Manga like BREAK BACK

Baby Steps

Also known as Baby Steps.

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Sports

Eiichiro Maruo is a straight-A student who decides to take up tennis as a side hobby upon entering high school. At the tennis school he runs into Natsu—a bit airheaded, but nobody can beat her in passion for the sport. Soon Eiichiro gets addicted to tennis...and when he applies his academic skills to improving his game, the results will change his life forever!



Tags: Shounen , Tennis , Male Protagonist , School , Primarily Male Cast , Foreign

Tennis no Ouji-sama

Also known as The Prince of Tennis.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sports

Ryoma Echizen just joined the Seishun Academy's tennis team, which is known for being one of the most competitive teams in Japan. Its members are incredibly talented, gifted, and athletic. With rigorous and extremely intense practices, the upperclassmen of the team expect the very best from themselves and they expect even more from the new members of the team. While most of the freshmen are on pins and needles hoping they won't get cut from the team, Ryoma Echizen is confident, cool, and collected. Some might even say he's cocky, but at least he's got the skills to back up his attitude. With his virtually unreturnable "twist serve," Ryoma is sure to make the starting team. Join Ryoma and the other first years, as they train hard, make friends, and try to find a place for themselves on the team. And meet Ryoma's cute but chronically shy classmate Sakuno Ryuzaki. She's got a big crush on Ryoma, but will he ever notice her? Ryoma Echizen is the Prince of Tennis. He may be ready for the Seishun Academy tennis team, but are THEY ready for HIM?



Note: Includes one extra chapter.

Tags: Tennis , School Club , School , Anti-Hero , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Shounen , Time Skip , Ensemble Cast

DOGSRED

Also known as Dogsred.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Sports

The stage is the proud land of the north--Hokkaido. The year is 2010. Rou Shirakawa has just received the highest score in history at the All-Japan Junior Figure Skating Championships! But suddenly, he loses control and starts destroying the stage. He is quickly disqualified and banned from the skating world for life. Now nicknamed "the Rabid Prince," Rou ends up in Tamakomai, an ice hockey town in northern Japan. And on a hockey rink on a frozen lake, he meets the ruthless Genma brothers! Rou will soon learn of the famous Oino-kami high school and their quest to win an unprecedented 20th straight national hockey championship. And also the strong, yet beautiful battle sport--ice hockey! Change, grow, evolve! Turn defeat into victory in this red-hot redemption story!

Tags: School Club , Ice Skating , Seinen , Primarily Teen Cast , Slapstick , Snowscape , Twins , Male Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Natural Disaster , Drugs

Battle Studies

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Sports

You can't win through only with "friendship" and "youth." We stake our lives to get to the Koshien!! Kanou Shoutarou entered an official baseball club at one of the best powerhouse baseball schools in the country - DL Gakuen. However the discipline in the club, he admired so much, was beyond all imagination! From Nakibokuro—the former member of PL Gakuen's baseball club who played at the Koshien as the regular!

Tags: Seinen , Baseball , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Primarily Male Cast , Ensemble Cast , School Club , School , Heterosexual , Time Skip

Sankyuu Pitch

Also known as Strikeout Pitch.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Sports

From the author of "Hyperinflation," Kyu Sumiyoshi, comes a baseball story unlike anything you've ever read before!!



Tags: Baseball , Primarily Teen Cast , Shounen , Male Protagonist , School Club , School

One Outs

Status: Finished
Genres: Psychological , Sports

The story begins when Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meet Tōa Tokuchi, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$460,000) for every point he gives up.

Notes:
- The main story was completed in 168 chapters with 19 volumes on 2006-10-19. An additional side story Giwaku no All Star Sen Hen (疑惑のオールスター戦編) was serialized from 2008-2009 and published as volume 20 of the series.
- Chapter count includes an additional chapter included in the 7th volume.

Tags: Seinen , Baseball , Gambling , Anti-Hero , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Philosophy

Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji

Also known as Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Thriller

Ne'er-do-well Kaiji Itou's shiftless existence is suddenly rattled by a visit from the yakuza. Burdened by debt and resentment, Kaiji is coerced into gambling for his worthless life. As the stakes grow higher and the rules become increasingly more bizarre, Kaiji must finally take the future into his own hands!



Note: Won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1998.

Tags: Gambling , Seinen , Survival , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Death Game , Card Battle , Yakuza , Class Struggle , Tragedy , Nudity

Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological

While mahjong is a game that is often played with family and friends, it is also a game that is played in the darkest corners of society. Nangou is a compulsive gambler who has accumulated debt over three million yen. In a last ditch attempt to clear his record, he decides to wager his life on a game of mahjong with the mafia. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, Nangou only moves further from the prize and closer to death.

When all hope seems lost, the game parlor is suddenly intruded upon by Shigeru Akagi, a young boy on the run from the police. Desperate to turn the game around, Nangou hands the game over to Akagi after teaching him a few of the rules. The mafia can only smirk as Akagi sits down to play. However, they soon come to learn that Akagi is a natural born gambler. An imposing figure who does not fear death. One who is destined to become a legend.



Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Death Game , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Seinen , Primarily Male Cast , Kaiju , Tsundere , Anti-Hero , Yakuza , Time Skip , Historical , Afterlife , Gods , Demons , Board Game

Usogui

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Psychological , Thriller

There are gamblers out there who even bet their lives as ante. But to secure the integrity of these life-threatening gambles, a violent and powerful organization by the name of "Kakerou" referees these games as a neutral party. Follow Baku Madarame a.k.a. Usogui (The Lie Eater) as he gambles against maniacal opponents at games—such as Escape the Abandoned Building, Old Maid, and Hangman—to ultimately "out-gamble" and control the neutral organization of Kakerou itself.

Tags: Gambling , Death Game , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Crime , Philosophy , Martial Arts , Amnesia , Memory Manipulation , Poker , Mafia , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , Anti-Hero , Gore , Terrorism , Fairy Tale , LGBTQ+ Themes , Guns , Aliens

Billion Break

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Sports

Tags: Female Protagonist , Tennis , Work