The Story of Ai and Makoto: Love and Sincerity

**"Hyuma, be a big giant star!"** This is the story of Hyuma Hoshi , a hot-blooded boy who endures intense, bloody training in response to his father's wish! Adapted into Anime twice once in 1968, lasting 182 episodes and again in 1977(As Shin Star of the Giants with a follow-up), lasting a total of 75 episodes. Numerous Anime films were also produced as well as an OVA featuring a crossover with Tezuka's Atom, directed by Gundam's Yoshiyuki Tomino. --- - **Won the 8th Kodansha Children's Manga Award in 1967**

Mitsuru Hanagata, the genius little league pitcher. He injured his shoulder in a little league match and withdrew from baseball. His shoulder should have healed, but in a match against the a baseball club full of hooligans, he realises that his shoulder is permantly injured. He will never be able to pitch again. So he turns to becoming a genius batter instead!

Naoto Date is a feared heel wrestler in America known as Tiger Mask who is extremely vicious in the ring. However, he decides to change after returning to Japan when a young boy tells him he wants to be a villain like Tiger Mask when he grows up. The boy resides in an orphanage, the same one that Tiger Mask grew up in during his childhood. Feeling that he does not want the boy to idolize a villain, Tiger is inspired to be a heroic wrestler. The main antagonists are Tiger's Cave, a mysterious organization that trains young people to be villainous heel wrestlers on the condition that they give half of their earnings to the organization. Tiger Mask was once a member of Tiger's Cave but no longer wants anything to do with them, instead donating his money to the orphanage. This infuriates the leader of the organization and he sends numerous assassins, including other professional wrestlers, after Tiger Mask to punish him. Most of the environment and characters are fictitious, but real-life pro wrestlers Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba are included in the story as well.

Joe Yabuki is a young man living in the slums of Tokyo. But, one day he meets Danpei Tange, a former boxer, who discovers his potential in boxing and tries to make him into a champion. Due to petty crimes, Joe is sent to a juvenile prison. There Joe mets Toru Rikiishi, a promising boxer, who knocked him out with one blow when he attempted to escape prison. Slowly but surely, Joe realizes his own potential. Joe begins his boxing life, step by step, with only one goal in mind… To Defeat Toru Rikiishi !! Licensed in English by Kodansha USA under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.

Ai Saotome is a high school girl from a well-to-do family. When she was kid, she was in an accident that resulted in a young boy being permanently scarred between his eyes while she emerged unscathed. Although she never knew who he was, she never forgot him. Makoto Taiga ' a young man with a scar between his eyes, has had a rough life, but has emerged as a bancho, rough and tough bully - a thug and a brawler and about as rude as they come - all of which he blames on the incident that gave him his scar. When Ai and Makoto run into each other again, Ai feels guilt for what Makoto has become and decides to intervene and rehabilitate him. Is he a diamond in the rough, or just a bully? NOTE: Volume count based on the bunkoban. - **Won the 6th Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for Children's Manga in 1975**

Takano Shoko is a beautiful girl born between a rebellious critic and a famous geisha in Yanagibashi. When her father disappeared, Shoko lost her mother in an air raid and became a vagrant child, becoming the leader of a war orphan group. The harsh fate of the post-war devastation...Shoko grows from a girl to a woman as she suffers a wave of disgrace.