MMF: Cross Game

Sean here, introducing another guest post. I think my three CrossGame reviews as well as my
overview of Mitsuru Adachi say what I want, and I don't want to either repeat myself or spoil
future volumes. So I've asked another old friend of mine, David Tai, to contribute an essay.
David is, like last month's guest Stefan Gagne, an old-school fanfic writer. He's also a huge
Adachi fan, and had a great deal to say about Cross Game.

For many people, Cross Game will be their first encounter with Mitsuru Adachi.
Adachi's manga has been published in the US a couple times in the past, a series of short
stories eventually compiled into "Short Program" and "Short Program 2". The Short Program
manga were released by Viz, but were not widely exposed to what is now a much larger US
audience. While diverse in nature, the short stories are reminiscent of O. Henry in that they
explore people, how they interact with others and their use of irony and twist endings.
In Japan however, it is his long-running serials that he's best known for- from his first (Nine) to
his most recent (Asaoka High School Baseball Club Diary: Over Fence), he establishes his
characters and premise early on, and then spends much time engaging in world-building and
in adding wrinkles and delightful new dimensions to his characters. However, Cross Game is
the first, and hopefully not the last, of the long-running serials that Viz has brought to the US.
In approaching Cross Game, one has to first understand that Adachi has done many baseball
manga; Nine, Touch, H2, Cross Game. Each succeeding baseball manga is essentially reinvented for a new generation of Japanese readers, but there are certain tropes he always
uses: his protagonist, a perfectly ordinary high school boy; the sweet and lovable heroine that
every schoolboy falls in love with and with whom the protagonist gravitates towards; a
tragedy that propels his protagonist and his heroine onto a new path towards maturity; and
baseball, in which the protagonist develops tremendous skills and is used as a metaphor
towards growing up.
Cross Game, his most recent completed baseball serial, hits every one of those tropes, but
twists them in different ways. A good deal of Adachi's writing is written with a certain wink
for the audience (his promoting of other Adachi series) and a play on certain expectations.
Previous iterations of his manga have played on the 'tragedy' trope, but usually to indicate the
end is near; here, though, the tragic incident happens nearly immediately, leaving
experienced Adachi readers wondering exactly what to expect.
Small touches like that keep things fresh for the experienced Adachi readers. For those who
have yet to read Adachi, however, they will find that Cross Game showcases what readers

appreciate most about Adachi: his refusal to take himself too seriously, his willingness to
develop the story at a steady pace, his ability to introduce little elements that become
realized later in the story, and most of all, the slice of life moments in which he develops his
characters in small ways as they move, slowly but surely, towards the end of their story. It is
this character development that is perhaps his greatest strength. Adachi's characters evolve
with a maturity and care that is difficult to find in any literary form, let alone manga.
Ko Kitamura, Cross Game's protagonist, is first met here as a young schoolboy, unlike most
Adachi protagonists. As such, he has a young child's concerns: avoiding getting beat up by the
school bullies, getting his allowance (usually by hawking his parents' products), and dealing
with 'that girl', Wakaba Tsukishima.
Adachi spends an entire volume developing what he titles 'The Season of Wakaba'. There are
many little moments showcasing just how close Wakaba and Ko are, the way Wakaba drives
the unmotivated Ko to do things, the little struggles between Ko Kitamura and his young
crowd, and Wakaba's sisters (all the Tsukishima girls are named after leaves, hence the fourleaf clover in the Cross Game logo) with whom he has varying levels of friendliness. Adachi
displays a deft touch as a minor scene where Wakaba notices Ko making a list for his parents'
store leads into scenes with much deeper meaning, when she presents him a list of what she
would like for future birthdays that ends, at age 20, with an engagement ring.
And then tragedy strikes; Wakaba, who has shown every signs of being that Adachi heroine he
so typically uses, dies. Mourning ensues, and then the 'second season' begins, as Adachi skips
several years. One of Adachi's subtle tricks reflects the death of Wakaba: the logo reflects this
change in seasons. The logo for volume 1 has four fully-colored leaves, but thereafter, every
other volume displays 3 normally colored leaves, and one discolored leaf.
The second 'season' begins, as the protagonist enters high school. All proceeds a bit more to
expectation with the protagonist starting to deal with high school and with girls.
And it is then that we realize that the heroine of Cross Game is not Wakaba, but Aoba
Tsukishima, the sister who hates Ko with a passion. Aoba is not your typical Adachi heroine.
While most Adachi heroines tend to be sweet, tender, and supportive of the protagonists,
Aoba stands out as every bit resistant to the calm acceptance of Ko. Where Wakaba would
have believed and supported in Ko unconditionally (as has been typical of his heroines in
Rough, Touch, and countless others), Aoba pushes Ko away any chance she can. A common
trope for manga, but for Adachi, this is a drastic change - in practically every other story he's
written, the heroine and the protagonist naturally gravitate towards each other until all that's
needed is a confession of love.

Because Aoba and Ko are often at conflict, the story takes on an air similar to Touch, another
of Adachi's manga in which family colors how the heroine and the protagonist interact. For
both Ko and Aoba, the shadow of Wakaba hangs over them heavily. For Ko, it is the great love
of his young life, the one who kept him focused and motivated, and for Aoba, the big sister
whom she loves more than anything else is missing from her life as a calm buffer.
It's Wakaba's ghost that motivates them both in different ways- Ko takes his motivation for
baseball from Wakaba's dream of Koshien, the baseball tournament to which all Japanese high
school baseball players aspire to. The birthday gift list that Wakaba gave to Ko remains a
driving motivation for Ko years after she's gone, the most tangible physical reminder he has of
her dreams. The influence of Wakaba on Aoba does not play out till later in the manga, but
hovers over her nonetheless, in minor ways.
Wakaba's shadow can be seen with other characters such as Akaishi, the bully who grew up to
be Ko's mentor catcher because he loved Wakaba and wanted to fulfill her dream, and Momiji,
the youngest Tsukishima who over time realizes she cannot take Wakaba's place. And while
other characters are not directly involved, even they get caught up, as Ko's pursuit to fill that
dream encompasses them. Even the taciturn slugger Azuma is drawn in, finding his own dream
of Koshien mirrored in Wakaba's. And as more and more people find their dream through Ko,
he becomes Wakaba's most enduring legacy - because she saw his greatness before anyone
else.
For people who have certain expectations of sports manga (Protagonist learns new skills!
POWERS UP! Greater challenges lie ahead!), you don't get that here; what you see at the
hands of Mitsuru Adachi is the maturation of people paralleling the development of their
skills.
And yet it is not Ko Kitamura who develops the most over this series as he goes from a person
who lacks motivation without Wakaba's encouragement to a self-driven pitching Ace
determined to live up to her dream. It is Aoba Tsukishima who develops the most. Her selfassurance of being the ace pitcher in middle school has to give way to the reality in high
school that she confronts being a girl in Japan's male-oriented baseball culture. It is perhaps
no wonder that she fights her best to find ways to fit in with the team, and her adversarial
relationship to Ko highlights that.
It is not until Ko showcases his undeniable talent that Aoba's character arc starts to develop,
and the shadow that Wakaba left upon her begins to play itself out; Aoba had known of
Wakaba's dream, but denied it, in large part because of her own dream, in which she would
date someone who could throw a 100 mph fastball. And it hinders Aoba, because Wakaba had
told her that Ko could do it... and that she shouldn't take him from her.

And so while Ko's arc plays out and it becomes apparent that Ko is destined to fulfill Wakaba's
dream, the question of how Aoba's arc plays out becomes paramount, and brings a new angle
and twist; rarely does Adachi really play out how his heroine develops, as he does here with
Aoba. Ko may be the protagonist of this story, but it is Aoba's development that drives it. It is
Aoba's pitching skill that Ko emulates in his drive to fulfill Wakaba's dream, and it is Aoba who
helps Ko develop and refine his skills while struggling with her own Wakaba ghost. It may have
been Wakaba Tsukishima who saw the potential in Ko; it is Aoba Tsukishima who sees that
potential realized, and begins to see what it is that her sister fell in love with. It is Aoba who
struggles to accept her feelings about Ko, and she even lies to herself about it. As a result,
then, Cross Game shifts from Ko Kitamura as soon as his future as a pitching ace is clearly
established to the inevitable confrontation between Wakaba's ghost and Aoba's dream.
Mitsuru Adachi begins Cross Game with Ko Kitamura, and ends it with Aoba Tsukishima, and in
the process, turns out perhaps his most well-rounded sports/romance manga.

The climax of Cross Game: Aoba and her

character
Despite its target audience and simple drawings, Cross Game is one of the more complex series of the
previous year, and one of the best ones at that. While the baseball parts are done tastefully, its with
the interrelationships of the characters that this series really shines. Lets take our two protagonists,
for example. (A word of caution: I watched all 47 released episodes in the span of three days, so while
everything is quite vivid to me I cannot remember specifics for the most part.)

The viewer can easily see as early as the fifth or the sixth episode that Aoba has a lot of respect for
Ko. It is simply easier for her, however, to hide what she truly feels towards Ko because of her sister.
When they were young, Aoba and Ko were antagonistic to one another, and this was primarily
because of Wakabas love towards Ko. Instead of being able to hog her sister all to herself, she had to
share it with Ko and eventually the time they spent together was significantly lessened. As a
consequence, she directed her frustrations and hatred to a reason that could be her scapegoat: this
reason was Ko. Their bickering continued until Wakabas death, and even continued afterward,
simply because she was such a palpable presence even beyond her death: the flashbacks were
important because both of them treasured the words of Wakaba. Aoba took it to heart when her
sister told her that Ko was hers even if he was able to obtain 160 km/h with his pitching. With every
move they made, the spectre of Wakaba loomed near. The dreams that she had for her sister and
lover surrounded them and pervaded their every move because they both wanted to make her happy.
Aoba was already aware of Kos presence and his effect on her life when she blushed heavily when he
went near her. It was the only time she blushed throughout the whole show, because his words and

approach were out of left field and left her totally open. An observant viewer could also notice the
subtle changes in her character, from bickering with Ko less to being able to say her thanks, even to
Ko himself. It did not help that Ko himself was quite a gentleman despite her character and actions,
and easily saw through her like Wakaba did. On the other hand, hints were also dropped as regards
Kos feelings towards her. Nothing happened, however, because of their looming memories of
Wakaba. Their inability to be honest with themselves also didnt help the progression of their
relationship from merely being friends. I personally believe Aoba is the worse culprit of this, because
she is unable to say what she really means. Most of her words either only trail off or transmogrify
into something other, something innocuous.
From my palimpsest of memories, I believe that the turning-point of their relationship within the
show was during Aobas hospitalization because of Azumas line drive breaking a bone in her leg. She
only secretly admired his ability and his growth before that, but she realized that her sister did not
choose wrong with him. When frustration overcame her, it was him who brought her back, who gave
her hope, and who made her understand that life went on. This was compounded by the arrival of
Akane Takigawa, who uncannily resembled Wakaba to such an extent that it seemed as if a ghost
appeared to the people who lost her when they first saw her. Aoba, I believe, slowly came to realize
that it was no longer mere admiration for his pitching that got her: it was his actual person.

To silently prove this she declined an invitation to participate in the Japan National Team practice
simply to be able to help both Ko and Wakaba chase their goals. Despite being unable to play, despite

staying in the benches cheering, despite being a wonderful pitcher, she decided to stay as a pitching
coach solely because she saw what her sister saw in Ko. This was the spark plug for her epiphany.
Next, caught unawares by Kous kindness, she no longer complained of the quality of what he gave
but sincerely offered her thanks for his different gifts. (I cannot place it exactly when, but she also
cooked a Napolitan for Ko the best way she could it wasnt burnt when he ate it.) Her utter
dishonesty with her emotions, however, kept on hindering her progress with him: when it was
Valentines day, she decided to give him a chocolate secretly only to cover it up as a gift to Azuma
when she saw him and Akane together. Her jeers became lesser and lesser, and later on transformed
into fluid praise for Ko. Despite Azumas proper confession, she never really thought of him in that
way, as evidenced by her answer to his older brother: I like him if I really think about it. Even in her
insults, an undercurrent a lot of people fail to see is that she wants Ko to be happy, going out of her
way more than a couple of times to set them up.
The epiphany from her hiding from herself finally came when Akane and Ko himself told her that she
can only see the positive qualities of others if she didnt just ignore them. It came as a surprise to her,
then, when she discovered that Ko was as hardworking as her: she was merely unwilling to admit it
because her blind jealousy and anger for Ko detracted from that part of her that was appreciating
him more and more. When she took off her rage-tinted glasses, she realized that she liked Ko.
But it seemed too late, didnt it? Akane was just like Wakaba and looked just like her. Akane was also
a wonderful artist, an intelligent student, a beautiful and proper lady. On the other hand, Aoba was
tomboyish, bad at household chores, and was only really good at baseball. Nevertheless, she had to
know. It is a lot easier to accept failure whenever one understands the impossibility of the
undertaking, and this is what I believe the reason for her finally asking Ko.
Do you like me? Do you like me compared to Wakaba and Akane?
She barely flinched and formed a knowing half-frown when he said is a lie all right? Her terse
sure merely confirmed that she simply wanted to hear his words despite everything. What is most
wonderful is that she initiated the confession she was the one who sought to clear things up
between them, even despite their fights and bickering. She had to know, because unlike the dozens of
boys who had confessed to her she finally liked Ko even if he wasnt able to pitch a 160 km/h fastball
yet. She liked him because she saw herself in him and a lot more.
The climax of the story may be the final baseball game between Ryuou and Seishu, but the climax of
the characters themselves is this subtle maneuver by Aoba, asking: do you like her? [...] do you like
me? The difference between most series and Cross Game is that melodrama and bathos are avoided
by Cross Game. Aoba doesnt cry much. She doesnt even blush much. But one knows in the nuance
of her actions that she really likes Ko despite her words and imprecations, and that is the reason that

that short scene was the climax of its characters because it was her catharsis. She has finally revealed
herself.
Tags: analysis, Anime, Cross Game, reflection, Serious

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 2:54 am and is filed under Anime, Cross Game, Serious.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response,
or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to The climax of Cross Game: Aoba and her

character
one

1.

piece

man Says:

March 14th, 2010 at 5:10 am

i like this serie ,,,

Peter

2.

S Says:

March 14th, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Aoba is indeed a fascinating character, one of my favorite females in anime, but I dont know
if I would put her behavior in such a negative light. She comes off in this blog entry to be
much nastier than she really is. She has a general kindness to people if you dont cross her,
and I liked how she became good friends with Akane.
That hospital scene is amazing, because almost nothing is said. Kou delivers her ball and
glove (as if officially declaring her ready for the next step in her therapy, waits for her to
wake up, falls asleep. She wakes up, sees the ball and glove, plays around with it. When she
looked at the sleeping Kou, in that profile shot, I KNEW what would happen next. Plonk! She
throws a couple barbs and he amiably leaves. End of scene. Kou and Aoba know each other
so well.

3.

Michael Says:
March 14th, 2010 at 1:30 pm

She does bicker with Ko and insult him more often than any other character in the show. Im
not painting her in a negative light; I simply believe its one of her coping mechanisms with
Wakabas loss. Since she cant fault Wakaba for her heroic death, she tries to fault the lack of
time they spent together to the person Wakaba was, really, closest with. This person was
Kou. As the series progressed, however, this merely became a coping mechanism that she
forced upon herself to honor her. But the heart is quite powerful, even sometimes more so
than the mind.
Kou never crosses her. He jokes around, but the insults and barbs mostly come from her. Im
not taking this against her, Im just saying that its her way of trying to cope with Wakabas
loss, until she realizes later on that the person currently most dear to her is the person she
hates at the surface. Even with Azumas progress, he never knew Aoba all that much,
whereas Kou, despite his surface actions, really cares for her and her family. She knew it
back then. She knew why Wakaba liked Ko. She just couldnt accept it, because it created
internal dissension in her: she wanted to keep honoring Wakaba and not touch the person
she once loved, but she also in time realized that Kou was the only person she could love as a
man. I love how her armor slowly had chinks appear in it, from Kous failed predictions
regarding her actions to her overpouring praise for Kou and Kou alone. It doesnt have the
dripping bathos of most romance series; and I admire her a lot for holding in her emotions
for the sake of Kou. Even she had her limit, however, and it came out during episode 47.
In the end, she also wanted to be happy. And I dont fault her for that. She cares about Kou a
lot but she doesnt want him to even know it, and thats really something sweet: I admire her
sacrifice from joining the girls national team for the sake of Ko and Wakabas dream. Had she
really only honored Wakaba she wouldnt have given that up but she also trusted Kou.
4.

EdwardTheGreat Says:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:27 pm

Nice post, btw do you have any kind of contact form? wanted to ask few questions over e
mail but cant find it anywhere

Michael Says:

5.

March 15th, 2010 at 2:10 am

Edward:
Its in my about page Michael.David.Sy AT gmail.com.

Baka-Raptor Says:

6.

March 15th, 2010 at 10:35 am

Great show, but no comment on this post until the series is over. Dont worry though, Ill be
making fun of the show soon enough.

7.

Michael Says:
March 15th, 2010 at 12:00 pm

>making fun
What?
Well, you made fun of Kara no Kyoukai, right? D:

8.

Edward Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:27 am

i sent you e mail, please respond as soon as you can

9.

Charlie Says:

February 21st, 2011 at 9:57 am

I am writing this after the series has been completed. I LOVED Cross Game. The first episode
caught me TOTALLY off guard with the death of Wakaba. By episode 3 or 4 i was hooked and i
pretty much marathond the other 46 episodes in a couple of days. Iet me start by saying
that aoba is my favorite part of this show along with kou. Both those characters amazed me
by the end at how they had developed. especially aoba. Kous development was more

physical than mental, and aoba was the opposite. Kou goes from barely being able to play
catch to firing off 95+ mph fastballs. but im here to talk about aoba. I dont know how many
people were fooled by the false face she set up by i saw through her instantly. She had
always liked Kou. But since Wakaba seemed seemed so perfect for him, and the fact that
Wakaba up and told her you cant have him (abeit nicely), she kept her distance. on top of
that, she had a close relationship with Wakaba, which was always being interrupted by
Wakaba spending time with Kou. so she directed her hurt as anger at Kou. She was very
jealous of the attention Wakaba got from Kou, which only added to her reasons to be angry
at him. I dont go LOOKING for Tsundre (Tsundre meaning one that starts out cold or even
hostile to another character but that warms up as time goes on) animes, but i LOVED
watching Kous kindness and joking prodding crack her hard shell throughout the anime
revealing that bruised soft center of hers in the last episode, where she broke down
completely and cried after Kou gave her that tight hug after winning the final match before
Koshien. i was happy with the ending. I wonder if Wakabas 20th birthday gift of an
engagement ring would be given to Aoba instead. does he stop buying off that list Wakaba
gave him?
10.

Chillie Says:
March 31st, 2011 at 12:09 am

good post. I finally watch Cross Game and finished them in couple of days. I started to like
his mangas after watching Touch movie and the manga. definitely the best work, and Cross
game to my surprised another awesome baseball story. I think the only sad thing is the whole
story stopped when Seishu is heading to Koshien and didnt show the Koshien match! and
Aoba still didnt play in an official match like how its in Wakaba dream nor Japan national
womens league. I thought that the newspapers and press will post more about Aoba, coach
for Kou. well. guess all these will go to suspense and our own imagination. =)
Aoba and Kou definitely been thru a lot after wakabas death. I love the part when Kous reply
in anime if I pitch 160km ball then I will love tsukishima aoba the most. Cross Game!!
Awesome!!!
11.

Will Says:
April 13th, 2011 at 10:06 am

i love this series so much. it is one of my fav anime of all time. i like the originality of it all,
the

facial

expressions

make

the

characters

seem

so

easy

going

and

likeable.

I agree with you guys. Aoba is also my fav character. shes so mysterious in a way but in a
way shes not. i just need someone to clarify again the scene after seishu defeated ryuou
where aoba cried against Kous chest. whats the significance of that? i reckon i understand
like 60% of it. but anyone care to explain in depth?