear win with a sense of loss. .... Critics weren’t sent the episode centered around Kai, and she hasn’t played a significant role in the ones we have seen so far. So I can’t tell you how the last-minute rewrites play, how central her trans identity would have been to her narrative, or how erasing it changes our understanding of her.

The four episodes I've seen of "Win or Lose", especially Episodes 3 and 4, are among Pixar's strongest work in recent years. .... Yet I can't escape the dread that the last-minute changes to the show's second half could threaten its tight narrative construction as well as its positive inclusive ethos, so my praise is measured and tentative.