TOUCH --- an anime older than me, but I really love <3

If you're into baseball anime or manga, I'm quite positive that you've at least heard the name "Adachi Mitsuru". Adachi-sensei is especially know for creating baseball manga and among his works, I've read Touch and H2. They're both really awesome!!!

Several of his works were also made into anime like Touch, H2, Cross Game and the most recent one, MIX. I've watched all of them except for the second season of MIX which was released last year. MIX manga is still ongoing, so I'm also planning to read it someday.

OK... Let me calm down first. hahah

On this post, I'll share one of my favorites from Adachi-sensei... and it's called TOUCH.

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TOUCH revolves around the lives of three characters, the twins Tatsuya (older brother) and Kazuya (younger brother) and their childhood friend Minami.

Tatchan (Tatsuya) is a happy-go-lucky type of person. He's what you might call a hopeless person and a slacker. However, he's just using this personality as a front because he wanted to give the spotlight to his younger brother.

Kacchan (Kazuya), on the other hand, is very talented and hardworking. Everyone in town loves him. He's also the ace of their middle school baseball team. When he was younger, he often cried everytime Tatchan does better than him. He's quite competitive. It's part of the reason why Tatchan gave up the spotlight to him even though he might actually be better. These twins love each other dearly, though.

Minami is their childhood friend who lives next door. She treats the twins equally. Despite that, everyone in town believes that she and Kazuya are a perfect couple.




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As time progresses, Tatsuya realized something. Despite giving up everything for his younger brother, there's one thing he just can't seem to give up... Minami. And so, the story develops as Tatchan tries to prove himself... that's he's not just the idiot big brother that almost everyone assumes he is.

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As the anime was released from 1985-1987, it's difficult to find trailers or previews of the movie. Luckily, someone uploaded the opening song and video on YouTube.

Although the plot seems like more of a romance story, it's actually just a small part of it. The anime has 101 episodes, so a lot of things happened (and I'm currently rewatching the whole series now because WHY NOT?). A very important twist happened from the 25th episode, so it's kind of difficult to tell the plot without spoiling, so I'll just leave it that way.

I first read the manga more than 10 years ago and I have been in love with Adachi-sensei's baseball manga(s) since then. The art style is so cute... and one thing that you may notice, the characters in all his manga look oddly similar. hahaha I don't mind it, though...because each story is interesting. There's also something in Adachi-sensei's writing style that would break your heart, but these things are pretty crucial for the story.

The first part of TOUCH focused on character development and the later part shows the baseball aspect more. I'm now on the 37th episode and it's getting more and more exciting. It's been so long since I last watched this, so I'm filled with anticipation!

Earlier, I mentioned the ongoing manga and newest Adachi-sensei anime called MIX. TOUCH and MIX happened in the same place and school, but MIX's setting is 30 years after the story in TOUCH. So when I watched the first season of MIX around 5 years ago, it's quite nostalgic.

TOUCH may be released in the 80s, but it never gets old! I hope you give it a shot! It's really a masterpiece!