Nine (manga)

{{Infobox animanga/Header

| name = Nine

| image = Nine volume 1 by Mitsuru Adachi (My First Wideban).png

| caption = Cover of volume 1 of wideban release.

| ja_kanji = ナイン

| ja_romaji =

| genre = Sports

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| author = Mitsuru Adachi

| publisher = Shogakukan

| demographic = Shōnen

| magazine = Shōnen Sunday Zōkan

| first = September 25, 1978

| last = October 25, 1980

| volumes = 5

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv film

| director = Gisaburō Sugii

| producer =

| writer =

| music = Hiroaki Serizawa

| studio = Group TAC

| network = Fuji TV

| released = May 4, 1983

| runtime =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = film

| title = Nine the Original

| director = Gisaburō Sugii

| producer =

| writer =

| music = Hiroaki Serizawa
Yasunori Tsuchida

| studio = Group TAC

| released = September 16, 1983

| runtime =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv film

| title = Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration

| director = Gisaburō Sugii

| producer =

| writer =

| music = Hiroaki Serizawa

| studio = Group TAC

| network = Fuji TV

| released = December 18, 1983

| runtime =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv film

| title = Nine: Final

| director = Gisaburō Sugii

| producer =

| writer =

| music = Hiroaki Serizawa

| studio = Group TAC

| network = Fuji TV

| released = September 5, 1984

| runtime =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = special

| director =

| producer =

| writer =

| music =

| studio =

| network = Fuji TV

| released = January 5, 1987

| runtime =

}}

{{nihongo|Nine|ナイン|Nain|lead=yes}} is a baseball manga series by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from the October 1978 through November 1980 issues. The series was adapted into three anime television films{{cite web|url=http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au14.html|title=Adachi Mitsuru あだち充|first=Peter|last=Van Huffel|date=January 17, 2004|access-date=June 21, 2007|archive-date=July 6, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706135247/http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au14.html}} and a live-action television drama. An altered version of the first anime film was released in theaters, with new and re-arranged music.{{cite web|url=http://movie.goo.ne.jp/movies/PMVWKPD17357/index.html|script-title=ja:ナイン(1983)|publisher=goo 映画|language=ja|access-date=June 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019080054/http://movie.walkerplus.com/mv17178/|archive-date=October 19, 2016}}

The story is about two friends who were star athletes in junior high school who decide, on entering high school, to join the struggling baseball club so they can have a challenge. The title comes from the nine members of a baseball team.

Plot summary

Just before entering Seishū High School, track star Katsuya Niimi and judo champion Susumu Karasawa see a girl crying as the school loses a baseball game. The boys decide to join the team and improve it in order to make her smile. The girl turns out to be Yuri Nakao, daughter of the baseball coach, and they learn the baseball team will be shut down if it doesn't start winning. The series follows the three, as well as pitcher Eiji Kurahashi, as Niimi and Karasawa learn about baseball and what it means to be one of nine players on a team, as they work together through high school make it to Kōshien.{{cite web|url=http://www.freewebs.com/adachifan/nine.htm|title=Nine|publisher=AdachiFan|access-date=June 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527012642/http://www.freewebs.com/adachifan/nine.htm|archive-date=May 27, 2007}}

Characters

Character voices listed are for the anime releases only.

;{{nihongo|Katsuya Niimi|新見克也}}

:{{Anime voice|Toru Furuya}}

: Center fielder on the Seishū High School baseball club, in love with Yuri. In junior high, he held the national records for the 100 meter and 200 m races for his age group. His favorite food is gomokuzushi. He wears the number 8 on his jersey.

;{{nihongo|Yuri Nakao|中尾百合|}}

:{{Anime voice|Mariko Ishihara}} (TV movie 1), Mariko Kurata (TV movie 2), Narumi Yasuda (TV movie 3)

: The manager of the Seishū High School baseball club and daughter of the baseball coach. There is a growing romance between Yuri and Katsuya.

;{{nihongo|Susumu Karasawa|唐沢進|}}

:{{Anime voice|Kei Tomiyama}}

: Right fielder on the Seishū High School baseball club. In junior high, he was the prefectural champion in judo. He wears the number 9.

;{{nihongo|Eiji Kurahashi|倉橋永二|}}

:{{Anime voice|Kaneto Shiozawa}}

: Left-handed pitching ace on the Seishū High School baseball club, and was one of the top pitchers in all of Japan in middle school. Lives with his father, a truck driver.

;{{nihongo|Yukimi Yasuda|安田雪美|}}

:{{Anime voice|Chika Sakamoto}}

: Star athlete of the Seishū High School track club, who has a crush on Katsuya since Middle School. After transferring to Seishū at the beginning of the school year, she begins pursuing him, much to the annoyance of Yuri.

;{{nihongo|Kentarō Yamanaka|山中健太郎|}}

:{{Anime voice|Akira Kamiya}}

: A childhood friend of Yuri, and ace pitcher at Bunan High School where he has taken his team to victory at Kōshien. After an unexpected reunion with Yuri, he becomes the romantic rival of Katsuya.

;{{nihongo|Jirō Yamanaka|山中二郎|}}

:{{Anime voice|Yoshikazu Hirano}}

: Kentarō's younger brother and a new member of the Seishū High School baseball club, playing third base. He has a crush on Yukimi. He wears the number 5.

;{{nihongo|Chimi Yamanaka|山中智美}}

: Younger sister of the Yamanaka brothers. She tries to mediate the relationship between Yuri and Kentarō, who in turn uses her to interfere with the developing romance between Yuri and Katsuya.

;Coach Nakao

:{{Anime voice|Ichirō Nagai}} (TV movies), Kōichi Kitamura (theatrical movie)

: The coach of the Seishū High School baseball club. He is in jeopardy of losing his job for not having won a single game, which he does with the addition of Eiji Kurahashi to the team. He formerly coached Kentarō for a short time when he was younger, and they were neighbours.

;Kazuya Niimi's father

:{{Anime voice|Tatsuyuki Jinnai}}

: A former baseball player who helps Eiji join the baseball team after talking to his father, with whom he formed the winning battery at the invitational Kōshien tournament of 20-odd years prior to the events of the manga.

;Kazuya Niimi's mother

:{{Anime voice|Kazuko Makino}}

:Appears in the theatrical movie.

;Eiji Kurashashi's father

:{{Anime voice|Takeshi Aono}}

:Appears in the theatrical movie.

;Yukimi Yasuda's grandmother

:{{Anime voice|Miyoko Asō}}

:Appears in the theatrical movie.

Sources:{{cite web|url=http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/bs2006summer/program/nine.html|title=BS夏休みアニメ特選｜ナイン|publisher=NHK|language=ja|access-date=June 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024514/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/bs2006summer/program/nine.html|archive-date=September 30, 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://www.usagi.org/doi-bin/seiyuu-lookup.pl?DB=anime+roles&value=Nine|title=Search results for "Nine" in anime database|author=Hitoshi Doi|author-link=Hitoshi Doi|publisher=Seiyū Database|access-date=June 21, 2007}}

TV movies

=Nine=

The first Nine TV movie aired on May 4, 1983 on Fuji TV's Nissei Family Special program.

==Music==

;Opening theme

:{{nihongo|"Love - Innocent"|LOVE·イノセント|Rabu Inosento}}

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Insert songs

:{{nihongo|"Invited Desires"|つのる思い|Tsunoru Omoi}}

:{{nihongo|"Goodbye to Sadness"|悲しみにサヨナラ|Kanashimi ni Sayonara}}

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Ending theme

:{{nihongo|"Midsummer Runner"|真夏のランナー|Mannatsu no Runner}}

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

==Staff==

Director: Gisaburō Sugii
Teleplay: Hiroichi Fuse
Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda
Art Director: Hiroshi Ōhno
Music: Hiroaki Serizawa
Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro
Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV

Sources:

=Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration=

The second Nine TV movie, {{nihongo|Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration|ナイン2 恋人宣言|Nain Tsū Koibito Sengen}}, aired on December 18, 1983 on Fuji TV's Nissei Family Special program.

==Music==

;Opening theme

:{{nihongo|"Sweetheart Declaration"|恋人宣言|Koibito Sengen}}

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota

:*Lyrics: Mariko Ryū

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Insert songs

:{{nihongo|"Blue Sky Feelings"|青空気分|Aozora Kibun}}

:{{nihongo|"My Young Boy"|私のYoung Boy|Watashi no Yangu Bōi}}

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Mariko Ryū

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Ending theme

:"Midsummer Runner"

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

==Staff==

Director: Gisaburō Sugii
Teleplay: Shin'ichi Shirayama
Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda
Chief Animator: Minoru Maeda
Art Director: Katsuyoshi Kanemura
Music: Hiroaki Serizawa
Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro
Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV

Sources:

=Nine: Final=

The third Nine TV movie, {{nihongo|Nine: Final|ナイン完結編|Nain Kanketsuhen}}, aired on September 5, 1984 on Fuji TV's Nissei Family Special program.

==Music==

;Opening theme

:{{nihongo|"Endless Summer"|エンドレスサマー|Endoresu Samā}}

:*Vocals: Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Insert songs

:{{nihongo|"Around August"|八月のゆくえ|Hachigatsu no Yukue}}

:{{nihongo|"Boys in Love"|Boys in love|Bōisu in Rabu}}

:*Vocals: Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

;Ending theme

:"Midsummer Runner"

:*Vocals: Mariko Tsubota and Hiroaki Serizawa

:*Lyrics: Masao Urino

:*Composer: Hiroaki Serizawa

==Staff==

Director: Gisaburō Sugii
Teleplay: Yumiko Takaboshi
Animation Director: Tsuneo Maeda
Key Animation Director: Minoru Maeda
Art Director: Katsuyoshi Kanemura
Music: Hiroaki Serizawa
Audio Director: Atsushi Tashiro
Production: Toho, Group TAC, Fuji TV

Sources:

Theatrical movie

The first Nine TV movie was remade into a theatrical movie titled {{nihongo|Nine the Original|ナインオリジナル版|Nain Orijinaruban}}, released on September 16, 1983 by Toho. Modifications were made to the original TV movie to fix problems with it, and some of the voice actors and background music were changed as well. When the Nine movies are rebroadcast on TV, this movie is shown in place of the original TV movie.