I've been a fan of Adachi Mitsuru's manga and anime since the 80's. I've been loving Cross Game so far, currently airing in Japan. I love how Wakaba is a main character, even though she dies in the first episode. The main characters think about her, and we learn more about her through flashbacks.

I wish Crunchroll would stream it, but at least I got them to put up a page on it in their library for discussion etc. :) http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Cross_Game

So far Adachi's only officially English translated works have been two volumes of his short-story manga anthology, "Short Program." I have a bunch of his manga in Japanese, and would gladly buy it in English too. His characters are likable and pretty realistic, though his character design is pretty far from realistic. :)

Happy Friday.