Aim for the Ace!

Aim for the Ace!, known in Japan as Ace o Nerae! (エースをねらえ!), is a manga series written and illustrated by Sumika Yamamoto. The series tells the story of Hiromi Oka, a high school student who wants to become a professional tennis player as she struggles against mental weakness, anxiety and thwarted love. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōjo magazine Margaret from January 1973 to February 1980. Later, Shueisha collected the chapters and published them in 18 tankōbon volumes.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series in 1973 by Tokyo Movie which was originally broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) between 1973 and 1974. Aim for the Ace! also spawned another anime television and an anime film between 1978 and 1979, two original video animations (OVA) between 1988 and 1990, a live-action Japanese television drama in 2004, and many types of Aim for the Ace!-related merchandise. The franchise is also known by its international title Aim for the Best!

The series is one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time, having sold approximately 15 million copies in Japan. It has been also popular among anime viewers, and become a hit in Japan, even among its non-target audience. It is considered a classic by anime and manga critics and has been influential in the anime industry.

Plot

The story is about Hiromi Oka (岡ひろみ), a high school girl who struggles to become good at tennis. While attending Nishi (西高), Hiromi begins playing tennis after becoming fascinated by Reika Ryūzaki (竜崎麗香), an older girl who is the best player on the team and is nicknamed "Madame Butterfly" (お蝶夫人) owing to her grace on the tennis court. The team gets a new coach, Jin Munakata (宗方仁), who sees potential in Hiromi and trains her to become a great tennis player.

Hiromi struggles to overcome her mental weakness. Later, she falls in love with another tennis player, Takayuki Tōdō (藤堂貴之), but coach Munakata tells her not to get too involved and that she should forget him and work on her tennis skills. Hiromi often loses confidence in her playing abilities, but with the support of her coach and her friends she overcomes her anxiety. By training herself to become a better player, Hiromi grows into a mentally stronger person. Her enthusiasm, her love of tennis and the support from people around her helps her to become one of the best players in the world.

Publication

Aim for the Ace! was written and illustrated by Sumika Yamamoto; its first chapter was published by Shueisha in the Japanese magazine Margaret in January 1973. Its serialization finished in 1975, but because of demand from readers, partly brought about by the phenomenal success of the anime in reruns, its publication restarted from 1978 to February 1980.[3] Its first tankōbon (collected volume) was released by Shueisha on September 20, 1973, and the eighteenth and last one was released on June 30, 1980.[4][5] Shueisha reprinted the series from December 31, 1978, to August 25, 1981.[6][7]

A five-volume light novel was published by Shueisha under its Cobalt imprint from August 1983 and October 1984.[8][9] The original manga was republished in bunkoban format twice; Chuokoron-Shinsha released it from October 18, 1994, to April 18, 1995, in fourteen volumes,[10][11] and Shueisha released it between June 18, 2002, and October 18, 2002, in ten volumes.[12][13] The series has been localized in Italy by Panini Comics and published under its Planet Manga line.[14]

Anime adaptations

Reception and legacy

The manga was a hit, having sold approximately 15 million copies,[3] which makes it one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time.[51] Although the television series initially received low ratings, reruns were more positively received by fans, as well as the second series.[18] The anime is considered a hit on Japanese television and though aimed toward schoolgirls it was popular among people of both sexes,[15] and was also popular in Europe.[17] In 2001, the anime magazine Animage ranked the 1979 anime television as the twenty-second of the Top 100 anime productions of all time.[52] In 2005, TV Asahi conducted a "Top 100" online web poll and nationwide survey asking viewers for the best anime television series; Aim for the Ace! was placed fourteenth in the online poll and thirty-fourth in the survey.[53][54] Responsible for a tennis boom among high school students in the 1970s,[55] the series was still popular as of 2015 appearing in several online web polls of most influential sports anime.[56][57] On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Aim for the Ace! ranked 44th.[58]

Considered a classic,[59][60] the series has been influential in Japan both in fiction and in real life.[61][62] In addition to being a landmark in the sports genre[63] and an inspiration for other sports anime,[64] it has set many of the conventions of yuri. Its story has been imitated by other anime to the point that it became a cliché;[17] it established the tradition of "the klutzy wallflower with hidden potential, the rich bitch who wants all the attention, and a handsome Coach with a tragic fate" in the words of anime critic Jonathan Clements.[61] Gainax's science fiction OVA Gunbuster incorporated the set-up and the style of Aim for the Ace!, acting as parody to the series.[61][62] Anime series Oh! Super Milk-chan's opening theme also included parodies of the anime.[65] Anime director Kenji Kamiyama, most known for the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series, cited the series among the 15 best anime of all time.[66] Shuzo Matsuoka, considered "the first successful Japanese [tennis] player",[67] was influenced to play because of the esteem he had on the series.[61]

Justin Sevakis, writing for Anime News Network, and Erica Friedman, founder of Yuricon, consider the series a "true" shōjo.[17][68] Friedman wrote, "As a representative of early shoujoai, Ace wo Nerae is a spectacular example, but expect a fair dollop of cheesy-ness, as the character designs, music, art, etc are all over 30 years old. The op art graphics and laughable opening theme are delightfully retro now. The most important thing is that the characters are genuinely likeable and their motivations fathomable."[68] Sevakis praised the story as having "purity", as "There are no manufactured obstacles to overcome." He also declared, "Despite being Western-looking and ostensibly about universally accessible sport of tennis, it's a fascinating look at Japanese personal motivation, interaction and decorum," playing "like a catalog of Japan's most interesting cultural quirks."[17] Art-wise it was compared to Dear Brother and The Rose of Versailles by Anime News Network's Lynzee Loveridge, who said it "reinforces a lot of the dangerous work ethic that permeates sports series, like battling through a serious injury or abandoning emotional 'dalliances' like romance."[69]

See also

Sources

External links

• Official Shueisha Aim for the Ace! manga website