Overview: The story starts off in modern day Okinawa, Japan where Baseball reigns supreme; popularity wise in the world of sports. The story quickly introduces the reader to the infamous underdog team “The Lyacons”, who are most infamously known for being the weakest team out of professional baseball in Japan. The Lyacons soon meet their ray of hope for winning the championship this year. Tokuchi Toua, a gambler who has a talent for pitching who has not lost a single game of One Outs in his entire career of 300 matches. He soon loses to the star batter of the Lyacon’s team Kojima in a bet that would in result as a devastating end to their careers; which results in Tokuchi’s inauguration into the world of professional baseball. Tokuchi eventually meets the Lyacon’s team manager who appears to be as a tyrant that prohibits the probability of the Lyacon’s winning a championship. Tokuchi quickly realizes this and decides to create the “One Outs” contract. A contract in which Tokuchi’s pitching can either earn him billions of dollars in an instant, or leave him in debt for the rest of his life. The manager agrees to the contract only if he can manipulate the contract to his liking which Tokuchi, undeniably accepts. At first, the Lyacon’s team members detest Tokuchi’s smoking and carefree habits in the dugout. But as the story progresses, the team members grow fond of Tokuchi’s genius decision making, which saves them from despairing situations. Game by game, Tokuchi realizes that not only are the Lyacon’s fighting the strongest baseball players in Japan’s history, but he is also fighting with the corrupt world of professional baseball.
Opinion: Baseball mangas are typically represented as shounen mangas, which often results in a lack of originality. But when I found out that One Outs was a seinen baseball manga, it piqued my interest nonetheless. The protagonist’s unique appearance and personality quickly dragged me into the story. One Outs has a particular art style that is quite unique from other mangaka’s, it presented the story in a straight forward manner that was visually pleasing from the very beginning. Aside from One Outs’s uniqueness, It’s truly the characters and plot that are present within the story that makes it refreshing to read. From having alcoholics on the team to mentally unstable players, Tokuchi is able manage everyone’s problems in an orderly fashion. Although Tokuchi’s decisions might be questionable at times, the team always counts on his astuteness. From beginning to end, One Outs brought out a unique message to it’s readers as to how despairing a sportsmen’s life can be, eliciting several scenarios where the odds are completely against the Lyacon’s goal of taking the championship. If you’re planning on checking out the series, I suggest you check out the anime first and then continue from the manga (Chapter 82). One Outs is definitely one of my favorite sports manga of all time!
Rating: 8.5 (Highly recommended!)
