Kotono Katō's New Manga: Set Match! Focuses on Soft Tennis
Kotono Katō, known for the historical epic series Altair: A Record of Battles, now makes her mark in the sports arena. Her new manga, Set Match!, launched with two chapters on August 7. According to Anime News Network, the series follows a female student as she joins the soft tennis club. Katō's transition to such a slice-of-life genre after her long-running historical fiction world has already piqued readers' interest.
In 2007, Katō entered the manga world with Altair: A Record of Battles under Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine. Its fictional geography inspired by Ottoman and Turkish history, strategic battles, and political drama quickly earned it an international fanbase. The series was adapted into an anime by MAPPA in 2017, running for 24 episodes. After the main story concluded in 2023, Katō's new project was eagerly awaited.
Soft tennis is a version of tennis played with a lighter ball, particularly common among school teams in Japan. In that regard, Set Match! promises not just a winning story, but also a coming-of-age tale that progresses through the club life, friendships, and personal rivalries of young characters. Releasing two chapters from day one can be seen as a sign of the publisher's confidence in the project.
Katō's strong cast of characters, detailed world-building, and dynamic action panels in Altair could create a different flavor when adapted to the sports genre. Readers are already speculating about what the author, who brings the same strategic mastery to the tactical struggle of a soft tennis match, will do in her new series. Whether Set Match! will become a regular serialization will depend on the impact of the early chapters.
