sports manga

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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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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 5, by Wataru Midori

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School is back in session and Kikuzato can’t wait to get back to running and testing his new prosthesis. As he prepares for another race, Kikuzato wonders what his motivations are for running and has hopes of reconciling with his old friend from the soccer team, Take.

I love the progress Kikuzato is making; both with his training and as a character. His parents are supportive, his friends are great, and we’ve even got a classic rival, Dojima, who is absolutely a dick. The art style shines when the characters are engaging in their chosen athletics and the story does a great job being informative about parathletes and what goes into these competitions. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 3, by Wataru Midori

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Kikuzato hasn’t spoken to his old teammate and friend, Takekawa, since his accident and Takekawa has been struggling in school and on the soccer team. and watching Kikuzato throw himself into running makes it harder to repair the rift in-between them.

I think it was a nice tough to include how COVID had an impact on sports, not to mention how important it is for Kikuzato to find ways to keep training and adjusting his prosthetic.

Going in depth into the friendship between Takekawa and Kikuzato and how it clearly needs to be fixed after Kikuzato cut everyone off after losing his leg as well as Takekawa struggling to reconnect. After such an accident, it’s hard to know what to say to the person who was hurt without sounding pandering and while I am loving the running story, I do want to see these two friends find some common ground again.

Also, Kikuzato’s father is a jerk and wouldn’t mind seeing less of him. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 2, by Wataru Midori

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After racing in Shibuya in front of a huge crowd and cameras, Kukizato is getting tons of attention from his classmates; including his old soccer teammate, Takekawa, who hasn’t spoken to him much since he lost his leg and stopped playing soccer. His mother finds out what’s being going on and Kukizato joins the school’s track and field team.

Kukizato is finding he enjoys being around people again despite the coldness of Takekawa. I can understand Takekawa not understanding how to talk to a friend after such an accident but it looks like Kukizato isn’t giving it much thought. He’s just enjoying having something to do other than sit around and regret losing his leg. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 1, by Wataru Midori

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Shouta Kikuzato had dreams of joining a famous school’s soccer team but loses his leg in an accident. Feeling useless, he doesn’t interact with other students until a man named Chidori happens to see Kikuzato run and offers to make him a running prosthetic.

As a first outing, this had all the signs of a great series. I don’t usually read sports manga but the main character having a sports prosthetic intrigued me. I like stories with a unique and interesting hook and I like running so, I had to pick this up. Chidori is teetering on the edge of annoying quirky rather than entertaining quirky but Kikuzato’s more neutral personality balances him out. Kikuzato isn’t too angsty about his injury but you can see it affects him. We’ll see how things develop. 4 out of 5.

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