Keiji Adachi
Description
Keiji Adachi is a Japanese manga artist born on August 4, 1980, in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture. His real name is Kintaro Adachi, and he has also been professionally credited under the name Keiji Adachi. He graduated from the Osaka Comprehensive Design College.
Adachi is best known as the artist for the long-running baseball manga series Gurazeni, for which he collaborates with writer Yuji Moritaka. The series, whose title is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for "salary" and "player," centers on the financial realities of professional baseball. It follows Natsunosuke Bonda, a relief pitcher who navigates a team system where performance directly determines annual salary. The original Gurazeni manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Morning magazine in 2010 and concluded in 2014, spanning 17 volumes. It won the General category award at the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2013.
Adachi’s work on Gurazeni continued across several sequel series. Gurazeni Tokyo Dome-hen ran from 2014 to 2018, followed by Gurazeni Pa League-hen, which began in 2018. In December 2021, the creators launched Gurazeni Dai League-hen, a story arc that follows the main character as he moves to American Major League Baseball. The Gurazeni franchise has also inspired spinoff manga by other artists.
The original Gurazeni manga was adapted into two television anime seasons. The first season premiered in April 2018, and the second season, Gurazeni Season 2, began airing in October 2018. For these adaptations, Adachi is credited as the original creator. Outside of the Gurazeni franchise, his work in anime includes providing an end card illustration for the fourth episode of the 2018 television series Kokkoku.
Before using the Keiji Adachi pen name, he created short works under his real name. A short story titled Ryu-GU won an excellence award in the 20th MANGA OPEN contest. His early work was collected in a 2009 volume titled Keiji Adachi Complete Works The DRIFTERS. Through his consistent work on Gurazeni, a series that ran across multiple publications and inspired a notable anime adaptation, Adachi has established himself as a recognized figure in the world of sports-themed manga and anime.
Adachi is best known as the artist for the long-running baseball manga series Gurazeni, for which he collaborates with writer Yuji Moritaka. The series, whose title is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for "salary" and "player," centers on the financial realities of professional baseball. It follows Natsunosuke Bonda, a relief pitcher who navigates a team system where performance directly determines annual salary. The original Gurazeni manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Morning magazine in 2010 and concluded in 2014, spanning 17 volumes. It won the General category award at the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2013.
Adachi’s work on Gurazeni continued across several sequel series. Gurazeni Tokyo Dome-hen ran from 2014 to 2018, followed by Gurazeni Pa League-hen, which began in 2018. In December 2021, the creators launched Gurazeni Dai League-hen, a story arc that follows the main character as he moves to American Major League Baseball. The Gurazeni franchise has also inspired spinoff manga by other artists.
The original Gurazeni manga was adapted into two television anime seasons. The first season premiered in April 2018, and the second season, Gurazeni Season 2, began airing in October 2018. For these adaptations, Adachi is credited as the original creator. Outside of the Gurazeni franchise, his work in anime includes providing an end card illustration for the fourth episode of the 2018 television series Kokkoku.
Before using the Keiji Adachi pen name, he created short works under his real name. A short story titled Ryu-GU won an excellence award in the 20th MANGA OPEN contest. His early work was collected in a 2009 volume titled Keiji Adachi Complete Works The DRIFTERS. Through his consistent work on Gurazeni, a series that ran across multiple publications and inspired a notable anime adaptation, Adachi has established himself as a recognized figure in the world of sports-themed manga and anime.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview
- Topics: Anime overview