| Abu-san | |
Cover of the firsttankōbon volume, featuring Yasutake Kageura (front) | |
| あぶさん | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shinji Mizushima |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Imprint | Big Comics |
| Magazine | Big Comic Original |
| Original run | 1973 –2014 |
| Volumes | 107 |
Abu-san (Japanese:あぶさん) is abaseballmanga series written and illustrated byShinji Mizushima. It tells the story of fictional baseball player Yasutake Kageura (景浦安武,Kageura Yasutake). It started to be serialized in 1973 inShogakukan'sseinen manga magazineBig Comic Original,[1] and ended on February 5, 2014, after 976 chapters published in the magazine.[2][3] The first manga volume was released onMay 15, 1974[4] and the last one, the 107th volume, was released on March 28, 2014.[5]
In 1977, it received theShogakukan Manga Award for general manga.[6] In 2004, Mizushima auctioned off the right to appear as a character inAbu-san for over ¥3 million, as a fundraiser for Mangajapan.[7] As of 2013, the series has sold over 22 million copies.[3]
TheFukuoka SoftBank Hawks currently honours Squad no.90, which belongs to Yasutake Kageura.