ADACHI Mitsuru, the Legendary Mangaka (Teen)

[shinwei]

Touch



Serialized in: Shounen Sunday
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 26 volumes (Completed)
International Status: Unlicensed
Age Ranking: Teen

Touch is a shounen story about two twin brothers, a pretty girl next door, and that good old pastime of baseball. The manga was written by one of the most well known manga-ka out there, Adachi Mitsuru in the early 80's (1981-1986). He's a wonderful writer who tends to write stories that are related to baseball and Koshien, the stadium where the All High School Baseball Tournament is held.

Touch was one of the winners of the 1983 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen or shōjo manga, along with Adachi's Miyuki.

H2



Serialized in: Shounen Sunday
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 34 volumes (Completed)
International Status: Unlicensed
Age Ranking: Teen

Kunimi Hiro and his best friend Hideo were baseball wonders... Until Hiro found out his arm was permanently damaged, rendering him unable to play anymore. A frustrated Hiro goes through the trouble of specifically finding a high school with no baseball team... Only to later on find out the doctor who examined him was a quack and his arm is perfectly fine. Hiro is quick to reinstate his dream: Creating a baseball team for his school and getting to face off against Hideo in the Koshien... The number one premier league for high school baseball.

Rough



Serialized in: Shounen Sunday
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 12 volumes (Completed)
International Status: Unlicensed
Age Ranking: Teen

Ninomiya Ami, a talented diver, are the offsprings of two rival families owners of confectionery shops. Two generations ago, Grandfather Ninomiya came up with an idea for an owl-shaped cake, but Grandfather Yamato quickly raised to the challenge and thought of a similar cake--but in Yamato's the owl had ears. Because they're priced the same, Yamato's extra ears were crucial, and that made the business of the Ninomiya confectionery suffered. Grandfather Ninomiya then fell ill worrying about his shop. Before his death, his last words were "I was killed by the Yamatos", and since that moment the two families have been sworn rivals.

Katsu!



Serialized in: Shounen Sunday
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 16 volumes (Completed)
International Status: Unlicensed
Age Ranking: Teen

Satoyama Katsuki is a carefree 15 year-old high school kid, and a pretty lazy one at that. However, he secretly has a crush on a girl who happens to share his name: Mizutani Katsuki. Upon finding out that Mizutani's father used to be a pro-boxer, and she herself infatuated with the sport, he reluctantly joins a boxing gym in order to impress Mizutani. Satoyama is quick to find out he may have the blood of a genius boxer running through his veins...

Cross Game



Serialized in: Shounen Sunday
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 17 volumes (Completed)
International Status: Licensed by Viz
Age Ranking: Teen

Kitamura Koh has known the Tsukishima family for years. One of the Tsukishima daughters was even born on the exact same date as Koh! What will become of Koh when his best friend is no longer around?

Cross Game received the 54th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga in 2009.

Need I go on? If you haven't been reading Adachi, you should definitely get started today.

[barbapapa]

Adachi is amazing. But it's an aquired taste. Some won't like the fact that most stories don't really have a lot happening in them. But that's exactly what I love about 'em. I'm very much into slice of life, and his laid back sense of humor is just a joy to read.

I wish more of his stuff got published officially.

[ladiv]

i've read a few of his manga...i love the way he has the characters interact with the narrator at times

[siegfried]

though I havent read much of adachi,rough is one of the best manga I have ever read.

[NeoShweaty]

damn, i thought i should necro this thread (well, i am the mod of this section ) because i started reading H2. OH MY GOD. I have only read 8 volumes but i can tell that i need to read his other stuff, like now.

[siegfried]

yeah this title definitly deserves necroing.I have read Katsu,Touch and Cross Game since I have last posted in this thread.His work is really addictive. Even though I dont like (almost hate) baseball I enjoy reading a manga which is completely about baseball,what else can I say?

btw I still think Rough is the best one.

[NeoShweaty]

have you read H2? i am gonna read the others but after like 10 volumes, it just keeps getting better and better

[La_Muerte]

ive read H2 purely awesome, im waiting for them to release new stuff, all i have is up to volume 25, my recommendation is to go after Tough once u read H2

[siegfried]

ive read H2 purely awesome, im waiting for them to release new stuff, all i have is up to volume 25, my recommendation is to go after Tough once u read H2

Do you really mean Tough, not Touch?


I will eventually read H2 too but reading three manga from the same mangaka in the same time might be a bit confusing. Touch is not fully scanlated yet and Cross Game is ongoing as much as I know.

[La_Muerte]

oops i meant Touch, for me its no problem reading the mangas cause i only read them one after the other, kinda sucks waiting though

[Phatshady912]

You should check out "Miyuki" it is my favorite Adachi work because I love the ending, and the TC forgot to list it.

I have read Katsu, H2 (just finished), Nine, Rough, Miyuki... and am reading Touch, Slow step, Cross Game.

Ohh also, Miyuki probably has the least sports of any of Adachi's works. It has a very tiny bit of softball but it is pretty much a love/school/comedy story. Unlike some most of his other works where sports are the backdrop which bring all of the characters together.

[ikuyoK]

I've read all that's up there.. And some that aren't, like Idol A or Adventure Boys for instance.. Of course I'm still reading some but for other reasons than I don't have the time. Like Touch, because Adachi-Manga hasn't finished releasing them yet. Or Cross Game because it is currently being made and released weekly.. I'd say that out of the ones that are up there, Niji Iro Togarashi has the least to do with sports.. Since it doesn't even take place anywhere near this time period... I like most of his works and recommend them to most people..

[edo]

I read most of adachi-sensei manga, and I think his best manga was natane.

and most of his manga published here in my country, so I Don't have to browsing internet for it, lucky!

[ginousuke]

Natane? You mean Niji Iro Togarashi, right? Yeah, I love it too.
I've also read most of his works. The ending always seems unfinished. But I like that better.
H2 used to be my favorite. But now it's Touch (no wonder they said it's his best ever).
And there's Jinbe. It's really different than his other works. Very mature.

[rhyuho]

i just started watching the touch anime a few a days ago and right now I'm more than three fourths of the way through (although i don't know how well it follows the manga's story line) but even though the anime is over twenty years old imo its still really fun to watch and you can tell the quality is better than that of pretty much every 80's anime i mean it still looks better than the remastered robotech saga's and the two zeta gundam series' which came out in the same year
plus the voice cast is amazing
i wonder if the quality is because its the highest ratings for any anime ever broadcast