is a Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his

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 ...

debut in 1970 with ''Kieta Bakuon'', based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa. ''Kieta'' was published in ''Deluxe Shōnen Sunday'' (a

manga magazine 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 used ...

published by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

) . Adachi is well known for

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

and

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

(especially

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 ...

) such as ''

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

'', '' H2'', ''

Slow Step is a romantic comedy boxing and softball manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized by Shogakukan in the shōjo manga magazine '' Ciao'' from September 1986 through March 1991, and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. In 1991, it was adap ...

'', '' Miyuki'' and ''

Cross Game is a Japanese baseball-themed manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Shogakukan ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 2005 to February 2010, with its chapters collected in 17 ' ...

''. He has been described as a writer of "delightful dialogue", a genius at portraying everyday life, "the greatest pure storyteller", and "a master

". He is one of the few manga artists to write for shōnen, shōjo and

seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazines, and be popular in all three. His works have been carried in

manga magazines This is a list of manga magazines or published in Japan. The majority of manga magazines are categorized into one of five demographics, which correspond to the age and gender of their readership: * '' Kodomo'' – aimed at young children. * '' ...

such as ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'', '' Ciao'', ''

Shōjo Comic , formerly published under its full name until December 2007, is a ''shōjo'' manga magazine published semimonthly in Japan by Shogakukan since 1968. The manga featured in ''Sho-Comi'' are later compiled and published in book form (''tankōbon' ...

'', ''

Big Comic is a semimonthly ''seinen'' manga magazine published since 18 February 1968 by Shogakukan in Japan. It was originally launched as a monthly magazine, but switched to twice monthly on the 10th and 25th beginning in April 1968. It is paired wit ...

'' and ''

Petit Comic is a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Shogakukan. Many series in this anthology magazine are romance-oriented and some are well known for featuring frank depiction of sexual situations. It is also the first josei manga magazine, maki ...

'', and most of his works are published through Shogakukan and Gakken. He was one of the flagship authors in the new ''

Monthly Shōnen Sunday , alternately known as , is a monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since May 12, 2009 (the June 2009 issue). The magazine was announced in February 2009, with Hayashi Masato, at that time editor of ''Weekly Shōnen ...

'' magazine which began publication in June 2009. Two short story collections, '' Short Program'' and ''Short Program 2'' (both through

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

), have been released in North America, and

scheduled to begin publishing ''Cross Game'' in October 2010. The first volume was released on October 12. He modeled the spelling of あだち (rather than 安達) for his family name after the example of his older brother, manga artist Tsutomu Adachi. In addition, it has been suggested that the accurate portrayal of sibling rivalry in ''Touch'' may come from Adachi's experiences while growing up with his older brother. Adachi did the character designs for the

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

anime series ''

Nozomi Witches , sometimes also called ''Bewitching Nozomi'', is a manga series by Toshio Nobe which was adapted into a three episode anime OVA series in 1992. Plot Nozomi is a former actress who moves back to Japan from New Zealand. Upon arriving, she ...

'', so he is sometimes incorrectly given credit for creating the original series.

Brief history

Prior to 1969, Adachi began submitting works to the manga magazine ''

COM Com or COM may refer to: Computing * COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers * COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS * .com, an Internet top-level d ...

''. In 1969, he followed his older brother's lead and moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to begin work as an assistant to manga artist

Isami Ishii Isami Ishii ( ja, 石井いさみ ''Ishii Isami''; 8 December 1941 – 17 September 2022) was a Japanese manga artist. He was mainly known for writing the manga '' 750 Rider'' and ''Kutabare!! Namida-kun''. Works *''Nora Inu no Oka'' *''Kutabare ...

. The following year, he made his professional debut with ''Kieta Bakuon''. He continued publishing various short stories and shorter series throughout the 1970s based on works created by others, the most well known being his adaptation of '' Rainbowman'' from 1972 to 1973. In 1978, he published his first original series, ''

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

'', in ''

''. He published two other original series, ''

Hiatari Ryōkō! is a high-school romance manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It was published by Shogakukan in 1979–1981 in the magazine ''Shōjo Comic'' and collected in five tankōbon volumes. It was later adapted into a live-action television drama series, an a ...

'' from 1979 to 1981 in ''

Weekly Shōjo Comic , formerly published under its full name until December 2007, is a shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga List of manga magazines, magazine published semimonthly in Japan by Shogakukan since 1968. The manga featured in ''Sho-Comi'' are later compiled an ...

'', and '' Miyuki'' from 1980-1984 in ''

Shōnen Big Comic was a bi-weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan from 1979 to 1987. From 1976 to 1979, the magazine was titled before being renamed ''Shōnen Big Comics'' in 1979. In 1987, the magazine changed format and was renamed ''Weekly ...

''. Adachi became a household name with the publication of his series ''

'' from 1981 to 1986 in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. In 1982, ''Hiatari Ryōkō!'' was adapted into a

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

series. The following year, 1983, was a big year for Adachi. He received the 28th Annual

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

for shōnen/shōjo manga his two series ''Touch'' and ''Miyuki''. His ''Miyuki'' series was adapted into both an anime television series and a live-action film and ''Nine'' was adapted into three films, with another following in 1984. ''Touch'' was adapted into an anime television series in 1985 and the series ran for two years on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

. Adachi's romantic

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

series, ''

'', was serialized in '' Ciao'' from 1986 to 1991 and another romantic comedy series, '' Rough'', appeared in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from 1987 to 1989. Adachi then released '' Niji Iro Tōgarashi'', a fantasy medieval romantic comedy manga series, from 1990 to 1992 in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. ''

Jinbē is a romance manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It appeared irregularly in the manga magazine '' Big Comic Original'' from 1992 through 1997, and was collected in one tankōbon volume in May 1997. In 1998, it was adapted as an 11-episode television d ...

'', a romantic comedy about the relationship between a stepfather and stepdaughter, was serialized in ''

Big Comic Original is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at an older adult and mostly male audience. It is a sister magazine to ''Big Comic'', the biggest difference being that it goes on sale twice a month in the weeks ''Big Comic ...

'' from 1992 to 1997. Adachi's longest manga series, '' H2'' was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from 1992 to 1999 and compiled in 34

volumes Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The defi ...

. This manga was adapted into an anime television series which aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

from 1995 to 1996. From 2000 to 2001, Adachi published a fantasy romantic comedy series in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' titled '' Itsumo Misora''. His next longer series was the boxing romantic comedy, '' Katsu!'', published from 2001 to 2005 in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. In 2005, ''H2'' was adapted into a live action drama series aired on TBS in Japan, and ''Touch'' was adapted into a live action movie released by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

. He also began his manga series ''

'', serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. The following year, ''Rough'' was adapted into a live action movie, also released by Toho. Due to achieving total manga sales numbering over 200 million volumes, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' devoted issue 26 in 2008 to Adachi and his works. In 2009, Adachi won the 54th Annual Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga for ''Cross Game'', which was adapted into an anime television series which began airing on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

in April 2009. Adachi began ''

Q and A Q, or q, is the seventeenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is pronounced , most commonly spelled ''cue'', but a ...

'' in the inaugural issue of ''

'' in June 2009. '' Asaoka High School Baseball Club Diary: Over Fence'' began in the April 27, 2011, issue of ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. In May 2012 he finished ''Q and A'' and began his new series, ''Mix'', a semi-sequel to ''Touch'' set 30 years later, in the June 2012 issue of ''Monthly Shōnen Sunday''. Currently, Adachi's works have sold over 200 million copies.

Works

Original

These are original series created by Adachi. Sources:

Short works

Many of Adachi's short works have been collected in '' Short Program'', an anthology series with four volumes. * (March 1971, '' Deluxe Shōnen Sunday'') * (1971, summer vacation issue, ''

'', originally created by

Hisao Maki Hisao (written: 央生, 久生, 久雄, 寿雄, 寿夫, 尚雄, 尚久 or 尚勇) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese government official *, Japanese baseball player *, Japa ...

) * (November 1973, ''

Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday This is a list of manga magazines or published in Japan. The majority of manga magazines are categorized into one of five demographics, which correspond to the age and gender of their readership: * '' Kodomo'' – aimed at young children. * '' ...

'', originally created by Tomoaki Inoue) * (February 1974, ''Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday'', originally created by Kōta Seki) * (1975 issue 4/5, ''

'') * (1975 issues 33-38, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'', originally created by Akira Saiga) * (1977 issue 34, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978 issue 11, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978 issue 16, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978 issue 20, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978 issue 28, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978 issue 37, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1978, issue 42, ''Weekly Shōjo Comic'') * (1985 issues 1-2, ''

'') * (June 1985, '' Ciao'') * (October 1985 special issue, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (1986 issue 4, ''Shōnen Big Comic'') * (June 1986, ''Ciao'') * (January 1987, ''Shōnen Big Comic'') * (1987 special issue, '' Young Sunday'') * (1988 issue 7, ''Young Sunday'') * (1988 issue 27, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday') * (1989 issues 20-21, ''Young Sunday'') * (1998 30th Anniversary Special Issue, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (Spring Special Issue 1991, ''

'') * (April 1992, ''

'') * (1992 issue 8, ''Big Comic Spirits'') * '' 5x4P'' (1992 issues 14-18, ''

Big Comic Superior is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a number ...

'') * (October–November 1992, ''Elementary 4th Graders'') * (1993 issue 15, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (1993 issue 17, ''

Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...

'') * (1994 issue 36, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (1995 issue 1, ''Young Sunday'') * (1998 issue 6, ''Big Comic'') * (1999 issue 17, ''Young Sunday'') * (2000 issues 6-7, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (2002 issues 36-37, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'', originally created by

Buronson , known by the pen names and , is a Japanese manga writer. Making his debut in 1972, he first found success with the hardboiled detective manga series ''Doberman Deka'' (1975–1979) alongside illustrator Shinji Hiramatsu. He is best-known for ...

) * (October 16, 2005, issue, '' Big Comic One'') * (2006 Special Winter Issue, '' Shōnen Sunday Super'') * (??) * (??) * (??) * ''

Season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

'' (??) * '' Asaoka High School Baseball Club Diary: Over Fence'' (2011, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') Sources:

Series

Adaptations

These series were based on works originally created by another author or artist. Sources:

Other

* ''Legendary Girls'' Calendar (1992, ''Petit Comics'') Sources:

Related people

; Tsutomu Adachi :Mitsuru's older brother was a

and an assistant to Fujio Akatsuka. He died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

in 2004. ;

Shinji Nagashima , better known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan. His pseudonym came about due to a publisher's error when printing his name, and he continued using the pseudonym after that. His oldest son is classical guitarist ...

:Adachi became a fan of Nagashima around the age of 10, and began tracing his works. He became an assistant to Nagashima for a short time after graduating from high school. However, Nagashima suddenly moved overseas, so he then became an assistant to

. In the October 16, 2005, issue of ''

'', Adachi published a short work titled ''The Runaway God'' which was meant as a memorialization of Nagashima. ;

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with ''Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...

:From the early 1980s, both Adachi and Takahashi were popular authors in ''

'' and they formed a friendly rivalry. He even commented about how he had a lot to live up to with how popular Takahashi was, especially with it being a shōnen magazine. Several times a year they would meet, to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. At the end of ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issue 43 in 2006, the authors were asked, "If you could pick one penname to use which was different than your own, which one would you pick?", and Takahashi replied, "Adachi Mitsuru." ;

Kazuhiko Shimamoto is a Japanese manga artist. He attended college at the Osaka University of Arts in the fine arts department. While in college in February 1982, he debuted in the spring special issue of Shōnen Sunday with Hissatsu no Tenkōsei. At this point h ...

:Shimamoto and Adachi are mutual fans of each others' works. The main character in his ''

Blazing Transfer Student Blazing or blazin' can refer to; * Trail blazing, practice of marking outdoor pathways. * A technique for changing the energy distribution of dispersed light from a diffraction grating by altering the shape of the slits. * A slang term for smokin ...

'' manga series, Noboru Takizawa, made a guest appearance in ''

''. ;

Mr. Pogo was a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his work under the ring name . He helped popularize hardcore wrestling in the 1990s with "death matches" in promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING and Big Japan Pro Wrestlin ...

:Pogo and Adachi graduated in the same class and have spoken about this in various magazine interviews. The character Kōtarō Matsudaira from ''Touch'' is modeled after Pogo.

References

External links

Adachi's work history
- timeline for Mitsuru Adachi's works
AdachiFan
- a site dedicated to the complete works of Mitsuru Adachi

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adachi, Mitsuru 1951 births Living people Manga artists from Gunma Prefecture