Major

Major (stylized as MAJOR) is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Takuya Mitsuda. It was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 1994 to July 2010, with its chapters collected in 78 tankōbon volumes. It was followed by a sequel titled Major 2nd, which started in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in March 2015.

It was adapted into a 154-episode anime television series by Studio Hibari and later by SynergySP, titled Major.[a] It ran for six seasons on NHK E from November 2004 to September 2010. Two original video animations (OVAs) were released in December 2011 and January 2012.

In 1996, Major received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category. The manga had over 54 million copies in circulation as of February 2018, making it one of the best-selling manga series.

Gorō’s father, Shigeharu Honda, is a baseball pitcher bouncing between the major and minor league teams of the NPB. Nonetheless, Gorō looks up to his father and wishes to be a professional baseball player just like him. Gorō’s mother, Chiaki Honda, died from an unknown disease two years before the events of the story. Aside from his father, Gorō is very close to two other people: Momoko Hoshino and Toshiya Sato. Momoko is Gorō’s kindergarten teacher and watches out for Gorō, as there are no other children of Gorō’s age in the class. Toshiya is another child from Gorō’s neighborhood, the only one of Gorō’s age, and to whom Gorō taught baseball.

The father and son are struck a cruel blow when an arm injury prevents Honda from continuing his baseball career as a pitcher. Gorō is especially shaken by the fact that his father cannot pursue his career as a baseball player. For Honda, Gorō and baseball are all he has left in his life. For his son’s sake, Honda takes his best friend’s advice, revives his batting instincts, and successfully transforms into a slugger. Amidst these struggles, Momoko is drawn deeper and deeper into the family’s life. Eventually, Honda proposes to Momoko.

Right when Honda establishes himself in a major league team, the Yokohama Marine Stars, the Tokyo Giants sign a contract with the American MLB player Joe Gibson, famous for his huge physical build and hard fastballs. When the Marine Stars with Honda and the Giants with Gibson finally meet on the field, Gibson strikes out every single Marine Stars batter, except for Honda. At his second at-bat, Honda hits a home run off Gibson’s 100-mile-per-hour (160 km/h) pitch. After Honda’s home run, the Marine Stars coach launches a series of bunt attacks, scoring additional runs, and psychologically shaking up Gibson who considers the tactic unsportsmanlike. By Honda’s third at-bat, Gibson has completely lost his mental focus, and accidentally pitches a 99-mile-per-hour (159 km/h) dead ball that strikes Honda’s head. The umpire immediately calls Gibson off the mound, though Honda quickly gets back onto his feet and continues with the game. Honda’s excellent play makes him the headline of major newspapers. The next morning, Honda dies due to internal bleeding in his skull, leaving his heartbroken son and fiancé in mourning.