Cross Game, Vol. 1 (1) Paperback – Illustrated, October 12, 2010

When Mistusu Adachi published Touch in the early eighties, nobody thought that he will able to surpass that success. Touch inaugurated a new genre in manga: sports-romance. Adachi was a very successful writer in his early thirties, he had a lot of time in front of him, but he had set the bar pretty high, it took him almost 30 years to set a new standard.Cross Game is much more than a sports-romance manga. In his great style Adachi manages to talk about everything, and also to emulate life in baseball. Not just the win and lose passion but also the more delicate edges of life, as uncertainty, memories, melancholy.In Cross Game Adachi also remembers his own gone brother, because in this manga memories have even more weight than common life.The drawing skills of Adachi have not improved a lot since Miyuki but his narrative is much more accurate and effective. The Master only needs a few pages to transmit his idea and more.From the very beginning of the manga you cannot put it down. It really does not matter if you like baseball or not, I have not seen a complete game in 20 years or so, what does matter is to feel the feelings it transmits.Adachi is not well known in America but in Japan is one of the most famous mangakas of all time. I will strongly recommend you to read the best work of one of the best mangakas since the art was invented.Cross Game in short, is one of the best magas ever, you should not miss it.

Mitsuru Adachi is a true master of manga. There is no other work of manga that can match his.His work visualizes what it means to be young with romantic and touching languages of art.It is not just about baseball or love. It is about your youth, the most dreamful days in your life.The Cross Game makes you feel like you are 15 years old once again, you are in love with the cutest girls in the school, you can perhaps throw 100 miles fastball.It rejuvenates your most brilliant times in your life, reminds you of those days your life was a full of dreams and wishes.

This (and the subsequent 7 volumes ) is one of my favorite Adachi mangas. As per usual, his story-telling is well paced and complex. Emotions span from joy to heartbreak. And they are well resolved. I recommend this series very highly. ( I own the paperbacks, as well as the Kendal editions. My grandkids are all fans as well )

Loved the manga and love the anime. It's touched on several aspects of people's lives. What it's like to loose someone and what happens when destiny lands a hand.

One of the best stories that I have ever read. Finished the series over 8 months ago, reading for hours at a time, and still think about how amazing the story is.

I loved it! it's a great story of growing up and baseball.If you like baseball or sports manga I'd recommend it to you!

I read this manga quite a while ago. It is one of my favorites. So now I have bought the kindle version of it. I even liked the anime.

Just reading about the success of author Adachi's previous titles alone made me pick up this first volume. This is the first of his works I've read, but so far I'm willing to give this series a chance.Without giving away the main spoiler in this 3-volume-in-1 release, the story revolves around a young boy, Ko. The first volume covered in this release is more of a backstory on his childhood, floating between his father's sporting goods store and his neighbor's coffee house. Readers are immediately introduced to his love interest in Waka, his neighbor and second oldest of four girls. Waka's interactions with Ko alone are enough to establish that they're gonna be the main pairing you're expecting while reading, but to bring it on home, you also find that they're born on the same day. It'd be cheesy in any other instance, but Adachi makes it work just well enough for readers to tolerate it.... but you'd be wrong to assume this manga is a full-on romance. As suggested by its genre alone (most shonen manga rarely delve that deeply when it comes to romance) its primary focus isn't on the possible couplings throughout the story, but moreso on the action, which in this case is baseball. The latter two volumes covered in this release are different from the first in that focus is less on the romance (which was only done in the first volume more to establish characters than the full story itself) and more on baseball--which will either make or break it when it comes to whether you should buy the release or not.Having read this 3-in-1 release, the overall tone of the series tends to that of your typical sports manga with the smallest doses of romance and suggestiveness (in the chapter title pages alone!) expected from your typical sports manga. Regardless, there's just enough charm for me to continue with the series.