All-rounder meguru (ARM) is about a Boy named meguru without Ambition. He is a decent grappler, decent boxer, decent Karate expert, Decent martial artist. You could call him... AN ALL ROUNDER. He meets his childhood friend a man who is filled with ambition. They both meet in an amateur contest once again. While Takeshi keeps going forward wanting to be the very best like no one ever was. Meguru continues doing MMA for fun. So these 2 just sorta have this push and pull momentum going with each other.

All-rounder Meguru was more tame than i was expecting. After reading through Eden Its an endless world. You'd expect more graphic nudity and violence. There is very little of that. The story aren't just wildly different but ARM is much more grounded. Instead of opting for an over the top spectacle. ARM grounds itself, and succeeds with surprising success.

Now the strong points of ARM would probably be the supporting cast, The action and the pay off.

The supporting characters are very dynamic. Feeling like they have there own place in the world, rather than being stepping stones for the main character. This does bring some issues to the pacing. But is largely controlled. The action on top of it is very exciting. Especially in regards to the boxing and grappling. There is something really satisfying watching a rear choke, going into a triangle choke, going into a leg choke, going into a back choke, going into an arm bar etc. Its just insane seeing all the techniques play out. The action is very satisfying and the author clearly understands what the audience wants to see. Another thing is the pay off. After all the fighting there is a satisfying crack with each end making the fight significantly more exciting.

In regards to the bad though there is a decent amount. I don't know who started it but screw you man. When i'm watching a fight go down the last thing i need is 2 chapters of back story of how badly the other guy wants to win. Its one thing to add a few panels giving motivation and explaining character moves. But when you dedicate entire chapters to it. You slam the breaks on the pacing. All rounder Meguru is no exception to this rule.

Another issue i had was Meguru himself. Even though the cast is very dynamic the main character is very dull. The reason for that is basically is that he has no ambition. He's doing MMA for fun. Granted there is this likable characteristic from this but that doesn't change the fact that Meguru likes a lot of charisma that the other characters have. Takeshi, His rival is so much more interesting and i would've loved to see more of him even though he is already a major part of the story.

The Female fighters is also a decent sized portion in this series. The odd part about it though is that the female fighting seems to be more violent than the male MMA fights. Kind of odd but maybe its the author's way of showing Female MMA's can just be as brutal.

The romance, comedy didn't really land for me albeit a conclusion was welcomed. The ending was good as well. Did i want more? sure. But thats more in regards to wanting more of a good series in general.

TLDR: Strong cast, entertaining action with good ending. Rather than saying this series has bad parts its more like it has good parts just that it never really reaches the heights of top tier series. Arguable the most consistent good series I've read to date. 7/10

Most of the reviews already address the majority of reasons why this manga is realistic, well-researched, and worth the time. I agree with the general consensus concerning all of the above. There's no over-the-top, unrealistic spurts of improvement, or fantastically inhuman techniques. There's just a rather normal boy fighting and growing with other human beings who have their own stories and motivations, as humans do.

Plus, the art is pretty accurate, and the characters don't suffer from the cookie cutter syndrome, wherein you can't tell who is who. Also, and this is a big thing for me, you can't imagine how thankful I was to see the female fighters not soft and back-breakingly big-breasted when their diet and training regimens should keep them at body fat percentages low enough to sometimes damage their reproductive health. I was also gratified to see a not traditionally beautiful female fighter, who was drawn thicker than most shounen mangakas like to depict their women.

On that note, one pro that I haven't seen mentioned about this manga was the general role of women. They weren't just used as eye candy or sexual motivation. Sure, they were objectified a bit, but no more than what normally occurs in real life when women enter mostly male environments. There is more than one female fighter, and they serve as more than pretty decorations and cheerleaders. They train, train with, and grow with Meguru and the others. They fight in their own matches and struggle and sometimes succeed. Basically, they're human and they are more than their potential as bed partners. That seems like a pretty low bar to set, but I was super impressed and a little shocked the mangaka bothered to portray the females with any sort of decency/respect as characters in their own right, not just props. So. Yeah. Kudos. Claps. Etc.

If you remove the rubbish from your regular shounen sports manga, this is what remains.
There are no sudden spikes in power, no godly training, nor nonsense of the sort. Just a dull, everyday boy, who, with a lot of training, perseverance, a lot of self reflection and a very good guidance, is climbing the ladder one step at the time, on his way to the top.

I want to keep seeing how far he goes.

i agree with Nursero poster below me Meguru is so dull. i think the mangaka make big mistake here, he doesn't dig enough to Meguru backstory. he give Takashi great background story, give Maki colourful family even give some extras powerful motivation but the only thing we learn about Meguru are he live with his grandma and sister. even the childhood memories is more takashi's story than meguru's. i only read through volume 10 i hope the author develop meguru character more not just his mma aspect.

other that that it was awesome martial art/sport manga, good art, very realistic action and has hint of romance. but is kinda confusing at the fight scene because evrybody kinda shirtless, wear head gear and a lot of them has very similar faces.

... Last updated on September 11th, 2015, 9:16am

This manga totally deserves the 8.4+ rating it currently has. In terms of story, characters, pacing and setting it's all pretty much perfect, so why the 6 rating you ask?
Well, I give a rating of 6 to anything that I can't personally finish, but has everything else to standard (art, story etc.) than the problem/s that I state I have with the manga.
Okay so, I only really have one problem with this manga and that is: Meguru.
Yup, the main character, in my eyes and from what I have read is just plain boring. Honestly he kind of reminds me of myself, in that he is completely ordinary, I guess you could call him the "all rounder" in life. He ain't particularly good or bad at anything, he's a plain average with everything, from school to martial arts.
Yes, yes, I understand that this is a "realistic" character and all that, but I'd rather not read about Steve from the I.T. department and his long climb up to his current mundane lifestyle.
I tried, I really did. I loved the martial arts and how realistically it was portrayed, but every time Meguru appears I start unconsciously day dreaming from boredom.
Hoesntly, if Maki or Takashi was the main character, than this would easily be in my top manga's of all time.
For those who're going to argue against me, believe me, I get why this is such a good manga, so no real point telling me what I already know.

The attention to detail is amazing. Mangaka must have spent a lot of time researching. Also, he is very good at telling a story. Although it seems like nothing much is going on sometimes, it somehow pulls you in and makes you keep reading.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect since the description that I had read wasn't very 'descriptive' but since I love reading manga, I had to invest some time to give proper judgement. I am glad that I did! The pacing of this manga, the detail, the characters and their development are all just some of the amazing attributes of this manga. I <3 Meguru; his character is so realistic in the sense that he isn't 'special', he's had some good luck combined amazingly well with his hard training/dieting and I love that he genuinely looks like he's trying, he's giving it his all.
The other pro of this manga is the rarity of females in these sports. Hiroki, I thank you for providing believable, likable female characters that represent strength and beauty alike and demonstrating the struggles of female mma fighter, kickboxers, judo, etc. If males have a tough time in these sports with dieting and opponents, it's even harder for women, so thank you for involving those details. Anyway, great read, one of my top favs so far.

I've practiced wrestling, bjj, judo, and mma, and this series is quite accurate when it comes to training and technique explanation. The only thing that is off from American lingo is some of the terminology. I am fond the main character becuase he gives 100% effort all the time, yet he doesn't always win. There is a bit of drama mixed in, but it is generally light hearted when the characters are not competing.

I hardly give out perfect scores and this manga does not compare to other 10´s as Berserk, Hi no Tori, Mars, Monster and so on in terms of complexity and themes but i don´t think it has to. Hiroki chose the slice of life/sports genre and made it as good he can manage it the boundaries the genres give him. Don´t expect anything earth shattering but a very good and straightforward sports series. MMA gets treated with more respect i have ever seen!
Even the small stuff like mat cleaning gets addressed and the muscle builds he gives the men and especially women are every intricately done. Good god is the manga second to none in the presentation of movement.
While we are addressing the women i have to note that they are some of the best i even witnessed in a seinen manga. One could normally expect some Rumble Roses esque garbage about mud wrestling but not here.
A rarity indeed in the female action genre. I could critique the unrealistically slow moving romances but at least the characters have well established reasons for liking each other and my only "real"gripe is the lack of the second main character Takashi for big periods of time as he is a more complex animal than Meguru and i would like to see more of him. Also surprising is the lack of explicit sex and violence i would normally expect from the author.
Not that i am complaining but who would have though that the follow up to Eden (8/10) would be a matter of fact slice of life drama? All in all the manga has no reason to be so masterfully done as it is but here we have it and All Rounder Meguru is lastly the perfect sports manga next to Ashita no Joe and Real.

... Last updated on September 12th, 2015, 1:15pm

I'm familiar with Eden, when I started this I've known he was going to do a sports manga his way
it wasn't clear when it was about Meguru, but when Yudai arc (if thats a acorrect term) it became more apparent, Life problems, news and incidents, uncertain future and adults anxieties (and not teen ones) especially for those in their twenties
what are the correct answers? what are the correct choices?
thats what this manga is about and of course some comppetive sports
as someone one had started weightlifting in his lat twenties I can totally relate