Reception
Cross Game won the 54th Shogakukan Manga Award for the category in 2009.[35] The first volume of the French edition won the Prix Tam-Tam Dlire Manga 2007.[36] The manga was also used in an academic paper presented at the 2007 conference of the International Research Society for Children's Literature as an example of telling a story using "silent" scenes (scenes with no dialogue) to powerfully convey a message.[37]
The first two volumes of the Japanese edition were described by Anime News Network as "quietly brilliant" and "the slice-of-life genre at its best", saying that despite some "storytelling goofs", there is "no matching the pleasant feelings that come from reading this series."[38] The French edition was praised by Manga News as a "great success"[39] and "a pure delight as usual," citing as key ingredients the "appealing and funny characters" put in funny situations,[40] accessible drawing style,[41] and Adachi's talent for staging baseball scenes;[42] Adachi was praised for his ability to mix "the sports world which he cherishes so much and the love relationships that are not yet real but so much implied and awaited"[43] and his skill at rendering moving scenes without dialogue.[44] The reviewer noted that while Adachi's art style has not changed much since Touch, his layouts are cleaner and his action scenes more dynamic than before.[45] Anime Land praised Adachi for his "sense of the elliptical and staging",[46] the verisimilitude of his stories,[47] appealing secondary characters,[48] and ability to develop comedy in just one panel.[49] The reviewer claimed Adachi's handling of Wakaba's death is "remarkable" and that the event "gave real meaning" to the story.[50]
The first episode of the anime series was called the "masterpiece of the new season" by ANN, which also complimented the musical score as "understated but highly effective".[51] Two reviewers at ANN gave it the highest possible rating, and one said that he would have given it a higher rating if possible.[52] Another praised its "honest and heartfelt storytelling" while saying it would be easy to call the episode's pacing "almost too-languid".[53] A fourth reviewer found it to be typical of Adachi anime adaptations, but that the production values were "at best, mediocre and, at times, brushing up against the marginal".[54]
Chris Beveridge of Mania.com, after viewing the first episode, said the series had "an older feeling to it" because of the rounder character designs reminiscent of those from the 1980s and 1990s, calling it a "great look" with a "wonderful simplicity" and backgrounds "filled with detail". Beveridge called the animation "solid", and stated that the series had "a whole lot of potential", making him excited to see more.[55] He was impressed with the way the events of episode one were handled in the second episode, comparing the pacing and style to that of Kimagure Orange Road, which he stated is one of his favorites series. He especially liked the way the budding romance was shown between Ko and Wakaba back in the elementary school days, and how it affected the current relationship between Ko and Aoba.[56]
Beveridge called the third episode "understated", moving at a slower pace which helps to begin showing the true nature of several of the characters,[57] and the good pacing continues into the fourth episode where a dynamic between Akaishi, Nakanishi, and Ko is developed.[58] Beveridge praised the character building in the fifth episode, calling the interaction of Ko and Aoba "very charming" and "reminiscent of real childhoods",[59] with things "starting to fall into place" for the main focus of the series (high school baseball) by the end of the sixth episode.[60] He praises the exposition used in the seventh episode, the protective instinct of Ko, Nakanishi, and Akaishi when it comes to Aoba,[61] the use of flashbacks which show how the past is affecting the characters in the present, and the good pacing which "really sets it apart from almost every other sports show".[62]
