Kurokan is a manga that spins around the dramatic game of high school baseball. In Japan, high school baseball has a fanatical following especially during the summer months when the best teams get together to play at the Koshien. Winning the Koshien is the not only a prized baseball experience for the players, but also for the coaches.

Kurokan, coach Kuroda, is the mastermind of this manga baseball series. He orchestrates the game through his players using all sorts of tricks and mind games to improve his high school baseball team.

When he is fired as a coach from his previous school for making irrational coaching decisions, a group of students from a “no wins recorded” baseball team approach him to become their coach. He accepts under one condition, the students pay him to coach. As a result of placing a price on being coached, the baseball players were forced to confront the value of practice, paying what they could to receive coaching. The small village community and larger baseball community is shocked when they hear the news. However, Kurokan’s methods lead to quick improvements and the team of nobodies are quickly transformed into a team of potential.

The baseball manga is full of quirky tricks and tactics to get the players to think for themselves. As they begin to learn and better understand the game, the coach, players, and small village is forced to overcome struggles of different sizes. Ironically, as they learn to think for themselves and overcome adversity, they also find the need to “un-think.”

The manga is full of contradiction, unexpected happenings with twists and turns, but also a representation of the struggle it takes to take on winning the Koshien. While there are uniquely Japanese strategies to play baseball, like bunting and sliding into first base, the manga finds a unique angle to highlight the character of each school based on the coaches baseball philosophy.

For me Kurokan was a page turner and s deeper insight into the lifestyle of high school baseball. I think the series provides some insight into Japanese cultural norms and actions that would conflict with society. The manga definitely gave me a deeper sense of appreciation for the dynamism of coaching.