Major Review: A Boy Who Wants to Be a Pro Baseball Player Like His Father Pursues That Dream Through Every Obstacle Life Creates
by Takuya Mitsuda
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Quick Take
- One of the longest complete sports manga ever published: 78 volumes following one character from childhood through professional baseball, spanning decades of his life
- The series takes its subject seriously — the career, the injuries, the human cost of athletic ambition — in ways that distinguish it from most sports manga
- Complete at 78 volumes; a sequel series (Major 2nd) continues the story through the next generation
Who Is This Manga For?
- Baseball fans who want the sport treated with deep seriousness across a complete story
- Sports manga readers who want long-form character development across a full life arc
- Anyone who wants the most ambitious complete sports story available in English
- Readers willing to commit to a very long series with high payoff
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Loss of a parent in early volumes; serious injury content throughout; the emotional stakes of sports drama at its most committed
The loss in early volumes establishes the series' emotional register — this is not light sports entertainment.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★★ |
| Art Style | ★★★★☆ |
| Character Development | ★★★★★ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★☆ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★☆ |
Story Overview
Goro Honda's father Shigeharu Honda is a professional baseball player. Young Goro idolizes him. Early in the series, loss redefines Goro's relationship to baseball — it becomes how he carries his father, what he owes him, and what he cannot stop pursuing regardless of the cost.
The 78 volumes follow Goro from little league through high school, college, the Japanese professional leagues, and eventually MLB — an entire athletic life compressed into one series.
The series does not avoid what a life in professional baseball actually costs.
Characters
Goro Honda — One of sports manga's most fully realized protagonists across any series. His specific stubbornness — he will not stop, he will not be satisfied, he will not make peace with less than everything he wanted — is both his strength and his damage. The series earns the right to show both.
The Supporting Characters — Across 78 volumes, the people around Goro cycle through his life as they would in reality — childhood friends become professional rivals, early mentors age, new people appear at each stage. The scope is genuinely novelistic.
Art Style
Mitsuda's art is clean baseball manga — the pitching and batting sequences are clear and technically aware, and the character designs are consistent across the enormous run. The visual storytelling improves across the series as Mitsuda grows as an artist.
Cultural Context
Baseball in Japan — it is not America's pastime transplanted; it is Japan's. The Japanese professional leagues, the college draft, the path from high school prodigy to professional player — these are specific cultural institutions with their own rules and traditions. Major follows them accurately.
What I Love About It
Goro playing through injury. Multiple times in the series, Goro faces a physical reality that should end his career, and each time the series is honest about what it costs him to continue and what it costs him to stop. These sequences — not triumphant, not simple — are when the series is most fully itself.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Western readers who have completed Major describe it as one of the most satisfying sports series available — the full life arc, the willingness to deal with the cost of athletic ambition, and the genuine emotional weight of the early volumes give the series a scope that shorter series cannot match. The sequel Major 2nd (following Goro's son) is recommended after completion.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
The sequence at the end of the series where Goro plays his final game — knowing it is his final game, having made peace with what his career was and was not — is among sports manga's finest closing sequences: earned, honest, and exactly right for a series that took 78 volumes to tell.
Similar Manga
- Cross Game — Baseball, same publisher era, similar emotional register
- Touch — Baseball, family and loss, foundational work
- Ace of Diamond — High school baseball, more focused on team
- Big Windup — Baseball technique and psychology, shorter
Reading Order / Where to Start
Volume 1 — the story begins with Goro's childhood and the foundational loss that defines everything that follows.
Official English Translation Status
VIZ Media published the complete 78-volume series. All volumes available.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 78 volumes, complete — the most ambitious complete sports manga available in English
- The full life arc gives it a scope no shorter series can match
- Goro's character development across decades is exceptional
- The baseball content is taken seriously throughout
Cons
- 78 volumes is an enormous commitment
- The early loss is genuinely affecting — emotional preparation recommended
- Baseball knowledge enriches the reading but is not required
Format Comparison
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| Individual Volumes | VIZ Media; complete |
| Digital | Available |
Where to Buy
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.