One Outs is not a manga that concerns itself with the rules / techniques of baseball or a particular player's rise from being the disadvantaged underdog to a famous prodigy. This is more of a story about gambling and psychological play with the baseball diamond as its stage.

Certain readers complain about Toua Tokuchi's "unnatural brilliance." While I don't deny that his unparalleled genius is somewhat lacking in realism, it's rather enjoyable to come across a protagonist who's full of confidence and is not floundering in a sea of conflicting emotions or unnecessary worries; a man who knows exactly what he wants and has the mental capabilities to achieve those goals. Anyone who appreciates calm, ruthless, intelligent characters will doubtless enjoy following Tokuchi's tactical manoeuvres throughout the story. The question is never: "Will Tokuchi win?" but rather: How will Tokuchi (and the Lycaons) win?" (And more often than not, your guesses will be completely wrong!)

"Lack of character development" is the other primary complaint of the critics. But in my opinion, it's not necessary for a protagonist to have a tragic past, a complicated family background, or a dead lover in order to be realistic and relateable. These are adult men and professional baseball players. For them, the time of doubt, emotional turmoil and romantic entanglements is long gone. If that's what you're looking for, I'd recommend trying something like Major or H2 instead.

That being said, character development of a type entirely different from the norm is actually present, as becomes especially apparent in the latter half of the series. The evolution of the Lycaons players' willpower, confidence, tactical prowess, and team spirit (which, unlike in typical sports series, has nothing to do with friendship and more to do with pride and professionalism) is carefully laid out over the 20 volumes, and is a pretty interesting thing to watch out for.

The anime adaptation's very good -- actually even more exciting than the manga since the animation is able to convey the high-speed actions on the playing field far more effectively than static pictures (regardless of how skilfully drawn they may be) can. Either way, it's necessary to watch the anime before reading volume 10 of the manga, in order to bridge the gap in the scanlations.

Overall, a very interesting story. Even those who don't normally fancy sports themes might like to attempt this, as the psychological aspect is more fascinating and prominent than the actual game.

... Last updated on February 2nd, 2015, 1:23pm

I loved One Outs when it was initially released, and when I reread it, I came to enjoy the manga even more. Tokuchi is a great protagonist, all the more so since one rarely sees such black-bellied and scheming characters in that role.

There's also something very unique about a story that's simultaneously about baseball and gambling, and even involves infighting - for most of the story, Tokuchi's main antagonist isn't any of the rivaling baseball teams, but rather his own boss.

Note on the manga structure: Chapters 33 to 81 basically aren't scanlated, so you'll have to watch parts of the anime for that. Also, volume 20 is a flashback story. The main story properly concludes at chapter 167. Don't go into volume 20 expecting a continuation.

I thoroughly enjoyed the manga, the description doesn't quite do the manga justice... it doesn't show how brilliant of a character Tokuchi is. If you've read Eyeshield 21, Hiruma would be the equivalent of Tokuchi. Except in this case, the story is centred around Tokuchi, rather than a weak character who develops into an amazing player. Tokuchi starts out as a genius and never gets to be any more or less so of a genius.

Evidently, I'm a complete fan of Tokuchi. His antics never cease to amuse me. The story is great, albeit much of it is still untranslated.

It's similar to H2 in the sense that Kunimi Hiro started off as a star player and never stopped being one. He only messes up because of luck or factors outside of his control. However, the focus of One Outs is psychological tactics rather than simply improving skills. There's also no romantic subtext.

This blew me away. It is most definitely focused on baseball, but psychology plays a larger part. It's just so good, I find myself suddenly laughing out loud at some outrageous occurrence or when I'm finally filled in on what new psychological attack Toua has come up with.

Unfortunately, there is a huge 53 chapter gap in the translations.
Although I have only read up to chapter 31 at this point (which was sadly left on a huge cliffhanger...), I am now turning to the anime to fill me in.

HIGHLY Recommended. (:
This coming from someone who doesn't usually pick up these sports manga, much less anything regarding psychology. This has definitely opened my eyes. (:

I'm not a person whose really into sports but I am totally in love with this manga. It's not a baseball manga about being the greatest baseball player/team but rather it's a baseball manga where the players try to out smart eachother. I think this manga has everything it has psychological elements, sports, gambling and a badass male lead.

Tokuchi is an amazing character even to the end. Although his baseball skills are average he's the extremely evil super genius whose power to decipher and controls everyone's actions allows him to become a threat to every team that plays against him. Amazing character, suspenseful plotline that keeps you guessing and most of all, a very satisfying ending. I think the extra sequel volume is unnecessary but it's quite good as well, so it's worth reading. Highly recommend this to anyone who likes psychological warfare. Ah, only minor issue is the mangaka writes One Outs assuming you know something about baseball so not everything is explained in detail which made me a tad confused since I know nothing about baseball

@a_v
Come on we can not help it since the available scanlations is only around 3vol and all, moreover it is not available in our country. We can not help but watch the anime to get our fix, but i believe the manga is so much better.

I am also one of the very rare people who somehow bump to One Outs before trying to read Mitsuru Adachi manga, after i read it is about slice of life i knew immediately that is not my type of manga >.< i am struggling to find another manga that can ease my -one outs- withdrawal.

Toua is such a sadist. He reigns there at the top of my fav sadistic hero >.< together with Neuro. I really like the mind game. It reminds me a lot of Kaiji but his style looks similar with Liar Game which i have just found out it is from the same author!!

... Last updated on October 13th, 2009, 10:21am

One of my top favourites manga! Despite not being a big sport fan, I absolutely love the whole psychological aspect of it! I've watched the anime and i instant loved it! When there was no more videos left, I was sad, but then I realized that there was a manga version which extended! You don't know how happy I was!

It also didn't help that he reminds me so much of Hiruma in Eyeshield 21, who I absolutely LOVE!

... Last updated on August 12th, 2014, 5:43pm

Manga blew my mind. I watched the anime to get through the first 10 vols without reading and it's mad beautiful animation despite having released a couple of years ago. Then the manga is amazing 'cause Tokuchi is so badass you start rooting for him to win even though he's pretty much cheating. Obviously



You know that feeling of great loss after finishing an amazing manga? I felt like crying after finishing One Outs

There's a massive gap in the scans so can't really say but I liked the start so I guess I would recommend it if you happen to enjoy watching tv shows after skipping several seasons.