Cross Game

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"Cross Game" is one of Adachi's best works.

The first volume of manga is one of the very best I've read among all the manga I've read. Adachi does an amazing job of building up the relationship between Koh and Wakaba, showing little details that make you sure they are right for each other, even at a young age. He does an even better job of showing just how jealous Aoba is of all the time Wakaba spends with Koh. Then tragedy strikes.

Adachi's portrayal of all the different reactions from family, friends, and acquaintances is spot-on accurate.

The interplay between the characters often leaves you guessing ... about Adachi's final plans for the series, but that's a good thing. As I've read almost everything by Adachi, I was able to guess correctly about how the main characters would end the series, but Adachi did throw a few curves in the middle of the series which left me guessing. The ending was not contrived, however, and it left me feeling satisfied (in stark contrast to how I felt when I finished the "H2" manga).

The artwork shows Adachi's further progression in style beyond his previous works. While remnants of his overall feel from works such as "Nine" and "Touch" still remain, his style has matured quite a lot since then. I still enjoy his soft lines and effective portrayal of emotions and action (including his often-included comedic action).

All of the main characters were very believable, and most of the supporting characters were good as well. The only character who didn't seem to progress or grow much was Senda. While he matured a little as a player, his personality showed little change or maturing from junior high through high school. This is the main reason for the less-than-perfect rating for character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this series, and I've added it to my list of all-time favorites. If you enjoy romantic comedies (with some baseball thrown in for good measure), I highly recommend this series. Even if you don't generally go for sports manga, try this one out and you may very well be surprised and grow to like it. The baseball is used only as a setting for the overarching romance (even though you can tell Adachi really loves his baseball).

Go. Read it now. I think you'll like it.

(edit) Some idiot complained about me revealing something which happens in the FIRST EPISODE, how the main characters deal with that, and me talking about how the main characters have a goal to get to Koushien. Hopefully the review still makes sense, since it now likely doesn't flow as well as it used to. Chalk it up to over-sensitive pansies who think any plot detail is a spoiler.

Adachi Mitsuru is popular for his sports dramas from Touch to H2 to Katsu! Cross Game though is his best work to date. Although some purist may disagree, to me, he learned from the faults of Touch and H2 to create a much more compelling and complete story with Cross Game. I read this from a different point of view (perhaps do to the lost of my sister at a young age) and saw it as more than just a sports drama.

Cross Game may have Baseball as the base of its back ground, however the story is about how the short life and the death ... of a young girl affects a community of people. This affect not only drives the characters that knew her in life but also those who fall into the fold of her dream afterwards. Cross Game shows that a life, no matter how short, can have a great impact.

The story itself gets caught in its back ground at times, making it appealing to any sports drama fan. The Baseball itself is well illustrated as you would expect from Adachi who has decades of experience at it, this experience really shows. Yet, while the sports side of it is far from neglected it never loses sight, nor allows you to lose sight of the story that is begins to tell. Cross Game is a master piece in that way, it caters to his core audience while bringing in new readers who may not have been interested in his other works. By that I mean even though she dies you are never brought to far into the baseball aspect to forget Wakaba’s presence and her affect on the story and the other characters. Do to this I by no means see her as just a minor support character but as the driving character, without her there simply is no story.

The art work is vintage Adachi, which to me is a good thing. I also enjoyed his work and, while it has gotten cleaner, it remains true to his style. The story has many faucets and does not get hung up at any point, flowing perfectly through. The overall feel of this manga is one of completeness and a near perfection of Adachi’s story telling. It is one of only two manga that I have given a perfect 10 to date.

If you have never read or watched Cross Game I would strongly recommend that you do. This is without a doubt (at the time of writing this review) my favorite manga and anime, the only story which I have given a perfect 10 for both mediums.

For those who watched the Anime: There are some small details (I.E. Mizuki reading Aoba’s diary before disappearing) that do not get used in the anime. However, the anime is quite faithful to the manga and if you have watched it you will not have missed anything major.

Here we go again. Mitsuru Adachi's Cross Game was cool? Not great, but cool. I'm going to take a wild guess and just assume that this is your first Mitsuru Adachi experience. If it isn't, whoops. If it is, great! In my case, I've seen and read many of his previous work; and with very few exceptions, all of it is the same in my eyes. Miyuki and Nijiro Tougarashi stand out more. Not counting Katsu, because it has some baseball in it. Sorry to rain on the parade. This guy has a set formula on how to write an emotional romance story that just ... happens to have baseball in it, and people fall for it every time. It's not a bad formula, mind you, it's just a formula he uses all the time! He doesn't really experiment with his baseball plotlines, he just adds minor differences with each story. Add some different characters with slightly different backgrounds in a slightly different location. I'm not going to go into too much detail in this review. All you need to know is that it's a romance story with baseball sprinked about.

Ko Kitamura, what can I say? The kid is a pretty badass lead. Admittedly, the characters in this manga are pretty enjoyable. Ko is good friends with the Tsukishima sisters. Ichiyo, the eldest sister, who doesn't really do much except occasionally give good life advice to her sisters and Ko. Wakaba, the second oldest, who is madly in love with Ko, and is really the only one who sees his immense potential for baseball. She always wants to be around him and believes that one day he will go to the Koushien; which is this huge baseball championship for Japanese high school students. Aoba, the third oldest, she's just the typical tsundere character, that's all. Okay, okay, okay, she's much more than your stereotypical tsundere. If I had to be completely honest, I would say that Aoba is, debately, the most developed character in the entire manga. It's subtle, but it's clear that she goes through a massive change of character by the end. From the beginning, she just hated Ko, because he got all of the attention from Wakaba. However, her feelings and opinions on Ko gradually change throughout the manga as their relationship evolves. And lastly, we have Momiji, the youngest. She's just there to be the comic relief, and that's all. And you probably thought I was going to add something. Well, no. She really is just there to make jokes. Some are funny, some are not.

I'm going to be a little vague when talking about my frustrations with this manga. If I go into too much detail, I might slip out some spoilers. What irritates me most about this manga is that Adachi uses the the same formula for most of his series. First, he portrays his manga as this calm and relaxing slice-of-life, then he grabs your attention by creating some tragedy and drama to get the reader/viewer emotionally invested, then the main character dedicates all his time by working his way up to the Koushien. It's always the Koushien!!! I'm being somewhat vague with this explanation; however, you have no idea his accurate it is. "Well, if it annoys you that much, why did you give it a 6 out of 10?" <---- (That's you asking the question lol.) I gave it that score, because the formula works. I hate to admit it, but it's true. It's like how I feel about Galneryus. Galneryus is a Japanese Power Metal band that I love to death. I find their music amazing. My only complaint with the band is that many of their songs sound the same. They have a handful of songs that sound more distinct, but most of their catalog bleeds together. They found a good formula to work with, it's just that they overuse that formula. That's exactly how I feel about Mitsuru Adachi's writing. I always go back to his manga, because reading his work is oddly refreshing. The innocent nature and lack of fanservice always draws me in. Okay, there's a little fanservice. The ending is open-ended as usual. It's strangely dissatisfying every single time. The manga gives you context clues on what happens afterwards, but it still frustrates me. This will probably be the last time I review Adachi's work. I think I'm done, now. Cross Game did everything right, so I can't really condemn this manga. I was just unimpressed the entire time. I'll give this manga a 6 out of 10. I kinda like it, and I would give it a light recommendation.

And don't read Mix. Mix is a soulless sequel that blatantly copies a vastly superior series that shall not be named. I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Dutch.