Major (manga)
Major is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Takuya Mitsuda. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 1994 to July 2010, with its chapters collected in 78 volumes. It was followed by a sequel titled Major 2nd, which started in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in March 2015.
It was adapted into a 154-episode anime television series by Studio Hibari and later by SynergySP, titled Major. It ran for six seasons on NHK E from November 2004 to September 2010. Two original video animations were released in December 2011 and January 2012.
In 1996, Major received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the category. By October 2024, the manga series had over 66.66 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series.
Plot
The story follows the life of Gorō Honda from childhood through his professional baseball career, focusing on his perseverance through adversity. Gorō's father, Shigeharu Honda, is a professional baseball pitcher who plays for teams in Nippon Professional Baseball. Gorō deeply admires his father and aspires to follow in his footsteps. His mother, Chiaki Honda, died two years before the story begins. Gorō forms close bonds with his kindergarten teacher, Momoko Hoshino, and his childhood friend, Toshiya Sato, whom he teaches to play baseball. Shigeharu suffers a career-ending arm injury, devastating Gorō. Determined to continue supporting his son, Shigeharu retrains as a slugger and eventually joins the Yokohama Marine Stars. During this time, Momoko grows closer to the family, and Shigeharu proposes to her. In a pivotal game against the Tokyo Giants, Shigeharu hits a home run off a fastball from American pitcher Joe Gibson. However, Gibson later throws a pitch that strikes Shigeharu in the head, leading to his death from internal bleeding the following day.Three years later, Momoko adopts Gorō. When he reaches fourth grade, he joins the Mifune Dolphins little league team, recruiting friends to prevent its disbandment. Recognizing Gorō's talent, the coach suggests he transfer to the more competitive Yokohama Little team, where Toshiya plays. Gorō hesitates, unwilling to abandon his friends, but after Momoko falls ill, he reaffirms his commitment to those around him. Meanwhile, Gibson invites Gorō to watch the MLB All-Star game in the United States, where he demonstrates his pitching prowess. Inspired, Gorō vows to one day challenge Gibson. Leading the Dolphins to victory over Yokohama Little, Gorō suffers an injury and later moves to Fukuoka with Momoko and her new husband, Hideki Shigeno, without saying goodbye to his teammates. After returning to Mifune, Gorō reunites with his friends at Mifune East Junior High. Initially uninterested in baseball due to a shoulder injury, he eventually rejoins the sport as a left-handed pitcher. He rebuilds the school team with his friend Komori Daisuke and defeats rival Toshiya's team in a regional tournament. Despite tensions over high school choices, Gorō and Toshiya eventually enroll together at Kaido High School, a prestigious baseball powerhouse. After rigorous training, Gorō leads the junior varsity team to victory against the varsity squad before leaving Kaido to seek greater challenges.
Gorō returns home, where his mother insists he take responsibility for his decision. After facing opposition from Kaido's assistant coach, he enrolls at Seishuu High School, a former girls' school without a baseball team. He forms a team from scratch and leads them to the summer tournament quarterfinals against Kaido. Despite a valiant effort, Seishuu loses, and Gorō collapses from exhaustion. Gorō's performance attracts professional scouts, but upon learning Gibson remains active in MLB, he leaves for the United States. He begins in Triple-A, where he clashes with Joe Gibson Jr., who blames Gorō for past family tragedies. After striking out Gibson Jr., Gorō helps his team win the Triple-A playoffs. He later represents Japan in the Baseball World Cup, facing Gibson Jr. in the finals. Despite a strong performance, Gorō loses, briefly losing his passion for baseball before returning to the sport with renewed determination.
Gorō debuts in MLB with the Hornets, initially excelling before developing the yips. After recovering with psychological assistance, he struggles with motivation until Gibson's retirement reignites his drive. Years later, Gorō faces Gibson Jr. in the World Series, while his wife, Shimizu, gives birth to their child. After a 14-year career, Gorō retires due to a shoulder injury but later returns to Japan as a hitter and fielder for the Blue Oceans, inspiring his children just as his father once inspired him.
Characters
Main
;Gorō Honda / Gorō Shigeno;Shigeharu Honda
;Chiaki Honda
;Momoko Hoshino / Momoko Shigeno
;Hideki Shigeno
;Toshiya Sato
;Kaoru Shimizu
;Joe Gibson
Supporting
;Daisuke Komori;Taiga Shimizu
;Ryota Sawamura
;Yoshitaka Yamane
;Joe Gibson Jr./"Junior"
;Ken Mayumura
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Takuya Mitsuda, Major was serialized in Shogakukan's manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 3, 1994, to July 7, 2010. Shogakukan collected its 747 individual chapters into seventy-eight volumes, released between January 13, 1995, and December 17, 2010.A sequel to the series, Major 2nd, started in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on March 11, 2015.
Anime
Major has been adapted into an anime television series by Studio Hibari and later by SynergySP, titled Major. The series was broadcast on NHK E for 154 episodes divided in six seasons from November 13, 2004, to September 25, 2010. An animated film telling the story between the first and second seasons of the anime was released on December 13, 2008. Two OVAs were released on December 16, 2011, and January 18, 2012. The OVAs adapted the World Series chapter, which was skipped in the TV series.Reception and legacy
By November 2021, the Major manga had over 55 million copies in circulation. By October 2024, the manga series had over 66.66 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series.Major won the 41st Shogakukan Manga Award in the category in 1996. A 2020 poll conducted by Goo with 14,846 participants ranked Major as the sixth best manga series ever published in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Major ranked 83rd.
In 2006, the anime series ranked 46th in an online poll conducted by TV Asahi on Japan's favorite animated TV series. A Celebrity List of the same poll placed the anime series at the 70th spot. In 2005, sporting goods manufacturer Mizuno entered into a one-year agreement with Shogakukan to have their company logo appear in the baseball equipment used by Goro Shigeno and other characters in the manga series. Under the agreement, Mizuno would also use the Goro Shigeno character in other promotional events. An article from The Boston Globe credits the manga series for helping increase the popularity of the gyroball pitch.
Following Japan's victory against the United States in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final, Matsuda created a commemorative illustration featuring Goro alongside Shohei Ohtani that was published in Sports Nippon.