Play Ball (manga)
| Play Ball | |
Manga volume 1 cover | |
| プレイボール (Purei Bōru) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Akio Chiba |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Imprint | Jump Comics |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | 1973 – 1978 |
| Volumes | 22 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Music by | Kaoru Wada |
| Studio | |
| Original network | Animax |
| Original run | July 4, 2005 – March 27, 2006 |
| Episodes | 26 |
| Manga | |
| Play Ball 2 | |
| Written by | Yūji Moritaka |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Magazine | Grand Jump |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | April 5, 2017 – May 6, 2021 |
| Volumes | 12 |
Play Ball (Japanese: プレイボール, Hepburn: Purei Bōru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akio Chiba. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1973 to 1978, with its chapters collected in twenty-two tankōbon volumes.
A sequel, Play Ball 2, illustrated by Yūji Moritaka, was published in Grand Jump from April 5, 2017, to May 6, 2021 and collected into twelve volumes.
The manga was adapted into a two-season anime television series co-produced by Eiken and Magic Bus, which aired on several Japanese television stations as well as the anime satellite television network Animax from July to September 2005 (1st season) and from January to March 2006 (2nd season).
The series was released concurrently with Chiba's other major work, Captain, the other series for which he won the 22nd Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1977.