Mitsuru Adachi facts for kids

Mitsuru Adachi (Japanese: あだち 充 or 安達 充, Hepburn: Adachi Mitsuru, born February 9, 1951) is a famous Japanese manga artist. He was born on February 9, 1951. After finishing high school in 1969, Adachi became an assistant to another artist, Isami Ishii. He started his own manga career in 1970 with a story called Kieta Bakuon. This manga was published in a magazine called Deluxe Shōnen Sunday.

Adachi is very well known for his romantic comedy and sports manga. He especially loves to draw stories about baseball. Some of his most popular works include Touch, H2, Slow Step, Miyuki, and Cross Game. People say he is great at writing fun conversations. They also say he is a genius at showing everyday life. Many call him a "master manga artist" and a "pure storyteller."

He is one of the few manga artists who is popular with all kinds of readers. He writes for magazines aimed at boys (shōnen manga), girls (shōjo manga), and adult men (seinen manga). His manga has appeared in magazines like Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Ciao. Most of his works are published by Shogakukan. His manga Cross Game was released in North America starting in 2010.

Adachi uses the spelling あだち for his last name. He copied this from his older brother, Tsutomu Adachi, who was also a manga artist. Some people think that the sibling rivalry in his manga Touch comes from his own experiences. This is because he grew up with his older brother.

Becoming a Manga Artist

Early Career and First Works

Mitsuru Adachi started sending his drawings to a manga magazine called COM before 1969. In 1969, he moved to Tokyo. He became an assistant to Isami Ishii, just like his older brother. The next year, in 1970, he officially started his career. His first professional work was Kieta Bakuon.

Throughout the 1970s, he drew many short stories and series. Many of these were based on ideas from other creators. A well-known one was his version of Rainbowman from 1972 to 1973. In 1978, he released his first original series. It was called Nine and appeared in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. He also created Hiatari Ryōkō! (1979–1981) and Miyuki (1980–1984).

Rising to Fame

Adachi became very famous with his series Touch. This manga was published from 1981 to 1986 in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. In 1982, Hiatari Ryōkō! was made into a live action TV show. The year 1983 was a big one for Adachi. He won the 28th Annual Shogakukan Manga Award. He won for his two series Touch and Miyuki.

His Miyuki series was made into an anime TV show and a live-action movie. Also, Nine was turned into three movies. Touch became an anime TV series in 1985. It ran for two years on Fuji TV. Adachi's romantic manga Slow Step was in Ciao from 1986 to 1991. Another romantic comedy, Rough, was in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1987 to 1989.

Later Works and Continued Success

Adachi then released Niji Iro Tōgarashi. This was a fantasy romantic comedy manga. It was published from 1990 to 1992. Jinbē was a romantic comedy about a stepfather and stepdaughter. It appeared from 1992 to 1997. Adachi's longest manga series is H2. It was in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1992 to 1999. This manga was made into an anime TV series in 1995.

From 2000 to 2001, Adachi published Itsumo Misora. His next long series was Katsu!, a boxing romantic comedy. It was published from 2001 to 2005. In 2005, H2 was made into a live-action TV show. Also, Touch became a live-action movie. He also started his manga series Cross Game. The next year, Rough was also made into a live-action movie.

By 2008, Adachi's manga sales reached over 200 million copies! Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine dedicated an entire issue to him. In 2009, Adachi won another Shogakukan Manga Award for Cross Game. This manga was also made into an anime TV series.

Adachi started Q and A in 2009. In 2012, he finished Q and A. He then began his new series, Mix. This series is a kind of sequel to Touch, set 30 years later. It is still being published today.

Mitsuru Adachi's Works

Original Series

These are manga series that Mitsuru Adachi created himself.

Short Story Collections

Many of Adachi's short stories are collected in the Short Program series. There are four volumes of these collections.

People Connected to Mitsuru Adachi

Tsutomu Adachi

Tsutomu was Mitsuru's older brother. He was also a manga artist. He passed away in 2004. In 1982, Tsutomu wrote a manga called Mitsuru Adachi Monogatari. This manga told the story of Mitsuru's early days as a new manga artist.

Shinji Nagashima

Mitsuru Adachi became a big fan of Shinji Nagashima when he was about 10 years old. After high school, Adachi worked as Nagashima's assistant for a short time. Nagashima then moved overseas. So, Adachi became an assistant to Isami Ishii instead. Adachi wrote a short story called The Runaway God in 2005. This story was written to remember Nagashima.

Rumiko Takahashi

Since the early 1980s, both Adachi and Takahashi were very popular. They both published their works in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. They had a friendly competition. Adachi even said he felt he had to work hard to keep up with how popular Takahashi was. They would meet several times a year to share their ideas. In 2006, Takahashi was asked what pen name she would pick if it wasn't her own. She replied, "Adachi Mitsuru."

Kazuhiko Shimamoto

Shimamoto and Adachi are fans of each other's works. A character from Shimamoto's manga Blazing Transfer Student even appeared in Adachi's Touch. The character's name was Noboru Takizawa.

Mr. Pogo

Mr. Pogo and Adachi were in the same class in school. They have talked about this in magazine interviews. The character Kōtarō Matsudaira from Touch is based on Mr. Pogo.

See also

In Spanish: Mitsuru Adachi para niños