Taisho Baseball Girls
Encyclopedia
is a popular light novel
series written by Atsushi Kagurazaka and illustrated by Sadaji Koike. Tokuma Shoten
has published two novels as of November 2008. The novels have been adapted to a drama CD, a manga series currently being published in Monthly Comic Ryū
, and a TV anime series aired in 2009. The TV series had been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, anime distributor Section23 Films
released the complete collection on November 16, 2010.
The first book in the series opens in Taishō
14 (1925), introducing Koume, who is the 14-year-old daughter of a yōshoku
restaurant owner, and a student at a local girls' academy. One day, Koume's friend, Akiko, asks her to join in an all-girl baseball team and have a match against a boys team. While the first volume can be read as a stand-alone work, the second volume develops the storyline further.
The second book is set in the summer of Taishō 14. Koume, Akiko, Manoe and the rest of the nine members of the Baseball Girls continue to face off against numerous all-boy teams, and have trouble dealing with the fast balls thrown by the boys. To combat the anxiety they experience, playing against more experienced teams, they decide to abandon their traditional baseball uniforms in favor of a kimono
-style uniform. The girls also partition off the batter's box so that other teams cannot see what they are doing.
Apart from baseball, the series also deals with certain cultural changes that are not seen quite so often in anime. For example, the popular "sailor" school uniforms, now a staple of real-world Japanese schools, as well as school-based anime and manga, are only just being introduced into Japanese society during the Taishō period in which this work is based.
: The main heroine of story, second member and catcher
of team. She is the daughter of a yōshoku
restaurant owner. Her dream is to wear a sailor uniform.
: Koume's closest friend, captain and pitcher
of team. She has a slight crush on Koume. She is from a wealthy family.
: Class president and childhood friend of Tamaki. She and Tamaki played baseball with boys when they were in elementary school. She is third/fourth team member: she spoke with Koume about their baseball team in the evening, but Koume didn't recognize her desire, and so Yuki repeated her request on the following day again (after Noe). She supplied first baseball equipment for the team (catcher mask, several gloves
and balls) and also "stole" first team uniforms (western-like sport uniform) from her family kimono shop (it was too modern, so it didn't sell and was kept in storage).
: Third/fourth member and main strategist/tactician of the team.
: Fifth member and Shizuka's elder twin sister. She has a huge crush on Koume and joined the team to be closer to her. Before the baseball team, she was in the newspaper club. She is very athletic and her dream is to hit a home run
. Unlike her twin, she wears a sailor uniform for school. She shares a room with her twin in the school dorms.
: Sixth member and Tomoe's younger twin sister. Before the baseball team, she was also in the newspaper club. Unlike her twin, she normally dresses in traditional Japanese clothing.
: Seventh-eighth member. She has a large crush on Tomoe, and when Tomoe asked her to join - she agreed without thinking.
: Ninth member. Yuki's childhood friend. Initially she was the most skilled player in team.
: Noriko's replacement. Before the baseball team she was on the track team.
: She is the English language teacher, class 1-2 homeroom teacher and the girl's coach.
: The young man, working in Suzukawa father's restaurant. He becomes Koume's fiancé through arranged marriage in the middle of anime.
: Akiko's arranged fiance. He held chauvinistic views believing women belonged only in domestic roles prompting Akiko to take up baseball. He changes after playing against her.
: One of Iwasaki's fellow baseball players, due to a misunderstanding he self-proclaims himself Koume's boyfriend henceforth becoming extremely rude and pushy about it.
, was announced in August 2008, aired starting on TBS
from July 2, 2009, to September 24, 2009, replacing K-On!
in its timeslot. It was directed by Takashi Ikehata with character design by Kanetoshi Kamimoto, who is known for his design work for Takara Tomy
toys. The anime had a length of 12 episodes and two 5-minute-long specials were released with the two first Blu-ray of the series.
The anime was licensed by Sentai Filmworks and the complete collection was released on November 16, 2010.
began in the September 2008 issue of Monthly Comic Ryū
.
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series written by Atsushi Kagurazaka and illustrated by Sadaji Koike. Tokuma Shoten
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
has published two novels as of November 2008. The novels have been adapted to a drama CD, a manga series currently being published in Monthly Comic Ryū
Monthly Comic Ryu
is a Japanese monthly seinen manga and anime magazine published by Tokuma Shoten. The magazine was originally a quarterly special issue of Animage, beginning in 1979 before switching to a monthly schedule and finally suspending publication...
, and a TV anime series aired in 2009. The TV series had been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, anime distributor Section23 Films
Section23 Films
Section23 Films is an American home video distribution company specializing in anime and Japanese films. The company is one of five successors to ADV Films, as well as the distributor of titles from Sentai Filmworks and Switchblade Films. ADV had announced that it had sold its assets to a group of...
released the complete collection on November 16, 2010.
Story
In 1925, after being told by a baseball player that women should become housewives instead of going to school, two 14-year-old Japanese high school girls named Koume and Akiko decide to start a baseball team in order to prove him wrong. During this time, when even running was considered too vulgar for women, baseball is known as "what the boys do" and they face many difficulties when having to find enough members, to get permission from their parents and also when learning about the sport itself.The first book in the series opens in Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
14 (1925), introducing Koume, who is the 14-year-old daughter of a yōshoku
Yoshoku
In Japanese cuisine, refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking which originated during the Meiji Restoration. These are primarily Japanized forms of European dishes, often featuring Western names, and usually written in katakana.- History :...
restaurant owner, and a student at a local girls' academy. One day, Koume's friend, Akiko, asks her to join in an all-girl baseball team and have a match against a boys team. While the first volume can be read as a stand-alone work, the second volume develops the storyline further.
The second book is set in the summer of Taishō 14. Koume, Akiko, Manoe and the rest of the nine members of the Baseball Girls continue to face off against numerous all-boy teams, and have trouble dealing with the fast balls thrown by the boys. To combat the anxiety they experience, playing against more experienced teams, they decide to abandon their traditional baseball uniforms in favor of a kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
-style uniform. The girls also partition off the batter's box so that other teams cannot see what they are doing.
Apart from baseball, the series also deals with certain cultural changes that are not seen quite so often in anime. For example, the popular "sailor" school uniforms, now a staple of real-world Japanese schools, as well as school-based anime and manga, are only just being introduced into Japanese society during the Taishō period in which this work is based.
Main Characters
The main characters are the members of the girl's baseball team Ouka-kai. Most of the girls are from class 1-2 and the team's coach is their homeroom teacher.: The main heroine of story, second member and catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
of team. She is the daughter of a yōshoku
Yoshoku
In Japanese cuisine, refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking which originated during the Meiji Restoration. These are primarily Japanized forms of European dishes, often featuring Western names, and usually written in katakana.- History :...
restaurant owner. Her dream is to wear a sailor uniform.
: Koume's closest friend, captain and pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
of team. She has a slight crush on Koume. She is from a wealthy family.
: Class president and childhood friend of Tamaki. She and Tamaki played baseball with boys when they were in elementary school. She is third/fourth team member: she spoke with Koume about their baseball team in the evening, but Koume didn't recognize her desire, and so Yuki repeated her request on the following day again (after Noe). She supplied first baseball equipment for the team (catcher mask, several gloves
Baseball glove
A baseball glove or mitt is a large leather glove that baseball players on the defending team are allowed to wear to assist them in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter, or thrown by a teammate.-History:...
and balls) and also "stole" first team uniforms (western-like sport uniform) from her family kimono shop (it was too modern, so it didn't sell and was kept in storage).
: Third/fourth member and main strategist/tactician of the team.
: Fifth member and Shizuka's elder twin sister. She has a huge crush on Koume and joined the team to be closer to her. Before the baseball team, she was in the newspaper club. She is very athletic and her dream is to hit a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
. Unlike her twin, she wears a sailor uniform for school. She shares a room with her twin in the school dorms.
: Sixth member and Tomoe's younger twin sister. Before the baseball team, she was also in the newspaper club. Unlike her twin, she normally dresses in traditional Japanese clothing.
: Seventh-eighth member. She has a large crush on Tomoe, and when Tomoe asked her to join - she agreed without thinking.
: Ninth member. Yuki's childhood friend. Initially she was the most skilled player in team.
: Noriko's replacement. Before the baseball team she was on the track team.
: She is the English language teacher, class 1-2 homeroom teacher and the girl's coach.
| Name | Position Baseball positions There are 9 fielding positions in baseball. Each position conventionally has an associated number which is used to score putouts... | Class | Membership order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akiko Ogasawara | Pitcher | 1-2 | Initiator |
| Koume Suzukawa | Catcher | 1-2 | 2nd |
| Shizuka Tsukubae | First base | 1-2 | 6th |
| Yuki Souya | Second Base | 1-2 | 3rd/4th |
| Tomoe Tsukubae | Third Base | 1-2 | 5th |
| Tamaki Ishigaki | Shortstop | 1-2 | 9th |
| Kyouko Sakurami | Left Fielder | 1-1 | 7th-8th |
| Owari Noriko (retired) |
Center Fielder | 2-2 | 7th-8th |
| Kochou Kikusaka | 1-1 | — | |
| Kawashima Noe | Right Fielder | 1-2 | 3rd/4th |
Others
: The newspaper club president. Initially she was seventh-eighth member (she was forced to join by Tomoe because she owed her money), lately she retired from the team, but she stays their fan.: The young man, working in Suzukawa father's restaurant. He becomes Koume's fiancé through arranged marriage in the middle of anime.
: Akiko's arranged fiance. He held chauvinistic views believing women belonged only in domestic roles prompting Akiko to take up baseball. He changes after playing against her.
: One of Iwasaki's fellow baseball players, due to a misunderstanding he self-proclaims himself Koume's boyfriend henceforth becoming extremely rude and pushy about it.
Anime series
An anime TV series based on the novel series, produced by J.C.StaffJ.C.STAFF
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...
, was announced in August 2008, aired starting on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
from July 2, 2009, to September 24, 2009, replacing K-On!
K-On!
is a Japanese four-panel comic strip manga written and illustrated by Kakifly. The manga was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues. It was also serialized in Houbunsha's magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat...
in its timeslot. It was directed by Takashi Ikehata with character design by Kanetoshi Kamimoto, who is known for his design work for Takara Tomy
Takara Tomy
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
toys. The anime had a length of 12 episodes and two 5-minute-long specials were released with the two first Blu-ray of the series.
The anime was licensed by Sentai Filmworks and the complete collection was released on November 16, 2010.
Drama CD
- Audio CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, 72 minutes, 7 tracks, Frontier Works, FCCN-0032, 21 December 2007.
Manga
A manga series by Shimpei ItohShimpei Itoh
is a Japanese manga artist. His best known works include Moldiver and Hyper Doll. He recently began a new series, Taishō Baseball Girls, based on the light novels by Atsushi Kagurazaka....
began in the September 2008 issue of Monthly Comic Ryū
Monthly Comic Ryu
is a Japanese monthly seinen manga and anime magazine published by Tokuma Shoten. The magazine was originally a quarterly special issue of Animage, beginning in 1979 before switching to a monthly schedule and finally suspending publication...
.
Novels
- 221 pages, April 17, 2007, ISBN 978-4198507428, Tokuma Shoten
- 202 pages, August 20, 2008, ISBN 978-4198507534, Tokuma Shoten
- 212 pages, July 2009, ISBN 978-4198508319, Tokuma Shoten
- 224 pages, June 17, 2010, ISBN 978-4198508661, Tokuma Shoten