Captain (manga)

{{short description|Japanese manga series}}

{{Infobox animanga/Header

| name = Captain

| image = Captain Chiba Akio volume 1 bunko.gif

| caption = Captain volume 1 bunko

| ja_kanji = キャプテン

| ja_romaji = Kyaputen

| genre = Sports

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| author = Akio Chiba

| publisher = Shueisha

| demographic = Shōnen

| magazine = {{ubl|Bessatsu Shōnen Jump|Monthly Shōnen Jump}}

| first = 1972

| last = 1979

| volumes = 15

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv film

| director = Satoshi Dezaki

| producer =

| writer =

| music =

| studio = Eiken

| network = NNS (NTV)

| released = April 2, 1980

| runtime =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = film

| director = Satoshi Dezaki

| producer =

| writer =

| music =

| studio = Eiken

| released = July 18, 1981

| runtime = 95 minutes

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv series

| director = Satoshi Dezaki

| producer =

| writer =

| music =

| studio = Eiken

| licensee = {{English anime licensee|SA/SEA|Medialink{{cite web|url=https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxSscENEp7JjowK2IpVzgVtv4K4k6kvZ5|title=《Captain》-《青少棒揚威記》|website=YouTube |access-date=April 19, 2025}}}}

| network = NNS (NTV)

| first = January 10, 1983

| last = July 4, 1983

| episodes = 26

| episode_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| author = Cozy Jōkura

| publisher = Shueisha

| demographic = Seinen

| magazine = Grand Jump

| first = April 5, 2017

| last =

| volumes =

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| title = Captain 2

| author = Cozy Jōkura

| publisher = Shueisha

| demographic = Seinen

| magazine = Grand Jump Mucha

| first = April 24, 2019

| last =

| volumes =

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}

{{nihongo|Captain|キャプテン|Kyaputen|lead=yes}} is a baseball manga series by Akio Chiba which ran in Monthly Shōnen Jump (published by Shueisha) from 1972 to 1979. This series ran concurrently with another Chiba manga series Play Ball, which ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump (also published by Shueisha) from 1973 to 1978. Captain, along with Play Ball, won the 22nd Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1977.{{cite web|url=http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |script-title=ja:小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 |publisher=Shogakukan |language=ja |access-date=2007-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805112042/http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |archive-date=2015-08-05 }}

The manga was adapted into a film by Eiken and released in theaters on 1981-07-18.{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1981/de002180.htm|script-title=ja:キャプテン|publisher=Japanese Movie Database|access-date=2007-06-19|language=ja}} It was also adapted into a 26 episode anime television series which aired on NTV from 1983-01-10 to 1983-07-04. The TV series was also directed by Satoshi Dezaki. The Captain TV series was ranked 95th in the top 100 favorite anime titles of all time in a web poll conducted by TV Asahi in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime|title=TV Asahi Top 100 Anime|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2005-09-23|access-date=2007-06-19}} In a 2006 TV Asahi survey of Japanese celebrities, the Captain TV series ranked 13th in a list of the top 100 responses.{{cite web|url=http://pwws.tv-asahi.co.jp/anime100/contents/2006geinou/cur/|script-title=ja:月バラ2時間スペシャル 芸能界アニメ通が集結!徹底調査アニメランキング100|publisher=TV Asahi|year=2006|access-date=2007-06-19|language=ja|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505172418/http://pwws.tv-asahi.co.jp/anime100/contents/2006geinou/cur/|archive-date=2009-05-05}}

A spin-off manga by Cozy Jōkura began serialization in Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine in April 2017.{{cite web |url= https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-02-23/yuji-moritaka-draws-sequel-to-akio-chiba-captain-baseball-manga/.112262|title=Yūji Moritaka Draws Sequel to Akio Chiba's Captain Baseball Manga|language=en|date= February 23, 2017|access-date=February 27, 2021|publisher= Anime News Network}}

A sequel manga also by Cozy Jōkura, titled Captain 2, began serialization in Grand Jump Mucha in April 2019.{{cite web|title=Captain Baseball Manga Gets New Sequel Series|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-03-18/captain-baseball-manga-gets-new-sequel-series/.144703|website=Anime News Network|access-date=September 22, 2023|date=March 18, 2019}}

The story features 4 captains. When the captain graduate from school, the next captain becomes the protagonist.