Touch

[Guardian Enzo]

It seemed very odd to me that there's no thread for Adachi Mitsuru's legendary manga Touch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_%28manga%29

I'm only now reading it for the first time, and it was (correctly) pointed out that I was inconsiderate in posting potential spoilers in the Cross Game anime thread. So, given that I'm only through 3 volumes, I wanted a place to discuss the manga on its own merits.

Three volumes in, I can already see why its such a beloved property. Cross Game will always be my primary Adachi passion, but I'm hooked on this one too. Tatsuya is a fantastic character - I especially loves his trying to look up skirts on television in V. 2. As always with Adachi there's a sameness to the premise, but the fun part is in savoring the subtle differences between this and his later works.

[Guardian Enzo]

Through 4 volumes now. It's gripping me now, largely because Tatchan's frustrations are so powerfully portrayed. Adachi pulls no punches here (literally) - the poor kid takes a lot of blows in these 4 volumes. The inherent pain in this scenario becomes more obvious and more inevitable with each passing page.

I'm enjoying this is a contrast to Cross Game as well. Kou in many ways seems a "cross" (pun intended) between Tatchan and Katchan, and Minami has elements of both Aoba and Wakaba. I think Adachi's writing has gotten subtler, but that's not a knock - the emotions may be more obvious here, but they're still powerful.

[lixuelai]

I liked the anime a bit more as it had a couple minor changes in dialogue that seemed to be more consistent with the characterization.

Spoiler for Touch:

It is mostly changing how Minami basically flat out said that she likes Tacchan to strongly hinting at it.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by lixuelai

I liked the anime a bit more as it had a couple minor changes in dialogue that seemed to be more consistent with the characterization.

Spoiler for Touch:

It is mostly changing how Minami basically flat out said that she likes Tacchan to strongly hinting at it.

Spoiler for Touch:

Well mind you, I'm only through 4 volumes as I said - but there's no doubt in my mind that Minami likes Tatchan. Are you saying that the anime was more subtle about it?

[Guardian Enzo]

So after six volumes, this manga is beginning to feel positively Shakespearean to me. Timeless, yet singularly Adachi. I know it's been adapted about a jillion times, but I wonder if anyone's considered an updating of the anime. It's been over 20 years, after all.

And coincidentally, I've discovered that the "True Tears" soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to this story. Go figure.

[The Rumblefish]

(Unless you are reading the series through wide editions) I think anyone will agree volume 7 is the best one, so you are not even witnessing the series at full speed yet!

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

(Unless you are reading the series through wide editions) I think anyone will agree volume 7 is the best one, so you are not even witnessing the series at full speed yet!

That's a scary thought.

[The Rumblefish]

Just talking about it made me read it again. Vol.7 is one of the greatest achievements in the history of manga, from the first page to the last. I don't think Adachi was thinking in terms of how to balance the volumes, but for some reason those 10 chapters combined together are the perfect summary of Touch and Adachi's Work. We can talk more about it once you've read it, if you want.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by The Rumblefish

Just talking about it made me read it again. Vol.7 is one of the greatest achievements in the history of manga, from the first page to the last. I don't think Adachi was thinking in terms of how to balance the volumes, but for some reason those 10 chapters combined together are the perfect summary of Touch and Adachi's Work. We can talk more about it once you've read it, if you want.

Spoiler for Touch V. 7 and Cross Game:

"Starting tomorrow, I'll do my best." I think the best line of volume 7 was that last one.

Adachi's work is always interesting, fighting the temptation to criticize him for being self-derivative while studying the fascinatingly subtle differences between his stories and characters. Everything about his writing is shading and suggestion - it's as if he has to paint a series of different pictures while limiting himself to black and white (which, as a manga artist, he does in a way).

I do believe one reason shocking events have such an impact in Adachi's manga is that there's so little overt emotion from the characters. He writes stories of the everyday, so when catastrophic events occur they're all the more shocking. Even more so in Touch than Cross Game, one guesses, because the reader would have had no reason to suspect Katchan's death was coming, as they might in Cross Game given Adachi's history. As well, he took 6.5 volumes to lead up to the event this time, rather than killing off Waka-chan after only a few chapters.

[Guardian Enzo]

Spoiler for Touch:

Through 9 volumes now. Takeshi is a somewhat odd addition - is he a stalker? Tatsu-sexual? I wonder if anyone feels that the story moved on from Katchan's death a little too quickly. I don't, but I could see where someone might feel that way.

[Theowne]

Well, let's just say that there's an interesting turn of events with Yoshida's character (I assume that's the Takeshi you mean and not Kuroki.....I'm more familiar with their surnames).

[fukarming]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Spoiler for Touch:

Through 9 volumes now. Takeshi is a somewhat odd addition - is he a stalker? Tatsu-sexual? I wonder if anyone feels that the story moved on from Katchan's death a little too quickly. I don't, but I could see where someone might feel that way.

Spoiler for respond:

Adachi's manga is realistic, enough though Katchan is dead, the world still goes on. Instead of having a bunch of people crying for a couple volume, then completely forget his death 10 vol later, they act like normal people. However the effect of katchan's death will last forever, or in manga's term, the rest of the story

Takeshi is the one idolize Tatsuya, right? He actually serve plenty of purpose by showing us Tatsuya's mentality. Keep reading.

[Guardian Enzo]

Yes, that's Takeshi. And that's what I figured, he's there to force Tatsuya to be more introspective. I just found his behavior somewhat odd, in a humerous way.

I agree with you - if Adachi's work is about anything, it's about moving on with your life when tragedy strikes. But as one of the major criticisms of his manga is that the characters don't show much emotion, I could see someone who felt that way taking issue with the transition here. For me, it worked just fine.

Incidentally, as this is an almost 30-year old property we're talking about I'm going to dispense with the spoiler tags unless it's something really specific...

[Guardian Enzo]

Wow - the practice match with Sumi Tech is amazingly intense for a practice match. I find my feelings towards Yoshida turning towards disgust awfully quickly.

[fukarming]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Wow - the practice match with Sumi Tech is amazingly intense for a practice match. I find my feelings towards Yoshida turning towards disgust awfully quickly.

That is the battle vs Nitta and Yoshida pitch for 6 innings, right? How do you think about Yoshida's accusation of the Meisei team favoring Tatsuya because of the memory of Katsuya?

I think Yoshida also shows us the ability of the coach of Meisei, especially of his ability of reading people.

You sure you don't want spoiler tag in this thread? I don't want to give you a major spoiler of something you haven't read yet.

[Guardian Enzo]

When in doubt, tag it. I've read up though about 7 innings of that game. That is indeed the one where the coach used Yoshida for 5 innings, then switched to Tatchan.

[Poetic Justice]

I'd like to read this but as someone who is completely ignorant/unfamiliar with the American pastime, Is it worth it?

Also it seems to be a bit on the long side.

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by Poetic Justice

I'd like to read this but as someone who is completely ignorant/unfamiliar with the American pastime, Is it worth it?

Also it seems to be a bit on the long side.

Well, it is on the long side, no doubt.

The baseball is not the strongest nor the most important part of the story, and if you like slice-of-life you would probably like Touch, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't long stretches of baseball content, particularly towards the end. However as long as you aren't against sports sequences, I'm sure you might grow to like those too ( I certainly did ).

[Guardian Enzo]

I think all of Adachi's works are more about relationships than about sports. I'm about halfway though and I would certainly say it's worth it, though honestly compels me to admit that I love baseball. As with most of his stuff the story very much inhabits a teenage universe, and one where the romance is discussed and inferred more than an obvious part of the story. If that interests you, I wouldn't worry about the baseball.

[Guardian Enzo]

Officially at 211 chapters now - the Sumi match is about to start.

I know manga and anime is apples and oranges, but at this point I think Cross Game is just a bit better as pertains to the writing. You can see the maturation of the author here - while Adachi is always subtle and the master of understatement, I think the themes in Touch are somewhat more transparent and straightforward. It's something like a wonderful fairy tale, where CG feels more like a bittersweet reflection.

That said, Touch is fantastic. Tatchan is very neatly Kou's equal as a great male lead, although in some ways he's almost a cross between Kou and Aoba. There's no one quite like Minami in CG - she has a bit of Ichi-nee in her, a little Wakaba, but not much Aoba.