Rookies

Mar 22, 2014

XaniaVentra

Recommended

I have to say this manga really surprised me. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I can't count the number of times I actually laughed out loud.

Story - The story was one of the better point of this manga. I could never predict what would happen. I would think one thing would happen, but I would end up being completely wrong. The only thing that drove me crazy was how many chapters it took for one game. I also felt the last chapter was a little rushed.

Art - I would have to ...

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Aug 17, 2016

Keatle

Recommended

Some spoilers for the first 40 chapters of the manga:

Manga comes in many forms, from a realistic slice-to-life to the wildest fantasy, but the sports genre is the one that most frequently treads a path between the real and the fantastical. At first glance, Rookies seems to be an example of the first kind of sports manga, except it actually isn't, as it is a "sports manga that isn't a sports manga".

Rookies is a "sports" and drama manga written and drawn by Masanori Morita between 1998 and 2003. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump and ran for 24 volumes, that is, about 230 chapters. ...

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Feb 21, 2019

mobrine

Recommended

"Flutter into your dreams, glitter into tomorrow" by Kawato Koichi

Warnings : - If you don't like bloody comedy this isn't the manga suited for you...
- Sorry if you found some errors in my review

This manga is one of the best baseball stories you could wish for, it's a little bit old but it won't make you feel disappointed after ending it but you will wish for more, what impressed me more in the story that there isn't something you can't dream of, at least what Kawato-sensei's thinks

Story:
The ...

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Jun 16, 2015

Risan07

Recommended

I have seriously been following this manga off and on for about 4 years now (due to scanlation errors, time constraints, etc.), and I felt like that I grew up with these boys and Kawato-sensei....

This serious is what first got me into the sports genre, and I had originally picked it up because the baseball team consisted of a bunch of delinquents! All of the characters were enduring, and the struggles that they overcame were immense.

There were numerous times that I laughed, I yelled at the computer, and my heart couldn't and wouldn't stop pounding as I read through their games.

I actually find ...

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Jun 30, 2021

GINTOKIBFF

Recommended

One of the most underrated shonen sports manga ever.

"The way to forge a new path is with confidence and courage."

*may contain slight spoilers!*

- A raw and inspiring story about a teacher who saw potential in a group of highschool delinquent mischiefs and believed in them when no one else would. Through his passionate love for them, incredible trust and unyielding belief, they were able to become better people.

I was actually rating diamond no ace on MAL when i saw rookies being recommended below it! having check out the description, I decided to give it a try, as i was craving for some ... awesome baseball action having just finished daiya a few days before.

If you are looking for something close with it then its probably not the best choice. But i guarantee that reading this manga will not be a waste of time.

overall ratings:

STORY/PLOT: [10/10] - this manga is somewhat old so a few of the scenes are of typical early 2000's! it also contains a lot of stereotypical japanese highschool gangsters lol it was hard for me to read it at first since i dint have much experience regarding shonen manga made during the early 2000's BUT the humor and awe inspiring moving moments easily overcame that and i found myself reading the next fifteen chapters without even noticing. In conclusion, the story itself felt very raw. It was raw, youthful and overwhelming with many emotions. It made me feel like as if i was there.

CHARACTERS: [10/10] - I want to start this by talking about Kawato and just how by far is the best adult character i have ever come across to. Heck, i would love to have an adult like that in my life. He does and understands what an adult needs to be, especially when it comes to his students. He was clumsy with his ways, being the rookie teacher he was. however, everything he did was for the sake of others. Kawato Koichi taught his students, workmates, superiors and even the whole baseball organization AND enemy teams to be better people. Kawato Koichi is a man from beyond. As for the other characters, the author did a good job of introducing them and slowly letting them be better version of themselves! it was very inspiring to see how far they have really come. Often not, there would be characters you would dislike in stories but all of the characters were fun and had their own good characteristics. My faves are Mikoshiba, Shinjo and Sekikawa.

ART: [8/10] - Now now, although i love this manga, the art style is one of those that i really dont have much fondness of. The only reason im giving this an 8 is because the author was able to utilize his talent of being able to make expressive facial expressions and character individualism. Overall not a fave but not bad! it wasn’t hard to follow along.

OVERALL SCORE: [10/10] !
All in all, this story is one of the best that i ever read up to date. The clumsy and awkward journey of the baseball theme was so funny, refreshing and hope inspiring. Its really a mystery in why a manga this good doesn’t have much readers and reviews! The last chapter really made me cry although yes i did feel it was kind of rush, it was amazing and i have no regrets ever reading this manga.

Please give it a try! stick after a few chapters and you'll soon see the amazing bundle of incredible human beings trying to fight for all their worth.

Thanks for reading! stay safe :3

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Mar 7, 2023

PixelB

Recommended

Rookies is kind of a cheesy story. Kawato, the cornerstone of Futagotamaga High School says stuff like "Flutter into your dreams, glitter into tomorrow" to a bunch of high school kids. Even if they were well-disciplined ones, I don't think any of them wouldn't have thought that line was corny. However, I think that's one of the biggest charms that Rookies has to offer.

This series does something quite interesting. While the manga has a large focus on baseball, it has an equal amount of focus on character development. Before anything else, Rookies is a series that builds a great baseball team based on a strong ... cast of characters.

Yes, this manga is unrealistically romanticized. Kawato is the type of teacher that anyone would have wanted. He truly cares about students. He's not jaded, where he's desensitized to students' plights and puts himself above adolescent high school students. He'd risk anything, even his career to help his baseball club play games and win Koshien. He's emotional, empathetic, and wants nothing more than, well, for his students to "Flutter into [their] dreams." Would there be any teacher that goes that far to the extent of his students? An emotional bastion, a wholehearted and honest person that props his team up? Probably not.

Yet, this is exactly what's emotional about this manga. It's not half-assed. Kawato goes and has heart-to-heart conversations with delinquent kids that never got praised in their life, violence being the only language they ever spoke. It's not like the kids aspired to be Yakuza their entire life, and they, too, want to live their youth with purpose. But, they didn't have the opportunity, the courage, and the spine to take the first step towards playing baseball with hopes towards something bigger than their previous aspirations could have ever been.

Again, is this realistic? All the baseball club members that were delinquents, reformed towards being better players. While each player has their own redemption arc and motivations towards joining the baseball club, could the entire baseball team be reformed? Probably not. But, it happened. In this story, it did happen, and that raw emotion towards going and aspiring to go to Koshien shines through.

Each player makes an effort to become a better baseball player. They sweat, cry, and run with all their might towards the first base in hopes of not getting out. They will play with injuries and soldier through the pain. They will practice swings outside of practice times to the point of exhaustion. For each player, it's a "death sentence" if they lose, and this emotion truly expressed through the manga panels.

For that much talk about the baseball club members, you might be wondering why I haven't spoke of any in any particular depth, other than Kawato. Well, there's just too many characters to talk about. I don't think there's any weak character in the 10+ player cast of Futagotamaga High School, and it's a treat to watch these players grow not only as baseball players, but also grow mentally.

And another good plus, with a strong cast of characters that finally dove into becoming baseball players comes the actual baseball games. Unlike Cross Game, which forsakes any actual baseball games in favor of characters, Rookies manages to have good baseball games that build on the foundation of the characters. I will admit that the first 50 or chapters were the best ones, where the baseball club gets reformed and finds their motivations towards becoming baseball players, but the games are also good too. This series is very smart about the pacing of each game. This 200+ chapter run only covers around ~1 year of actual baseball, and it's neither too short or long. There's only two powerhouse schools in the region that get mentioned, and there's only around four extensively covered games that go over each play, two of them being practice games. Each game that gets covered play-by-play shows the extent of the progress of the maturity that each player goes through. You get to know each player's strength, the pitching strength of each rival school, and the buildup to all of the runs in the game. The series is thorough, and it definitely feels like a baseball manga that's actually focused on baseball. Because of the one year timeline and the lack of too many powerhouse schools, This manga can focus on just a small pool of rival characters and games that truly matter.

That being said, you can tell character development matters more than the actual game. The biggest game that Futagotamaga High School wins isn't covered too extensively when it comes to play-by-play, but rather on the players' depression at their coach not being at their bench, them being down runs after losing a scoring oppurtunity near the end of the game, and the subsequent turnaround victory that happens when Kawato returns to the dugout as a coach.

Like I said, I liked the earlier chapters the best since it was all about fostering character development, but the later arcs, while good, rely too much on dramatic turn of events. Kawato has to risk his job, or he's suspended from the dugout. Many key players get injuries that threaten them to pull out of the game. A lot of the tension is artificially driven by dramatic circumstances caused by these sorts of things, and the earlier chapters didn't need to rely on that in the beginning.

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Jan 10, 2023

LordZabula

Recommended

Rookies follows the very cliche sports manga, and consists of a cast of delinquent tropes, and cliche moments with the first teacher to ever show love tho these students. The story is an 8, I honestly love it, and appreciate the humor and the pacing of it. Like I said in the beginning though, its full of sports cliches that make the story really reflective of other sports mangas, but overall an enjoyment.
The art is a 9, I really appreciate the mangakas art style, they know when to take the art seriously and when its fine to relax a bit. There are some real ...

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Jul 29, 2022

AmeYuui

Recommended

*This review contains no spoilers*

I knew this manga was going to be funny because of a glimpse I got of the story from a section of it's TV series. But I didn't know what I was about to get myself into.
I've touched upon all of things which stood out for me, in this review. (This is my first ever review on this website, and I've been looking forward to writing this because I enjoyed it so.)

The characters are brilliant, each having a relatable backstory, and seeing how they develop their personalities and bring out the best of their potential is heart-touching. Even though ... this manga is about baseball, alongside the game, majority focus is on how everyone of them battles their own shortcomings, works together as a team, lifts each other's spirits during the most crucial times, does their best to hold themselves back from doing something stupid that can hinder the possibility of them reaching their goals and achieve the dream of reaching Koushien together!
"One for all!".
The sensei is an immensely strong-willed, funny and determined person who can go to any lengths to understand his students and bring out the best in them. Everyone respects him and he has such a fresh aura around him. He has taught me great many lessons along the away and I've come to respect him too! I don't have the works to describe how powerful of a character he is.
And ofcourse there are characters who remind us how important it is to not lose your cool and humour even in the times of adversity.
The mangaka has done his best to bring out a variety of emotions through this masterpiece. I have laughed a lot, cried a lot and enjoyed a lot while reading this powerful manga.

This manga has not once failed to make us realize the importance of teamwork, how even the most strongest of players can't beat a team who works together for a single goal, alone;
how having talent means nothing if you don't hone it on a regular basis;
how understanding other humans + the reason behind their actions leaves a positive mark on the one being understood;
and ofcourse the most important one - the value of dreams.

This manga has left a huge impression on me and taught me great many things. It has left me completely mesmerized, through and through. Now that I've finished this manga, I can't wait to watch it's tv series which I know will be very funny. Since I've enjoyed this manga so, I am looking forward to reading other works by Masanori Morita.
If I could give a manga a standing ovation, this would be it. It has been that strong for me.

"Flutter into your dreams, glitter into tomorrow" - Koichi Kawato

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May 21, 2023

Odisnikka

Recommended

English is not my first language

If you expect to find in rookies a manga focused exclusively on baseball as I expected, I'm sorry to inform you that you won't find what you want. But that's not a bad thing at all, because what you'll get is a mix of a sports manga and GTO (great teacher onizuka).

Rookies is as much about baseball as it is about its characters and their dramas and dreams, the critique of the education system and the professional conduct and duty of a teacher.

In a way, rookies reminded me a lot of American sports movies: It's not just about the sport, ...

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