This is one of the series that the author took some time before he found the right direction. At first he was going for more fan service and school bouts (the 100 martial arts clubs which was introduced at first). Couple of volumes down the road the story got serious about real fighting and it got real interesting and entertaining. I'd say it is as good as Hajime no Ippo (which has run almost 100 volumes by now). The artwork also got better, much much better, and the art in the first few volumes is nothing to look down at, it is much better than other series.

Keep this in mind when trying to get through the first few volumes, that if the series is no good, it won't last 34 volumes (and on going with no end in sight), be patience.

... Last updated on April 7th, 2009, 8:25pm

Just so people know, seinen and shonen mean the MAGAZINE it's in. They usually correspond to age of reader, but its magazine based..

The characters don't have much depth to them, but the fight scenes are realistic, if nothing else is. Art is good, nothing groundbreaking. People claim the feats here aren't realistic.. sources? As somebody who does martial arts, up to the current release, there is nothing shown that wasn't technically possible. Could a college student do it? Most likely not, but there aren't any superhuman feats..


Yes, petty things like "my martial art is best" exist completely. Source: Does martial arts in college. Everybody claims theirs is best. EVERYBODY.

Wow, just read the first ch, looks rly promising!
it's not - like metioned before - like other fighting mangas, okey there's always a loser who's bad at everything and wants to get strong... not here, he's practically being forced to get strong by another guy ( as far as i can see )

let's see what those 32 ( soon hopfully translated ) volumes bring

I like this series as an accurate representation of martial arts in an exciting way, but my holdup with this series is that it trivializes rape. Rape is just a joke in this series and attempted rape happens somewhat casually a couple of times.The art, story, and action are all engrossing.

Of course it's not Hajime no Ippo. But it is still good. Don't want really fast development - don't read manga)) Like, in HSDK, where your average wimp was turned into awesome fighter in one year. And it still is by far the best martial arts manga ever. So, who cares about realism, if it is awesome? I don't.

I have all of the volumes currently and try to get them as they come out... they're just so good! Baba Yasushi's artwork is superb and his story is really something to follow. There's revenge, romance, action, and of course training to be the best. There's also plenty of humor.

Kohinata Minoru is a college student at a college that is popular for its sports rather than academic orientation. Although he starts out as a gymnast alongside his friend, Nana, Minoru is bullied by the higher ranked gymnasts. One evening, a karate student at the college, Mutou Ryuuji, witnesses Minoru being bullied and comes to the rescue... but his intentions aren't to save Minoru, but to drag him into the world of karate. Minoru makes new friends and learns some of their dark pasts, including a shocking death that reveals motives for revenge.

Even though Kengo's been away for a few volumes (later on, that is), he's still one of my favorites. Kengo's the character featured on the cover of volume 27, above. More recently he's been showing up a bit more, but I can never help but wonder if things will end badly for him. I also love Minoru and Ryuuji. Minoru's not an instant hit in karate, but he slowly improves with rigorous training and does manage to catch several people's eyes. That makes it more believable to me.

Despite the length of this series, it's never bored me. All the characters are interesting and the storyline itself isn't as repetitive as some other sports mangas. There's even Pedro. I don't know... I thought he was damn funny, if a bit creepy at times.

Hey all

I am new here, i just want to comment on one thing. Most martial arts manga have very little to NO realism to it.

Elementcharm. Which style of Karate are you involved in? The manga's bunkai of Saifa, Seiyunchin and Suparinpei is not perfect, but its not totally out of whack. These are traditional Goju kata (but also practiced by other style). I agree that jump kick is probably not the best technique to use in sparring, it give you very little control, butits not NO control.

Just so you don't question me of my knowledge, I am a black belt in Geishin ryu, only started doing Goju since 3 years ago, and am a 3rd den in ITF Taekwon do, also a brown belt in Judo... Not saying that I am absolutely correct, but just to be fair to the manga, while it did exaggerate on a LOT of things like ALL manga does, the author was not a complete dunce, he did do some research...

Another thing, about the spin kick, again, you can't just judge or make a comment base on what you can do... i myself can't do it as well either, but trust me, i have seen some Taekwon do master that can stop in the midst of a full power round house or hook kick...

Now, i agree totally with you concerning the teaching of any martial art, its not meant to start a fight, its meant to GET OUT of the fight if anything.....

... Last updated on March 11th, 2010, 7:04am

Worth reading anyway. The characters are pretty shallow, and the chapters are incredibly short, but it's a decent fighting manga you can read while waiting for your favorites to be released.

The art's good, fighting scenes are well depicted and explained.

Now, what struck me more was how humorous extremely mature topics were shown here. You'll find out when you meet the Brazilian.

@elementcharm: I don't really get your attitude...although the image of Karate may not be all to great, this Manga promotes Karate. You should be happy that there is actually an other manga promoting karate. Btw... Minoru isnt the kind of guy who learns Karate for the sake of beating up people...it doesn't glorify violence. Keep your distence, knowing that this isn't real Karate, and try to enjoy the manga.
Peace man

Real nice manga though...expecting much from this one ^^