Ace o Nerae!

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Aim for the Ace!


caption =
ja_name = エースをねらえ!
ja_name_trans = Ēsu o nerae!
genre = Sports, RomanceInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Sumika Yamamoto
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
demographic = Shōjo
magazine = flagicon|Japan Margaret
first = 1973
last = 1980
volumes = 18Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Osamu Dezaki
studio = Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Studio Madhouse
network = flagicon|Japan MBS
first = October 5, 1973
last = March 29, 1974
episodes = 26

nihongo|"Ace o Nerae!"|エースをねらえ!|Ēsu o nerae!|lit. "Aim for the Ace!" is a shōjo manga by Sumika Yamamoto begun in 1972 and serialized in "Margaret". Hugely successful, it was adapted into a TV anime series in 1973, and more recently a live-action drama series in 2004. The anime series was made by Tokyo Movie Shinsha with the Madhouse animation studio (its first major production), and was originally aired on the Mainichi Broadcasting System. There was also a movie which consisted of several compiled episodes. Another TV anime and two OAVs would soon follow in the 1970s and 1980s. The original TV anime has been distributed in Europe, with the titles "Jenny la tennista" or "Jenny, the Tennis Player" (Italian), "Jeu, Set et Match", or "Game, Set and Match" (French), and "Raqueta de oro" or "Golden Racket" (Spanish).

Synopsis

The story is about Hiromi Oka, a high school girl who struggles to become good at tennis. Hiromi starts playing tennis in her high school, "Nishiko", because she is fascinated by an older girl, Reika Ryūzaki, who is the best player in the team and is nicknamed nihongo|"Ochōfujin"|お蝶夫人, which means "Madame Butterfly", because of her grace on the tennis court. The team gets a new coach, Jin Munakata, who sees potential in her and trains her to become a great tennis player. Hiromi struggles to overcome her mental weakness. "Nishiko" is modeled after Urawanishi High School, from which the author graduated.

Later on, she falls in love with another tennis player, Takayuki Tōdō, but Coach Munakata tells her not to get too involved, and that it is better to forget him in order to become a better player. Hiromi suffers over this, and many times she loses her confidence in her playing abilities, but with the support of her coach and her many friends she overcomes her anxiety. By training herself to become a better player, Hiromi grows into a mentally stronger person. Hiromi's enthusiasm and love for tennis, and the support from people around her, helps her to become one of the best players in the world.

Characters

*nihongo|Hiromi Oka|岡ひろみ|Oka Hiromi
*nihongo|Reika Ryūzaki|竜崎麗香|Ryūzaki Reika
*nihongo|Jin Munakata|宗方仁|Munakata Jin
*nihongo|Takayuki Tōdō|藤堂貴之|Tōdō Takayuki

Anime

Anime cast

*Hiromi Oka - Makoto Kōsaka
*Jin Munakata - Kōji Nakata
*Takayuki Tōdō - Katsuji Mori
*Reika Ryūzaki - Masako Ikeda
*Kyoko Otowa - Kazue Komiya
*Ranko Midorikawa - Kazuko Yanaga
*Yū Ozaki - Michihiro Ikemizu
*Takashi Chiba - Kenyū Horiuchi

*Mitsuishi Kotono - debuted as Tomoyo in "Ace o Nerae! Final Stage". She is most known for her later voice work as Excel Excel of "The Excel Saga", Katsuragi Misato of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", or Tsukino Usagi in the title role of "Sailor Moon".

equels to the anime

*nihongo|""|エースをねらえ! 劇場版|Ēsu o Nerae! Gekijōban|Jump High, Hiromi (compilation movie)
*nihongo|"Shin Ace o Nerae!"|新エースをねらえ！ (TV anime)
*nihongo|"Ace o Nerae! 2"|エースをねらえ！２ (OAV)
*nihongo|"Ace o Nerae! Final Stage"|エースをねらえ！ファイナルステージ (OAV)

Drama version

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Ace o Nerae!


caption =
ja_name = エースをねらえ!
ja_name_trans = Ēsu o nerae!
genre = DramaInfobox animanga/Drama
title =
director =
network = flagicon|Japan TV Asahi
first = January 15
last = March 11 2004
slot = Thursdays at 9 p.m.
episodes = 9 (including two special episodes)

"Ace o Nerae!" was adapted into a 2004 Japanese drama series by TV Asahi. The theme song of the show was "Ai no Tame ni" by Aya Ueto who also starred in the leading role.

TV series cast

* Aya Ueto - Hiromi Oka
* Masaaki Uchino - Jin Munakata
* Rio Matsumoto - Reika Ryuzaki
* Yu Yoshizawa - Takayuki Todo
* Ayaka Morita - Maki Aikawa
* Ayana Sakai - Ranko Midorikawa
* Yuma Ishigaki - Yu Ozaki
* Shuji Kashiwabara - Takashi Chiba
* Becky - Houriki Saiko

TV series staff

* Producers - Motohiro Matsumoto, Shizuo Sekiguchi
* Screenwriter - Akiyo Takikawa
* Music - Norihito Sumitomo
* Tennis supervisor - Shuzou Matsuoka

External links

* [http://www.shueisha.co.jp/home-sha/ace/ Official Shueisha "Ace o Nerae!" manga website] ja icon
* [http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ace/ Official TV Asahi "Ace o Nerae!" television drama website] ja icon