A Japanese baseball manga by Mitsuru Adachi about two gifted high-school athletes who join a failing baseball team and learn the meaning of teamwork, competition, and commitment.
Last updated October 22, 2026
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Overview
Nine is a Japanese sports and romance manga created by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from the October 1978 issue through the November 1980 issue. The series follows two friends who were outstanding athletes in junior high school but excelled in different disciplines: Katsuya Niimi was a nationally recognized track athlete, while Susumu Karasawa was a leading judo competitor. On entering Seishū High School, the pair choose to join its struggling baseball club rather than continue in their established sports. Their decision is motivated in part by a desire to help a girl they see crying after the school loses a baseball game, but it soon develops into a broader challenge involving athletic adaptation, loyalty, romance, and the survival of the club. The title refers to the nine players who make up a baseball team. This idea provides the series with both its central sporting framework and its thematic emphasis on interdependence. Niimi and Karasawa must learn that individual athletic ability does not automatically translate into baseball success. Their progress is linked to the arrival and development of Eiji Kurahashi, a left-handed pitching ace, and to the work of Yuri Nakao, the team manager and daughter of the coach. The club is under pressure because it risks being shut down if it cannot begin winning, placing the characters' personal development within a clear institutional and competitive stake. The story combines baseball matches with a network of romantic and family relationships. Niimi develops feelings for Yuri, while Yukimi Yasuda, a talented track athlete, pursues Niimi. Kentarō Yamanaka, a successful pitcher from another high school and Yuri's childhood friend, becomes both a sporting benchmark and a romantic rival. His younger brother Jirō joins Seishū's team, adding another connection between the competing schools. These relationships give the manga a coming-of-age structure in which athletic ambition and emotional maturation proceed together. Nine was expanded beyond its original manga format through three animated television films, a theatrical version of the first film, and a live-action television drama special. The first animated film aired on Fuji TV in May 1983, followed by a second installment in December of that year and a concluding installment in September 1984. An altered theatrical version of the first film, Nine the Original, was released by Toho in September 1983; it revised elements of the television production and used changes in voice casting and music. A live-action television adaptation followed in January 1987. The franchise is therefore best understood as a manga-led media property rather than a food or consumer-goods brand. Its defining assets are Adachi's character-driven sports storytelling, the baseball-team ensemble, and adaptations that carried the work into animation and live action.
History
Nine originated as a manga by Mitsuru Adachi and was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan between the October 1978 and November 1980 issues. The work centers on Seishū High School's failing baseball club. Before high school, Katsuya Niimi and Susumu Karasawa had already achieved distinction in track and judo respectively. Their choice to enter baseball creates the series' initial dramatic premise: two elite athletes must acquire the skills and habits of a new sport while trying to rescue a team threatened with closure. The club's situation is connected to the personal story of Yuri Nakao, the coach's daughter and the team's manager. Niimi and Karasawa first become interested in the club after seeing Yuri upset by a defeat. Their participation gradually expands the team narrative, especially when Eiji Kurahashi, a highly regarded left-handed pitcher, becomes part of the group. The characters' progress is not presented solely as a sequence of games. It also concerns the transformation of individual talent into coordinated team performance and the discovery of what it means to be one of nine players working toward a shared result. Adachi's story also uses rivalries and romantic complications to broaden the baseball setting. Niimi's relationship with Yuri is challenged by Yukimi Yasuda's interest in him and by the return of Yuri's childhood friend Kentarō Yamanaka, an accomplished pitcher who has already led his school to victory at Kōshien. Kentarō's younger brother Jirō joins Seishū's team, while the extended Yamanaka family becomes involved in the relationships among the players. These connections allow sporting competition, adolescent romance, friendship, and family history to operate within the same narrative structure. The manga received a major animated expansion in the 1980s. Fuji TV broadcast the first television film on May 4, 1983, as part of its Nissei Family Special programming. A second film, Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration, aired on December 18, 1983, and a third, Nine: The Last Chapter, aired on September 5, 1984. The first television film was subsequently reworked as a theatrical feature titled Nine the Original, released by Toho on September 16, 1983. The theatrical version made changes to the original production, including revisions to music and some voice performances, and became the version used when the films were rebroadcast on television. The property later received a live-action television drama special, which aired on Fuji TV's Monday Dramaland program on January 5, 1987. Through these adaptations, Nine developed from a serialized manga into a cross-format Japanese entertainment property. The available reference material identifies the manga, three animated television films, the theatrical re-edit, and the live-action special, but does not establish later commercial ownership, current publication activity, sales figures, or international licensing arrangements.
- 1987
Live-action television adaptation airs
[1]A live-action Nine television drama special is broadcast on Fuji TV's Monday Dramaland program on January 5, 1987.
- 1984
Animated story concludes
[1]Nine: The Last Chapter airs on Fuji TV on September 5, 1984.
- 1983
First animated television film airs
[1]The first Nine television film is broadcast on Fuji TV's Nissei Family Special program on May 4, 1983.
- 1983
Nine the Original reaches theaters
[1]Toho releases a revised theatrical version of the first animated film on September 16, 1983.
- 1983
Second animated film airs
[1]Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration is broadcast on Fuji TV on December 18, 1983.
- 1980
Original manga serialization ends
[1]The manga reaches the end of its reported serialization run with the November 1980 issue.
- 1978
Manga serialization begins
[1]Nine begins serialization in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan with the October 1978 issue.
Products and positioning
A character-focused Japanese high-school baseball story that combines sports competition, ensemble teamwork, and romantic coming-of-age drama.
Manga · 1978
Nine
The original manga series created by Mitsuru Adachi. It follows Katsuya Niimi, Susumu Karasawa, Yuri Nakao, Eiji Kurahashi, and their teammates as they attempt to rebuild Seishū High School's failing baseball club. Its narrative combines high-school baseball, athletic growth, romantic tension, and the idea that team success depends on the coordinated contribution of nine players.
Animated television film · 1983
Nine
The first animated adaptation of the manga, broadcast by Fuji TV in May 1983. It established the screen version of the story and was later reworked for theatrical release with changes to elements including music and some voice performances.
Animated television film · 1983
Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration
The second animated television film, aired by Fuji TV in December 1983. Its title emphasizes the romantic dimension that accompanies the baseball and school-life narrative.
Theatrical animated film · 1983
Nine the Original
A theatrical version of the first animated film released by Toho in September 1983. It was not simply a rebroadcast of the television production: the material was altered, and the voice cast and background music were changed in some respects.
Animated television film · 1984
Nine: The Last Chapter
The third animated television film, broadcast in September 1984. It functions as the concluding installment of the reported animated film sequence.
Live-action television drama · 1987
Nine
A live-action television drama special based on the manga, aired by Fuji TV in January 1987 as part of the Monday Dramaland programming block.
Controversies
2026
Police investigation into reported sharing of private material involving a MAFS participant
NSW Police said officers commenced an investigation after a report that inappropriate content had been shared. The report followed allegations that producers on the upcoming season of Married At First Sight shared a participant's private material with his on-screen bride. Police said the matter would be referred to WA Police; the allegations had not been confirmed.
Recent events
Reported
Police investigation into reported sharing of private material involving a MAFS participant[2]
NSW Police said officers commenced an investigation after a report that inappropriate content had been shared. The report followed allegations that producers on the upcoming season of Married At First Sight shared a participant’s private material with his on-screen bride. Police said the matter would be referred to WA Police; the allegations had not been confirmed.
Reported
CGU Insurance launches new campaign[3]
CGU Insurance released a new campaign through independent agency Thinkerbell, debuting it with a five-minute spot during 60 Minutes on Nine.
Reported
Brands named as sponsors of Married at First Sight’s 2022 season[4]
Nine named DoorDash, Tim Tam, Buddybet and Simmonds Homes as sponsors joining returning sponsors KFC, Snooze, Suzuki, Youfoodz and Bupa for the 2022 season of Married at First Sight.
Reported
AIA Australia joins Australian Ninja Warrior as a sponsor[5]
Nine named AIA Australia as a first-time sponsor of the forthcoming season of Australian Ninja Warrior.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Nine relaunches Drive with a new website[6]
Nine relaunched its Drive offering with a new website. The article describes this as part of Nine’s move to make Drive its only automotive brand platform.
Reported
Nine CEO Hugh Marks resigns[7]
Nine CEO Hugh Marks resigned after five years in charge; he said he would announce the decision to the market on Monday, and the process of replacing him would begin shortly after.
Weekdays and relative dates follow the original report; their exact calendar dates have not been verified.
Reported
Nine announces sponsors for The Block[8]
Nine announced sponsors for The Block, including Aldi and Ford.
Reported
Nine CFO Paul Koppelman steps down[9]
Nine chief financial officer Paul Koppelman stepped down after nine months in the role. The report said he resigned for personal reasons, including the death of a family member.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Nine sells its New Zealand business to local management[10]
Nine sold its New Zealand business, Stuff, to local management led by CEO Sinead Boucher for NZ$1.
Nine partners with Grabyo[11]
Nine partnered with Grabyo to strengthen its multi-platform content distribution strategy throughout 2020, using Grabyo’s video platform to clip, edit and share content.
Sources15 sources
- 1Nine (manga)en.wikipedia.org
- 2Police investigation into reported sharing of private material involving a MAFS participantpedestrian.tv
- 3CGU Insurance推出新营销活动mumbrella.com.au
- 4多个品牌获公布为《Married at First Sight》2022 季赞助商mumbrella.com.au
- 5AIA Australia 成为《Australian Ninja Warrior》赞助商mumbrella.com.au
- 6Nine以新网站重新推出Drive平台mumbrella.com.au
- 7Nine首席执行官休·马克斯辞职nine.com.au
- 8Nine公布《The Block》赞助商mumbrella.com.au
- 9Nine首席财务官Paul Koppelman离职mumbrella.com.au
- 10Nine将其新西兰业务出售给当地管理层afr.com
- 11Nine 与 Grabyo 达成合作advanced-television.com
- 12Nine与Discovery合作推出9Rush频道mumbrella.com.au
- 13Nine撤回2020财年盈利指引mumbrella.com.au
- 14Nine完成对Macquarie Media的收购mumbrella.com.au
- 15Nine与BBC Studios签署自然历史节目合作mumbrella.com.au
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