Ace o Nerae!

Aim for the Ace!
Cover of the first manga volume, released by Shueisha on September 20, 1973
エースをねらえ! (Ēsu o Nerae!)
Genre	Sports, Romance
Manga
Written by	Sumika Yamamoto
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Margaret
Original run	January 1973 – February 1980
Volumes	18
Anime television series
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Music by	Goh Misawa
Studio	Tokyo Movie
Original network	Mainichi Broadcasting System
Original run	October 5, 1973 – March 29, 1974
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Shin Ace o Nerae!
Directed by	Minoru Okazaki
Music by	Kōji Makaino
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Original network	Nippon Television
Original run	October 14, 1978 – March 31, 1979
Episodes	25 (List of episodes)
Anime film
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Produced by	Yutaka Fujioka
Written by	Keisuke Fujikawa
Music by	Kōji Makaino
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Released	September 8, 1979
Runtime	88 minutes
Original video animation
Ace o Nerae! 2
Directed by	Noboru Furuse
Written by	Makiko Mikami Megumi Hiyoshi
Music by	Hiroaki Serizawa
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Released	July 25, 1988 – October 25, 1988
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Ace o Nerae! Final Stage
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Written by	Masami Mori Rika Kaidō
Music by	Hiroaki Serizawa
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Released	October 23, 1989 – April 24, 1990
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Television drama
Directed by	Hidetomo Matsuda Shunji Muguruma Yoshinori Kobayashi
Written by	Akiyo Takigawa Hiroko Kanasugi Naoya Takayama
Music by	Norihito Sumitomo
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	January 15, 2004 – March 11, 2004
Episodes	9 + 1 special episode

Aim for the Ace!, known in Japan as Ace o Nerae! (Japanese: エースをねらえ!, Hepburn: Ēsu o Nerae!^?), is a manga series written and illustrated by Sumika Yamamoto. The series tells the story of Hiromi Oka, a high school student who wants to become a professional tennis player as she struggles against mental weakness, anxiety and thwarted love. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōjo magazine Margaret from January 1973 to February 1980. Later, Shueisha collected the chapters and published them in 18 tankōbon volumes.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series in 1973 by Tokyo Movie which was originally broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) between 1973 and 1974. Aim for the Ace! also spawned another television anime and an anime film in the 1970s, two original video animations (OVA) in the 1980s, a live-action Japanese television drama in 2004, and many types of Aim for the Ace!-related merchandise.

The series is one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time, having sold approximately 15 million copies in Japan. It has been also popular among anime viewers, and become a hit in Japan, even among its non-target audience. It is considered a classic by anime and manga critics, and has been influential in anime industry.

The story is about Hiromi Oka (岡ひろみ, Oka Hiromi), a high school girl who struggles to become good at tennis. Hiromi starts playing tennis at her school, Nishi (西高), because she is fascinated by Reika Ryūzaki (竜崎麗香, Ryūzaki Reika), an older girl who is the best player in the team and is nicknamed "Madame Butterfly" (お蝶夫人, Ochōfujin) because of her grace on the tennis court. The team gets a new coach, Jin Munakata (宗方仁, Munakata Jin), who sees potential in Hiromi and trains her to become a great tennis player.