Touch

Episode Director: Gisaburô Sugii

Music: Hiroaki Serizawa
Original creator: Mitsuru Adachi
Series Length: 101 Episodes, 3 TV recap movies, 2 Movie Sequels

Currently Unlicensed

Shows like Touch are the reason why I watch anime...

The story centers around three characters - Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he’s talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who’s been living the life of giving up the spotlight to Kazuya, despite the fact that he may be more gifted than him. Minami is the beautiful childhood girlfriend and for all intents, sister from next door who treats both of them as equals. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya. Yet as time progresses, Tatsuya grows to realize that he’s willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his brother, except at the expense of giving up Minami to Kazuya. And thus the story is told of Tatsuya trying to prove himself over his established younger brother, how it affects the relationship between the three, and both brothers' attempts to make Minami's lifelong dreams come true.

What makes Touch so great is its wonderful characters.  Mitsuru Adachi has lovingly created these characters that you can easily relate with.  These characters go through a range of emotions, from joy to heartbreak.  The story that's told along the way is one that few shows today cannot even begin to compete with.

Even if you are not a fan of baseball, like I am (I don't think I've ever sat through a complete baseball game), there is plenty to enjoy and come away with.  The music is also top notch, the opening and ending themes are really catchy and sets the mood for each of the archs in the anime.

The animation, while dated (the show aired from 1985-1987), is very good considering its age.  It reminds me a lot of shows like Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road.

I can't really find anything to fault with this series....if I had to place a negative on anything that is, after 101 episodes, there felt like a couple of loose threads as far as the story goes.  It seems like that the show could have went another season to finish up these minor storylines.  But despite that, this series tells an excellent story.

In conclusion, this show should be on a 'required viewing' list, it's story and characters are timeless that few shows can match these days.  However, in a world today of harem anime, giant mecha, and girls with guns shows, good QUALITY anime like Touch is often overlooked, mainly because of the animation.  Anime 'fans' these days are often spoiled by the effects of CGI in their shows, and if it doesn't look like it has that CGI look to it, then it isn't worth the time of day, and that is their loss.

There is a reason this show spawned 101 TV episodes and five movies (and the highest rated viewership of a animated television episode) , a live action musical, and an upcoming live action movie (premiering this September in Japan), and that's because this show is a testament of what is good about anime. Receives my highest possible recommendations

Final Grade---A+