sports graphic novel

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Lenni Reviews: “The Climber” Vol. 1, by Shin’ichi Sakamoto, JiroÌ„ Nitta, Yoshio Nabeta & Hiroshi Takano

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

New student Buntaro Mori is a quiet loner who everyone pegs as a troublemaker until he shows skills at climbing.

I’m not that into sports manga, but I was honestly intrigued by the idea of competitive climbing. As this volume stands, it’s pretty much exactly like other shonen manga where the protagonist shows unusual prowess at a thing but is cocky and doesn’t want to learn things from the professionals, the protagonist has some tragedy/taruma, the rival… All the ingredients in this common recipe. Common but not boring. The art is able to make things appropriately dramatic and I can see continuing this series. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Boxer” Vol. 4, by JH

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After Yu lands a shocking punch on Jean Pierre, their match continues. Meanwhile, Injae is now also training to be a boxer and is getting ready for his first match.

While Yu’s fight, the volume spends a lot of time with Injae, who’s story arc is more like a traditional sports comic (although the mini treatise on who’s the main character wasn’t needed for me is they wanted to switch perspectives unless this is heading to a place where this would need to be discussed) where you see his training intercut with his backstory. It’s done pretty well. I’m not that big on sports media like this but I was interested in the fight. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Boxer” Vol. 3, by JH

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While Yu climbs up the ranks, another boxer Jean Pierre Manuel; also known as The Lightweight King, fixates on Yu. As he is obsessed with perfection, he wants to go up against Yu in the pursuit of that and the feeling of his life being in legitimate danger.

There are other boxers also working their way up the roster with Yu but while we get a little time with them, the main focus is how Jean Pierre wants to fight Yu so badly and how he thinks Yu is the ultimate example of the perfection he seeks. A lot of the characters in this series so far have all this drive and ambitions while Yu is just unbothered by all of it. He’s a blank slate that is pointed in a direction and told to hit something as hard as he can. I hope we learn more about him to find out why he’s like this. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Boxer” Vol. 2, by JH

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Yu takes up K’s offer to join a boxing gym, completely remaking Yu’s life from an empty apartment alone to his debut in the lightweight division. Yu’s naked talent attracts the attention of some dangerous fighters.

From what little we know about Yu, he had nothing before K took him in and at this point, we don’t know what motivates him, if anything. We’re getting plenty of back story about his opponents but other than having a cat and being a devil in the ring, Yu remains a mystery. And remember, this is a boxing story so, if you don’t want to read thing with blood and violence, pass on this one. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Boxer” Vol. 1, by JH

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The famous Coach K is looking for one last student to train before he retires. By chance, he meets, Yu, a boy who seems to have no motivation to do anything. However, his natural abilities in the ring impresses Coach K enough that he must have Yu as his final student.

This is an interesting start. Sports manga aren’t usually my thing but I found the premise intriguing because the main character, Yu, makes me very curious. He’s just a terrifyingly blank slate, clearly talented, but appears dead inside. Another character, Injae, looks promising story wise as well, working to overcome his bullies and trying not to write of San (his bully) as just a psycho who loves to fight. I’ll wait to see what the story plans to do with these three. 3.7 out of 5.

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