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House of 1000 Manga - Cross Game


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thenix



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 265
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 2:07 pm Reply with quote
I love everything about this manga. The art the story the characters. It's very subtle and is more about the great characters developing. It really feels like you are part of the cast and I really got into caring about what happens to everyone in every chapter.
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DerekTheRed



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 3544
Location: ::Points to hand::
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 2:32 pm Reply with quote
This is the only manga I own. If you are a human, you should own it too.

And watch Touch.
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malvarez1



Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1628
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 2:44 pm Reply with quote
Great article. I read the manga last week, and I enjoyed it.

Its not as over-the-top as Prince of Tennis or Eyeshield 21, so for those who didn't like those two, you may like this one.
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albanian



Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 133
Location: UK
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 3:17 pm Reply with quote
For some reason I never got on with Touch, but Cross Game is what I would term a Mary Poppins series - 'practically perfect in every way'. Long may its praise be sung.
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ShaolinWolf



Joined: 02 Oct 2005
Posts: 96
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 4:40 pm Reply with quote
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Touch, but after marathoning it over an entire summer, I had my fill of baseball anime.

It's been a few years though, so I guess it's time to check out Cross Game.
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Bonham



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 419
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 5:08 pm Reply with quote
Shaenon K. Garrity wrote:
For all that U.S. sports lionizes and often exploits its college athletes, we leave high-school athletes more or less alone on a national scale...

Well, the "Bag Man" makes high school football recruiting in the United States really shady. It's pretty bad.

But yeah, that's just tangential to your point. States like Texas aside, high school athletics are never catch the same fever as collegiate sports.

Quote:
The baseball action is lavish and intense. Games stretch for multiple volumes (or one full volume of the double-size Viz editions), each play captured in dynamic page layouts that cut between faces, bodies, zooming balls, cheering crowds. One chapter covers a single crucial minute of play. But Adachi also knows when less is more. Several times he cuts away at a key moment, jumping from the setup of the final inning to the post-game reactions. He does the same with the story's human dramas. Much is implied, much happens between panels.

Yes yes yes!

This is what makes Adachi so special, and why I'm skeptical that any anime adaptation of his manga will be as good as the source material. To be fair, I haven't seen the Cross Game anime, but a director would really have to understand why Adachi's stories work on a formal level AND be talented enough to pull off similar techniques in animation.

Adachi really knows how to lead a reader's eyes across a page, and his panel compositions and details really emphasize how powerful a moment can be—when a ball is struck, you feel the force behind the pitch and the bat colliding, and when a home run is launched, you can feel the shock. He also has a really great rhythm to his page compositions and chapters. Panels are like pauses between movements. There's a nostalgic, restrained beauty in those detailed transitions and "establishing shots" he so frequently uses. Mitsuru Adachi is the manga equivalent of Yasujiro Ozu.

While he may be one of the best industry, it's a shame only two of his titles are available in English. Assuming Cross Game sold decently, I would love for Viz, Kodansha or Vertical to correct license more of his work.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 7:05 pm Reply with quote
I love Cross Game so much. Really, everyone I've introduced to this series has the same reaction: they're very, very hesitant at first, but once I badger them into watching "just one episode," they're addicted and come back professing a deep love for the series.

I watched the anime before I read the manga, but Cross Game is one of the very few series where I've consumed the entire story in both formats. As soon as I finished the anime, in fact, I began to track down the books. The series is that good. And Adachi is absolutely a master.
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old_yoshi



Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 42
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 9:08 pm Reply with quote
I wonder why the anime hasn't been released in the US. It was really good.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2532
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 9:15 pm Reply with quote
old_yoshi wrote:
I wonder why the anime hasn't been released in the US. It was really good.


Viz simulcasted the anime as it was airing on their website. Since they never bothered to even dub it for Neon Alley, I'm going to guess that the streaming numbers were low, like with Reborn! & Neuro.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 7:40 am Reply with quote
Bonham wrote:

But yeah, that's just tangential to your point. States like Texas aside, high school athletics are never catch the same fever as collegiate sports.


U.S. has too many high schools and too vast a country to regularly get everyone together for national tournaments. So while there are definitely HS sports fevers everywhere, they stay local within nearby rivalries. There are local channels that broadcast local games, and when nationally-ranked teams meet, more and more of those are on national TV like ESPN to stoke the rivalries. But yes, since college pares those counts down to reasonable numbers, it's easier to follow and watch more frequently good matchups in college.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 7:49 am Reply with quote
I am British and know nothing about baseball. The anime is one of my favourite shows of all time. I plan on buying the manga once I've finished a few other series.

One thing I did really like is how the girls were basically treated as equals, not just as love interests.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 10:48 am Reply with quote
I tried reading this because so many people praised it so highly I couldn't get emotionally invested in spoiler[Wakaba's death, by drowning in a river during summer camp].

With that being the main emotional point of the volume and seeing how badly (in my opinion) I felt it was handled dropped it after two volumes.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 5:18 pm Reply with quote
Bonham wrote:

This is what makes Adachi so special, and why I'm skeptical that any anime adaptation of his manga will be as good as the source material. To be fair, I haven't seen the Cross Game anime, but a director would really have to understand why Adachi's stories work on a formal level AND be talented enough to pull off similar techniques in animation.


You should watch it, since Viz has it hosted subbed through Hulu. The animation is fantastic-- out of every sports anime I've seen, it gives the clearest impression that there's a real game going on, down to having all the fielders move realistically, such as characters in the background move to back up a throw even when it doesn't matter. I.e., the baseball action isn't some Chekov's gun situation where if you see someone move to back up a throw, you know there will be an error. It just plain looks like baseball, but with all the various cuts that Adachi does in the manga so well.

You also should definitely watch it and/or buy the manga if you're interested in any other Adachi stuff or similar coming over. But really you should watch it because it's a fantastic adaption of a fantastic work.
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ScruffyKiwi



Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 672
Location: New Zealand
PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 3:56 am Reply with quote
John Thacker wrote:
Bonham wrote:

This is what makes Adachi so special, and why I'm skeptical that any anime adaptation of his manga will be as good as the source material. To be fair, I haven't seen the Cross Game anime, but a director would really have to understand why Adachi's stories work on a formal level AND be talented enough to pull off similar techniques in animation.


You should watch it, since Viz has it hosted subbed through Hulu. The animation is fantastic-- out of every sports anime I've seen, it gives the clearest impression that there's a real game going on, down to having all the fielders move realistically, such as characters in the background move to back up a throw even when it doesn't matter. I.e., the baseball action isn't some Chekov's gun situation where if you see someone move to back up a throw, you know there will be an error. It just plain looks like baseball, but with all the various cuts that Adachi does in the manga so well.

You also should definitely watch it and/or buy the manga if you're interested in any other Adachi stuff or similar coming over. But really you should watch it because it's a fantastic adaption of a fantastic work.


I really wish I could buy the Cross Game anime. It is one of my all time favorite anime and it really does the manga justice. I don't understand why Vis won't but it on DVD Sad
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 6:54 am Reply with quote
ScruffyKiwi wrote:
I really wish I could buy the Cross Game anime. It is one of my all time favorite anime and it really does the manga justice. I don't understand why Vis won't but it on DVD Sad


Probably because sports anime don't sell very well in the English-language market.
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