Ranked #4155

Drop (Manga)

This is one amazing manga, and it's a shame nobody has bothered translating it for we Westerners. With some of the crap I see at the bookstore for sale, I'm surprised something this good hasn't reached our shores yet.

The thing is: FUNimation released the live-action movie (Which was also extremely for for Japanese cinema). Apparently that didn't go over too well, because I've never met one person who actually knows this series. It's always me asking "Do you know the manga 'Drop'?"

10/10

What is "Drop"? It's a manga about middle school delinquents (late middle school, mind you). That's... pretty much the gist of it.
What it's really about, though, is a private school drop-out named Hiroshi. Why does he drop out? It's not because of his grades, or because he was a delinquent at all. It was because he reads too many manga about delinquency.

Now, being that I was once a young boy, I know the feeling... I wanted to be a badass when I was younger. I used to try to be tough... I sucked at it... and frankly, Hiroshi was like me: privately schooled (not home schooled, for the record), normal life, doesn't cause trouble.
He drops out of his prestigious, private school, enters the public school system, buzzes and dyes his hair, and changes her persona completely to that of a badass.

That's when he gains the attention of the school delinquents... The bring him to the roof, where their leader, Tatsuya, is hazing some another delinquent gang. Hiroshi then has to prove himself by taking on one of the kids from the rival gang.
I'm sure you can guess how it ends up, and from then on, Hiroshi and the other guys go about challenging other gangs, brawling in every location imaginable, destroying shit, stealing shit, etc.

What makes the story so good is that it doesn't hold back... It's brutal. It's not some gang of pussies that just talk the talk. These guys fight... all the time... and they cause a lot of trouble... Most delinquent stories I know, they're more of these... "do gooder" delinquents. "Psyren," a shounen manga with a delinquent lead character: he does shit for money, whether it's good or not. That's just lame, in my book. That's not a real delinquent. Now Yusuke Urameshi from "Yu Yu Hakusho," that's a real delinquent.

The difference is, "Drop" is a shounen manga without the gimmicky powers and "powering up". It's raw, brutally and realistically violent.

Art: 9/10
I absolutely love the art. I mean ABSOLUTELY. It's even been impacting on my own art (apart from my major in art... which doesn't really apply to this at all...). The facial expressions, the character designs, the action sequences; it's all brilliantly drawn. I just love picking my volumes of "Drop" and seeing Hiroshi, all beat up and bleeding, kneeing a guy in the face. I could never imagine the action in a manga bout middle school delinquents could be so... brutal and entertaining!

You're not going to see any heads exploding or arms getting cut off, though... It's mostly schoolyard brawling (well, schoolyards, train stations, restaurants, houses... anywhere that has enough room to fight in), so no guns and shit like that.

Now sometimes, there are characters that just look weird, or some moments that just look awkward design-wise. It can easily be overlooked, though, because the art really is incredible.

Characters: 10/10

I'm serious, the characters crack me up. They're typical, but they're all so much more personable. Maybe it's because they're a lot more realistic looking than a "bishounen" or something, but it feels like they're just more... personable... I can't think of another way to describe it... But like I said earlier, I feel like I can relate with Hiroshi, and I'm sure a lot of other guy who's passed that age can too.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Undoubtedly is this one of my favorite mangas. I'm trying to collect the entire series (or what there is of it available) because I love it so much. It'd really be nice if some publisher would pick it up for the West, though... Seriously... People NEED to know about "Drop"! If you can read Japanese, or even if you can't, if you ever have the chance to flip through this manga, DO IT. It's simply awesome. If you like brutal fights, this is where to look (kinda makes me think of the fights in the movie Fight Club... Brutally realistic...).

Overall: 10/10

Simply put... this is an awesome manga. It's a shame not many know of it. Like I said, if you're ever fortunate enough to get your hands on it, you have to give it a try.

Now, if you just can't find it anywhere, and being nobody is translating it officially or online, you can always settle for the movie. It's similar in a lot of ways (the actors they picked in the movie are perfect!!), but for the most part, the movie doesn't have as much content. You'll get a lot more fights in the manga, but the movie's still worth watching (I had to buy the movie because I enjoyed it so much).

If you really are looking for something a little more mature than a shounen series about boys kicking each others' asses, I'd recommend "Sun-ken Rock". "Sun-ken" is pretty much the "adult" version of "Drop," where a Japanese guy moves to Korea chasing the girl he loves, gets caught up in the mobs and becomes a Korean "mafia" leader. It's full of brutally realistic brawls like "Drop" is, but is meant for adults (tons of nudity, a lot more gore). read more