View source for Slow Step

{{For|the "slow step" in a [[chemical reaction]]|Rate-determining step}}
{{short description|1986 Japanese manga and 1991 OVA}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name = Slow Step
| image = SlowStepmanga.jpg
| caption = Volume 1 of ''Slow Step'', featuring Minatsu Nakazato.
| ja_kanji = スローステップ
| ja_romaji = Surō Suteppu
| genre = Romance,<ref name="doi"/> sports<ref name="doi"/><!-- Note: Use and cite reliable sources to identify genre/s, not personal interpretation. Please don't include more than three genres (per [[MOS:A&M]]). -->
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = [[Mitsuru Adachi]]
| publisher       = [[Shogakukan]]
| demographic     = ''[[Shōjo manga|Shōjo]]''
| magazine        = [[Ciao (magazine)|Ciao]]
| first           = September 1986
| last            = March 1991
| volumes         = 7
| volume_list     = #Manga
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = ova
| director        = [[Kunihiko Yuyama]]
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = 
| studio          = [[Youmex]]
| first           = June 1, 1991
| last            = November 1, 1991
| runtime         = 
| episodes        = 5
| episode_list    = #Anime
| licensee        = {{English anime licensee
  | UK  = Western Connection}}
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}

{{nihongo|'''''Slow Step'''''|スローステップ|Surō Suteppu}} is a [[romantic comedy]] [[boxing]] and [[softball]] [[manga]] by [[Mitsuru Adachi]]. It was serialized by [[Shogakukan]] in the [[shōjo]] manga magazine ''[[Ciao (magazine)|Ciao]]'' from September 1986 through March 1991, and collected in seven [[tankōbon]] volumes. In 1991, it was adapted as a five-episode [[Original Video Animation|OVA]].<ref name="adachianime"/> The anime version has some differences from the manga, including the ending.

==Plot==
''Slow Step'' is a [[romantic comedy]] [[boxing]] and [[softball]] [[manga]] by [[Mitsuru Adachi]].<ref name="doi"/> It follows Minatsu Nakazato, a popular high-school girl, as she deals with the unwanted romantic attentions of multiple boys and a teacher. Her plans for evading their pursuits of her grow increasingly convoluted, even involving taking on alternate identities.

==Characters==
;{{nihongo|Minatsu Nakazato|中里 美夏|Nakazato Minatsu}} / {{nihongo|Maria Sudō|須藤 麻里亜|Sudō Maria}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Minami Takayama]]}}
: A student at Asaoka High School and [[pitcher|pitching]] ace for the [[softball]] club. She is the object of affection of both her classmate Shū Akiba and Coach Yamazakura. As her disguised [[alter ego]] Maria Sudō, she evades some local gangsters and is pursued by Naoto Kadomatsu, who lives in the same apartment building. Her father is a lesser-known [[pro wrestling|pro wrestler]]. She tends to be curt and somewhat rough in her manners. In the anime, she falls for and marries Kango Yamazakura. 

;{{nihongo|Shū Akiba|秋葉 習|Akiba Shū}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Kappei Yamaguchi]]}}
: A boy in the same class as Minatsu and a member of the Asaoka High School [[boxing]] club. His father is a company president and he has a light-hearted, somewhat irresponsible personality. He is in love with Minatsu, and in rivalry with Naoto Kadomatsu joins the boxing club, working hard to try to beat him in order to win Minatsu's affection.

;{{nihongo|Naoto Kadomatsu|門松 直人|Kadomatsu Naoto}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Ryō Horikawa]]}}
: A third-year student at Jōsei High School and a member of its boxing club. He lives in the same apartment building as Minatsu <!-- originally had "and Naoto" which is obviously wrong; who was intended? --> but attends a different school, in a different grade. He is a high school boxing champion. He falls in love at first sight with Minatsu's [[alter ego]] Maria, and becomes Shū's rival in boxing and in trying to win Minatsu's affections after learning that Maria and Minatsu are the same person.

;{{nihongo|Kango Yamazakura|山桜監悟|Yamazakura Kango}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Akira Kamiya]]}}
: A [[teacher]] at Asaoka High School and advisor to both the softball and boxing clubs. While in college, he worked toward becoming a professional boxer but gave up this dream after his sister died in order to take care of his sister's daughter, Chika. He has a preoccupation with the female [[Buttocks|behind]], and frequently gives [[Sexual harassment|unwanted attention]] to female students at the school. At the end of the anime series, he and Minatsu are married.

; {{nihongo|Ayako Sawamura|沢村 亜矢子|Sawamura Ayako}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Hiroko Emori]]}}
: A rough, aloof girl who is the only person who can catch Minatsu's pitching. She has a crush on Coach Yamazakura, and manages to date him by agreeing to join the softball club. After she is rejected by Yamazakura, she takes a hiatus from softball but soon returns for the team rather than for Yamazakura. She ends up with new teacher, Somei, who falls for her once she finds out that she is one of the only women who he is not deathly afraid of other than his mother.

;{{nihongo|Chika Tanaka|田中知香|Tanaka Chika}}
: {{Voiced by|[[Chika Sakamoto]]}}
: Yamazakura's [[orphan]]ed niece. Even though she's an [[elementary school]] student, she is very reliable and cooks nearly every meal for Yamazakura. She really likes Minatsu and hopes she and Yamazakura get together eventually.

<small>'''Sources:'''<ref name="adachianime"/><ref name="ex"/><ref name="adachifan"/><ref name="allcinema"/></small>

==Releases==
===Manga===
''Slow Step'' was serialized by [[Shogakukan]] in the [[shōjo]] manga magazine ''[[Ciao (magazine)|Ciao]]'' from September 1986 through March 1991, and collected in seven [[tankōbon]] volumes.<ref name="doi"/><ref name="ex"/>

'''[[Tankōbon]]'''
*Volume 1 (20 May 1987, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132521-1}})
*Volume 2 (20 December 1987, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132522-X}})
*Volume 3 (20 October 1988, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132523-8}})
*Volume 4 (20 May 1989, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132524-6}})
*Volume 5 (20 April 1990, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132525-4}})
*Volume 6 (20 November 1990, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132526-2}})
*Volume 7 (20 August 1991, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-132527-0}})

'''[[Bunkoban]]'''
*Volume 1 (August 1995, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-191061-0}})
*Volume 2 (August 1995, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-191062-9}})
*Volume 3 (August 1995, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-191063-7}})
*Volume 4 (August 1995, Shogakukan, {{ISBN|4-09-191064-5}})

===Anime===
{{anchor|OVA series}}
In 1991, ''Slow Step'' was adapted into a five-episode [[Original video animation|OVA series]] by [[Youmex]] and distributed on by [[Toho]].<ref name="allcinema"/><ref name="adachianime"/> The anime version has some differences from the manga, including the ending. It was released on five [[VHS]] tapes and five [[laserdisc]]s.

The series was directed by [[Kunihiko Yuyama]], with scripts by Toshimichi Saeki<!--佐伯俊道--> and character designs by Tokuhiro Matsubara. The soundtrack was by Hiroya Watanabe.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!#!!Storyboards!!Director!!Animation director!!Release date
|-
|1||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|[[Kunihiko Yuyama]]||Norihiro Matsubara||{{Date|June 1, 1991|MDY}}
|-
|2||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Takaya Mizutani||Yoshihiro Owada||{{Date|July 1, 1991|MDY}}
|-
|3||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Kunihiko Yuyama||Masami Suda||{{Date|August 1, 1991|MDY}}
|-
|4||Kunihiko Yuyama||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Masamune Ochiai|| {{Date|September 1, 1991|MDY}}
|-
|5||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Kunihiko Yuyama||Norihiro Matsubara||{{Date|November 1, 1991|MDY}}
|}
====Songs====
The opening theme song for ''Slow Step'' was {{nihongo|"Kimi ga Inakerya Frustration"|君がいなけりゃFRUSTRATION|Kimi ga Inakerya Furasutoreishon}}, with vocals by Nobuhide Saki, who also composed the song. The lyrics were written by [[Gorō Matsui]]<!--松井五郎-->, and the music was arranged by Takeshi Fujii<!--藤井丈司--> and Yoshiyuki Sahashi<!--佐橋佳幸-->. The ending theme, "Only for You", was composed and was sung by Saki. Matsui wrote the lyrics and the music was arranged by Fujii and Sahashi.<ref name="adachianime"/><ref name="allcinema"/><ref name="adachianime2"/><ref name="toho"/>

===Soundtrack===
A soundtrack CD (TYCY-5157) was released on 27 March 1991.<ref name="toho"/>
#{{nihongo|''Kimi ga Inakerya Frustration''|君がいなけりゃFRUSTRATION|Kimi ga Inakerya Furasutoreishon}}
#{{nihongo|''Asaoka High School''|麻丘高校|Asaoka Kōkō}}
#{{nihongo|''Furyō Shōjo ni wa Narenakute''|不良少女にはなれなくて|}}
#{{nihongo|''Butainu Bōsōzoku''|ぶたいぬ暴走族|}}
#{{nihongo|''Ki ni Naru Aitsu''|気になるあいつ|}}
#{{nihongo|''Zensokuryoku no I Love You''|全速力の I Love You|}}
#{{nihongo|''Ninshīn!''|にんしーん!|}}
#{{nihongo|''Date o Kaketa Taiketsu''|デートを賭けた対決|}}
#{{nihongo|''Chika-chan no Katei''|知香ちゃんの家庭|}}
#{{nihongo|''Satsujinki Semaru!!''|殺人鬼迫る!!|}}
#{{nihongo|''Yayakoshii Shiai''|ややこしい試合|}}
#{{nihongo|''Kaze no Yokan''|風の予感|}}
#{{nihongo|''Kadomatsu e no KO Punch''|門松へのKOパンチ|}}
#{{nihongo|''Moshikashite...?''|もしかして...?|}}
#{{nihongo|''Nonki na Renshū''|のんきな練習|}}
#{{nihongo|''Kimi ga Kureta Rakugaki''|君がくれた落書き|}}
#{{nihongo|''Maria ni Kokuhaku''|麻里亜に告白|}}
#{{nihongo|''Tokubetsu na Hito''|特別な男性(ひと)|}}
#{{nihongo|''Porsche ni Notta Irootoko''|ポルシェに乗った色男|}}
#''Only for You''

== Reception ==
In 1995 ''Slow Step'' was released in the United Kingdom on VHS with English subtitles by the video company ''Western Connection''. However, it was commercially unsuccessful.<ref name="animejin"/>

[[Helen McCarthy]] in ''500 Essential Anime Movies'' calls Mitsuru Adachi "the king of high school romance" and states that the anime "deserves a much bigger audience."<ref name="mccarthy 2009"/>

==References==
{{Reflist |refs=

<ref name="adachianime">{{cite web
|url=http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown/5399/anime.htm
|script-title=ja:あだち充アニメ
|trans-title=Mitsuru Adachi Anime
|language=Japanese
|access-date=22 June 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=8 February 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208082118/http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown/5399/anime.htm
}}</ref>

<ref name="adachianime2">{{cite web
|url=http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown/5399/anime-song.htm
|script-title=ja:あだち充 アニメ 主題歌
|trans-title=Mitsuru Adachi Anime Theme Songs
|language=Japanese
|access-date=22 June 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=15 July 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715231849/http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown/5399/anime-song.htm
}}</ref>

<ref name="adachifan">{{cite web
|url=http://www.freewebs.com/adachifan/slowstep.htm
|title=Slow Step
|publisher=AdachiFan
|access-date=22 June 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717204806/http://www.freewebs.com/adachifan/slowstep.htm
|archive-date=17 July 2007
}}</ref>

<ref name="allcinema">{{cite web
|url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=88502
|script-title=ja:スローステップ (1991)
|trans-title=Slow Step (1991)
|publisher=AllCinema Online
|access-date=31 December 2007
|language=Japanese
}}</ref>

<ref name="animejin">{{cite web 
|title=Ayanext Industry and Piracy Panel (transcription)
|url=http://www.animejin.org.uk/ayanext/indust.htm 
|date=6 November 1999
|access-date=14 August 2018
|publisher=Animejin.org.uk
}}</ref>

<ref name="doi">{{cite web
|url=http://www.usagi.org/~doi/adachi/slowstep/index.html
|title=Slow Step
|first=Hitoshi 
|last=Doi 
|author-link=Hitoshi Doi 
|access-date=22 June 2007
}}</ref>

<ref name="ex">{{cite web
|url=http://www.ex.org/4.7/32-manga_slowstep.html
|title=Slow Step
|first=Eric
|last=Luce
|publisher=EX.org
|access-date=22 June 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414185728/http://www.ex.org/4.7/32-manga_slowstep.html
|archive-date=14 April 2013
}}</ref>

<ref name="mccarthy 2009">McCarthy (2009).</ref>

<ref name="toho">{{cite web
|url=http://www.toho.co.jp/music/anime/cddb/tycy5157.htm
|script-title=ja:あだち充原作「スローステップ」オリジナル・サウンド・トラック
|trans-title=Mitsuru Adachi's "Slow Step" Original Soundtrack
|publisher=[[Toho]]
|access-date=16 November 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990911081716/http://www.toho.co.jp/music/anime/cddb/tycy5157.htm
|archive-date=September 11, 1999
}}</ref>

}}

==Works cited==
*{{cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Helen |title=500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide |publisher=Harper Design |year=2009 |isbn=978-0061474507 |author-link=Helen McCarthy |page=322 }}

==External links==
* {{ann|manga|3348}}

{{Mitsuru Adachi works|state=plain}}
{{Ciao}}

[[Category:1986 manga]]
[[Category:1991 anime OVAs]]
[[Category:Boxing in anime and manga]]
[[Category:Mitsuru Adachi]]
[[Category:Anime and manga set in schools]]
[[Category:Shōjo manga]]
[[Category:Softball mass media]]
[[Category:Shogakukan franchises]]
[[Category:Shogakukan manga]]