Adachi Mitsuru's "H2" is a delightful and simple tale of two young men finding their place in the game of baseball. It is also a testament to why the sports genre is one of the most powerful in storytelling.
Known for his work on "Touch", "Katsu", and more recently, "Cross Game", Adachi Mitsuru has rightfully earned his place as one of manga's most influential artists. People may complain that his stories are merely copy-pasted from one another (just how many baseball manga has he created so far?) but there is a reason for why he rarely strays from the usual: nobody else can combine the
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slice-of-life and sports genres as elegantly as he can. H2 is just another reason why the Adachi Mitsuru brand of storytelling is so damn successful.
The story follows the rivalry between ace pitcher Kunimi Hiro and his best friend, Tachibana Hideo. After receiving a medical diagnosis and realising that his shoulder is about to break, Hiro begrudgingly gives up on pitching and moves to a high school without a baseball team. A sudden turn of events brings back his interest in the sport, and a story in the newspaper reveals that the doctor who made him give up on playing was recently arrested for being unlicensed. Hiro's shoulder had no problems to begin with-- he can pitch again without worry. Rather than transfer away to another school, he decides to turn Senkawa's weak baseball club into a full-fledged team, resolved to meet Hideo in the Koshien.
The real battle is not in the sport itself, however. The girl who Hiro loves is also Hideo's girlfriend, and the three of them all know it. While Hideo trusts Hiro enough to not cross a line, Hiro still regrets not falling for her earlier. As childhood friends, weren't Hiro and Hikari the two that were meant for each other... ?
Where H2 succeeds most is in its characterisation. The two players, as talented as they are, are never defined by the age old format of 'good guy vs. bad guy'. Both of them are inherently flawed people. The relationship between Hiro and Hideo feels natural and believable, and their skill in the sport is never justified on the basis of superhuman ability and secret moves. Even characters that are initially antagonistic (Kine) are developed into likeable characters by the end of the story. One of the hardest things to accomplish when writing a character is to turn an enemy into a friend, but Adachi goes a step further by making this development feel natural, too.
Considering the massive size of the cast (dozens of players per team, and many more in between), it isn't a surprise that some of them are overlooked. Several members of Hiro's team are sadly forgotten as soon as their story arc has ended. Fortunately, the matches are kept interesting as each opposing team is given a distinct personality. In the case of Senkawa's main rival, Eikyo, the opposing coach and starting pitcher provide a conflict that cleverly contrasts the nature of Hiro's pitching. You grow to despise Eiyko over time - you want them to lose, you want them to fail and eat the dirt. There is an actual reason to care about the matches beyond the usual "protagonist-dude must win".
There is a sense of suspense to each match that is so rare in other sports manga. Matches will be lost when you fully expect them to win, and matches will be won when you are prepared for a loss. You cannot ever fully predict what will happen. Adachi carefully foreshadows and places red herrings throughout the manga, though never enough to result in a sudden plot twist.
H2 also has a... unique sense of humour. Many times the characters will break the fourth wall (i.e. complaining about only being given one panel to talk) and Adachi will often make references to his previous works and his current state of mind. He even made himself a character in the story, which is... utterly bizarre. The most hilarious moment in the entire story occurs as Hiro mentions his perfect vision, then squints into the lazy blobs drawn in the stands and makes a shocked face. Yeah, the author actually made fun of his own artwork. The self-deprecation is comedy gold.
The artwork of H2 is simplistic yet graceful. The mute panels of the scenery effectively immerse the reader in the setting, and the story is carefully told through imagery rather than infodump. Even during the dramatic scenes, the mangaka respects the audience's intelligence by allowing them to understand what happened through the artwork. The action scenes during the baseball matches are also made easy for the eye to follow as a result of the simplistic art style. There is never a moment where you must pause and think "Huh, how did that happen?"
At 34 volumes long, H2 is the longest manga I have ever read. But it almost felt as if it was too short. There are no filler arcs, no unnecessary chapters. Every panel in the story has a meaning and purpose, whether it be to develop the characters or to simply make the reader laugh. My only complaint is that it all ended too suddenly. Considering how perfectly-paced the entire manga was, it's a bit strange that everything was wrapped up in a single chapter. It needed a few more than that, or better yet, an entire volume. We are left with assumptions rather than conclusions. It shouldn't have been that way.
Regardless of whether you are interested in the sports and slice-of-life genres, H2 is a must-read. It is an absolute joy to read and perfectly harmonises entertainment with quality. I had to purposely slow myself down because I didn't want the story to end, and that is perhaps the greatest compliment I can give to a manga. Adachi Mitsuru can confidently continue to do what he does best-- delight his audience.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: エイチツー InformationType: Manga
Volumes: 34
Chapters: 338
Status: Finished
Published: 1992 to 1999
Demographic:
Shounen
Serialization:
Shounen Sunday Authors:
Adachi, Mitsuru (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #4432 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1763
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Jan 5, 2014
Adachi Mitsuru's "H2" is a delightful and simple tale of two young men finding their place in the game of baseball. It is also a testament to why the sports genre is one of the most powerful in storytelling.
Known for his work on "Touch", "Katsu", and more recently, "Cross Game", Adachi Mitsuru has rightfully earned his place as one of manga's most influential artists. People may complain that his stories are merely copy-pasted from one another (just how many baseball manga has he created so far?) but there is a reason for why he rarely strays from the usual: nobody else can combine the ... 
May 27, 2008
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
...
May 31, 2014
Out of Adachi's 3 big baseball mangas, H2 is the worst.
The flaws include bad pacing, and an unrewarding ending after beign dragged over 300 chapters. This is a tricky read, like some of Adachi's other works it has a drop of quallity near the end, and obviously some very bad humor and filler pages. The pros are that the side characters are nice and had some nice back story, even if they are forgetten after their respective arcs. But the biggest flaw is that you feel like Hiro and Hideo don't evolve a lot during the manga, you don't see a real development, Hikari and Haruka you ... 
Feb 29, 2016 Masterpiece I started reading H2 to enjoy more of adachi's subtle sense of humor and best slice of life work that he gives in his evey mangas. But at the end H2 turned out to the Best Manga I have ever read. The night on which I finished reading it, I was unable to sleep and even after that, for few days I couldn't stop thinking about it. Of all the mangas I have ever read this is the one that left huge affect on me. If someone is just starting to read Adachi Mitsuru work then please start with H2 because main character used by Adachi ... 
Nov 5, 2017
As neither a fanatic of works by Adachi Mitsuru nor a frequent manga reader, I have somehow found the urge to write this review.
From its synopsis, one might think of "H2" as a typical tale of youth entailing character tropes the likes of which can be found throughout today's shounen genre of boys falling head over heels even through graphic printouts. Had it not been for my curiosity whence a quest has been fueled to further my appreciation for a certain mangaka's character designs, the story of a classless athlete, bounded by cries of unsung love and whose unfaltering passion for baseball having become the ... |
