Baby Steps


Baby Steps is a Japanese manga series by Hikaru Katsuki. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since October 2007. The story is centered on Eiichirō Maruo, a first year honor student who one day decides that he is lacking exercise. He then joins the Southern Tennis Club where he begins his tennis journey. An anime television series adaptation of the series began airing in Japan in April 2014 with a second season began airing April 5, 2015. The anime shows Taishi Murata as Eiichiro Maruo, and Minako Kotobuki as Natsu Takasaki. It also won the 38th Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōnen Manga category.

Story

Eiichirō Maruo, a first year honor student, one day decides he is unhappy with the way things are and lacks exercise. He finds a flyer for the Tennis Club and decides to check it out. He is instantly captivated by it. With no prior experience and poor physical conditioning, he embarks on a tennis journey using his smarts, dedication and work ethic. He uses his inherent studious nature to develop an extremely strategic approach to tennis, taking notes on the habits and tendencies of his opponents thus allowing him to predict their shots before they make them.

Characters

Southern Tennis Club

;Eiichirō Maruo
;Natsu Takasaki
;Takuma Egawa
;Yukichi Fukazawa
;Yūsaku Miura
;Yūki Tajima

Ōsugi High School

;Kojirō Kageyama
;Himeko Sasaki

Kanagawa Prefecture Junior Players

;Hiroshi Araya
;Takuya Miyagawa
;Ryō Ōbayashi
;Hiromi Iwasa

Kanto Regional Junior Players

;Takayuki Okada
;Yoshiaki Ide
;Sakuya Takagi

All-Japan National Junior Players

;Yū Nabae

Florida Tennis Academy

;Sōji Ike
Also known as sou-chan is professional tennis player who was previously a member of the Southern tennis club same as Natsu, Maruo and Takuma. He was introduced to tennis by Nat-chan but quickly surpassed her and players of his age. Soji is in the same age as Eichiro. Currently is ranked Top 1 in Japan and is aiming for a Title of the best tennis player in the world.
;Alex O'Brian
;Marcia O'Brian
;Atsushi Taira
;Ramesh Krishna
;Mike Maguire

Media

Manga

Volume list

As of December 2017, 47 volumes have been released.

Anime

Reception

In 2014, Baby Steps won the 38th Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōnen Manga category.