''Mr. Fullswing'' (stylized as ''Mr.FULLSWING''), also known as ''MisuFuru'' (ミスフル), is a Japanese

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

-themed

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' magazine from May 2001 to May 2006, with its chapters collected in 24 volumes. The series follows Amakuni Saruno, a loser at attracting girls, perverted and prone to getting into trouble, yet he has great strength of heart and body. He is accompanied by Kengo Sawamatsu, and the pair work together in order to fulfill Saruno's dream: dating Nagi Torii, Junishi baseball team manager. Determined to win Nagi's heart, Saruno enters the Junishi baseball club, despite being a complete amateur at baseball, only to find many obstacles, as well as new friends and rivals awaiting him there.

Plot

Amakuni Saruno is a 15-year-old student of Junishi High School. As a teenage boy, he desperately tries to find a girlfriend. Being fed up with seeing all the girls fall in love with high school athletes, he decides to join a sports-club himself. He starts looking around at the different sports clubs with the guidance of his friend, Kengo Sawamatsu. They go to check out the weight lifting club (of which there is only one member, a large, frighteningly buff guy), only for Saruno to see a girl that he assumes to be the manager of the club and show off for her. After sufficiently hurting himself, he helps the girl, Nagi Torii, carry some weights off somewhere and while talking to her finds out that she is actually a manager for the baseball club, not the weight lifting club. Saruno decides to join the baseball club so he can win the heart of Torii. In joining the club, Saruno finds himself to be very weak compared to other tryouts, surpassing others only in hitting ball. He barely manages to get into last test phase, 5-

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s training. He, with other low-ranked entrees, has to survive 5-innings against team composed of high-ranked entrees. In this game, he met Chounosuke Nezu (pitcher), Mei Inukai (pitcher), Pino Tomaru (second), Aoi Shiba (shortstop), Shinji Tatsuragawa (catcher), that forms core of baseball team. In process, Saruno's team manages to pass the test with Saruno breaking the Muranaka record, hitting the school clock. After the entry test, Saruno again finds himself underpowered against seniors of Junishi baseball club. Regular players of Junishi shows their own strengths, which makes them regular. Two weeks after intense training, the team sets out to Izu, to find more intense training awaits. It is also selection test for regular team players.

Characters

; :Third baseman. Saruno is a fifteen-year-old freshman in high school. He is loud, obnoxious, perverted and often cracks corny jokes. Saruno tries several sports clubs in his desperation to find a girlfriend and finally settles on baseball in an attempt to win the affections of its manager, Torii Nagi, a polite and sweet girl who used to play softball. Saruno acts before he thinks and constantly exaggerates his baseball abilities despite the fact that he is a complete beginner. But although his bragging is empty, he has an amazingly powerful swing and has the potential to become a great baseball player. He is the only person to have surpassed Juunishi's legendary "Mr. Fullswing" Muranaka by accomplishing the same feat that earned Muranaka his record: hitting the school clock with a baseball from the baseball field. ; :Baseball team manager. She is a polite, sweet, supportive and quiet girl who used to play softball in junior high. She loves baseball and wants to be around the sport even though she can not play it very well. She is the reason that Saruno decides to join the baseball club. ; :Saruno's best friend and adviser. Their friendship is questionable sometimes, though, as they make fun, yell at and fight each other often. Sawamatsu helps Saruno train for the entrance exam to the baseball club.

Publication

Written and illustrated by , ''Mr. Fullswing'' was serialized for five years in

's manga magazine ''

'' from May 8, 2001, to May 8, 2006. Shueisha collected its 227 chapters in 24 volumes, released from November 2, 2001, to September 4, 2006. Shueisha republished the series in 15 volumes, released from October 18, 2011, to May 18, 2012.

Notes

References

External links