Ko Kitamura is a character created by the manga artist Adachi Mitsuru and embodied in the animated film Cross Game.
Biography
Ko Kitamura was born into the family of the owner of a shop called Kitamura Sports Supplies. From an early age, his father forced him to help in the business of the store, namely, he entrusted the delivery of goods to the Tsukishima family, who lived nearby and maintained a baseball center. The boy did not mind, because he had tender friendly feelings for one of the four daughters of this family, for Wakaba. Moreover, they were born on the same day. The parents saw the affection of their children and assumed that in the future they would become a great couple, although Ko did not think so. And Aoba, who is one year younger than her sister, had a different opinion, since she did not want to share her sister's attention with anyone.
While in the fifth grade of elementary school, Ko learned of Wakabe's death. Grief united two families. Ko and Aoba also took a step towards meeting each other, because Wakabe's cherished dream was to see them win the high school baseball championship together.
Career
Ko Kitamura has always loved baseball and therefore envied Aoba, who was a natural pitcher. To be no worse, he secretly trained from everyone until he went to Seishu High School. And only in Seishu he joined the baseball club, however, in the reserve team. Time after time, Ko's reserve team lost to the main team. And they already wanted to disband, but before the decisive game, Aoba joined the Ko team, which allowed them to win. After the game, Ko learned that Aoba had entered the same school. So their joint training began, which was not in vain. The Seisu school team won one summer baseball championship after another. So they reached the final tournament against the famous Ryue team. The final tournament was intense. Team Ko and Team Ryue were on a level playing field, and only an additional serve of the ball decided the outcome of the tournament in favor of the Seisu school.
Creativity of Adachi Mitsuru
Adachi Mitsuru is not only a talented manga artist, but also the owner of a baseball team. Therefore, he so accurately presents the features of the game of baseball in his works.
Adachi Mitsuru published his first manga in 1970 in Shounen Sunday DX, but his success came after the release of Nine in 1978. In all subsequent works, Mitsuru skillfully intertwined sport, friendship, love and dream. All this resonated in the hearts of not only the people of Japan, but also beyond its borders.
The Cross Game manga is no exception. Not only was it broadcast on TV Tokyo, but it was also available outside of Japan. As a result, she received international recognition and won the 54th Shogakukan Manga Award.
