Ranked #358

H2 (Manga)

I recently finished this manga only a few hours ago and really wanted to write a review immediately after finishing it up, as so it would be completely fresh in my mind. However, after reading it through, I could not help but to dedicate a few hours to think over what I had just read. Let me begin by saying that I had not read any of Adachi Mitsuru's works and after hearing positive things about this manga-ka, decided to go for one of his completed, yet somewhat recent works, H2. With Touch receiving many of the accolades of being a great story way ahead of its time, H2 is a beautiful example of the exquisite style that that Adachi is able to create in his stories, a style which blends sports and a true, emotional romance story into one.

Don't let the surface of the story fool you. Even though it's prominently a baseball themed sport story, what drives the plot is the romance. There are two integral parts of the story in H2. One is the baseball aspect. Hiro Kunimi and Hideo Tachibana are childhood friends who met in middle school and as customary of close friends in these situations, both of them end up going to different high schools. Hiro is your ace pitcher while Hideo is your powerful clean-up batter. One aspect of the story depicts the relationship between these two characters and the friendship shared between two, which is tested on the baseball field as both vie incessantly to win the championship.

However, as I've stated previously, although the baseball aspect of the story is important, it would be nothing without the romance. And this is where I believe Adachi truly shines. He is able to flawlessly weave in an extremely strong and touching romance story within the sports world. Normally, you encounter sports stories with simple comedy and hints of romance that is never developed. However, Adachi's stories are unique in that romance takes center stage prominently in many instances. So a love square is seen between Hiro, Hideo, their childhood friend Hikari Amamiya and Hiro's baseball team manager, Haruka Koga. Adachi not only uses romance strongly in his story, but masterfully interweaves it with baseball.

A point to argue about is the art style Adachi implements in his works. While not the most attractive of styles, it does get the job done. It's not detailed and not pretty. A lot of the minor characters (and even some of the major ones) look oddly similar within the story. This is also the case within Adachi's different works, as characters from one manga look very similar to H2's. However, because his art style is simple, its not overly complicated and is extremely easy to follow, which is very nice when reading through the baseball games. You actually know what's going on in every panel.

Though the focus of the romance sports story is mainly between the four aforementioned characters, Adachi has introduced a very adequate set of minor characters (again, a ton who looks the same) to not only develop the main characters, but truly helps them shine. There are a lot of unique situations that occur which makes the romance square so much more interesting between the four. Aside from all of the minor characters, Adachi has also done well in developing the two main protagonists in Hiro and Hideo. Even though the personality of both never really undergoes a drastic overhaul, you still get a sense of a truly different character from what was seen in chapter one in comparison to what we end up with in chapter 338.

With all of these basic elements set up, it was up to Adachi to bring them all together and ultimately produce something enjoyable. And let me be the first one to say that when I tentatively picked up this manga in the beginning, after reading the first bunch of chapters, I was easily hooked. I spent hours at home - and during work in the spare time - to see what happens. Who do Hiro and Hideo ultimately end up with? Who are going to win the championships? And the beauty of it all is that just when you think you have everything all figured out, Adachi literally throws you a curveball that you wouldn't be expecting, and everything is thrown into disarray once again, captivating you all over again as well.

There are a few downsides to this story. One in particular is the completely abrupt ending. Don't mistake that with the fact that there isn't a complete ending, because there is one. It's just the most abrupt thing in the world, that it makes you wonder after spending 337 chapters building up the suspense to the final showdown between Hiro and Hideo - and ultimately, who ends up with whom - the author suddenly got bored and wanted to end things quickly. Either that or he became busy with his other manga works. It really puts a damper on things.

Adachi writes about Hiro's and Hideo's three years in high school baseball, so you have a great sense of the years flying by and you literally get to watch them develop as baseball players, and develop romantic relationships with their respective ladies. And just when you think you have the pairs matched up correctly, little emotional situations changes things, for better or for worse. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that if you are sports fan, and have been dying to have something where sports and romance meet in earnest, H2 will be right down your alley. Alternatively, if you're a simple romance fan, chances are H2 will also be something that will satisfy your needs. Adachi truly brings you on a rollercoaster of emotions following the lives of these young adults. read more