is a Japanese
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Shinji Mizushima
was a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for several baseball manga, such as '' Yakyū-kyō no Uta'', '' Dokaben'', and '' Abu-san''. He is a two-time recipient of the Shogakukan Manga Award. His works have been collected into more than ...
. The original series was serialized in
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi.
Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines
* – Bimo ...
's
''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Champion
is a Japanese ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten.
History
''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Mizushima, Masa ...
'' from April 24, 1972 to March 27, 1981, but it was followed by several sequel series running until 2018. Chapters of the series were published into 205 ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes in total, making it the series with the
second highest number of volumes. It was also made into an
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
by the same name. It was immensely popular in Japan during its original release, and is one of the most popular sports manga of all time.
Outline
''Dokaben'' is centered on Taro Yamada and his teammates Iwaki, Tonoma, and Satonaka and was focused mainly on their activity as a
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team. At first, it focused on Yamada, Iwaki, and Sachiko and was set in Takaoka Middle School. But in Volume 8 the team is transferred to Meikun High School for their baseball skills.
The story of ''Dokaben'' continues in ''Dai Kōshien'', ''Dokaben Pro Baseball Story'', and ''Dokaben SuperStars Story''.
Characters
Meikun High School baseball team
Yamada generation
;
:
:''Position'':
Catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Second baseman
;
:
:''Position'':
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
,
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
Senior / Younger student
;
:
:''Position'':
Catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
,
First baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
;
:
:''Position'':
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...
,
Second baseman
Manager
;
:
:Manager of Meikun High School baseball team
Yamada family
;
:
:Taro's 9-year-old little sister
;
:
:Taro's grandfather
:"Ji-chan" means
grandpa in English
Rivals
Kanagawa
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
Kantō
;
:
;
: →
Michihiro Ikemizu
is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kanagawa Prefecture and a graduate of Waseda University who works for Aoni Production.
Among his other roles, he has performed the characters Hot Springs Emblem (''Urusei Yatsura''), Isao Ohta ...
(ep. 82)
;
:
;
:
;
: →
Takashi Tanaka
Whole Japan
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
Others
;
:
:Iwaki's girlfriend
;
:
:Shinji Kobayashi's little sister
Manga
When Takehiko Inoue (author of
Slam Dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...
and
Vagabond
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
) was young, he drew a lot of spectacular scene from Dokaben, the first manga he paid.
[ Thursday, 22 December 2022 ]
Cultural references
*In the "
Simpsons Comics
The following is a list of comic book series published by Bongo Comics based on the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The first comic strips based on ''The Simpsons'' appeared in 1991 in the magazine ''Simpsons Illustrated'' (no ...
internationale" in issue #132, the Japanese supplement (Too crazy, Juvenile Prankster, BARTOMU! (serialized in "Laughing Laughing everyone is laughing")) opens as a parody of Dokaben, with Bartomu playing for the "
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
Li'l Ninjas", and an art style heavily based on Dokaben's highly recognised style of art.
Art style
The art style of Dokaben is very rubbery and motional, with surprisingly dynamic use of
speed lines
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantit ...
, with a heavy use of black and very straightforward body construction. The motion and Dynamics are highly retained even in reprints. In his book
Reinventing Comics,
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...
mentions it as the example of the sports genre, drawing high recognition to the style.
Notes
References
External links
Official Nippon Animation Dokaben introduction page
*
{{Nippon Animation
1972 manga
1976 anime television series debuts
1983 manga
1995 manga
2004 manga
Akita Shoten manga
Baseball in anime and manga
Fuji TV original programming
Nippon Animation
School life in anime and manga
Shōnen manga