Cross Game is a romantic comedy sports manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi and published by Shogakukan. The series is about the high school baseball players Kou Kitamura and Aoba Tsukishima, who are bound together by Kou's relationship with Aoba's dead sister, Wakaba, and by their efforts to fulfill Wakaba's last dream of seeing them play in the national tournament in Koshien Stadium.

Main characters

Position: Pitcher One of the two protagonists, Kou is in 5th grade in Part One and enters Seishu High School early in Part Two. He lives down the street from the Tsukishima family and frequently visits their house, batting cages, and coffee shop. He has been practically inseparable from Wakaba since their birth on the same day (June 10) in the same hospital. Despite their age in Part One, the two are very close and their families treat them as if they are a couple. While he shows little interest in baseball to outsiders, he has practiced daily at the Tsukishima Batting Center in the cage and above since he was old enough to swing a bat; as a result, he is an excellent batter from a young age, especially against fastballs. Kou is described by several other characters, including Ichiyo, Yuhei Azuma, and Junpei Azuma, as very like Aoba. In particular, they say the two are both very competitive, and Junpei attributes their frequent squabbling to their similarities. After a sandlot game against Aoba's team in elementary school, Kou is inspired by her pitching form to become a pitcher himself, and at Wakaba's urging secretly adopts Aoba's daily training regimen. Although he does not play baseball in junior high school, Akaishi and Nakanishi convince him to join the high school baseball team. With his changeup pitches, control, and incredible fastball, he becomes the ace pitcher in Seishu High School, as well as a strong hitter. Kou describes himself as having no self-confidence and an excellent liar. In Part Three, Kou starts dating Akane Takigawa, who has a remarkable resemblance to Wakaba. However, he is also very attentive towards Aoba; for example noticing when Aoba is injured before anyone else and consoling her by catching her pitches when the realization that she would never be able to share important moments with her fellow teammates on the field, finally sinks in. Despite being at odds with one another, Kou and Aoba share a deep bond through their love for Wakaba. Kou takes to heart what Aoba has to say and values her opinion more than others. During the final Seishu's match against Ryuō, he shows great determination to throw a 100 mph pitch, having promised Aoba he would (based on Wakaba's advice on how to get Aoba to like him) telling her "We're going to Koshien! I'll pitch 100 mph ball! And I love Aoba Tsukishima more than anyone else in the world!' when playing catch with her before the match. Though he did ask if he could lie to her before replying, the first two are shown as true, implying the latter may also be true. This is further implied in the last chapter when Aoba holds his hand and he doesn't pull away when given the choice by her.

Position: Pitcher, Center fielder The other protagonist, Aoba is the third daughter of the Tsukishima family, one year younger than Kou and Wakaba. Aoba is seen as a tomboy by other characters, one who loves baseball very much. Her father has played catch with Aoba since she was little, thus grooming her into a strong pitcher. She has a poster of Ryota Igarashi, a famous fastball pitcher, on her bedroom wall, and when she was young Aoba told Wakaba she was only interested in a guy who could pitch a fastball over . She has an excellent pitching form, on which Kou based his own form, and she has a wide variety of pitches. Although as a girl she cannot play in official inter-school games, she occasionally pitches in practice games, or plays center field when Kou pitches. Many younger members of the Seishu baseball team are inspired by how much effort she puts into baseball and coaching them, and work hard to not disappoint her. Kou claims she is secretly disappointed that she will never be able to pitch in an official game, and Yuhei Azuma points out that she is using Kou as her proxy to get to Koshien. Aoba is very close to Wakaba, and according to Ichiyo jealous of how much time Wakaba spends with Kou. She frequently reiterates her intense dislike of Kou throughout the series and often squabbles with him. Despite this, she is very like him in behavior and talents, as several characters comment. After Kou becomes the ace pitcher of Seishu High School, Aoba slowly comes to admit his qualities as a player, and becomes less reluctant to offer advice and even teaches him new breaking pitches. Eventually she admits she has faith in his ability to fulfill Wakaba's last dream, in which he pitches at Koshien. Late in Part Two, Aoba admits (lightly) to Junpei Azuma that she likes his younger brother Yuhei and is aware of Yuhei's feelings for her, although she finds it hard to reciprocate those feelings. She is often teased about her similarities with Kou in their behaviors and habits. Even with this and her constant arguing with Kou; at times she finds herself moved by his abilities, spirit, and love for her late sister. But she is always reminded of Wakaba's words that even if Kou becomes a man that Aoba would like, that she still can't take him from her. She often reiterates that she 'hates' Kou however after Seishu's victory over Ryuuou she ponders over their conversation before the match, where he told her that Seishu would reach Koshien and that he 'loves' her. Ichiyo also comments that Wakaba and Kou, were the only people who could make Aoba cry, after Aoba cries in Kou's arms knowing Seishu made it to Koshien. In the last chapter she seems far less hostile towards Kou and finally comes to terms with her 'hatred' of him, realising that he was the only other person, besides herself, that truly felt the loss of Wakaba, something she had been trying to deny ever since. She openly holds hands with him at the end, and tells him that if he dislikes it that he can let go, which he doesn't. Despite this, she cryptically thinks to herself that she still hates him and that she can't stand him 'more than anyone else in the world.' Aoba's name means "green leaf" or "fresh leaf".

Seishu High School

Position: Catcher Akaishi is a childhood friend of Kou and Wakaba, the same age as them, whose father owns a liquor/sake store in the neighborhood. In Part One, he has a crush on Wakaba and is jealous of Kou. In elementary school, is able to throw a 60 mph fastball but is thrown out of Little League for fighting with opposing teams. After Wakaba's death, Akaishi switches to catcher to fulfill Wakaba's last dream in which Kou pitches to him at Koshien. At the start of high school, he refuses to take Coach Daimon's placement test and is placed on the portable team with Kou, and plans the boys' strategy to get rid of Daimon. Kou describes Akaishi as a brilliant catcher and is holding the cleanup hitter position in the second match with the regulars then he was positioned in the 5th batter in the batting order, and according to Aoba, Akaishi is one of the few people able to catch her pitches at full power. Coach Maeno sometimes consults with him over game strategy, and makes Akaishi the team captain during his third year. He is greatly shocked when he meets Akane Takigawa because of her resemblance to Wakaba, and while he has feelings for her, he actively works to bring her and Kou together.

Position: First baseman, Third baseman Nakanishi is a childhood friend of Kou, the same age as him and Akaishi. At the start of the series, he is described by Kou as the second-best fighter in their grade, and in high school Nakanishi makes occasional comments about restraining his temper. He is depicted as stocky, and Coach Maeno sometimes asks manager Ōkubo to make sure he loses weight. Nakanishi likes Kou, but has a rocky relationship with him after Kou feigns interest in baseball to convince his sandlot team to buy new equipment from Kitamura Sports. Nakanishi joins the baseball club in junior high school, but quits after a few months after getting into a fight with some seniors. However, he keeps training afterward, and when he discovers in their third year of junior high that Kou has been secretly practicing pitching, Nakanishi forces him to learn the other basics of baseball. In return for Akaishi taking over Kou's training, Nakanishi joins the baseball club in high school; like Kou and Akaishi he is placed on the portable team for not taking Coach Daimon's placement test, and with them plots to get rid of Daimon. He plays catcher in elementary school; in high school, he initially plays first base before switching to third base to make way for Azuma, and he is the 3rd batter in the batting order. Partway through high school, he begins dating his classmate, Kyoko Nakagawa, from the track and field club.

Position: First baseman Younger brother of Junpei Azuma, in the same year as Kou. Yuhei was recruited to Seishu High School from another part of Tokyo by Coach Daimon for his varsity team. He is an excellent slugger, and bats as cleanup hitter. He has trouble recalling other people's names and faces, claiming that he only remembers people worth worrying about, but he remembers Kou from a single encounter at the Tsukishima batting cages. By the end of his first summer at Seishu, he loses his confidence in Coach Daimon, and refuses to play in the second scrimmage against the portable team. After Daimon is sacked, Azuma stays at Seishu (and begins boarding with the Kitamuras) because he believes Kou's abilities are his best chance of playing in Koshien. Yuhei's obsession with reaching Koshien comes from guilt towards his brother Junpei, whose baseball career was cut off by injuring himself while saving Yuhei from falling down a staircase. As a result, Yuhei is shown as being sensitive about children playing around stairs and other situations where a person's recklessness affects other people. Because of his Koshien obsession, he is initially perceived as cold and uncaring towards people around him. Over the course of the series, as his brother's happy demeanor becomes more sincere, Yuhei comes to enjoy the game more, focusing more on performance than outcome, and making friends among his teammates. During Part Two, he develops a romantic interest in Aoba, and early in Part Three seriously accepts her joking offer of a date. Though he himself has feelings for Aoba, he often does things to bring Kou and Aoba together such as asking Aoba to massage Kou's back after practice, and nudging Kou to hug Aoba 'for all he's worth' after they reach Koshien.

Position: Shortstop A member of the Seishu baseball team, in the same year as Kou. Senda claims to be a lady's man, and constantly pursues Aoba as well as other girls. He is the only non-recruit to pass Coach Daimon's placement test, and is placed on the varsity team as a pitcher. Because of this, during his first semester he frequently brags about how good he must be. Coach Maeno comments that Senda is too much of a showoff to be a good pitcher but would be a good "flashy shortstop". After making too many errors as pitcher during the first scrimmage between the varsity and portable teams, he is demoted to the portable team, where Maeno substitutes him as shortstop. After Coach Daimon is fired, Senda becomes the starting shortstop and leadoff batter. In his third year of high school, he becomes impressed by Aoba's hard work and begins taking practice more seriously.

Position: Coach