Baby Steps

Baby Steps
Cover of first manga volume of Baby Steps published by Kodansha, featuring Eiichirō Maruo and Natsu Takasaki.
ベイビーステップ (Beibī Suteppu)
Genre	Comedy, Sports (Tennis), Romance
Manga
Written by	Hikaru Katsuki
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	October 2007 – present
Volumes	43 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Masahiko Murata
Produced by	Kenji Saito
Written by	Katsuhiko Chiba
Music by	Yoichiro Yoshikawa Kōhei Yamada (season 2)
Studio	Pierrot
Original network	NHK-E
Original run	April 6, 2014 – September 20, 2015
Episodes	50 (List of episodes)

Baby Steps (Japanese: ベイビーステップ, Hepburn: Beibī Suteppu^?) is a Japanese manga series by Hikaru Katsuki. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since October 2007. The story is centered on Eiichirō Maruo, a first year honor student who one day decides that he is lacking exercise. He then joins the Southern Tennis Club (STC) where he begins his tennis journey. An anime television series adaptation of the series began airing in Japan in April 2014 with a second season began airing April 5, 2015. It also won the 38th Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōnen Manga category.

Eiichirō Maruo, a first year honor student, one day decides he is unhappy with the way things are and lacks exercise. He finds a flyer for the Tennis Club and decides to check it out. He is instantly captivated by it. With no prior experience and poor physical conditioning, he embarks on a tennis journey using his smarts, dedication and work ethic. He uses his inherent studious nature to develop an extremely strategic approach to tennis, taking notes on the habits and tendencies of his opponents thus allowing him to predict their shots before they make them.

As of January 2017, 43 volumes have been released.

In 2014, Baby Steps won the 38th Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōnen Manga category.