Aim for the Ace!
|
|
Template:Cleanup-rewrite Aim for the Ace! (エースをねらえ! Ace o Nerae!) is a shōjo manga by Sumika Yamamoto begun in 1972 and serialised in Margaret. Hugely successful, it was adapted into a TV anime series in 1973, and more recently a live-action dorama series in 2004.
It is about Hiromi Oka, a high school girl who struggles to become good at tennis. Hiromi starts tennis in her high school, fascinated by a year older girl, Reika Ryuzaki, who is the best player in the club. There, she meets her coach, Jin Munakata, who sees talent in her and raises her into a player representing Japan. Hiromi's sentimental hardship to overcome her mental weakness is well described in the story.
During the story, she falls in love with a tennis player who is a year her senior in her school, Takayuki Todo, but her coach tells her not to get too much into it, and that it is better to forget him in order to be a better player. Hiromi suffers not to love Takayuki, or her mind will be taken over by him. Many times she loses her confidence to keep playing tennis by the pressure of other players, but by support of her coach and many friends she made through tennis, she overcomes her anxiety. By training herself to become a better player, Hiromi grows into a mentally stronger person. Hiromi's enthusiasm and love for tennis, and supports from people around her helps her to become one of the best players in the world.
The title (and the girls' sports training camp genre) was parodied in Gainax's Top o Nerae! Gunbuster ("Aim for the Top! Gunbuster").
Dorama cast
- Hiromi Oka - Aya Ueto
- Jin Munakata - Masaaki Uchino
- Reika Ryuzaki - Rio Matsumoto
- Takayuki Todo - Yu Yoshizawa
English releases
Aim for the Ace! was fansubbed by Japan-TV, a fansubbing group dedicated to providing Japanese dramas in English.
External links
- Shueisha page for the manga (http://www.shueisha.co.jp/home-sha/ace/) (Japanese)
- TMS page for the first anime series (http://www.tms-e.com/library/tokushu/a_nerae/) (Japanese)
- TV Asahi website for the recent dorama version (http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ace/) (Japanese)
- Japan-TV dorama fansub page (http://www.jtv-drama.org)