The day that I was captivated by "Touch"

I knew nearly nothing about baseball but when I randomly picked up the first book of the perfect edition of "Touch" at the library while I was waiting for something to finish downloading on my laptop, I was totally captivated by the series and couldn't stop reading it. 

Initially, I thought the drawing was a bit mediocre and it was not the style that I preferred.  Besides, it was difficult to tell the twin apart in the beginning. But I chose to keep reading for killing the time waiting for the download on my laptop. However, the more I read, the more I was intrigued by the simple and sweet story between these three main characters. 

Both of the twins had affection for the neighbor girl whom they grew up together with. The younger brother was not only good at his studies but also at baseball. He was both talented and diligent and the star student who was admired by everyone at school. And the girl was also a diligent and smart student with many admirers. She and the younger twin had a common goal to bring their baseball team to enter Japanese High School Baseball Championship. She encouraged him daily and worked as the baseball team manager. 

Contrast to them and especially to the younger twin, the older brother was very careless and laid-back even if he himself got great talent in baseball. What I interpreted from the story line was that the pressure of comparison between the twins as well as his laid-back personality pushed the older brother to not take anything seriously. Out of true love toward his younger brother, he was not only never jealous of his success but also seemingly deliberately chose to step away from the spotlight and willingly to be a clown. The dynamic between these three people was even more amusing. Even though everyone considered the girl and the younger brother were a perfect match, who she really loved was actually the careless older twin. And she had always believed in him  despite everyone else was always mocking him.

Nevertheless, the life of the older brother changed forever when his twin brother died from an car accident right before a baseball match that might have had taken them to the championship tournament. This sad event totally changed the dynamics between the remained two characters as well as their own family. It was like the family finally started to notice the existence of the older brother. Then, one day after spending a period of time in the boxing club, he decided to face his own fear and doubt to join the baseball team in order to enter the championship tournament for his late brother. The plot twist of the younger brother's death almost brought tears to my eyes and I felt something was chocking in my throat. 

In the beginning, everyone had doubt for the seemingly careless older brother, especially the catcher, who used to be the partner of the late twin in the team. Even though everyone was amazed by his pure talent, they found him still lacking skills and discipline. However, he ended up proving himself after enduring many many hours of training daily with the strength from his love for his younger brother. Even though no one believed in him, the girl always had believed in him even before the younger brother's death.

Eventually, after facing one hardship after another, the team successfully entered the championship tournament which was the common goal of the girl and the late younger brother. And the girl also became successful and famous in gymnastics.  However, when the older twin was supposed to be overjoyed with the result, he started to feel lost and didn't even care for showing up at the opening of the tournament. Because his brother's goal was only to make the team qualified to be in the tournament. And he had no idea what was to come for the future games. Suddenly he was not sure about the purpose for the tournament and who he was playing future games for. After all, he was playing game after game for his brother as it was his dream before he passed away. Additionally, in his personal life, out of love and respect for his late brother, he didn't dare to cross the line and express his feelings for the girl. These two conundrums pushed him to decide it was time to sort through his true feelings and the girl somehow was able to find him at the riverside the day before the new match. When they found each other, he finally got the courage to express his love for that girl. And he made up his mind that he was going to play the future games as himself and for himself.

In the end, it didn't say anything about what happened during their games against other teams. But the medal indicated that the older brother and the team won the championship that year proving that he had finally found his niche and his own purpose for playing. And the girl also won the first prize in gymnastics. And after all the games, both of them were working hard on their studies for going to a university together. 

This series's simple story line is not only full of funny anecdotes but also inspiring for those who are still looking for their purpose in life regardless of age.