A kid inherits his father's dream because he doesn't know how to want anything else. The show spends 182 episodes proving that's not weakness, it's the only honest way to grow. Every loss, every rival, every moment Hyuma realizes he's not his father teaches him something about being himself instead, and by the time you finish you understand why this show shaped what Japanese baseball means to an entire country.

Hyuma Hoshi is a promising young pitcher who dreams of reaching the top of Japanese professional baseball. His father, Ittetsu, played third base until a wound suffered in World War II forced him to quit, and he has drilled Hyuma since early childhood to turn him into a professional. Hyuma goes on to join the popular Giants and soon finds that living up to the high expectations placed on him is harder than he imagined. Grueling training awaits him, and so does a rivalry with Mitsuru Hanagata of the Hanshin Tigers, a challenge that pushes Hyuma to bring out the very best of his pitching in this long-running sports drama.