Diamond no Kouzai
The Days of Diamond

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Although Diamond no Kouzai's plot is about the best pitcher in the world, it's actually a manga about losing, and especially, the losers, the feeling of hopeless, of jealousy. It perfectly portrays, even to the level of excess, that mostly untouched topic in sports manga.

When Kou, from Cross Game, throws a perfect game and we get to see the reaction's of the losers, or the teammates that didn't make the cut, we see them, although sad, at least in someway also glad, they realize that the nature of sports is winning or losing, and even if they are jealous, or angry, they never let that ... get the best of them, and especially never lash out, the one's that do are always the villain. Diamond no Kouzai does the opposite.

We've all felt it, the jealousy, when someone is so good that it seems unfair, like something should happen, maybe even to that person, to balance it out, we even get angry when that person complains about something, because he has it too good to complain, we get angry when he tries to help the less perfect ones, because he would never understand, but we are also self-aware of that feeling, that the person hasn't done anything wrong, and that, at the end of the day, it's our own fault. Kouzai portrays that exact feeling in every chapter, it's gut-wrenching, I actually even felt sick reading it, but that's why it's so good.

This is an incredibly unique manga in the world of baseball mangas, it makes you feel some many things that you can't decide in either stop or continue reading, and I couldn't recommend it more.

This is my first positive review, I simply couldn't let this incredible manga only have negative reviews.

I started reading The days of diamond after its release on manga plus app.
The story is good with an original approach of talent and what it can cause on others and on oneself, particularly in the extrem competitive field that is sport. The point is that the main character is kind and all he really wants is to have fun, and also that the others around him enjoy themselves. Unlike the majority of gifted characters in sport manga, he doesn't enjoy crushing his opponents and victory doesn't really matter to him. He has a hard time understanding others and no one understands him.
Not the other ... kids. Not the adults (except his mom). They always see him as a menace, for their kids, for their motivation, for their dreams.
But he's 12 y.o. and he wants to fit, to have friends, to do something he likes. So he tries to fit in and I really felt empathy for him because I too don't care about competition. So the main character is the big highlight in this manga for me.

I dropped it after the u12 arc because I ended finding the manga too talkative (but it is common in a drama themed one), I couldn't tell the support characters appart and had trouble remembering their names (not my strong point I confess) and ultimately I always have troubles with what is at stake in sport manga. I get he's OP and that makes him unhappy but then why not just quit sport and try painting or doing music or DIY or whatever. He can't be gifted in every field. Yeah the manga would be over then but the main problem would be solved. He doesn't want to be world champion, he doesn't even want to go pro. Why bother with something that makes you feel like sh*t ?

In summary, it's a good manga with an interesting take on talented kids but it's hard to recommand. It's more psychology/drama oriented than sport. I still wonder how it'll developp and if we'll get to see the hero maturing and finding his path but for now I'm gonna let this manga on the side and maybe I'll come back in a few years.

I really like stories about gifted athletes and their struggles, so given that's the main theme of this manga I thought I'd give it a chance. And don't get me wrong, it is good in the sense that the story is engaging and the main character really sets himself apart from other such characters in this trope. However, as it's being told from the perspective of an 11 year old, it's truly confusing and hard to follow most of the time. At the beginning I wondered whether it was my unfamiliarity with baseball, but the principles of a story like this (overpowered MC, pitiful players, ... petty adults) are much the same regardless. In the end, it's the fact that it's a child being tossed every which way by adults and peers alike, resulting in him not even knowing what he really wants or what really bothers him (Ayasegawa contradicts himself LOTS throughout the story which is obvious since he's a CHILD), that makes the story a bit hard to follow. As another reviewer pointed out, reading this from a psychological and drama lense might be better, since that would put center and focus Ayasegawa's growth into a kid that sets boundaries and constructs clear goals (a bit pointless for a sports manga to have a reader set the sports aspect aside, but it is what it is)