Ano Natsu: 1959 is a Baseball manga with a time travel twist. An unusual combination indeed. Can it satisfy the demands of Baseball fans and/or time travel fans? Lets see! It was published in Shounen Sunday by a manga artist called Fukui Ashibi who (as far as I know) didn't have any smash hit manga so far.

Story

The story is centered around a high school boy called Natsu who is taking part in the schools Baseball club. Of course he is dreaming about going to the Koushien - the biggest event of Baseball in Japan (even in High School). His school is so close to getting to the Koshien, they are in the qulifying match! 60 years ago his grandfather brought the school to the Koshien for the first and only time.

However the match is interrupted because of a thunderstorm. Just when the lightning strike hits, Natsu finds himself 60 years in the past, in the year 1959. He ends up taking part in the baseball club again, but this time together with his grandfather! Will he be able to get back to 2019? Will he win the Koushien tournament now or in the future? Will history change forever!?

Art

I actually quite enjoyed the artwork. Characters looked good and backgrounds were nice to look at as well. The drawings were punchy and had lots of impact when they needed to. This manga made me interested in looking into more published manga of Fukui Ashibi (but I didnt get to it yet)!

Characters

Because the manga is rather short with just three compiled volumes, there is not a lot of time for character development. Because of this, there is some backstory behind Natsu and his grandfather, but other side characters seem a bit uninteresting. Of course in such a short story, its hard to create backstories for side characters or to work out their motivations, ambitions and goals. Actually, just one day after finishing the manga, I already forgot about most of the characters because they were not memorable. Aside from Natsu and his grandfather I remember two others with minor roles in the plot.

Enjoyment

The story ended at a pretty random spot. The ending was what I expected, but it felt like a major point of the story was cut short or left out altogether. Maybe the manga was forced to end because of bad ratings by readers, so the author wasn't able to finish it the way he intended to.

That being said, I still enjoyed the manga quite a bit. The time slip element is an interesting addition to a sports manga. But I would have liked it to play around that premise a bit more. There is much you can do with time travel themend stories - and a lot that can go wrong as well. The saving factor for this manga (for me) was the very good artwork. I really enjoyed looking at it.

Verdict

So who will enjoy Ano Natsu: 1959?

People who like Baseball? Not necessarily, because the story could revolve around any other sport as well. The fact that its Baseball doesn't matter for the story and its not going really deep into sports terms and theory. There are also little games to be played over the course of the manga.

Maybe its suited for people who like time travel? Not necessarily, because aside from the interesting fact that Natsu ends up in the same team with his grandfather in his youth, nothing much is done with this concept. Here and there are references how the sport has changed over the years, but thats pretty much it.

"Is it even enjoyable for anyone??" you might ask, and I think the answer is "Yes" because I still enjoyed it. People who like nice artwork and easy to consume manga might enjoy this. For example, there are times that I want something light to read between some heavy brain taxing stories. Ano Natsu is an enjoyable quick ride, but neither the time slip concept not the Baseball theme was the deciding fatcor for this.