【AIM FOR THE ACE】One of the best-selling shoujo manga series of all time!!!

“Ace o Nerae!” (translated as “Aim for the Ace!”) is a sports manga series about tennis, written and illustrated by Yamamoto Sumika. The manga was serialized in Shueisha’s shoujo magazine Margaret from January 1973 to February 1980, with a total of 18 volumes.

The series quickly became one of the best-selling shoujo manga series of all time, with over 15 million copies sold in Japan. Many manga critics have considered the manga as a cult-classic that has greatly influence many other works in the industry. In 2021, according to TV Asahi’s manga poll, Aim for the Ace! was ranked 44th in the top 100 manga series.

In 1973, the story of Aim for the Ace! was adapted into a 26-episode TV anime series by Tokyo Movie. Following the success of its manga and anime adaptation, a featured animated movie, two OVAs and a live-action TV drama series have been made.

The story mainly follows a high school girl named Oka Hiromi and her struggle to become a professional tennis player. Aim for the Ace! has touched the heart of many of its fan by portraying the story of a young girl growing up, overcoming her mental weakness, connecting with the people around her and ultimately achieving her goal in life.

Oka Hiromi and her best friend were gathered in the crowd to watch the final match between West High and South High tennis teams. On the field from their side was the student council president, Toudou Takayuki. He was one of the top players from West High, often known for its nickname among the students as the “Kingdom of Tennis”.

It was Toudou’s turn to serve, and he scored a perfect ace (In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, thus winning the point). The crowd went wild cheering his name.

After the match has finished, Hiromi and her friend rushed to the other side, where the match between female players was about to start. The one from West High was a well-known top player with the nickname “Madam Butterfly”. People started to call her by such nickname after seeing the way she played, elegant and beautiful just like the dance of butterflies.

The final victory belonged to West High members. However, their coach – Munakata Jin, was not satisfied with the result because they had lost some of the matches. Munakata was a new coach assigned to West High and he was already well-known for his strict methods. He ordered everyone to run a hundred laps around the school yard.

Hiromi was practicing swinging her racket when Munakata approached her and ordered her to run with everyone. He even gave her a cruel nickname – “raccoon’s eye”.

The next morning, Hiromi woke up in her bed with her legs all sore from running. She still held a grudge against coach Munakata. The next day when she was practicing, Hiromi accidentally hit the ball toward coach Munakata, almost hitting him in the face. This incident angered him and Munakata ordered the whole team to do rabbit jumps as punishment.

When practice was over, the girls were changing in their locker room when they saw the most famous rumored couple outside the window. Toudou and Madam Butterfly were walking home together.

Everyone in West High admired them for both being the best tennis players in the “Kingdom of Tennis”, as well as being the student council president and vice president. If they were to be dating for real, it would shake the whole school.

While walking together, Toudou suddenly flew up the fence and dropped down to the other side. He claimed that it was his shortcut and bid goodbye to Madam Butterfly. Hiromi saw this and thought what a strange person he was to do that in front of a beautiful girl.

While Hiromi was walking home with her friends, Madam Butterfly approached Hiromi and gave her advices on how to fix her pose. This made everyone jealous as Madam Butterfly was gentle and paid extra attention to Hiromi.

The following day, everyone was practicing hard as tension was high. The district competition was drawing close, and the coach would be deciding the official roster that day. Although everyone already knew what the roster was going to be like anyway – Madam Butterfly, the team captain, and three senior players would always be chosen for the district competition.

Coach Munakata gathered everyone to announce the competition roster. Madam Butterfly and the team captain were on top of the list, followed by two seniors. And lastly, it was “raccoon’s eyes” Oka Hiromi.

Everyone was shocked at coach Munakata’s announcement. The team captain and Madam Butterfly even spoke up against his decision. However, Munakata was firm and only told Hiromi to do her best in the upcoming competition before he left.

Madam Butterfly told Hiromi to withdraw from the roster for her own sake. As Hiromi was a first year student and did not have confident in herself, being in the official roster to represent her school at the district competition was a huge stress that she could not bear.

Hiromi went back to coach Munakata to pledge him to take her off the team, but nothing she said could convince the coach. Failing to do what Madam Butterfly told her, Hiromi went back and reported to her seniors, only to be shunned by them.

For the rest of the practice session, Hiromi could not bear the stress of her coach’s decision, as well as the leering eyes of her peers and seniors. Everyone was confused and mad at Hiromi for “taking” the spot of her seniors.

Hiromi could not stand being hated by her friends and ran away in tears. She was sitting at a corner of the tennis field after everyone had left when she heard a familiar voice.

Toudou Takayuki approached her and asked why was Hiromi crying. He attempted to console Hiromi and cheer her up. However, Madam Butterfly accidently saw the whole thing, and her frustration towards Hiromi only grew deeper......

Will Hiromi be able to compete at the district competition? What would become of Hiromi and Madam Butterfly’s relationship? Read the next chapters to find out!