This is a solid manga. My main criticisms are:
1) main character was hard to relate to, so you don't feel like you have a connection to him. However, I think that was the goal.
2) Weird abstractions. There was a lot of symbolism in some parts of the manga, but at times, I found it confusing. Like the main character was like.. a miniature-sized godzilla, and I couldn't understand why.

It really makes you appreciate mountaineering though. Very interesting manga. Especially since I had a friend who recently went to Patagonia for a mountaineering trip. =)

I started reading it and though it didn't seem interesting, I couldn't stop reading. But I had to stop around vol 3-4. Too sad, I couldn't take it anymore... I'm sorry guys you'll just have to go on without me...

I love this manga. Not many sports/outdoorsman manga can capture the surreal beauty of nature on black and white comics. The mangaka's drawings are very capturing and allows you to feel what each character is going through. Although it's art is great, many parts of the story are unrealistic. The main things that get me is the characters. I don't understand the main character's old high school friends turned out the way they did. There is no way someone changes that much for no reason. They definitely had many options to choose. I think the author just wanted to exaggerate the trait of the main character where he says "I make everything worse, where ever I go and thats why I should be alone". To me, thats the only thing that I won't accept.

I just finished reading all the scanlated chapters, and WOW, there's so much to talk about that I don't know where to begin. Kokou no Hito is a manga that's definitely in a league of it's own. The art is breathtaking and the storyline intense, as it focuses not only on the physical difficulties that Mori encounters when he climbs, but also the psychological horrors.

I did have my doubts at first, as the story does start off as a seemingly typical shonen sports manga, but was pleasantly surprised by the maturity and depth that soon developed. And then when it began to progress into more darker themes and Mori began to sink into his loner depression, I thought that it might end up as one of those stories where the protagonist goes mental and psychotic and the manga ends up as one big overwhelming mess of insanity. However, it did eventually take a turn for the better when it settled down and established a lighter tone in the story.

All I can really say, I guess, is that this manga is truly one of a kind. Even though I found myself horrified and disturbed by a lot of what happens in the middle of the story and really just wanted to put the manga down, I was simply unable to stop myself from reading. I got hooked and couldn't let go.

I think the best part of the manga is that the mangaka does a great job in making this much more then a typical sports manga, by accurately portraying the consequences of what happens when humans are pushed into life-and-death situations (where your survival is literally dependent on your teammates' deaths) as well as the insanity that can also happen as a result. I would definitely recommend this to people that enjoy realistic, action-packed, and intense stories.

... Last updated on November 14th, 2011, 3:47pm

I only started recently but have been reading it constantly, and its amazing but horrible at the same time. The main character is really good and I like the way it started with his school and then the whole manga changes and gets alot darker. It's so strong and really sad, but in a way that just makes me speechless really. EDIT: I actually stopped reading this for a while cause it just made me really sad and I would keep on thinking about it, so I don't try to read it one go now, just take it slowly.

... Last updated on October 3rd, 2011, 1:47pm

Kokou no Hito currently is my #1 favorite and a clean 10/10. It exceeds most other Seinen in depth of storytelling and characters by far and combines it with brilliant arts which make it also enjoyable to look at and re-read.

It contains so much symbolism and complex storytelling in different time lines as well of insertion of symbols/dreams/imaginations at a time, and yet remains neatly arranged and not too difficult to follow each line of action. The protagonist's character developement is good and doesn't follow the typical flat patterns of allmost all Shonen and many Seinen, yet remains perfectly comprehensible while keeping the reader constantly thinking.
The story is dark and dramatic, and yet giving glimmers of light at the right times. I love how it never turns too far to one side - it's neither becoming absolutely depressive nor a put-on good mood everything will be fine-lollypop story (ok, actually it's keeping really far away from that side).

Climbing is used so well as a mirror of psyche and humanity, and yet remains awesome for itself, too, especially due to the brilliant arts and detailled drawings of mountains, weather and characters with their clothing and tools. It also seemed absolutely convincing to me in the authors' deep knowledge of climbing and mountaineering.

This manga is really on his own world, I think.
The art, no doubt really a great one.
The story, it's not so focused yet so blur, and it is really walk on his own path. When I think the story go to make the main character keep walking straight the light and struggling all of the obstacles. But he instead went back to darkness. And the darkness that needed by the light, maybe. The biggest minus point I think is, it is kind of hard to differ which one is hallucination and which one is the realita. So I am a kind of missing some story of what is going on.

But the art is really good

This manga is truly a masterpiece due to the detail artwork plus a rather unique and quite strange protagonist. The protagonist, unlike other shounen or seinen manga's protagonists, has no purpose or aim in life. He just wants to be alone without any one to bother him. He is what we called "social outcast" yet because of that, this manga is quite different than other regular manga out there.

All sports are self-oriented, dumbass. Thus, they are not useful except to oneself. It's a mere self-accomplishment. Someone who finds it useful by seeing other doing it is just self-explanatory. Anyway, the artist had lived some stupid life there and expressed it in the story. Perhaps, he's trying to teach something implicitly.

update: style has changed in recent chapters; at first, it was great, but now all that symbols are keep popping up here and there. Pace has slowed down to the extreme. I had to deduct 1 point from my previous rating.

update2: seems like the trail of symbolism has ended. The author has abandoned manga-like fictional flavor to complete realistic-looking story. I don't know how many phases this manga is undergoing, but now the story seems to be, surprisingly, already almost at the end phase.

... Last updated on April 3rd, 2011, 10:01pm

At 10 volumes the art is still the best thing about this series. However, as the main focus switches from how messed up Mori is to how cool mountain climbing is, the story is getting better. And allowing Mori to grow up is a great idea. There are way too many mangas about teeanged alienation and angst. Moving my rating up to a full 10, because this is finally making me wonder what it would be like to climb a mountain.

... Last updated on January 13th, 2011, 12:20am