Gyakkyou Nine

WHAT IS ADVERSITY!? It's defined as a situation where things don't proceed the way you think they would, or a state of misfortune!

While Blazing Transfer Student has gained a relative popularity amongst small circles, Gyakkyou Nine is a manga that is barely talked about despite its relative popularity in Japan ; movies, sequel, novel, drama CD, a consequent number of parodies and even a cross-over with Karakuri Circus ! Gyakkyou Nine got a lot of side contents for itself to show off its positive acclaim.

The story features a gang of run off the mill baseball amateurs who have to overcome all odds and win the Koshien by the sheer strength of their determination to prevent their club from closing down. On paper, this synopsis would seem to be the same as any other sports manga but when he's making a sports manga, Shimamoto is not just making a simple sports manga. In fact, don't expect anything realistic or any semblance of credibility here. The nature of the different adversities that this team has to face is truly uncanny and it escalates further and further even when you think it can't possibly pull anything more absurd. Gyakkou Nine is a manga where the impossible becomes possible and where hot-blooded isn't enough to describe it ! Kazuhiko Shimamoto is probably one of the only mangaka I know that is able to have so many gags per second without being intoxicating and while keeping its freshness and the tension to the top all along.

If you're a fan of Shaolin Soccer and the likes, give this manga a try ! Although I'm saying that but only 2 volumes out of 6 have been translated so you would have to read the raws to learn what happens next.