Kanna Hashimoto Throws the First Pitch in Her “Kingdom” Costume—Even the Mishap Where the Fluffy Straw Raincoat Covered Her Face Was Adorably Cute

“It’s so frustrating…”

With her big eyes wide open—even more so than usual—Kanna Hashimoto (27) responded to the deafening cheers.

On August 12, a top-of-the-table showdown between the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers took place at Tokyo Dome. It was a “Kingdom Night” event in collaboration with the movie *Kingdom: Battle of Souls*, and Hashimoto, who stars in the film, took the mound to throw the first pitch.

“*Battle of Souls*, the fifth installment in the series, surpassed 3.35 million admissions in just 26 days since its July 17 release. Box office revenue has exceeded 5.16 billion yen (as of August 12), marking achieved the historic feat of having five consecutive films in the series each gross over 5 billion yen.”

Kento Yamazaki (31) plays Shin, a military commander of the State of Qin who aspires to become the Great General, while Hashimoto plays Karōten, the military strategist of the “Hishin Corps” led by Shin.“Just before the first pitch, Hashimoto was practicing her pitching under the guidance of the Giants’ pitcher Eito Tanaka (27),” said a sports reporter.

As soon as Hashimoto appeared in front of the first-base dugout, the Tokyo Dome erupted in cheers. Overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, Hashimoto’s eyes widened and he flashed a shy smile. Shouts of “Cute!” and “Unbelievable!” rang out from the stands.

Ryo Yoshizawa (32), who plays Ying Zheng, the king of the Qin state aiming to unify China, and Yamazaki appeared on the stadium screens.After receiving video messages of encouragement from the two, Hashimoto—dressed in a uniform bearing the “KINGDUM” name and the number “5,” and wearing He Liao Diao’s trademark straw raincoat—took the mound.

Undeterred by a minor mishap—the fluffy fabric of the raincoat covering her entire face the moment she wound up—Hashimoto threw the pitch. Her all-out pitch bounced once before landing in the catcher’s mitt, prompting another huge cheer from the stands.

When asked about his impressions of the ceremonial first pitch, Hashimoto said,

“I really wanted to throw it without a bounce, so it’s frustrating that it fell just short…” (From Oricon News)

she said, expressing her disappointment, but

“But since I took the mound today wearing the straw raincoat from *Kingdom*, I’d like to give myself a perfect score of 100 for the performance,” (from Oricon News)

and gave it a perfect score. The photographers saw true professional spirit in Hashimoto, who finished the pitch with a smile despite the mishap.