Standard Adachi manga, way way way better than the anime adaptation. While I believe that you need to read/watch Touch to appreciate the anime, this manga is fine in and of itself. Even someone unfamiliar with Adachi should be able to enjoy reading MIX as a standalone sports manga with a healthy dose of drama. It's also worth mentioning that the art is as good as always. The way Adachi portrays the environment always makes me enjoy looking at the panels, and the baseball games feel dynamic, funnily enough even more so than in the anime. So even if you disregard the story for some crazyreason, this manga will be pleasant to look at regardless.

The only downside is the fact that it's a monthly release manga. As of me writing this review, we're approaching the end of the 2nd year of high school for the protagonists, which means that it'll take at the very least 5 years for us to reach the end of the story, likely more. Since there's baseball going on, it's unusual for the chapters to have a lot of text, and even when the characters are having a conversation, Adachi has a tendency to make them talk in sarcastic, cryptic, and succinct ways. Therefore, the text bubbles are short and you'll go through the chapters at a rapid pace if you're not the type to pause on a page to appreciate the art more thoroughly. If you're going to read this, hopefully you're patient.

In a way, MIX goes back to Adachi's roots, and since he's 72 years old, it does make me wonder if this will be his last manga. This thought is heartbreaking for me since Adachi is my favorite manga author. This manga feels like the author's love letter dedicated to high school baseball. A love letter filled with nostalgic thoughts, in an envelope with the scent of youth.

It's a good manga because Adachi is an amazing author.