is a

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 by

Mitsuru Adachi is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with ''Kieta Bakuon'', based on a manga originally crea ...

. It was serialized in '' Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan'' from the October 1978 through November 1980 issues. The series was

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

into three

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 ...

television films and 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 ...

television drama. An altered version of the first anime film was released in theaters, with new and re-arranged music. The story is about two friends who were star athletes in

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

who decide, on entering

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 ...

, to join the struggling baseball club so they can have a challenge. The title comes from the nine members of a

baseball team 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 te ...

Plot summary

Just before entering Seishū High School, track star Katsuya Niimi and

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

champion Susumu Karasawa see a girl crying as the school loses a baseball game. The boys decide to join the team and improve it in order to make her smile. The girl turns out to be Yuri Nakao, daughter of the baseball coach, and they learn the baseball team will be shut down if it doesn't start winning. The series follows the three, as well as pitcher Eiji Kurahashi, as Niimi and Karasawa learn about baseball and what it means to be one of nine players on a team, as they work together through high school make it to Kōshien.

Characters

Character voices listed are for the anime releases only. ; : :

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 ...

on the Seishū High School baseball club, in love with Yuri. In junior high, he held the national records for the 100 meter and 200 m races for his age group. His favorite food is gomokuzushi. He wears the number 8 on his

jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. ; : (TV movie 1), Mariko Kurata (TV movie 2),

Narumi Yasuda is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Inujini seshi mono'', '' Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!'' and '' Sorobanzuku''. She also won the award for best actress at the 13th Hochi Film ...

(TV movie 3) : The

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the Seishū High School baseball club and daughter of the baseball coach. There is a growing romance between Yuri and Katsuya. ; : :

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 ...

on the Seishū High School baseball club. In junior high, he was the

prefectural A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

champion in

. He wears the number 9. ; : :

Left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

pitching ace on the Seishū High School baseball club, and was one of the top pitchers in all of Japan in middle school. Lives with his father, a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

. ; : : Star athlete of the Seishū High School track club, who has a crush on Katsuya since Middle School. After transferring to Seishū at the beginning of the school year, she begins pursuing him, much to the annoyance of Yuri. ; : : A childhood friend of Yuri, and ace pitcher at Bunan High School where he has taken his team to victory at Kōshien. After an unexpected reunion with Yuri, he becomes the romantic rival of Katsuya. ; : : Kentarō's younger brother and a new member of the Seishū High School baseball club, playing

third base 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 ...

. He has a crush on Yukimi. He wears the number 5. ; : Younger sister of the Yamanaka brothers. She tries to mediate the relationship between Yuri and Kentarō, who in turn uses her to interfere with the developing romance between Yuri and Katsuya. ;Coach Nakao : (TV movies),

Kōichi Kitamura , better known by the stage name , was a Japanese voice actor born in Osaka, Japan. Kitamura was employed by the talent management agency Mausu Promotion. He is known for dubbing roles played by Peter Cushing. He died on October 2, 2007 of pneum ...

(theatrical movie) : The

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the Seishū High School baseball club. He is in jeopardy of losing his job for not having won a single game, which he does with the addition of Eiji Kurahashi to the team. He formerly coached Kentarō for a short time when he was younger, and they were neighbours. ;Kazuya Niimi's father : : A former baseball player who helps Eiji join the baseball team after talking to his father, with whom he formed the winning battery at the invitational Kōshien tournament of 20-odd years prior to the events of the manga. ;Kazuya Niimi's mother : :Appears in the theatrical movie. ;Eiji Kurashashi's father : :Appears in the theatrical movie. ;Yukimi Yasuda's grandmother : :Appears in the theatrical movie. Sources:

TV movies

Nine

The first ''Nine'' TV movie aired on May 4, 1983 on Fuji TV's ''Nissei Family Special'' program.

Music

;Opening theme : :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota :*Lyrics:

Masao Urino is a Japanese lyricist, script writer, and film director. He has written lyrics for many musical groups and individual artists, sometimes under the pseudonym . After graduating from Tochigi Prefectural Ashikaga High School, he graduated in 197 ...

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Insert songs : : :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Ending theme : :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

Staff

*Director:

Gisaburō Sugii is a Japanese anime director and Nihonga artist. He is best known for his work as director of the ''Touch'' series, the movie adaptation of the '' Arashi no Yoru ni'' children's book series, and the movie ''Night on the Galactic Railroad''. He i ...

*Teleplay: Hiroichi Fuse *Animation Director:

Tsuneo Maeda is a Japanese director and animator. Maeda has served as animation director and technical director on various animated films and television series. He is currently a professor of animation at Kyoto Seika University. Works Anime *''Zoo with n ...

*Art Director: Hiroshi Ōhno *Music:

Hiroaki Serizawa Hiroaki Serizawa (芹澤廣明 ''Serizawa Hiroaki'' January 3, 1948 - ) is a Japanese singer and songwriter. He has released albums under two other similar names: Hiro Serizawa (芹沢ヒロ and 芹沢廣, both said ''Serizawa Hiro''). He has re ...

*Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro *Production:

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 ...

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including p ...

, Fuji TV Sources:

Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration

The second ''Nine'' TV movie, , aired on December 18, 1983 on Fuji TV's ''Nissei Family Special'' program.

Music

;Opening theme : :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota :*Lyrics: Mariko Ryū :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Insert songs : : :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Mariko Ryū :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Ending theme :"Midsummer Runner" :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

Staff

*Director: Gisaburō Sugii *Teleplay: Shin'ichi Shirayama *Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda *Chief Animator:

Minoru Maeda Minoru is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *Minoru Arakawa (荒川實, born 1946), Japanese former president of Nintendo of America *Minoru Chiaki (千秋実, 1917–1999), Japanese actor *Minoru Fujita (� ...

*Art Director: Katsuyoshi Kanemura *Music: Hiroaki Serizawa *Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro *Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV Sources:

Nine: Final

The third ''Nine'' TV movie, , aired on September 5, 1984 on Fuji TV's ''Nissei Family Special'' program.

Music

;Opening theme : :*Vocals: Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Insert songs : : :*Vocals: Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Ending theme :"Midsummer Runner" :*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

Staff

*Director: Gisaburō Sugii *Teleplay: Yumiko Takaboshi *Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda *Key Animation Director: Minoru Maeda *Art Director: Katsuyoshi Kanemura *Music: Hiroaki Serizawa *Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro *Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV Sources:

Theatrical movie

The first ''Nine'' TV movie was remade into a theatrical movie titled , released on September 16, 1983 by Toho. Modifications were made to the original TV movie to fix problems with it, and some of the voice actors and background music were changed as well. When the ''Nine'' movies are rebroadcast on TV, this movie is shown in place of the original TV movie.

Music

;Theme songs : : :*Vocals: Mariko Kurata :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa ;Insert songs :"Invited Desires" : :"Midsummer Runner" :*Vocals: Mariko Kurata and Hiroaki Serizawa :*Lyrics: Masao Urino :*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

Staff

*Director: Gisaburō Sugii *Screenplay: Hiroichi Fuse *Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda *Art Director: Hiroshi Ōhno *Music: Hiroaki Serizawa, Yasunori Tsuchida *Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro *Producers: Yūkichi Ōhashi, Atsushi Tashiro *Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV Sources:

TV live action drama

A ''Nine''

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 ...

TV drama special aired on January 5, 1987 on Fuji TV's program.

Cast

* Aki Asakura (Yuri Nakao) * Kazuya Takahashi (Katsuya Niimi) * Kōyō Maeda (Jirō Yamanaka) *

Mikio Ōsawa Mikio (written: , , , , , , , , , in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese politician *, Japanese comedian *, Japanese composer, music arranger and producer *, Japanese pol ...

(Kentarō Yamanaka) * Mami Ōtsuka (Yukimi Yasuda)

Staff

*Original Work: Mitsuru Adachi *Director: Yoshiharu Ueki *Teleplay: Fumiyo Asō *Production: Fuji TV Sources:

References

External links

* {{Group TAC 1978 manga 1983 anime films 1983 television films 1983 films 1984 anime films 1984 television films 1984 films 1987 television specials Anime television films Baseball in anime and manga Anime films based on manga Films directed by Gisaburō Sugii Fuji TV original programming Group TAC Japanese television dramas based on manga 1980s Japanese-language films Mitsuru Adachi Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Live-action films based on manga