Adachi Mitsuru: NINE (ナイン) 1978

Adachi has created quite a number of works. For some of these works I had seen them long time ago and I can’t remember the details. so, here is just to share with you my thoughts and a little bit of their  info.

1. NINE (ナイン)

Genre: Romantic comedy, Sports (baseball)

Let’s start with his first written work, ‘Nine’.

Nine is a baseball manga with an introduction of Adachi’s very own writing style.

It was a piece of innovative work at the time it was serialised in Monthly Shonen Sunday Zonkan (少年サンデー增刊) from 1978-1979.

According to Shimamoto Kazuhiko recalled of his reaction to Nine, he said “many people would think: this is not sports manga, does this man know what he is doing!?” And finally, the reception of Ninie were alright. It was definitely out of the norm though. 

Adachi recalled of this very first work he created. He said at the begining he wrote the first chapter of Nine in a usual shonen sports manga style. But very soon in the 2nd chapter, he realised he wished to draw something else, something that he likes to draw most. Then, Nine has became a book where Adachi style begins and developed. 

In 1985, there has been at least 42 print runs of volume 1 of Nine being sold. This shows that Adachi was very popular at that time, when ‘Miyuki’ and ‘Touch’ has already become popular.

Nine is like the “Birth” of Adachi style (出世作), it has got to back bone of Adachi story telling style, with sports, youth, love story, unspoken dialogues and a movie-like layout.

(Some pictures were taken from the book by Adachi Mitsuru: おあとがよろしいようで)