[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/baby_steps_cover_3504.jpg]]

Maruo Eiichirou is a model high school student. Known by his classmates as “All-A” or “Ei-chan”, Eiichirou has a reputation for being studious and a perfectionist. Pretty much dedicating his entire life to studying, cram school, and school committee meetings, everything he does is to further his goal of becoming a successful, responsible adult. He’s even recently decided to start exercising… to make getting around easier when he goes to university, of course.

One day while checking out a local tennis center, Eiichirou runs into Takasaki Natsu, a popular girl from another class who is widely considered to be the school's idol. Having only met Natsu once before and gotten the impression that she was a bit irresponsible, Eiichirou is surprised to see her playing tennis with determination and skill. She convinces him to try playing a few rounds with her club, but E--chan quickly learns that even their ''warm-up routine'' is too grueling for him to compete with.

While talking with Natsu afterward, Eiichirou finds out that tennis is not just her hobby… she plays with such passion because it is her dream to one day become a professional player. When she compares her dedication to the sport to his studying, Eiichirou realizes that the two are entirely different. He’s not really sure ''why'' he is so hard-working and diligent. In fact, he’s not even sure if he ''has'' any dreams for his future.

At that moment, Eiichirou decides that he will give tennis a try as well, both in order to understand what drives Natsu to play the way that she does and, hopefully, to see if he can find a passion of his own.

''Baby Steps'' is a [[SportsStoryTropes sports manga]] written and illustrated by Katsuki Hikaru. Debuting in October of 2007, this series ran in ''Weekly Shonen Magazine'' until 2017 and is published by Kodansha. An anime adaptation began airing in April 2014 on Creator/{{NHK}}'s educational channel.

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!!Tropes used in ''Baby Steps'':
* AccidentalAthlete: Eiichiro. He very suddenly and unintendedly finds himself practicing tennis driven by a pushy mother, his own obsessive nature, and a crush on Natsu. Unique example in that he didn't have any apparent talents that made him fit for the sport, his own unique talents (his capacity for observation and his visual reaction speed) are discovered later on.
* AccidentalPervert: When a flustered Eiichirou was caught hiding behind a bleacher while watching Natsu play tennis for the first time, a young member of the tennis club accused him of being an “degenerate old stalker” despite Eiichirou’s fervent [[NotWhatItLooksLike protestations of innocence]].
* TheAce: Ike Souji, considered the best player in all of Japan and respected as the best player in one of the most prestigious Tennis schools in Florida.
* AdviceBackfire: Araya gives Kouji Nishimura advice on playing Eiichiro, which mostly consists of "he's a weak, defensive player." The analysis stems from Araya's game against Eiichiro from the prior year, and he has become a [[{{Determinator}} completely different player]] during that time.
* AlmightyJanitor: While Eiichirou becomes skilled enough to compete with some of the strongest characters fairly quickly, he still remains unseeded due to being new at the sport and not having a ranking.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter:
** Nabae Yuu to Eiichiro.
** Takuma to Araya.
** Aki Shimizu to Natsu.
** [[TheAce Ike Souji]] to ''everyone.''
*** Except [[spoiler: Katsumi Ogata]] who bested him in their younger years before an injury temporarily took him out of the game.
* AnimationBump: The animation quality in season 2 is markedly better, which is quite surprising considering how intense and action heavy the matches are as Eiichiro improves.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Back to back. Eiichiro asks Takuma if he wants to become a professional tennis player. This enrages him, at which point Eiichiro asks him why he gets so angry. Eventually, this confrontation, and witnessing Eiichiro's determination in the face of overwhelming odds, set Takuma back on the path to becoming a pro player.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Eiichirou's primary method of learning tennis is through careful analysis. When the natural talent Natsu looks at his notebook for the first time, she is amazed to see that he has taken careful notes of everything she's told him and every move he's made, complete with drawn diagrams, angles, and trajectories.
** Later on we meet Nabae Yuu, who analyzes his opponents and his own style as detailedly, if not more so, as Eiichirou himself; going as far as building an extensive database in his computer. It turns out this is a very effective method of approaching tennis, as he is [[spoiler:the first seed of the All-Japan Junior tournament]].
* [[BeachEpisode Beach Episode/Pool Episode]]: One of each, with plot developments both times.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Not a physically violent example but Eiichirou didn't take too kindly to [[spoiler: Ike joking about Natsu being his fiance]]. It was lampshaded by another student.
* BoisterousBruiser: Araya is one of the strongest players in the series in terms of power, and is also one of the friendliest and most talkative characters in the series.
* BrilliantButLazy: Takuma starts out this way.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Justified. Every new character comments on Eiichiro's strange notebook habit, but his obsessive studying helps him to excel at tennis (and everything else he does).
* ButtMonkey: Eiichirou, at first.
** Yuichi starts out as a decently skilled player in the series(even being one of the seeded players in Kanagawa). As time goes on, he gets comically defeated by stronger opponents.
* CantCatchUp: Takuma to [[spoiler:[[TheAce Ike Souji]]]], which presumably is what led to him deciding to not even bother trying anymore, much to the coach's chagrin. [[spoiler:He then starts training seriously again when Ei-chan starts showing signs of growth, determined not to let him catch up]].
** Eiichirou encounters this for a long time, especially at his training camp where he's unable to defeat any of those training to be pros.
* CantSpitItOut: Eiichirou towards Na-chan, as expected. [[spoiler: Interestingly, the first real time he attempted it, he only got past the first syllable but she already know what he meant to say.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Many characters; Takuma is probably the best example.
* ChekhovsSkill: Coach Aoi teaches Eiichiro the between-the-legs shot in Chapter 71. It isn't shown or mentioned again until [[spoiler: Chapter 153, when Eiichiro uses it to defeat Ide Yoshiaki in the final game of their match.]]
* CombatCommentator: Particularly Coach Aoi, but other characters also serve this purpose. Eiichiro frequently serves as this [[AwesomenessByAnalysis in his head during his own matches]].
* CombatPragmatist: Takagi Sakuya uses almost any tactics to win as long as it's within boundaries, including provoking and/or pissing off his opponents.
* ConfusionFu: As his experience grows, Ei-chan's style is becoming like this. His change-of-pace style, tactical thinking, and the sheer variety of shots he is able to use makes him extremely hard to read, and his data allows him to pick the most effective patterns against his opponents, either catching them off-guard or slowing them down with indecision.
* CoolOfRule: The author goes to great lengths to ensure every aspect of the sport is portrayed realistically and within the realm of physics, and NEVER skirts around or ignores the rules of the sport for the sake of plot. Even Ei-chan's growth is within the realm of possibility in the real world.
* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: Matches with Ike turn into this for Eiichirou - the latter is the loser, of course]]
** [[spoiler: Later Eiichiro delivers one himself during the Kanagawa Prefecture Junior Tennis Competition, to Nishimura, in spite or perhaps even BECAUSE of the fact that Nishimura himself gathered information about him from one of Eiichirou's past rivals in order to gain an edge over him.]]
** [[spoiler:Eiichirou wins his first tournament by delivering this to his final opponent. It was supposed to be a three-set match but he only lost one game in a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of the top-seeded player.]]
** [[spoiler:Eiichirou does this again to his first two more experienced opponents in the All-Japan Championships preliminaries, especially against Akimoto, whom he had time to gather data for. It really cements just how strong Eiichirou has become since his first days.]]
* CuteClumsyGirl: Initially captivated by her good looks and frank demeanor, Eiichiriou’s first impression of Natsu took a downward turn when she immediately tripped and fell into another student’s lunch… getting food all over the World History notes she had just borrowed from him. Remembering her cute expression of when apologizing, however, he realized that he couldn’t hold a grudge for long.
* {{Determinator}}: Eiichirou shows shades of this early on, as when he can't remember how he made his first "perfect shot" in tennis by accident, he practices for hours against the wall every day until he can duplicate it.
* DownToTheLastPlay: Eiichiro's semi-final match against Kanda at the All-Japan Juniors goes all the way to 5-7, 7-6, 13-11 [[spoiler:in Kanda's favour]].
* DramaticDrop: Eiichiro's mother when she finds out her son has a girlfriend.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Kanda Hisashi appears as a player in the All-Japan championships in Chapter 53 but Eiichirou doesn't have anything to do with him until much later.
* EducationMama: Eiichiro's mother worries that his deepening involvement in tennis will affect his (near-perfect) grades, leading to his do-or-die "one year" ultimatum.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Most characters are shocked to learn that Eiichiro and Natsu ''aren't'' dating. [[spoiler: Until Chapter 135.]]
* EvilCounterpart: Not really evil per se, but Nabae Yuu serves as the analytical genius antagonist to Eiichiro.
* FirstKiss: Between [[spoiler:Ei-chan and Nacchan]] in chapter [[spoiler:234.]]
* FissionMailed: [[spoiler: Coach Aoi doesn't believe Eiichiro is ready to beat the top national players, and states he must win the Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit[[note]] as winning the Kanagawa Junior will earn Eiichiro a seeded rank in Kanto and allow him to get to the top 16 by playing non-seeded players[[/note]] in order to reach the top 16 in Kanto and qualify for the All-Japan Junior tournament. Eiichiro loses to Araya in the Kanagawa finals, fails to become seeded, and is matched up against high-ranked Ide Yoshiaki in the All-Japan Junior qualifying match. He wins anyway.]]
* {{Gonk}}: Yukichi Fukazawa starts off as a normal-looking boy, but his face quickly shifts into an [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120718051113/babysteps/images/9/9d/Fukazawa.png absurdly comic style]] compared to the rest of the cast.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Subverted with Eiichiro, but realistically played straight with the introduction of Coach Aoi, whose first lesson to Eiichiro is on the perils of working ''too'' hard.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Ide Yoshiaki's back story is completely littered with sports movie clichés. He's given an [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/baby_steps/v16/c154/19.html entire cast of supporting characters]], a compulsion to [[ChronicHeroSyndrome risk forfeiting his qualifying match to help a child in a car accident]] (and subsequently, a promise to the [[WheelchairWoobie wheelchair-bound child]]), an ability to [[ThePowerOfFriendship draw strength from]] his [[InstantFanClub spontaneously huge fan base]], and a tendency to [[MiracleRally always come from behind in all of his games]]. It's no surprise that his match with Eiichiro spans ''sixteen chapters'' and ends in [[DownToTheLastPlay ridiculously dramatic fashion]].
--> '''Random spectator:''' Wow, it feels like I'm really watching a movie!!
* HeroicBSOD: The series begins with Takuma in the midst of one. Eiichiro starts to drift into one during the Florida arc - his peers note that he starts off in unusually high spirits for someone who loses so much, but it fades as he keeps losing - but being TheDeterminator, he powers through it.
** Ei-chan himself edges close to one after [[spoiler:losing against Kanda at the All-Japan Juniors, becoming caught between his promise to his parents to give up going pro if he loses, and his true desire to keep going anyway. It takes a stern talk from Coach Aoi to shake him out of it.]]
* HeroicRROD: Coach Aoi's tennis career ended when injuries left him unable to play at the professional level. He chooses to specialize in physical conditioning to prevent others from suffering the same fate.
* HeroicSecondWind: In the beginning of the story, Eiichiro takes on Takuma in a challenge to return just one of 50 serves. He starts to feel all hope is lost when Natsu appears and shouts out a piece of advice to him. This gives him the strength he needs to continue on. Although the trope is subverted because Eiichiro never manages to return a serve, he does noticeably better late in the challenge, forcing Takuma to hit a slice serve for his last shot.
* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist by Her Own Petard]]: Eiichiro's mother was the one who pushed him into going to the Southern Tennis Club, and start practicing tennis, and not very kindly. [[spoiler:A move she probably came to regret months later, when Eiichiro informed her that he wanted to try becoming a professional tennis player, a decision that she very strongly disapproved of]].
* HonorBeforeReason: Eiichiro risks his chances at making it to the All-Japan Junior tournament, and thus his entire future plans to pursue professional tennis, when he declines a chance to force Ide Yoshiaki to forfeit their match for being late.
* HopelessSuitor: Natsu's rival, Aki Shimizu, develops a crush on Eiichiro. [[spoiler: Then she finds out he's Natsu's boyfriend.]]
* HotBlooded: Araya.
* ICanStillFight: Eiichiro takes one of Takuma's powerful serves to the face, but stands up and resumes playing.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Hiromi Iwasa is quite good at tennis, for someone who uses his skills to "draw pictures" with the ball during a match.
* JackOfAllStats: Eiichirou himself. He becomes good at all the major shots(lob, serve), court-covering, ball control, etc. However, he lacks any particular finishing shot like other players, which is why it's stated to be his weakness.
** [[spoiler:Not anymore, he now has an above average serve that he got from mimicking Takuma, and his focus is very much in ball control.]]
** [[spoiler:He gets another upgrade after incorporating a variant of Okada's Bazooka, a super-fast jump-shot with slight top spin for better control, in his match against Ogata.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Takuma can often be overly aggressive towards the protagonist, and has a tendency to look down on many characters. He is later eclipsed by Takagi Sakuya, who has no respect for anyone and will use any tactic he can to get into his opponents' heads and beat them.
* {{Keet}}: Ide Yoshiaki.
* LightningBruiser: Araya's strengths are his power and speed on the court.
* LovableNerd: Eiichirou, even in universe. Despite the fact that he's pretty nerdy and always at the top of his class, he seems to win the respect and admiration from the majority of his classmates.
* LoveDodecahedron: Kageyama likes Sasaki who likes Eiichiro, who in turn likes Natsu, who is also liked by Takuma.
** If 'slightly interested' counts, Ide Yoshiaki's group has one between the two girls, one of the boys and Ide himself. The two girls like Ide, although one [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wants to give her friend the best chance with him]], the other boy is 'slightly interested' in the one who doesn't count as the above and Ide is blissfully oblivious to everything except tennis.
* MeaningfulName: Eiichirou's nickname of "All-A" not only refers to the Japanese pronunciation of the first letter of his name, but also to his impeccable grades in every school subject.
* MegaManning: [[spoiler: Eiichirou adopts a variant of the Okada bazooka on the spot against Ogata, as his biggest weakness until now is his lack of power, most glaring against someone with a higher technical degree as Ogata is]].
* MenAreTough / WomenAreDelicate: Not addressed for most of the series. Natsu is one of the top female players, and Eiichiro works his way into the upper ranks of the male players, but boys and girls generally do not play each other. When the two finally face off against each other in Chapters 112-113, Coach Aoi teases Eiichiro that he shouldn't lose to a girl, and ultimately, the tropes are [[spoiler: played straight; he crushes her 6-1]].
* MouthyKid: Yuuki, the youngest member of Natsu's tennis club who originally thought Eiichirou was either a spy for another club or a "degenerate old stalker". Since then, he never misses an opportunity to give Ei-chan a hard time.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Eiichiro develops his tennis style based on control in order to combat the power and speed development of other players. In many of his matches, bystanders note that he isn't particularly stronger physically, but his control allows him to dominate the match. Sometimes subverted, particularly with [[spoiler: Araya]].
* NaiveNewcomer: We learn the "Ins and Outs" of tennis through the eyes of novice Eiichirou
* NeatFreak: Eiichirou values tidiness, which shows in his writing, manner of dress, and how orderly he arranges his boxed lunches. He also has a habit of taking two sets of notes during class, one for studying and lending out to his classmates so that his treasured “master copy” can remain pristine.
* NiceGuy: Eiichirou. This is one of the reasons that Natsu trusts him with her "big secret" (of wanting to someday become a professional tennis player) on the first day they met.
--> '''Eiichirou''': "Why did you let me in on your secret?"
--> '''Natsu''': "... because it's ''you''. I mean, I know you wouldn't tell anyone."
--> '''Eiichirou''': "But you can't be sure of that!"
--> '''Natsu:''': "I'm sure."
* NoAntagonist: Unlike ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'', this manga is not centered around school tennis so there are no rival "teams"[[note]]The competition exists but Eiichirou and the STC crew don't get involved.[[/note]] Still, there are no openly hostile individual players that have been encountered so far. There was the guy who tried to get revenge on Eiichirou for a loss by giving his colleague tips but he is otherwise a minor character. Every big name player is either TheRival or a WorthyOpponent. The only guy who played a match against Eiichirou with underhanded tactics was also revealed to be sympathetic.
* OpenTheIris: This technique is used to reflect Eiichirou's shock when Kageyama suggests he knows the reason Ei-chan got into tennis.
--> '''Kageyama''': "... you like Takasaki-san, don't you!?"
--> '''Eiichirou''' (his irises shrinking to tiny dots): "EEEEEEEHHHHHH!?!?!"
--> '''Kageyama''': "What's with that reaction?"
* PluckyGirl: Eiichiro admires this trait about Natsu. The trope is subverted every time he mentions it to her, as she then immediately tells him of all her inner insecurities.
* PostVictoryCollapse: Natsu tries to fight this off the day after her victory at the Kanto tournament, so it doesn't interfere with [[spoiler: her date with Eiichiro]].
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Eiichiro's rise in tennis, sudden and unlikely as it seems, is within the realm of human possibility.
* RelationshipUpgrade: [[spoiler: As of Chapter 135 for Eiichirou and Natsu.]]
* RomanticFalseLead: Played with. Ike Souji tells Eiichiro he's [[spoiler: engaged to Natsu]], but quickly adds that [[spoiler: it was just a joke]] after the latter becomes upset.
* {{Rotoscoping}}: Used quite a bit in the anime, most obviously throughout the 2nd season opening.
* SchoolIdol: Natsu, who Kageyama refers to as "The school's #1 cutie."
* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Justified with the Kanagawa tournament; anything less than complete victory severely jeopardizes Eiichiro's chances of making it to the All-Japan Junior tournament.
* ShadowArchetype: Nabae Yuu has a similar analytical tennis style to Eiichiro, but has taken it to a level where he is one of the best players in Japan(even better than Takuma).
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: [[spoiler: Until she is.]]
* ShipperOnDeck: Kageyama ships Eiichiro and Natsu, [[LoveDodecahedron though not without his own personal motives.]]
* ShoutOut: A training exercise leaderboard includes names such as Henman and Laver, though with different first names.
* ShownTheirWork: This manga is rare among sports manga not only in that it avoids the exaggeration of the characters' skills in superhuman and caricaturistic levels, but in that it painstakingly details EVERY aspect of the sport in a realistic fashion. From the very basic techniques and training methods of tennis, to common occurrences among those who practice it, such as injuries or slumps and their psychological impact.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Eichirou tries not to become like this despite the results he gets from being a non-seeded player at tournaments.
* StockAesops: The “Follow Your Dreams” aesop plays a very strong role in this series.
* TheStoic: Nabae Yuu. [[spoiler: Subverted; he is shown to have a quick temper when things don't go his way, but as the #1 seed in Japan, that doesn't happen much.]]
* StoneWall: Takagi may use cheap tricks, but even Maruo admits that his stamina is quite amazing. On the flip side, he doesn't have many significant strengths.
* TakeAThirdOption: In Florida, Eiichiro is given the choice to work on power or speed as his primary weapon. He chooses control instead. His instructors develop an entirely new program for this.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Eiichiro being the technician, Takuma being the performer.
* ThisCannotBe: Kouji Nishimura, when Eiichiro's tennis game turns out to be much better than advertised.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Kageyama and Sasaki, although Sasaki is a girl. Once the LoveDodecahedron settles, they basically function as Eiichiro's cheering section.
* TitleDrop: When Eiichirou returned from Florida he found a message from Alex written in his notebook.
--> "Baby steps turn into giant strides"
* TookALevelInBadass: The point of the Florida arc. [[spoiler:Both of them.]]
* TournamentArc: It's a manga about tennis. What did you expect?
* TrainingFromHell: Kanda Hisashi's training conditions horrify even ''Eiichirou,'' who doesn't know how to stop pushing himself to extremes.
** And then there's Ike Souji's 400m dash and jog back, repeated 10 times...and that's just his ''warm-up!''
* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: Kanda teases Eichiiro and Natsu about this by pointing out that they are still under the same umbrella despite the fact that the rain has stopped.
* UnderdogsNeverLose: Generally played straight because Eiichirou's lack of match records means he is only seeded once during the entirety of the series ([[spoiler:8th, and he won against the top seed in the final of that tournament]]). After taking substantial rises in skill and physical ability he would be capable of defeating several opponents ranked better than him, sometimes even being generally stronger than him. [[spoiler:But he would only win one more tournament by the cancellation of the series, and even then he took this trope far and beyond by pulling himself through the qualifiers first before winning the whole thing]].
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Partway through [[spoiler:the second Florida arc]], Ei-chan learns and plays some beach tennis as training.
* UnsoundEffect: After his first grueling day of tennis training, Ei-chan's inability to stand up from his desk was denoted by "shivering" sound effects.
* WaxOnWaxOff: Coach Aoi's first instructions to Eiichiro? Take two days off and do whatever you want. The hard-working Eiichiro is not amused, until he realizes he had been working ''too'' hard, and letting his desire to improve overwhelm his enthusiasm for tennis.
* WeakButSkilled: Eiichirou's playing style has no real power behind it, lacking any decisive shots or powerful returns. That being said, he can mentally divide the opponent's court area up into 64 squares and accurately put the ball into any of those squares at will.
** Not so much anymore, he outgrew this after his [[spoiler:trip to Florida and his latest match with Takuma, Eiichiro has developed a very decisively offensive control oriented style of tennis, backed by a powerful serve and precise footwork made only possible by [[TrainingFromHell complete physical reconditioning]] to strengthen his muscles and increase his stamina, even Miyagawa who Eiichiro defeated in their last match via a mixture of luck and determination, was quick to notice how he TookALevelInBadass and that he should probably consider him a completely different player.]] It is of course, difficult to notice the upgrade even for the reader up to that point, since the Manga does a very good job in [[ShownTheirWork presenting Eiichiro's progress very gradually, and in a very detailed and borderline realistic fashion]].
* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: Eiichiro's reaction to [[spoiler: Natsu asking him out.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Natsu:''' Then... go out with me.]]
--> '''Eiichiro:''' Oh, if it's something like that, I'll... huh? ''What??''
* TheWorfEffect: Minor example. The Kanagawa seeds (where Eiichirou and the STC players live) won't always be as strong compared to more fancied players from other regions.
* YankTheDogsChain: Eiichirou's match against [[spoiler: First seed Nabae Yuu; it seems like Eiichirou will make a comeback in his match, due to his newfound weapon of control. Nope, the referee incorrectly calls his shot out right at match point.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Eiichiro is shocked to find out that Marcia is only thirteen years old. He was sure they were the same age.
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