Tadano Itsuki

Tadano Itsuki
Inashiro High School - No. 2
Catcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Kanji	多田野 樹
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Age	15 (debut) 16
Date of birth	29 January
Place of birth	Tokyo
Bloodtype	A
Height	177 cm (5'10")
Weight	66 kg (145 lbs)
Status
Education	1st Year High School (debut) 2nd Year High School (current)
First Appearance
Manga	Act I - Chapter 142
Anime	S1 - Episode 48
Cast
Voice Actor	Yoshitaka Yamaya

Tadano Itsuki is a second year student of Inashiro Industrial and the baseball team's primary catcher after Harada Masatoshi retired.

Character

Tadano is polite to everyone around him, even Narumiya Mei despite having squabbles with him at times. Narumiya has described him as cheeky and stubborn, though that may just because Tadano was willing to argue with him.

As a catcher, he is aware of what he lacks and tries his best to make use of Narumiya's full potential. He later watches Seido High and Ugumori High's match-up with his captain Fukui and carefully observes Miyuki Kazuya's abilities as catcher.

Act I

West Tokyo Tournament

The day before the Finals, Tadano practices with Iguuchi at the bullpen. He sees Narumiya talking to the press about aiming to be the number one pitcher in Japan, and comments that Narumiya is only putting pressure on himself. He continues to practice with Iguuchi, thinking that Iguuchi might've been Inashiro's ace had Narumiya went to a different school.

Finals

Tadano is seen cheering for his teammates during Inashiro's finals match against Seidou High.

Summer Koshien

Tadano with teammates Sugi and Ezaki.

The evening before the Summer National Finals, while their senpai make fun of Narumiya, Tadano, along with fellow first years Ezaki and Sugi talk about their Koshien experience. Tadano tells them that it's unimaginable for their team to lose, and is later on shocked to see Narumiya bow his head after thanking the team.

Fall Tournament

Tadano practices in the bullpen but is disrupted by Narumiya. He tells Narumiya to stop being a nuisance and doing selfish things because he is a senpai. He then admits that he should be practicing to catch more of Narumiya's pitches, but Narumiya assures him that he'll be throwing to where his mitt is. Tadano makes a discontented face which Narumiya points out. Narumiya then makes his intentions clear of not losing until he sees the view from the top, surprising Tadano.

Second Round

In Inashiro's match against Ugumori High, Tadano forms a battery with Hirano Keiji while an irritable Narumiya plays left field. Narumiya comments on Tadano's pitch calls but Tadano says that he's not currently paired with Narumiya and adds that the latter stop being peevish. Inashiro scores at the bottom of the first but has not since then scored. On top of the fifth, Tadano thinks that they cannot allow their opponents to gain more momentum after seeing Umemiya smirk at him. He hears Narumiya call out to him from the field telling him to be assertive, and not just to fall back on defense.

Tadano after Inashiro's defeat.

In the bottom of the seventh, Narumiya replaces Hirano. With runners on first and third, and Umemiya at bat (the ball count is 1B:2S), Tadano asks for a change-up to finish Umemiya off. Narumiya shakes off the sign. Tadano then asks for a forkball, but Narumiya again rejects. Narumiya throws a fastball instead which Umemiya hits, giving the lead to Ugumori, 1-2. With Inashiro failing to score the following innings, they lost in the second round of the tournament.

Aftermath

As Tadano and Fukui watch Seidou's match against Ugumori High, he takes notice of how Miyuki handles and lead Seidou's pitchers. He thinks back during their game against Ugumori and how powerless he was when faced with a strong willed Narumiya. He quickly realizes however, that he had really done nothing then. But had he went to the mound and tried to explain to Narumiya what and why he called for a breaking ball, things might've been different.

During their off-season, Inashiro have a scrimmage against Koukaidai Sagara. Tadano is bothered that Narumiya follows his leads despite getting hit twice in a row. After their defense, Narumiya calls out Tadano and questions why Tadano called for an outside pitch for one of the batters who got a hit off Narumiya.

Tadano and Narumiya bickering.

Tadano explains but Narumiya advises his catcher on what pitch is best to call in that situation. Tadano voice out his concern to Narumiya about the pitcher not shaking off any of his signs, and asks if Narumiya is trying to match him. If so, he pleads Narumiya to stop wanting to be the one to rise to the pitcher's level. Narumiya however, says Tadano is out of line admitting that he simply throws what Tadano asks and hence, they are losing because of his pitch calling. They bicker, and the gallery wonders if the battery is alright. A spectator comments that Tadano does well dealing with Narumiya for he can talk back at the pitcher to that extent.

Fall Tournament Finals

Tadano arrives with Narumiya to watch Seidou's finals match against Yakushi High. He meets his peer Akamatsu Shinji, and comments on his height. Akamatsu notices Tadano to be carrying more than one bag and offers to help, but Tadano declines saying that it's his punishment.

Act II

In the third round of the Spring Tournament, Inashiro Industrial faces off against Yakushi High.

Tadano keeping up with Narumiya.

At the top of the first, he realizes Narumiya is straining more than necessary and calls for a time-out just before Raichi's at-bat. He tells the pitcher a pun to help him relax. In a flashback, Narumiya tells Tadano how it is that he wants to pitch on the mound. Narumiya goes on saying that he knows he is unbearable as a pitcher and senpai but nonetheless asks Tadano to keep up.

Back in the game, Tadano matches Narumiya's strong-spirited pitching to strike out Raichi and throughout the match, with Narumiya gaining groove each inning, Yakushi is yet to put a man on base since the first inning. At the top of the eighth, Tadano hits a RBI giving his team the fourth run. In the last inning, Inashiro defeats Yakushi High without giving them the chance to turn the game around.

Relationships with other characters

Narumiya Mei

Tadano and Narumiya are current batterymates. While Narumiya thinks of Tadano as inflexible, 'way too stubborn', and cheeky, Tadano admires the pitcher. Though they are somewhat prone to squabbling, like Harada before him, Tadano is able to put up with Narumiya's childish nature and cheeky persona.

Skills

It can be assumed that Tadano is highly skilled in to become Inashiro Industrial's starting catcher despite only being in his first year. He is capable of hitting RBIs, as evidenced in their match against Yakushi.

Player Statistics

Defense		3/5
♦Shoulder		4/5
Running		3/5
Physical Strength		4/5
Mental Strength		3/5
Batting		2/5
♦Contact		2/5
♦Power		2/5

Trivia

• Favorite food: sweet Japanese omelet
• Itsuki enjoys anime and idol groups such as AKB48.
• He admires Narumiya Mei, whom he catches for.
• Before their every game he always comes up with puns so he can tell them to Narumiya when he starts getting stiff, although the latter usually finds them lame

Name Etymology

• Tadano (多田野) - Many Fields
• Itsuki (樹) - Tree

Quotes

• "Could it be that you are trying to adapt to match me, Mei-san? If you are, then please stop. I know I'm lacking at the moment, but I will climb to where you are without fail!" - to Narumiya
• "If I, the catcher, get cold feet here, it will only play into the hitter's hands. What I need to do is make calls that will allow Mei-san shine his brightest."

Gallery

• Tadano in the manga
• Itsuki

1/6

Navigation

v - e	Inashiro Industrial
Players	Third Years
	Narumiya Mei • Shirakawa Katsuyuki • Kamiya Carlos Toshiki • Yamaoka Riku • Fukui Kento • Yabe Kouji
	Second Years
	Tadano Itsuki
	First Years
	Akamatsu Shinji • Yoshizawa Akimitsu • Mitsuichi Youji • Shima Ryouhei
Former players	Harada Masatoshi • Yoshizawa Hideaki • Hirai Tsubasa
Coach	Kunitomo Hiroshige