In the view of a MA fan, Rough is always is best or second manga. Especially, if you don't like baseball, this is probably the best so far. It contains all of his style in a short story.
About the ending: As a happy romance story ppl should expect that the couple will confess, kiss, going out or marry at the end of the story but an opening ending somehow make story have its own interest and as good open ending it's really good one.

Its just a typical adachi manga, cute, light, funny and touching...although it's so typical of his works, this one is still as addictive as his others works, and even though the pattern is there, you'll never tire of reading his works volume by volume until you finish it...

I've never really liked Adachi before, because you know, there was baseball... and then there was this other thing... and then there was the open blue sky, and then it would end, but not after having dragged on for fifty chapters too long. Swimming, on the other hand, is way more straightforward than baseball, so I liked it a million times more.

I liked it as a non baseball Adachi manga, the atmosphere and relationships are recognizable and solid as expected. The ending is a bit silly though, everyone knows what would happen, why won't they draw out the happy ending we want to see. It's a but of a disgrace to end such a build up like that.


... Last updated on March 16th, 2012, 2:32pm

I really love the mangas that Adachi makes, they are usaly pretty slow phased but not in a boring way and there are no major plot twists that alot of mangas usaly have but it's still interesting all the way.

The one thing I both love and hate are his endings, the endings on his mangas are always kinda open ended yet still determinate. The endings are always beutiful and you get what will happen from now on but they always leaves me feeling a little bit empty.

... Last updated on September 26th, 2011, 8:08pm

Interesting and enthralling with a fresh and homey art style that draws you in every time. The story is easy to follow even if you take a break from it. This manga has a really nostalgic feeling.

You can't go wrong with an 80s manga! The art was drawn beautifully.This is why I always like them old mangas because the characters are written properly with that hint of drama. But damn that ending had me hanging!

I remember this ending being frustrating but not the specifics so i reread the entire thing. It was worth it but yeah that ending... >:-[ Its not a bad ending just open ended. It kinda leaves the feeling that emphasis on the story was put more on romantic slice of life than a sports one. I know Adachi uses sports as a way of character development and slice of life material but with the way it ended it really emphasized how swimming was used as a plot device rather than the focal point. (I swear if this were a baseball manga he would never have ended the way he did)

I personally like rough because I like the main heroine. Didn't enjoy H2 as much because I wasn't that big of a fan of either of the two girls (that I can remember.)
I remember reading a comment somewhere that said hiatari ryouko was a precursor to Rough but i don't see it. Sure every Adachi manga has plenty of similarities, but the actual plot line is unique.

My only complaint with this manga was that the characters didn't feel as fleshed out. Like how/why did they pick up swimming/diving etc...

Great manga overall but my favourites will always be Cross Game (Aoba!!!) and Touch (in that order

... Last updated on April 18th, 2013, 2:15pm

Story advances nicely and the mixture of romance and sports is better than in most of the others Adachi works.
One of those you should read

Really good. Adachi does it again. He is one of the better mangakas out there.

Great characters. Funny and innovative. Story never gets stale. Good scenery is always a nice bonus