The release of Powerful Pro Baseball 2026-2027 (known in Japan as Pawapuro) has set off a wave of excitement among the country’s biggest livestreamers, with the game’s signature “Eikan Nine” mode drawing massive audiences on YouTube and Twitch. Since launch, streamers including Shaka, Yuta Seki (関優太), and Junichi Kato (加藤純一), along with popular VTubers Ex Arvin and Ibrahim, have been broadcasting hours of gameplay to eager fans.
Eikan Nine is a long-running fan-favorite mode in the Pawapuro series in which the player becomes the head coach of a high school baseball team, developing a roster over three in-game years while aiming for a championship at Koshien, Japan’s national high school baseball tournament. Because new first-year recruits are randomly generated every April, with unpredictable stats, positions, and special skills, every playthrough produces a different team. The new installment allows up to three re-draws of the incoming class, and streamers have been visibly living and dying by the results. Shaka reset his recruit pool live on stream in pursuit of a strong class and erupted in celebration after pulling a “reincarnated player” version of real-life baseball legend Tsuyoshi Shinjo, a feature in which stats-boosted characters based on real former pro players can randomly appear. Despite planning to stop early, he admitted, “This system isn’t good for me, I’m going to keep spinning,” and continued re-drawing until satisfied. Yuta Seki, meanwhile, held out for a recruit modeled on two-way MLB star Shohei Ohtani, fulfilling what he called a dream matchup for baseball fans.
Powerful Pro Baseball 2026-2027 also introduces several new features beyond the recruitment overhaul. A new “3-Year Mode” compresses the high school journey into a tighter timeframe for players chasing a Koshien title in a shorter session, while new “Team Play” and role-play control options let users directly control individual players on the field. The game also adds a designated hitter (DH) rule and an “auto-lineup” option for more accessible team management.
The momentum is expected to continue with Nijisanji Koshien 2026, an annual crossover event held on July 4, 2026, in which ten popular Nijisanji VTubers take on the role of team manager in Eikan Nine, developing a roster over three years to compete for the title. This year’s lineup includes Rito Usami, Meroko Kyouran, Rou Koyanagi, Nesu Sakaki, Suzuna Nanase, Furen E Rustario, Minato Fuwa, Sara Hoshikawa, Himawari Honma, and Lauren Iroas. Now in its seventh consecutive year, the event has become a summer staple for fans of both VTubers and baseball sims alike.
Who are Shaka, Yuta Seki, and Junichi Kato?
Shaka is one of Japan’s most-watched game streamers, best known for his high-level Apex Legends play and large following across YouTube and Twitch. Yuta Seki (関優太) is a former professional gamer with a background in competitive fighting games who now runs the esports and entertainment organization Crazy Raccoon, alongside streaming a wide variety of games to a large fanbase. Junichi Kato (加藤純一) is one of the most-watched Japanese-language streamers online, known primarily for freewheeling talk streams and gaming sessions that regularly draw huge concurrent viewership.
