Yakyū-kyō no Uta (Japanese: 野球狂の詩, lit. “Poetry of Baseball Enthusiasts”) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinji Mizushima. It follows Yūki Mizuhara, a young woman who wants to do veterinary medicine at college but instead she became a baseball player. It was originally serialized in the Kodansha‘s Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine between 1972 and 1976, and has been adapted into several spin-off manga, a live-action film, an anime television series, an anime film, and a Japanese television drama. In 1973, it received the 4th Kōdansha Literature Culture Award for children’s manga.

Manga

The Yakyū-kyō no Uta manga series was written and illustrated by Shinji Mizushima, and originally serialized by Kodansha in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1972 to 1976. It was published into a single tankōbon volume on October 1, 1972, on June 16, 1974, on January 25, 1976, and on January 21, 1979. Between July 12, 1995 and October 12, 1995, it was published in 13 bunkoban. A four-shinsōban version subtitled Best Nine Selection (ベストナイン・セレクション, Besuto Nain Serekushon) was released between November 21, 1997 and June 23, 1998.

In 1997, a new series entitled Yakyū-kyō no Uta Heisei-hen (野球狂の詩 平成編) started to be serialized by Kodansha in Mister Magazine.^{[citation needed]} Later, it was collected into 3 tankōbon released between August 7, 1998 and March 9, 2000. Shin Yakyū-kyō no Uta (新・野球狂の詩) was serialized from 2000 to 2005 in Comic Morning,^{[citation needed]} and published on 11 tankōbon between January 23, 2001 and October 21, 2005.

Four bound volumes were published under Platinum Comics line between June 11, 2003 and July 23, 2003: Iwata Tetsugorō-hen (岩田鉄五郎編), Kokuritsu-dama Ichirō-hen (国立玉一郎編), Hiura Ken-hen (火浦健編), and Yakyū Shokunin-den-hen (野球職人伝編).

A crossover manga between Yakyū-kyō no Uta and Dokaben, another Mizushima manga, was first published in 2005. On February 8, 2006, it was released by Kodansha in a bound volume under the title Yakyū-kyō no Uta Vs. Dokaben (野球狂の詩　VS. ドカベン). Later, on September 30, 2009, a “Superstars Edition” (スーパースターズ編) was published.

On February 10, 2009, a series entitled Shinsō-ban Yakyū-kyō no Uta: Mizuhara Yūki-hen (新装版　野球狂の詩　水原勇気編), that follows the story of Yūki Mizuhara, a real-life female baseball player, started to be published. Spawning three bound volumes, it was last published on April 10, 2009 by Kodansha.

Live-action film

Akira Katō directed a live-action adaptation that was released on March 19, 1977. It starred Midori Kinouchi, was produced by Hiromi Higuchi, written by Masayasu Ōehara and Rokurō Kumagaya, and its score was composed by Shin Takada.

Cast

• Midori Kinouchi as Yuki MIzuhara
• Asao Koike as Tetsugoro Iwata
• Hiroshi Inuzuka as Mizuhara
• Katsuya Nomura as himself
• Kei Tani as Sentaro
• Jūkei Fujioka as Matsukawa

Anime

A 25-episode anime television series was created by Nippon Animation, and was broadcast on Fuji Television between December 23, 1977 and March 26, 1979. An anime film titled Yakyū-kyō no Uta: Kita no Ōkami, Minami no Tora (野球狂の詩　北の狼・南の虎) was released in theatres on September 15, 1979 and shown together with the first Future Boy Conan compilation movie. It is an adaptation of chapters 13 and 14: “Kita no Ōkami, Minami no Tora” Part 1 and Part 2.^{[citation needed]}

TV drama

The series was adapted into a live-action Japanese television drama broadcast on January 7, 1985 on Fuji Television. It starred Yuki Saito as Yūki Mizuhara and Shirō Itō as Tetsugorō Iwata.^{[citation needed]}

Yakyū-kyō no Uta
Cover of the first volume
野球狂の詩
Genre	Baseball
Manga
Written by	Shinji Mizushima
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1972 – 1976
Volumes	17
Live-action film
Directed by	Akira Katō
Produced by	Hiromi Higuchi
Written by	Masayasu Ōehara, Rokurō Kumagaya
Music by	Shin Takada
Released	March 19, 1977
Runtime	93 minutes
Anime television series
Directed by	Tameo Kohanawa
Produced by	Kōichi Motohashi
Music by	Michiaki Watanabe
Studio	Nippon Animation
Original run	December 23, 1977 – March 26, 1979
Episodes	25
Anime film
Yakyū-kyō no Uta: Kita no Ōkami, Minami no Tora
Directed by	Eiji Okabe
Produced by	Kōichi Motohashi
Music by	Taiji Nakamura
Studio	Nippon Animation
Released	September 15, 1979
Runtime	90 minutes
Television drama
Produced by	Setsurō Wakamatsu
Written by	Keiji Okutsu
Studio	Telepack
Original network	Fuji TV
Original run	January 7, 1985
Manga
Yakyū-kyō no Uta Heisei-hen
Written by	Shinji Mizushima
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Mister Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1997 – 2000
Volumes	3
Manga
Shin Yakyū-kyō no Uta
Written by	Shinji Mizushima
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Comic Morning
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	2000 – 2005
Volumes	11