Inoue, Takehiko

Hanamichi Sakuragi, a tall, boisterous teenager with flame-red hair and physical strength beyond his years, is eager to put an end to his rejection streak of 50 and finally score a girlfriend as he begins his first year of Shohoku High. However, his reputation for delinquency and destructiveness precedes him, and most of his fellow students subsequently avoid him like the plague. As his first day of school ends, he is left with two strong thoughts: "I hate basketball" and "I need a girlfriend."

Haruko Akagi, ignorant of Hanamichi's history of misbehavior, notices his immense height and unwittingly approaches him, asking whether or not he likes basketball. Overcome by the fact that a girl is speaking to him, the red-haired giant blurts out a yes despite his true feelings. At the gym, Haruko asks if he can do a slam dunk. Though a complete novice, Hanamachi palms the ball and makes the leap...but overshoots, slamming his head into the backboard. Amazed by his near-inhuman physical abilities, Haruko quickly notifies the school's basketball captain of his feat. With this, Hanamichi is unexpectedly thrust into a world of competition for a girl he barely knows, but he soon discovers that there is perhaps more to basketball than he once thought.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Slam Dunk

SLAM DUNK

Furudate, Haruichi

The whistle blows. The ball is up. A dig. A set. A spike.

Volleyball. A sport where two teams face off, separated by a formidable, wall-like net.

The "Little Giant," standing at only 170 centimeters, overcomes the towering net and the wall of blockers. The awe-inspired Shouyou Hinata looks on at the ace's crow-like figure. Determined to reach great heights like the Little Giant, small-statured Hinata finally manages to form a team in his last year of junior high school, and enters his first volleyball tournament. However, his team is utterly defeated in their first game against the powerhouse school Kitagawa Daiichi, led by the genius, but oppressive setter dubbed the "King of the Court," Tobio Kageyama.

Hinata enrolls into Karasuno High School seeking to take revenge against Kageyama in an official high school match and to follow in the Little Giant's footsteps—but his plans are ruined when he opens the gymnasium door to find Kageyama as one of his teammates.

Now, Hinata must establish himself on the team and work alongside the problematic Kageyama to overcome his shortcomings and to fulfill his dream of making it to the top of the high school volleyball world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shot:
Volume 14: Nisekyuu!!

Haikyuu!!

Haikyu!!

ハイキュー!!

Adachi, Mitsuru

Kou Kitamura is a fifth grader whose family runs a sporting goods store. One of the regular customers of his family's store is the Tsukishima Batting Center, and so he gets to know the four daughters of the Tsukishima family (Ichiyo, Wakaba, Aoba, and Momiji) very well. Since Kou has spent so much time practicing in their batting cages, he has become a genius hitter, but has no knowledge of any other aspect of baseball. This is in contrast to Aoba, who, despite being a year younger, is an adept pitcher and hitter. Wakaba is a classmate of Kou's, and she seems fully intent on marrying him when she grows up. All seems idyllic in their world, until tragedy strikes. The story then skips ahead to four years later, as Kou has continued the training he began four years ago, but has not played in a baseball game since. As he finally begins playing again, it remains to be seen whether or not he will live up to the expectations of those who know the true talent he has been hiding all this time.

(Source: ANN)

Cross Game

クロスゲーム

Touch is a shounen story about two twin brothers, a pretty girl next door, and that good old pastime of baseball. The manga was written by one of the most well known manga-ka out there, Adachi Mitsuru in the early 80's (1981-1986). He's a wonderful writer who tends to write stories that are related to baseball and Koshien, the stadium where the All High School Baseball Tournament is held.

(Source: MangaProject)

Touch

タッチ

Miura, Kouji

Taiki Inomata, a third-year student in junior high, attends Eimei Academy, an integrated school with a major sports program. Having joined the high school badminton team, Taiki tries to attend open practice as early as possible. But no matter how early he goes, he always arrives second in the gymnasium. The person one step ahead of him is Chinatsu Kano, a first-year student in senior high and Taiki's crush.

Chinatsu is the rising star of the basketball team, and the gap between her and Taiki could not be greater. Although Taiki is a decent badminton player, his popularity is nowhere near Chinatsu's, making it even less likely for his feelings to be reciprocated. However, in a strange twist of fate, she ends up living in Taiki's house!

Wanting to become a worthy match for Chinatsu, Taiki pursues the same dream as his crush: to partake in the Nationals. Taiki starts training harder than ever before, all for the sake of building a strong relationship with his new housemate.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ao no Hako

Blue Box

アオのハコ

Morita, Masanori

Professor Kawato is the new Japanese teacher in the ill-famed Futagotamaga high shool, whose baseball club is composed by thugs and bullies who have been suspended for a year from all school competitions for causing a brawl during an official match. Now that the suspension is over, the only club's members left are interested only in women, smoking and doing nothing until, under professor Kawato's guidance, they discover a new dream called Koushien. The road to Koushien is far from easy, as they have to get back in shape, to learn how to play baseball and to win everyone else mistrust, including the principal's and other professor's one, with only a few months available. Sweating and fighting, the baseball club will find his determination and strength, as they proceed towards their dreams, while Kawato's enthusiastic and non-conventional ways slowly change the attitude of everyone near them.

(Source: ANN)

Rookies

ROOKIES

Terajima, Yuuji

Middle school student Eijun Sawamura has just lost his final baseball game after pitching a unique fastball that cost Akagi Middle School their chance to reach the nationals. As the baseball team captain, he feels responsible for their enormous loss and vows to take his friends there in high school. However, with his terrible grades and no school recommendations in his area, Sawamura sulks as he tries to figure out how to keep his promise.

His pitch during the last game catches the attention of a scout from the prestigious Seidou High School in Tokyo, who soon convinces a begrudging Sawamura to observe their school's nationally-ranked baseball team practice. At Seidou, an impromptu competition between Sawamura and one of their batters causes him to cross paths with Kazuya Miyuki—a catcher who can pull out Sawamura's strengths as a pitcher.

The experience he has accumulated at Seidou changes his initial reluctance to transfer to Tokyo. Although he still feels guilt over betraying his friends, they encourage him to take the offer and enroll in Seidou. Filled with a renewed sense of determination, Sawamura begins the arduous journey of becoming Seidou's team ace and heading for the nationals while carrying the spirit of his former school with him.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Diamond no Ace

Ace of the Diamond

ダイヤのA〈エース〉

Hiro has two loves: baseball and porn. But due to an elbow injury he gives up baseball choosing a school with no baseball team. His childhood friend Hikari attends a different school with baseball ace Hideo and the two wish Hiro had not given up baseball. Hiro joins the soccer team but meets Haruka, a very clumsy girl, who is manager of the unofficial baseball club. When the soccer team challenges the baseball club to a game, with hopes of humiliating them, the baseball club nearly loses until Hiro, disgusted by the soccer team`s arrogance, switches to the baseball club.

(Source: MU)

エイチツー

Mitsuda, Takuya

The story of Major follows the life of Gorou Honda, from kindergarten to being a professional baseball player, seeking and overcoming tremendous challenges.

Major

MAJOR

Tanaka, Motoyuki

Ryuu Ichijou, a boy who dreams of joining Japan's national soccer team. Ryuu is called a genius soccer player, and his aspirations seem within his reach, but when he is in elementary school he gets hit by a car while protecting his friend, and must face two years of grueling rehabilitation. Story focuses on Ryuu as he joins high school soccer club and works through the remnants of his injuries to achieve his goal.

Be Blues! Ao ni Nare

BE BLUES!~青になれ~

Fujimaki, Tadatoshi

Teikou Middle School is famous for its highly renowned basketball team, which produced the famed "Generation of Miracles": a team of five prodigies, each with their own unique abilities, considered to be undefeatable by the time they became third years. However, blinded by pride, they split up, entering different high schools upon graduation.

Taiga Kagami, having just returned from America, joins the basketball team at Seirin High School in search of strong team members. There, he finds Tetsuya Kuroko, a seemingly unimpressive player, only for Kagami to find out that Kuroko was the "Phantom Sixth Man" of the Generation of Miracles: an invisible player who used his impeccable passing skills to support the team from the shadows. Together, they resolve to defeat the Generation of Miracles and make the Seirin basketball team the best in Japan.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kuroko no Basket

Kuroko's Basketball

黒子のバスケ

Yamato Keisuke, a promising freestyle swimmer, and Ninomiya Ami, a talented diver, are the offspring of two rival families owners of confectionery shops. Two generations ago, Grandfather Ninomiya came up with an idea for an owl-shaped cake, but Grandfather Yamato quickly raised to the challenge and thought of a similar cake—but in Yamato's the owl had ears. Because they're priced the same, Yamato's extra ears were crucial, and that made the business of the Ninomiya confectionery suffered. Grandfather Ninomiya then fell ill worrying about his shop. Before his death, his last words were "I was killed by the Yamatos," and since that moment the two families have been sworn rivals. 

(Source: MU)

12 Manga Like Ano Natsu: 1959