Cross Game, Vol. 8 (8)

The relationship between the original manga and anime adaptation is an interesting one. Both have material that is unique to their version. The anime adds a very effective side story for Aoba trying out for the Japanese National Girls Baseball team that is completely missing from the manga. The anime also masterfully uses flashbacks throughout the series to a greater extent than the manga, integrating material from early manga volumes as flashbacks instead of taking multiple episodes to go through their childhood years at once. But the manga adds many more small details and could maybe have some superior comedic moments too.A specific example of added story and insight not in the anime has to do with filling in a gap of time between the story's early core event and Ko's progression from novice to ace pitcher. In the anime there's one flashback scene of Aoba noticing a crying Ko pitching a ball against a brick wall, but it gives little context for the scene. The manga explains much more of what is going on there and suggests how important it actually is.An example of the expanded comedy of the manga comes in the final game in which you get more of the play-by-play commentary in the booth between the impartial commentator and the pompous Ryuō supporting commentator who gets steadily more upset as Seishu refuses to be beaten.Both great ways to experience a truly wonderful coming of age story of baseball, coping with the loss of a loved one, and being honest with your emotions.I'm glad I got to read the collection, now someone has to make the anime series available to own. I thank Viz for giving us legal ways to stream the show but greatly desire a version without 500 Geico commercials interspersed within.[edited more than a year later when I reviewed it and realized I had made a couple really stupid mistakes in the description.]

I highly recommend to pretty much everyone, but especially lovers of Little Women and Baseball.My favorite manga of all time. I get serotonin from just glancing at this manga on my bookshelf. This is a quiet story about human connection. The characters are so dear to my heart and the story is so warm it holds up after rewatching/reading dozens of times. Childhood friends to lovers/enemies to lovers/shared trauma/soulmate all tangled together is my kryptonite. The sister feels hit me in my soul. The unifying passion for baseball is classic and hype as hell. The art is so simple and soft it warms my spirit. This story has been at the center of my self-care routine for years and it's staying there.

From the heart wrenching start to the (sorta) ending that I felt shouldn't of ended this story has a depth not seen in any drawn series. This story is something you don't want to end, but understand why it did.

I love the series and I wish H2, Touch, Rough, Katsu, Mix and all of Adachi's works were brought over.

Definitely not a baseball centric manga. It was enjoyable though. Don’t see myself rereading it though. But some characters were great.

This collection contains volumes 16 and 17 of Cross Game (as originally published), and is the final collection of the series. It is the culmination of 15 previous volumes (7 collections). There is absolutely no point in starting here - go back to the beginning.** This review contains NO plot details of any kind and NO spoilers for ANY volumes of the series. **Cross Game is, simply put, one of the most exquisitely told stories I ever read. It unfolds at exactly the right pace, hitting exactly the right notes, in exactly the right ways. I have never gotten caught up along with the characters the way I did in this series. I have never wanted things for characters the way I wanted them for the Ko and his friends. From art to humor to drama and everything in between Adachi's coming of age baseball epic works perfectly. And, as I've mentioned in reviews of other volumes, I don't even particularly like baseball.Cross Game is easily one of my favorite pieces of literature (yes, literature) of any form. It certainly won't be so for everyone, but I will gladly agree to disagree on the point.Highest possible recommendation. And then some.