Touch (manga)

Touch (Japanese: タッチ, Hepburn: Tatchi) is a Japanese high school baseball manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1981 to 1986.

The manga has been adapted into a 101-episode anime television series[3] – which was one of the highest-rated anime television series ever,[4] three theatrical anime movies which summarized the TV series, two anime television specials which take place after the events in the TV series,[5] a live-action TV drama special, and a live-action movie released in 2005.

Touch has sold over 100 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 1983, it was one of the winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen and shōjo categories, along with Adachi’s other work Miyuki.

Touch follows twin brothers Tatsuya and Kazuya Uesugi, along with their childhood friend and nextdoor neighbor Minami Asakura. Tatsuya, a naturally gifted athlete whose raw skills exceeds Kazuya’s, has always allowed his hard-working younger brother to take the spotlight, but as the two of them near high school with Minami, Tatsuya realizes that perhaps he doesn’t want to lose Minami to his brother after all. When Kazuya is struck in a traffic accident on the morning before the final game of the regional tournament, Tatsuya takes over his brother’s position of ace pitcher, and utilizes his natural talent to complete his younger brother’s goal of fulfilling Minami’s dream of going to the Koshien.