Nine

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 and a live-action television drama. An altered version of the first anime film was released in theaters, with new and re-arranged music. 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. Characters Character voices listed are for the anime releases only.