This is a series of stories about boys and baseball. Takumi and Gou, the two main characters, meet and form a pitcher and catcher team (the Battery of the title). Takumi is confident in his fastball but is resented by his teammates, who are all trying to regain some autonomy in the face of pressure from their teacher, the baseball coach.... more>>

Despite this, Takumi maintains his confidence and heads to the pitcher’s mound. At the same time, Gou suffers in the face of his own limitations. Takumi, who had never been interested in others, begins to want to know more about Gou.

Will Takumi realize his potential as a pitcher? What will happen to Gou?This popular series vividly depicts the struggle to be true to oneself. The intense feelings and tranquility of this series place it on the front line of Japanese Children’s literature. <<less

The year is 2013, and it's the city of No. 6: a stringently controlled, diligently maintained megalopolis that embodies the highest ideals of humankind. Sion has lived under close supervision as a "high-ranking elite and therefore one of the city's assets" since the age of two, and feels secure - if not particularly happy - in his carefully planned out, government-sponsored future. ... more>>

On the night of his twelfth birthday, his comfortable lifestyle is turned upside-down when he meets, tends the wounds of, and shelters, a strange boy with an icy demeanour who calls himself "Nezumi" (Rat).

Why did I open the window that night? If I had not, I'd never have been forced to know what it's like to fight, to starve, and to suffer in anguish... <<less

Riho, Misaki, and Kisaragi attend a school known for being a collection of students that scr*pe the bottom of the barrel with its idea of... more>> a “passing average” being a collective 100 out of 500 points from all five subjects. Riho is dumped by her boyfriend only weeks before her 17th birthday. Misaki is a girl who’s spent her life in-and-out of hospitals, but who hates being pitied. Kisaragi is constantly compared to, and lives in the shadow of, his talented baseball player older brother Mutsuki. With the summer before their last year of high school quickly approaching, it’s a time for change and growth as they prepare to transition into adulthood. <<less