"Fortune comes to those who laugh." Battle Studies is damn good. Reaaaaally damn good. In a world full of 'Blue Locks' (sports manga that focus more on looking cool and having hype moments) and 'Haikyuus' (overly long sport manga that overstay their welcome and become stale) -- I feel like Battle Studies is a bit of a weird series. It's grounded. It makes teen act like teens. Teens are stupid, teens do stupid stuff, and teens play stupid games with each other, trying to live off the last few days of their youth. Battle Studies reflects this in a very honest way, showing you how these teensovercome adversity and grow as people, with blood and tears. It isn't about a 'main character' wanting to accomplish a dream, nor is it about trying to get the team back together. It's about stupid teens wanting to live their 'youth' playing baseball. Playing their games with other stupid teens and enjoying themselves.

There's lot to love here. Kano and Hinoki are great characters, and I adore their dynamic. They're basically the Goku/Vegeta, the Sonic/Shadow, the Naruto/Sasuke of this manga. They're rivals, they kinda headbutt each other, but eventually come into terms and bond with each other. Their dynamic is absurdly fun to watch, and their friendship feels so genuine. Again, stupid teens that are absurdly honest with their dreams. Even with such a huge cast, I'm able to remember a lot of characters. Nagano, Oba, Abiru, Hanamoto.. They all feel like real people. They all feel like genuine people chasing their dreams. Finding joy in playing baseball. There's a lot of moments that made me let out masculine tears, because damn. This manga makes you ACTUALLY feel bad for these guys. Whenever they lose, whenever they win, you can't just avoid feeling emotions. The way everything is expressed via the art and paneling is so sublime. The latter volumes are a genuinely good example of this. And talking about the art..

I love Battle Studies' artstyle.. Weeeell, atleast on the first half. I adore the Rokudenashi Blues genetics on this manga. Characters make wacky expressions with a mix of realism, certain characters are drawn in a comical, overexaggerated manner, everything is presented in a rather slapsticky way with a lot of 'over-the-top' emotions.. I enjoy that a lot. However, this artstyle slowly mellows out through the latter volumes (I believe the shift starts at Vol. 25?), and while the art is still REAALLY good for a weekly manga and I genuinely think it benefits the more 'honest' tone the series takes later on, Vol. 10-20's artstyle is actually unbeatable. That artstyle is what represents Battle Studies to me.

Now, does this affect my overall score of Battle Studies? Nah. I think the latter chapters are leaning more towards meandering, but atleast they're trying to do something with it (looking at you Haikyuu), even if it's not the most groundbreaking thing in the world. I do enjoy how everyone else develops, but Kano's a really specific case. Kano is a REAAALLY big hit-or-miss character, and he hit for me. He's probably the stupidest guy in this manga, he wants everyone to keep the status quo, and he absolutely hates the idea of Marui becoming the team captain because he's a regular guy. He's not as passionate about baseball as he is. He was the one who left. Not him. Kano himself is a childish character, a immature brat who wants things to STAY the way they were until he gets results. And I like that a lot. If DL isn't on it's 'peak' -- how can they even enjoy baseball? How can they play the game properly if the leader simply.. doesn't get it?

Kano's a jackass, cae and point. If you like jackasses with snark, then Kano's gonna be likeable. If not, you're probably out of luck.

Despite everything, this is still one of the most fun spokon I've had the pleasure of reading. There's lot of passion put into this manga, and I think that's certainly something to praise. The author himself DID play for DL, and that shows. Not only is this a good coming-of-age-story, it is also a damn good spokon with beautiful art. Be sure to atleast try out the first few volumes.