Adachi Mitsuru is a mangaka who became a household name with the manga Touch in the early 1980s. He is just as well known as Rumiko if not more so. He is severely underrated in the West, but highly praised in Japan for his romantic comedy high school "sports" manga.
I put the above sports in quotations because while sports are an element in many of his manga, they are never the focus and should not be considered as the theme of any of his works like any traditional sports series. I think this labeling of his stories is what keeps him from breaking through in the West, but in Japan has the opposite effect. It's a bait and switch.
Adachi is one of the few genius mangaka who has been serialized and successful in Shounen, Shoujo, and Seinen magazines. Out of these, he is most well regarded for his Shounen Romance Comedies, and at that I think he's one of the best in the industry. Often his works are full of ecchi situations.
Before Touch, he was only popular among the just forming otaku culture. His rise to success actually takes place right alongside the Gainax guys with the Daicon animations.
I haven't seen Touch yet, but I've seen many of the other anime adaptations. Here are what I recommend getting into:
<Hiatari Ryouko
Adachi's first shoujo, and second ever serialized manga. A group of high school kids live together in an ara's boarding home, all in different athletic clubs. Most important are the female protagonist's track team and the main hero in the ouendan. It becomes a little bit of a Bancho manga in parts from what I saw due to the ouendan, who had become the school's delinquents.
The anime's subs are currently being held hostage by [ray=out] for donations, so it's stuck in purgatory. If you know enough Japanese, it's a very well done anime from what I watched. It was adapted at the height of Adachi's success after Touch, so the production quality is some of the best. Directed by Tokita Hiroko, the director of Miracle Girls.
<Miyuki
A shounen Romance comedy, his forte. After Nine and Hiatari Ryouko, Miyuki is his attempt at shaking up his formula. Going back to a Shounen magazine, he filled it with meta jokes about his subversions of the "hot blooded shounen sports manga" that were popular then. It's the only popular manga of his that has nothing to do with sports at all. It started out more gag-focussed, but progressively got more dramatic as the love triangles unfold. It's the first case of an imouto manga that I'm aware of. It . The whole story revolves around a perverted MC who likes to steal panties and two girls he's attracted to, both named Miyuki, one of whom is his actual girlfriend, the other being his imouto. She's not blood related, but he's keeping this a secret from her so he can try to be a proper onii-san.
However, this leaves her open to advances from many other men but all of this trouble could be avoided if he just MARRIED HIS SISTER ALREADY, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE ADACHI. No other manga has made me this frustrated.
The anime is a good adaptation, but the order of events are completely different from the manga. It got cancelled early or something because it doesn't finish the story, but it's still worth watching. It's directed by Nishikubo, the Creator of California Crisis and Ourorane the Cat Player, director of Video Girl AI. He is a very good director at the head of many classic OVA of the time period. The imouto is the one seiyuu role of popular Showa idol, Oginome Youko, who's most famous song is "Dancing Hero". She does a stellar job.
<Slow Step
I've only seen the anime, but this was his next Shoujo, and is more in line with his previous work. It's a love triangle with a coach and the star boxer. The protagonist is in women's softball, but the anime doesn't show much of this. The coach has a loli who takes care of him and tries to help him get with his student, the protagonist, so she doesn't have to cook for him all the time anymore.
Has anyone else gotten into this underappreciated man? What are your favorites of his works?