Preface I love attributing to myself an importance that I dont have its an addiction that corrodes me. There is a common thread that runs through all my reviews which is my sense of purpose. I dont write about stories I like or dislike I write about stories that need someone writing about them. Sometimes I find good reviews of good stories and then I go on my way satisfied that theyve done a good job. Unfortunately for me this isnt always the case. Im tired of finding reviews of such low level that their existence is mistaken for a nonexistence. I see Cross Game as a incredible story any review that makes light of its value deserves to be promptly scorned. So am I a messiah about to illuminate the path of this poor unrated and underappreciated story? I dont need an answer I already have one and its a big fat NO. A no found not out of false modesty but simply because of the obvious realization that it wouldnt have to be me it could be you or it could be him or her the choices are endless. Within a world of possibilities only the manifestation of what is materialized matters to us and thats why the one chosen this time is me by mere chance the one who enters the right space at the right time. All I hope is to do a good job. Having made our introductions how about we talk a bit about Cross Game? What the hell is a Game of Cross? 500https://i.ur.com/n6ciMeS.jpeg First of all we need to understand our story. I read Cross Game at the beginning of August almost 4 months have passed so I cant remember small details precisely. What I can certainly discuss is the theme that haunts me that compels me to write this review which throughout my countless forgetfulness was something that never left my mind. So you ask me what struck me about Cross Game? The sport? The baseball? The romance? The comedy? The drama? All that and a bit more but two things really appeal to me which will be the focus of this analysis. Firstly the sophisticated and mischievous Adachian narrative which deceives and enchants everyone who reads it. Secondly the heart of Cross Game the Grief. I apologize in advance for the many omissions to come. Cross Game is a rich story with a large ultracharismatic cast with a magnificent romance in the making and with wellplaced comedy. All of this will be omitted from the review in order to avoid making it even longer. Your task is to discover the small details that this wonderful story has to convey. As for my mission to persuade you to read Cross Game. Adachis ingenuity 500https://i.ur.com/WaWeTj1.jpeg Before we discuss the central theme of grief I think its worth highlighting Mitsuru Adachis macabre ingenuity. There are few artists and when I say artists I mean any artistic field not just comics who manage to construct such an elusive and perfectly mischievous narrative with such mastery. The aim of our architect of evil is simple: to convey a false sense of unshakeable security a tranquillity that will very soon be dismantled. The first layer is direct its blatant. Wakabas death highlights the first great diabolical machination which would not be the last. Another huge nuisance is the relationship between Kou and Aoba. Throughout the story we see Kou totally attached to and dependent on Wakabas death. His life was lived according to Wakaba and her death didnt change that it only solidified it. At several points the story flirted with the idea that this struggle would never be solved and that Kous destiny would be to carry this grief in his heart until his last breath. Aoba appears as a perfect mirror a girl who equally loved her sister Wakaba but who never understood her dead sisters passion for Kou. Part jealousy part resentment fuels this relationship of a boy broken by grief unable to seek anything beyond it and a friend who so strongly identifies with him that his response is achieved through hatred and rebellion. Aoba is unyielding and despises Kou but we know that all exacerbated hatred is nothing more than unexplored love. The future of these two soon becomes clear and a romance in the making begins to blossom. Any reader who manages to retain a single digit of neurons can see this from a distance. And our evil ventriloquist is aware of this so he decides to add a new ingredient to season this salad well call this seasoning Takigawa Akane. The shock I felt at Akanes first appearance was colossal. Why??? Impossible why the fuck would you do that? Dont do it it doesnt make sense youll destroy your story stop it. Wasnt this manga supposed to be about grieving? Wasnt it supposed to be about loss? What do you want to do with this character? Whats her purpose? So many unanswered questions and whats worse all the possible answers scared me. My hope which fortunately paid off was the greater awareness of the tactics employed by the little demon Mitsuru Adachi throughout his story. Distraction deception false stillness. Calmness doesnt satisfy him a nonconfrontational narrative doesnt appeal to him its always necessary to disturb to confuse. For what purpose? To sweeten what is bitter death. 500https://i.ur.com/XOr0I1D.png About death It would be convenient to let myself be fooled by Adachi Mitsurus treacherous machinations his list of crimes is extensive bordering on infinity. But I refuse to fall into the trap of the enemy who distracts me with script features that work for the sole purpose of prolonging his story and diluting the suffocating pain of his thematic. In this decision we are able to observe an inherent merit its impeccable execution which even though it is often dishonest ends up serving the theme of the story perfectly which rises above it doesnt contradict itself doesnt get lost and isnt tainted. The core of the whole theme of Cross Game is certainly not baseball nor is it the comings and goings of its characters romances these resources function as mere tools used for the development of its story as well as marginal characters who appear to disrupt and confuse the environment such as Akane and Mizuki. Although they are interesting characters worthy of analysis and although baseball games are great fun I would be giving them an emphasis that I dont think is necessary overshadowing the main theme that still consumes my mind when I think of Cross Game. I think its worth dealing with the grief. 500https://i.ur.com/wWWk3ac.jpeg It all starts in chapter 9 the overwhelming surprise we are exposed to our world turned upside down. We discover here that were not faced with an ordinary sports story were faced with a cruel and heartwrenching tragedy about grief and whats worse grief from the perspective of children totally unprepared for the reality of life and death. Every time I go back to read chapter nine there isnt a single occasion when I dont cry. I remember being emotionally destroyed the first time I read it and its no different now four months later where I return only to flip through it and be flooded with immense sadness. What Adachi Mitsuru achieves between chapters 9 and 10 is of such raw strength that it cannot be quantified few stories manage to replicate the feeling of loss in such a suffocating way as the author does here. We have an initially cryptic and elusive construction followed by an indirect exposition of Wakabas death we find a routine scenario of Kitamuras life practicing with his friends until he arrives home and hears the news on television. We are not exposed to tears and people screaming in grief everything happens so quickly and without explanation that the feeling of emptiness is simply heartbreaking. Adachis writing is so impeccable that I remember feeling exactly like Kitamura. First incomprehension strangeness and agony at not understanding the meaning of it all why it was happening? How was it happening? This will be an open wound in our protagonists heart that will take time to heal that will never be healed that wont need to be healed. After all how is a child of only 10 going to cope with mourning his first love? We dont have a clear answer but we do have an initial direction. Well we just need to cry. 500https://i.ur.com/wgfCUEP.jpeg An answer to death What separates mediocre stories from good ones is their ability to inspire. A good story doesnt just present something it allows you to think beyond itself. I dont seek in a story a momentary and forgettable sensation I seek the eternal catharsis that allows me to think about my reality in the face of what I am exposed to. The theme of grief alone supports a whirlwind of thoughts. I have explored Mitsuru Adachis good execution of the theme of mourning in the previous topics now allow me to develop a conclusion through what Adachis own work has allowed me to think about. Of all possible human fears death is certainly the most powerful one. Just read Chainsawman. The one universal fear of every human being the one eternal pursuit common to us all inescapable nonnegotiable unavoidable invincible. How much of your day do you spend questioning your own life or your inevitable death? How much of your life is spent contemplating your own end? In my case very little time is spent on this. They are reflections recreated countless times and in all of them I usually come out at peace with myself through a conformism that willingly accepts the inevitable. Theres no fighting whats not in my control. I find myself thinking a lot about my reading of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. In trying to be happy in the face of the absurdity of life of our endless and unrewarded struggle the only sense I see is that of revolt in search of freedom. I think there is comfort in accepting our lost struggle seeing purpose in our purposeless existence. 500https://i.ur.com/yxtTPQ3.jpeg Very different from making peace with ones own death is replicating this exercise with the death of others even worse with the death of loved ones. I can still remember the news of my grandmothers death. My mother crying when I got home my sister on the phone crying while talking to my aunt all this while I was just getting home from school and receiving devastating news as if it were just another ordinary day. I remember behaving exactly like Kou I didnt cry I didnt get distraught I just went to my room to stare at the ceiling and digest everything that had happened. I can rationalize the process of my death with a certain peace and tranquility but I cant imagine how suffocating it would be to see something similar happening to a close relative. In fact I can but I promptly refuse. The feeling I had throughout that week is not a memory that needs to return but it is a feeling that is unlikely to be the last I think i have many deaths to observe. I cant think about it I dont want to think about it I dont want to think about it. But what do I do when a scoundrel story about baseball decides to confront me with it? Im forced to think about it Im forced to project myself where I wouldnt want to be where I wouldnt want to be. The discussion in Cross Game is actually so suffocating that writing about it while seriously reflecting on its theme hurts me. The way a 10yearold child is exposed to facing grief and going through his entire life because of a loss is shattering. An entire family with no direction a father who has lost his wife and now his daughter and who finds his peace only in the distraction of alcohol. These are small splashes of melancholy that the story throws in our faces and which we absorb with contemplative tranquillity. Its a nonreal world where nothing really happened a place where I can appreciate this suffering with empathetic sadness for these characters and with the joy of knowing that they are not real. From this perspective I can say that Cross Game is a passiveaggressive work. With magnificent subtlety it pokes at the biggest wounds with an enviable calmness that doesnt hesitate to attack what hurts me the most all within such a calm harmonious and wellconstructed atmosphere that the final sensation is one of peace. Overcome? Forgetting? Live with the pain? What do you do with grief? You can come up with your own answer. I see grief as the celebration of life death as proof of our existence. At the end of the journey in the great reflection on mourning and overcoming it what we have left in Cross Game is only a great celebration the joy of being alive gratitude abstracted in love and a joy that does not oppose death but embraces it with its welldeserved optimism. We dont live for those who have gone we live for ourselves for the honor of those who have gone. 500https://i.ur.com/ty14Acj.jpeg