I thought this was going to be about character growth. Well the character doesn't grow at all. Sure he get's stronger, but basis of his character is still the same. He murdered his parents for wretched reasons and after all these volumes, remains the same degenerate excuse of a human being.

I'm fine with blood and I love mangas like Blade of the Immortal and Threads of Time. This manga is not like those works. There's no real plot. It's just distasteful.

this ones very good and dark, not for people who easily get affected by blood and violence. but if those don't effect you then this is one of the best you'll get, the art is great, the story like greater, but what really makes this story so good is the main character, his darkness is....

It was kinda good for awhile I really wanted to see the anti-hero thing do good but the whole kill your parents stuff gets dragged on with this manga and it go's nowhere, the fightings good but it gets kinda dull, this manga hand potential but it's gone now.

Pretty good action on this manga but it has quite a lot of disturbing images and situations so its not for those weak of heart. I'm a big fan of action genre so i'm a bit biased rating this.

Anyway... mann... can't wait for more chapters! That new kung-fu chick will definitely gonna get f*cked too! lol

I'm with the other people here. This story and the people in it are very ugly, but completely gripping. It's a great premise. The main character did something so unforgivable that "decent" people and criminals both instinctively hate him. Essentially, the whole world wants him dead - but he refuses to die.

For a while, it's a fantastic story. And then... Well, it goes completely off the rails. Is it gritty and realistic or shounen supernatural? Is Ryo a true monster or is he basically a decent guy? Is he weak or is he strong? From one panel to the next, you can never be sure. It's really confusing.

I'm still reading to see how it ends, but the series really went some bad places along the way.

... Last updated on January 8th, 2009, 3:01pm

how could anyone miss this type of manga. Such violence plus great sport and add up a really badass hero, this manga is really a great read. If your into kick ass action and love to see blood spill out and wanna see cool martial arts, this ones for you. great story, great art, great action. Satisfaction guaranteed!!

This had alot of potential in the beginning. I lost faith in the mangaka when he gave Ryo a path to redemption. I was excited... for one chapter. Then, the story degenerates into ridiculous superpower fights. So dumb.

great fights and great plot , the main character is new for me you would always see the good guy type but this main character is one bad motha****er so you either love the manga or just hate it , the only bad thing is :

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

the latest volumes Ryo became a wimpy loser goddamn i thought he would be super powerful after he learned that chinese guys martial arts but he went backwards instead of forward oh well i hope he returns to his awsomness

Judging by the art, you expect something great from the first chapters. The story also looks mature.
Taking chapters ten by ten you would find great writing in each batch, but together they're unfortunately a mess.

The Sugawara arc is the best and it's still barely mediocre. The main char doesn't seem to have any redeeming traits or a proper motivation towards why he does what he does.

Once the Sugawara arc is done, you can consider this manga ended, cause what follows is bad bad bad, bad as in you're thinking why you're still punishing yourself by still reading. It's like the author erased the first volumes from his mind and started again from the same spot. For example, our "hero" at one point gets past karate and even learns some new type of martial arts that should put him at the top of the food chain if he wasn't there already just by his strong karate. Pass a couple volumes and he gets beat up in plain street fights, he's weaker than in volume 4.

These kind of things are not plausible but they happen often and where they count most to pull the manga down.

Good art, great fighting scenes, poor story.

... Last updated on July 7th, 2013, 9:04am

Shamo was quite good in the beginning, but
it lost its touch when it went too supernatural with
all that levitation bullshit and stuff.