#adachi mitsuru

[celestialmega]

Cross Game, クロスゲーム by Mitsuru Adachi.

#manga cap #manga screencap #manga #mangacap #manga art #manga crop #mitsuru adachi #adachi mitsuru #Cross Game #クロスゲーム

[hikikomoriheadphonegirl]

#Natsu no Rakugaki #Adachi Mitsuru #colour pages #scenery

[kouxaoba]

Can I lie ? Breaking down one of the best romantic confessions ever

Koh (and Aoba in a sense) finally confessing their love for each other is one of, if not THE best moment of the series. This is truly Adachi at his best, so many things are said using very few words. This is my interpretation of the events :

The context

We know Aoba talked to Akane the night before. The details of that conversation are never revealed to us, but we can guess what was said. Akane is about to have what is possibly a life or death operation and throughout her time on the show, she has been trying to get our two stubborn idiots to admit their mutual feelings for each other. The conversation was most likely her telling Aoba that there is actually nothing going on between her and Koh and that Koh is most probably in love with someone else... I feel like this context is important to keep in mind when Aoba asks her first question.

A liar turning a lie into a fact

The truth is, Aoba already knows the answer to her first question. When Koh replies "yeah", Aoba and we as readers can guess Koh is not being fully honest because he overthrows his ball (It's subtle but clear in the anime and even in the manga, Adachi makes a point to show us the ball he threw back went slightly higher than normal...) This is also why Koh asked her for a form check because baseball is their love language and the only instance where they are honest with each other.

What Aoba really wants to ask him is if he loves her or if he's still harboring feelings for Wakaba. But because of her personality and her insecurities, she can't outright ask him that, so she deceptively uses Akane for comparison. However, Koh understands her very well and replies that he can't compare Akane to someone that's no longer alive. This is also an interesting throwback to an earlier conversation they had when Aoba asked him if he liked Akane, and he replied "she's very similar to Wakaba". So Koh can, and has in fact already compared Akane to Wakaba.

So why does he reply differently this time ? Well, because this is Koh's way of getting Aoba to stop dancing around the subject and, most importantly, to stop her internal comparison to Wakaba, he understands this isn't really as much about Akane as it is about her. Which is why she finally asks THE question :

Which is followed by Koh's iconic line "Can I lie?" Since we/Aoba can guess everything he said beforehand was not the exact truth, Aoba understands that whatever it is he will say next is most likely the truth. That's why when she shows up at the game later, although she calls him a liar, she still refers to him pitching 160km/h as "a promise" he made to her. However, because of her insecurities, she doesn't quite believe his statement "I love Tsukishima Aoba the most" until the previous two statements come true.

When Seishu wins and Koh pitches his fastest ball yet, she's so flabbergasted by that statement she actually forgets to celebrate her sister's dream coming true. Koh turned a non-tangible statement (loving her more than Wakaba & Akane) into a fact by making sure his previous two statements turned out to be true.

I'm not kidding when I say this is Adachi at his best. Great storytelling and Koh, what a man !

#kou kitamura #koh kitamura #ko kitamura #aoba tsukishima #cross game #adachi mitsuru #manga #anime and manga

[luffysus]

I need to talk about Cross Game - Part 1

Lately I've been feeling a bit nostalgic of the old anime/mangas I used to read, so I decided to re-read Touch by Adachi Mitsuru and that not being enough i needed to re-read Rough by the same author. And just like that I was like fuck it I just can't get enough of this author so I decided to give another one of his mangas a try and OMG I am floored. Btw I have some issued with the tropes Adachi overuses in his storytelling and his artstyle but that's for another post. Anyway, Cross Game is absolutely brilliant, this is Adachi at his best dealing with emotions, grief just like he knows. I actually haven't watched the anime adaptation so I'm just going to focus on the manga for now. I'll try to keep it short but I don't think that's even possible cause I have a LOT to say...

While looking for opinions on the series, I came across lots of reviews but mostly from anime watchers and I was often confused because a lot referred to Wakabe as Kou's girlfriend and I was just sat there like huh ??? Did i missread something in the manga that the anime captured lol ? I mean Kou did love Wakabe but the author from the very beginning of the manga went out of his way to show us their relationship was a bit one-sided. Wakabe loved Kou (mind you they were just like 10 year olds at this point in the story so i feel a bit weird calling it "love" lol) but Kou on the other hand was always more interested in her sister Aoba.

The instances are subtle a la Adachi but there are almost in every chapter. It's the way he sets up his panels, the dialogue or silences that sometimes can be so mundane but highlight obvious human emotions, like longing.

Starting from Chapter 1, Kou and Aoba are the first two characters we are introduced to and already in that introduction we have Kou staring at /taking interest in whatever it is Aoba is doing.

And mind you right before this, is a page of Kou staring at bathing suits, and when his father scolds him he basically replies he is a maturing boy so staring at things regarding the opposite sex is normal...almost like the author is outright showing us the what interests this hormonal pre-teen...

The first part of the story being focused on Wakabe and Kou's relationship actually highlights and cements the fact that Kou always liked Aoba differently. It's in the way he wasn't really intereted in keeping that tradition Wakabe wanted of them buying each other gifts every year.

It's the way he would almost always mention Aoba while with Wakabe (I started taking screenshots of the different instances but there were actually like so many I gave up lol I can't post all of them). I will however just touch upon imo the biggest giveaway depicted. It is when they are exchanging birthday gifts and Wakabe spots a newlywed couple. She's obviously emotional and she mentions how the couple will definetely be happy since they got married on a special day (her and Kou's birthday). When I tell you Adachi has a way of setting up his panels...because what comes next is kind of a brutal hint that only Wakabe was in "love". As she is mesmerised by the bride and imagines herself in that position...one day most likely with him... Kou is not listening and is basically thinking about Aoba and trying to emulate her pitching. You can't make this up...

Now this could absolutely be my head canon, but Wakabe being the very perceptive young girl she was, imo figured out Kou liked Aoba that's why she tells Aoba not to take him away from her when he grows up to be the kind of man she knows Aoba will like (aka a pretty damn good baseball player).

When Wakabe tragically dies at that young age, Aoba could never forget that request from her late sister. That's what makes Aoba's struggling to come to terms with her feelings for Kou as they grow up so poignant. Not only does she have to come deal with the grief of losing the sister she was closest to, she also has to fight her growing attraction for Kou so she literally forces herself to exgerrate feelings of hatred him because falling for him meant betraying the late sister she loved so much.

Kou too has some internal conflicts he has to deal with before accepting that he loves Aoba. While he was not romantically interested in Wakabe, he still loved her very much. She was the only constant in his life, always pushing him to become a better person. It's a love that's in a way so much deeper than romantic love. It's the kind of love you feel for a twin (and knowing Adachi this is exactly what he was going with, by setting their birthday the same day and place). Plus like I said because their relationship was bit one side he felt that much more guilt, that she was the one always loving him, always doting on him during their time together. On top of that his feelings for sisters just kept growing...

This is what makes Cross Game so damn heartfelt. The emotions the characters go through are so complex, so human it tugs at your heart. Seeing these two heartbroken people try to cope with the death of loved one while coming into adulthood and dealing with their survivor's guilt, growing emotions... Damn.

I titled this part 1 because I still have so much more to say lmao. I'll stop here for now. Well done to anyone who manages to read all this and if you did I hope this makes you want to watch/read Cross Game.

#cross game #Kou Kitamura #aoba tsukishima #adachi mitsuru #I might not recover from this for a while #sorry to my OP followers for this random post lol

[shoujo-memory]

Hiatari Ryoukou! by Adachi Mitsuru

#hiatari ryoukou #adachi mitsuru #mitsuru adachi #shoujo manga #70s manga #shocomi

[ella390-the-potato]

Luckily they had the introductions. I could only remember the names of the two brothers.

I haven't read this manga since Chapter 90 something and haven't really checked up on it since it went on hiatus back in 2020. But I guess it must be doing okay seeing as we got a Season 2.

#Mix #Mix Anime #Mix: Meisei Story #Mix Meisei Story #Touch Manga #Touch Anime #Adachi Mitsuru #OLM #Tachibana Touma #Tachibana Souichirou #New Anime #Spring Anime 2023 #Sports Anime #This is definitely not a DNA #but it's not too bad #have to fill the DNA void somehow now #now that I think about it #this more Slice of Life #I do like the narrator in this though

[yukisubmarino]

Very little about MIX S2 is noticeably worse than its first season. My biggest gripe with this season is how little anything seems to have changed, which in itself is a disappointing feature after years of development. But to a casual watcher, everything looks pretty much the same.

One thing that got noticeably worse, however, is the in-game graphics. The top photo comes from the show’s very first episode, showing something that might appear in a modern baseball broadcast. The bottom photo comes from the latest episode, which to its credit looks like something that would appear in a Japanese high school baseball broadcast, which isn’t exactly a compliment. If it was going to look worse, why not just re-use the previous season’s chyrons?

Anyway, more me yelling at clouds next week. 

#mix meisei story #Mix #Mitsuru Adachi #adachi mitsuru

[longafloat]

80s romance anime asking the tough questions.

#Miyuki #wakamatsu masato #adachi mitsuru #80s anime

[hia0404]

🥹🥹😭😭😭😭😭

#touch #adachi mitsuru #tatsuya #minami #tatsumina

[celestialmega]

Cross Game, クロスゲーム by Mitsuru Adachi.

#manga cap #manga screencap #manga #mangacap #manga art #manga crop #mitsuru adachi #adachi mitsuru #Cross Game #クロスゲーム

[hikikomoriheadphonegirl]

#Natsu no Rakugaki #Adachi Mitsuru #fireworks

[kouxaoba]

When did Kou and Aoba fall in love ?

I feel like this is the first question people ask themselves when they finish the series. I believe he was always in love with her, and I'd like to offer my interpretation based on different things that point to that. I'll be analyzing different events and interactions (mostly from the manga as I'm more familiar with it than the anime and well, because it's the source material).

The answer is in Wakaba's "do not take him away from me" : a person cannot be taken away by someone who does not want to be taken away. Wakaba here was already admitting that Kou liked Aoba and was acknowledging her as her rival for Koh's love. Her statement just doesn't make sense if she was confident Koh was as in love with her as she was with him.

Everyone always mentions how much Wakaba loved Koh but no one ever states Koh loved Wakaba. If the feelings were mutual, we would have more statements like "those two were so in love", but instead it's always "Wakaba loved him so much" or "Koh monopolized Wakaba". It doesn't make sense for the author to have the side characters constantly emphasize this point if the romantic love was mutual.

The closest Koh came to ever stating he loved Wakaba was in his conversation with Yuhei. Note that even this exchange starts with him saying "She was totally in love with me". Again, a strange way to talk about someone you loved that passed away. This is why Yuhei can't help but ask "were you in love, too ?".

The pause/silence followed by the "..." imo speaks volumes. Compare this to when Senda asks him if he likes Aoba and then he answers "yeah" straight away with no hesitation. And we know it's not a lie because he throws his pitch perfectly.

Back to the conversation with Yuhei, he follows Koh's answer by stating "dealing with you guys is tiring".

"You guys" here means Koh and Aoba. Again, it's little tidbits like these that jump out and make me question the author's intent. There is no reason for Yuhei to bring up Aoba and Koh in a conversation about Koh's love for Wakaba, unless being the perceptive character he is, he understood the hesitation in Koh's answer meant something else. Mind you, at this point in the story he hadn't spent that much time with them to fully grasp their complicated relationship, so imo this says a lot...

4. Koh and Aoba are the same : this is a statement that Ichiyo and Yuhei (the two most perceptives characters) kept repeating throughout the show. When Aoba admits that she has always "hated" him, we understand what she means is she always loved him. When Ichiyo says they are the same, it's not just in terms of personality but in terms of their feelings for each other. So if we believe Aoba love Koh from the beginning, so did he.

5. Their love/relationship is everlasting : during the flashback of them at the cemetery, they are seen fighting, throwing mud over two graves. The names on the grave are "Kudo" and "Takeda". Now I admit my Japanese is non-existent so take this with a grain of salt. But the "Ku" in Kudo means "long time, old, long-cherished" and the name Takeda is synonymous with hard work, resilience and determination, all things that remind us of our 2 protagonists, right ? I admit I could be reaching, but I can't help but feel like this isn't a coincidence, and it's the author telling us in a subtle way that these two hard-working people have been in love since the beginning.

The beauty of Cross Game though, is that Adachi Mitsuru wrote a very subtle work that is open to interpretation. I'm not claiming my interpretation is the only correct one btw, but I just love re-reading the manga because every single re-read I notice the dialogue, pauses may mean something else. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter when they fell in love just that they both love each other, probably "More Than Anyone in the World"... My heart flutters

#Koh kitamura #kou kitamura #aoba tsukishima #cross game #adachi mitsuru #anime #manga #baseball

[vandrawsing]

gals...

#the terror* #fitzier #galfitzier #james fitzjames #francis crozier #been reading a lot of adachi mitsuru and at the same time hadn't drawn in some time so the first two top drawings are like... #very much his style #funny how we are sponges. #also this is a rec. bit old fashioned sometimes but a master of graphic storytelling. #smoking tw

[shoujo-memory]

Slow Step by Adachi Mitsuru

#slow step #adachi mitsuru #mitsuru adachi #shoujo manga #80s manga #ciao

[jariten]

クロスゲーム (Cross Game), Mitsuru Adachi

#cross game #mitsuru adachi #my scans #weekly shonen sunday

[yukisubmarino]

My favorite aspect of Adachi manga is the quietness associated with the heaviest parts of the story. Incidentally, it’s also a very difficult thing to translate to anime, but it can feel forever satisfying if it sticks the landing.

Amazingly enough, MIX does just that.

I was initially skeptical about the weight of this show’s turning point, as on the surface it feels like a watered-down idea of the challenges our heroes face in Touch, H2, and Cross Game. But as Adachi ages, it only makes sense for him to relay a story about paternal mortality and its affect on the younger generation (represented by us readers, naturally).

(Spoilers, btw)

When Eisuke dies, it not only devestates each member of the Tachibana family, but potentially ruptures the family dynamic as well. Otomi and Sou lose their father for a second time, Mayumi loses her partner, and Touma loses the last member of his blood-related family. It’s an especially devastating moment for him, because now he faces the challenge of sharing a household of people who could legally consider themselves strangers to him.

How difficult that must be to face, especially when Touma loves all of them so much. Not only does he have to be the strong male figure at school and on the field, but also at home where it’s unclear from where the financial support will come. It’s also about his own self-preservation, as he can’t let on any issues for fear of him losing his family. It’s when Otomi tries to get him to let out his emotions that I almost started bawling as well.

It feels unfair that MIX is going to end like this for at least a long while. There isn’t enough material to cover a new season’s worth of episodes without projecting beyond published chapters, and considering Adachi’s slow production timeline, we might not get to that point for years. How ironic is it that Adachi’s most blithe and least essential baseball epic also has the darkest finale?

Well, I can’t say that quite yet. One more episode left this season. I hope I enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the last few.

#mix meisei story #mix #mitsuru adachi #adachi mitsuru #anime