It's not a happy happy feelgood manga. If you thought the plot of Ressentiment kept kicking the "protagonist" in the nads too much, don't even consider this one.

It's not the silly kind of shounen "oh noes my clan was killed by some random great demon king" (or whatever) blows, this deals more in things that could actually happen to your own loser self, if you were unlucky enough. I don't want to spoil, but chapters 27-28 are probably the worst of the lot.

That's not to say it lacks for funny spots, or even romantic spots. But the overall impression is: harsh

... Last updated on March 4th, 2011, 5:03pm

I mean, wow. The main character starts out so lame that every masculine bone in my body is screaming for him to win. It goes to the very root of what what makes a man want to be something more than what they are. I mean, for someone who has a great life there's not much there, but even though most of us have ever sunk as low as our hero, most of us have been punked down pretty hard at some point in our lives. Some more than others. And this is quite possibly as much of an underdog as you can get. All I can do is keep reading and hope that the hero can rise from his state of pure mediocrity, find his pride (which he has already begun to do), and kick some ass.

As a guy who was always timid, I totally identify with the MC, and so I follow the story with a combination of chagrin and uneasy hope on his behalf. It's really the ultimate "the worm turns" story, with the MC being the lowest-down creature you can imagine at the start. Given what he is at the beginning, I've never been troubled that he's taking so long to change. You would expect his rise to Manhood to take years. Plus all the two greatest good things I look for in manga are here: realistic behavior and talk such as actual humans might do and say, AND great, careful drawing.

It's back! (January 2018) At least it is where I read it. This is the SECOND case in the new year where I found one of my long-beloved but quiescent manga being scanlated again in the new year!

... Last updated on January 24th, 2018, 3:22pm

If you want a depressing story where it's quench your heart and then feels like destroying your room, try this. I almost broke my keyboard.

But it's good. It made you can hate the character like it's so real in your life. Ha.

Just a difficult story to read. Practically every character is not just flawed but deeply flawed.........can't really like the MC, frankly can't like anyone in the entire manga. I mean there is no "silver lining" of any sort anywhere to be found in this story, it's just misfortune after misfortune. A shame but just not a lot of fun to read.

But in all fairness, I suppose it might have been (at least to some degree) been meant to be taken satirically.....I mean, oh my goodness, that much bad stuff happening to a character (and I mean even his "happily ever after" was a true kick in the nuts), well, yeah, just kinda hard to take.

... Last updated on February 25th, 2023, 2:44pm

Oh the humour... It's sad, it's painful, it's awkward... That is if you have some God damned issues, maaaan/wooo-maaaan!
Anyway, funny as hell story about a guy going through some serious stuff. Most of the 'stuff' could have been avoided if he had some damn balls, but I guess this story is about him growing a pair... But who am I to judge?

Best red while drinking condensed milk and crying while mumbling to yourself that you are fat.

This is my first comment even if i read manga for much time now. I wanna say something about that brunette woman protagonist


This manga express the worst situation you can get. Anyway is only my opinion
The main guy is a loser who he can't f .. express himself. He is a weirdo from my standards. Anyway i am only on the chapter 31 .. and maybe this manga will change.



... Last updated on February 26th, 2013, 4:14pm

Okay, mixed feelings about this. Description: "about how and why a guy goes from a worker at a dead-end job to becoming a boxer". So far, he hasn't even started boxing yet. The story up 'till now in is one of the most depressing manga plots I ever read. Not to say that it's well drawn and well written, it's still severely depressing. Probably things will start to work out soon, but if you start reading this now up to the latest translated chapters, be prepared to be wrecked. Not for the fainthearted out there (March 2012).

... Last updated on March 8th, 2012, 1:10pm

I'm not sure how to review this. The art is amazing, but the characters in it are hard to take seriously... You think Tanishi would have some redeeming points but he continues to mess up time and time again. He's short sighted, driven by his emotions, selfish, jealous, unhappy, and listless, yet somehow still draws people to him. But his indecision and poor choices push people away, sometimes even ruining the lives of others.

It's really hard to sympathize with him. I can't imagine someone in real life like that. That said... I'm sure they exist. This manga feels like a character study of a terrible person. Something akin to Walter White from Breaking Bad, who had the opportunity to make good choices but opted not to. Or perhaps about a person trying to imitate a manga shonen character... except it never working out in real life. I want to root for him but he keeps digging himself into worse situations than before. It makes me think of the phrase, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Boys on the Run is both fun and terrible to read at the same time. I can't help but cringe, but I also can't turn away. Hanazawa Kengo has made something really remarkable, in the way a trainwreck or a natural disaster is a hard scene to pry your eyes away from. I'm a little unsatisfied with the ending, but it does end on a small positive note.

... Last updated on October 16th, 2018, 11:33pm

man oh man, i thought this is a sport martial art manga, until i need to go through 30+ deppressing chapters until the MC start boxing.
i'm an introvert but i can say this MC is suckass.

i'll still reccomend this to read though because : (from 87 chaps)
- top notch art
- gradually better on story
- good box reference
- know that you're not the most bad luck person in the earth LOL

still, about the main girl: