Holyland

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Holyland is different from general sports manga in the way that it takes martial arts to the streets. This includes all kinds of fighting styles from karate to kick-boxing and from wrestling to kendo. The colorful range of styles gives an opportunity for all the characters to represent their own one and therefore be relevant to the story.

-Story and characters
As the story follows Yuu's journey to become a better fighter and that way find a place for himself among the streets he makes multiple acquaintances - usually through beating them first. These associates sometimes become important allies to him or even teachers in order ... for him to master a new style. This might sound like a formulaic way of doing things and for the first part of the manga it kinda is but later it becomes much more natural and expansive.

The story fortunately manages to include other themes of the street life than fighting which makes the later parts much more realistic and ugly in a good way. As someone who has had experiences in that environment personally I was able to appreciate the way the manga portrays it as multi-dimensional and not inherently negative. This was done very well especially with the last arc and the amazing end conclusion.

-Art
The art style evolves noticeably through the run of the manga compared to it only being 182 chapters long. At the beginning I feel like it's going for a bit more psychological approach with the rough edges and inconsistent shapes. It's not necessarily bad but I find the later art far more fitting to the detailed fights and the manga is quite full of them.

The fights are probably the aspect the author wanted to polish most thoroughly and that certainly shows. Every exchange of fists and kicks has an explanation behind it that is based on actual information about the martial art techniques.

-Enjoyment
The series has a slightly generic start story-wise but the fights are very entertaining and detailed and are what carry the manga. Later parts even involve some well-written characters and drama so it's definitely an enjoyable experience as long as the excessive amount of violence is not a barrier.

Overall 9/10

From the start to the end, this manga was thrilling, it was superb. Time flew in lightspeed as I dove more and more into the "Holyland" - the world in the night streets, the world of thugs, gangs and street fight. I read a quite a few good long mangas and in the most cases the mangaka had a hard time finishing the manga in style. But, this mangaka is different. He delivered till the end.

The story is the most attractive part of the manga. Its fictitous but it's totally realistic. Because the Mangaka (author) went through similar stages as the protagonist which he revealed ... in the ending volume of the manga.

The story involves so much around street fighting that at some point I wondered why didn't the mangaka just titled it as "street fighting"? But, in the last volumes I understood that these fights were just part of a bigger picture, the "Holyland", the land where the protagonist discovered his meaning for life, found friends, rivals and found his path in life.

The mangaka is a martial artist himeslf and as it appears from his writings in the manga itself, he is a former street fighter himself. If not so, then at least he got to fight with different types of martial artist: Boxing, Karate, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Judo, Kenpo, Kendo. He gives so much detail about different moves and techniques which is in itself a great attraction point of manga.

Yes, the title "Holyland" and the cover picture given in the MAL made me thinking that this might be a mediocre manga at first. But hell was I wrong!

The art is just beautiful. This is a martial art manga and it is everything about good art. Otherwise you can't bring out the feeling in a fighting. The mangaka did an excellent job with the art.

The characters are the most interesting part. There are so many of them and each one has an intersting and thrilling part to play in the story. Specially the opponents in the street fights.

I enjoyed this manga so much and the more the manga advanced the more enjoyable it became. And the finishing was just great. Although I was getting gloomy for such a good manga to end but the end was satisfying and definitely unique. The mangaka made the manga unpredictable till the very last chapter. It was damn a happy ending, but not your cliche happy ending. It was the real deal. The last chapter really brings out the significance of the title "Holyland". Oh! It was just awsome.

I am a very picky reader. I dropped more mangas than I finished. So, for me to go on and on about this manga made myself realize how great the manga was!

Thank you, Mori Kouji sensei for this great work! It was a real honor to be part of the holyland. Although I was in my room staring at my laptop, but my conscience was definitely roaming the night streets. I was with Kamishiro Yuu! I, definitely, was there!

"You'll change. You can change."

Holyland is a god-tier Martial Arts manga that is easily a timeless masterpiece. It has only one flaw, and that is that the art isn't exactly exceptional in terms of grandeur; but it gets the job done fantastically and fits the manga's theme perfectly!

It's a perfectly all-encompassing story where the lonely, bullied protagonist learns to stand up for himself; but not at all costs. It's a long journey, where we follow the protagonist (Kamishiro Yuu) along every step of the way, and get the mother of all pay-offs in the end.

It perfectly covers dozens of characters, that are all nuanced and ... well-developed in their own rights. It even has a tasteful romantic sideplot, but never one that gets in the way.

This is somewhere close to the pinnacle of manga for me. For sure.

I've never been a MA (Marcial Arts) manga fan but this one let me say that is amazing. I loved how the autor brought a story that gets you hyped and also that makes you think in introspetive, Kamishiro is someone that wants the change and we see it but mos important is how he do it, something i think made it difficult to read was the notes from the autor who wanted to give a lot of information that the characters could have explained, but over all this manga is going to teach some things that should be used in ourselves; In my ... case was the topic of loving yourself which is difficult for me but im going to try it because of this "asian doodles". Wish me luck and remember "WE CAN CHANGE"

In the streets... He was undoubtedly there...
Just finished reading Holyland and boy was it a fun read. I would recommend Holyland for many reasons. Holyland falls in a general enjoyment area for me because its story is fun and enjoyable, although it doesn't really grab you like cuum. The story is an average friends in high school getting through life story, but cut out the life part and just keep the relations and street fighting in. I love this story for the amazing point of view story telling. This story is really unique for its use of "second hand" storytelling, by that i mean the ... author is really there with you as the story goes on. I would say that is a great thing for this story, it creates this relatableness and understanding. Understanding the direction and point of the story is really easy to with the authors writing. I really love the cast in this series because they are so real, and lovable. The martial arts talk and techniques are definitely awesome as well. The ending, spoiler free, is a tad bit confusing and I guess that is good :D. I definitely recommend anyone read this if you love martial arts, coming of age stories, or reality esc thug life. P.S.$uicideboy$ goes well with a read of this

One of the best by far. It's a shame that this isn't as popular as it should be because oh my god. This such an amazing read. So unexpected too. The characters are easy to like. The story is very strong and well thought out. you can tell that the creator was very passionate about this. Art style isn't Berserk gorgeous, but it works very well to portray emotion, and boy does this story have emotion.
I myself have times where I can be really cynical or biased, and I came into this series after it being recommend it to me, very cynical. Expecting the usual ... main character tropes and story line. I am glad to say that I was pleasantly disappointed. I sometimes wished that the story was longer, Holyland is one of those things that you wish you could forget just to read it all over again.

Holyland? More like holy SHIT this little Japanese series of visual books is good.
If you're in the market for manga (and by market I of course mean if you're looking to shamelessly read this work of art for free off the internet - takes a degenerate to know one) look no further.

If you are a martial arts enthusiast, this work of fiction is masturbatory gold. It's your new alcohol. It's your coke. It's the anal beads you keep behind the toilet and pray nobody ever finds out because you use them for bizarre sexual experiments with your circle of Amish friends which you went ... out of your way to befriend because you knew no regular person would ever agree to what you propose, you sick fuck. Well, maybe not that. It's not that dark.

But! It's pretty dark. Not quite Berserk-level or anything, but you will cringe at certain moments. You will experience storyline intensity. The approach this work takes to martial arts from ALL angles (visual, technical, theoretical, etc.) is absolutely legendary. If you are truly someone who GETS martial arts, you will love it. The author really knows what he's talking about. As the story progresses, you will see more and more instances of various martial arts make their appearance in a variety of ways.

One of the best things about the technical aspect of the martial arts in this story, is that it presents a street-oriented self-defense approach rather than JUST limiting the story to a ring. In fact, most of the MA technicality in this work is injected into the plot by staying true to that very perspective. This work shows what real combat would look like if all the limitations and rules of a ring sport were completely taken away. And, as someone who has been an avid practitioner of various martial arts for over a decade, I must say the author really hits the nail on the head. Much of the advice is genuinely helpful and practicable.

The visual novel also doesn't shy away from showing the negative side of engaging in this type of fun.
Broken bones, pools of blood, lost teeth, hospital visits. All of these things and more are part of the story experience, all approached from a realistic and believable DARK perspective. Oh, did I mention that mental health issues are also tackled in this manga? Yeah, they are. They're a thing. Especially suicide. The Japanese love exploring that subject, don't they.

More importantly, this manga can truly be enjoyed even by someone who knows nothing about martial arts and cares little for them. The story COMPLETELY holds on its own. The characters are realistic, compelling, and mysterious. Seeing them go through the highs and lows of their relationships with each other sometimes feels like taking Heisenberg-level meth. Yes, it's that good. It really is. No, seriously, you can trust me. It's crack. Disclaimer: I am not speaking from personal drug experience.

So what are you waiting for?! Buy that crack and smoke it bud!

I started reading Holyland because I am literally living for fighting/martial arts,but I stayed because of incredibly written and incredibly "human" characters in the manga.No matter what you're going through,no matter if you are martial arts fan or not,you can learn a lot from Holyland,the only other manga/anime that have impacted me on such a high personal level are Hajime no Ippo,Vagabond and Ashita no Joe.
I genuinely belive that Holyland indirectly changed my way of thinking in fights (both verbal and physical) as well as my way of acting with others,everyone has problems,no matter how perfect or how bad of a person they actually they ... seem to be.

Holyland is really helping me whilst I try and change for the better in many aspect of my life,as personal as this review is,I just had to write it,do yourself a favour and read it.



"To me,we choose to fight to be free from our pasts...and to find new selves"
- Kamishiro Yuu

Really great read, you can tell the author has gone through hard times that I share or have felt in some ways. From that you see that expression onto the characters themselves. Characters change, grow and band together in a fantastic and uplifting way. Plot is pretty typical shounen stuff but like any underdog you just want to see him pummel dudes, not typically seen is the pain, rage, depression, suffering and loneliness of those who walk 'the streets'. Still seeing a scrawny lad plow through trained fighters with luck, skill and yuus repetoire of growing martial techniques is a fantastic time. The romance is ... a bit typical but actually more faceted than most other romances due to the unique characterization of the manga. A must read whether you like brawling or not, the insightful glimpses into the fighting world as the author creates the stage for matchups between the different schools of martial arts is icing on the cake for this moving work.

Well worth a 3 chapter read to see if its for you.

never expected a good, story about street fights like this one.
We follow a journey about a guy how have a lot of probelms. And that Mangaka find a good balance betwen fights and character's development.

Kamishiro, Yuu A good main character but no only he is important to that story. Izawa, Masaki, Midorikawa, Shougo, Kaneda, Shinichi all of of them are "unique"
Mori, Kouji art is beautiful. The expressions , the background, is "simple" but work almost prefect. One thing i appriciate is the use of humor simple but work. Is not that kind of annoying humor that is always used for break ... tension in this case is use to mark times in the plot.

An excellent manga, and for lovers of martial arts it might be the definitive work. But let's go by parts:

The characters are amazing, being well written and deep, each one going through their own journey of growth and maturity. Not only that, but how each one impacts the protagonist and how it impacts them is great. Seeing them bond and bond is one of the best things about manga. By the way, Shin and Tsuchiya are the best characters.

The Protagonist, Yuu, is excellent. Throughout the manga, we see his past and what makes him act the way he does, making the journey of change he's ... going through incredible. Despite starting out a little charismatic, he slowly evolves in the plot and has a great presence.

The story is very good. Despite being a manga focused on fights, the plot is not neglected at all. In it, we have well made and hateful antagonists, but not only that, but fights are very well done and the author very well conveys the maximum realism and tension to make them more impactful in the story. Also, the central theme - Holyland's meaning in the case - is very well worked making something quite powerful.

Art is competent. Personally I don't think it's pretty, but it passes the tension of the fights very well. And not only that, over the course of the manga, it evolves a lot until it gets more and more detailed and passes the impact of the fight even more. This being her greatest merit.

My only criticism is the fact that I have some narrations about martial arts that make reading boring. However, this varies by taste, some shouldn't be bothered. Also, Yuu could have a more detailed ending, although it was good.

Finally, Holyland is an excellent manga that has great fights and a good story to follow. Their biggest positive point are their characters and the great journey they make, having a good ending.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected myself too. I am once again in a rut and scrambling trying to find new things to dive into. I’ve re read several mangas and tried and dropped several mangas, but I finally came across this one. In the beginning I wasn’t sure how much I’d like this story but I really started to get a feel for the characters and I actually kind of got attached to them. I love strong protagonists who continue to improve. I love the shocked and surprised look of people around them after they improve. I liked the lack of ... echi, but the hint of romance. Maybe some people will say a lot of this was predictable, but in that’s easy to say in hindsight. The ending was good too. There was closure. Maybe some holes regarding police and shougo or idk, but are they holes or just a possiblity for a sequel =D

This was awesome. The translation was good too. The explanations are thorough. I got really interested in all the fighting stances and moves.

I definitely suggest this manga!

REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS
Holyland is a battle driven seinen that mainly focuses on martial arts, the story isn't particularly complex making it an easy and enjoyabe read filled with action. The principal point of this manga lands in the characters' development and psychological growth as they all try to find, protect and maintain their so-called "holyland".
Our story follows Yuu, a seemingly frail teenager who is constantly harassed by his peers, resulting in him spending his time pitiably and temporarily quitting school. In order to escape from his depressing reality, our protagonist wanders through the night streets seeking a place where he truly belongs. Within ... the simplicity of the "if I am strong enough to shield myself they will leave me alone at the end" mentality, the legend of the "thug hunter" started from an infirm teenage boy throwing a couple of punches. By utilizing various moves adopted from the people he met to defend himself, Yuu is timidly introduced to street fighting, eventually becoming a skilled MMA fighter with remarkable potential. His development thorough the manga is outstanding, we watch him grow as he persistently faces extreme brutality and dispair, steadily trying to conquer the murkiness in his soul that will prompt his self-fulfillment.

It's no major issue since the mangaka has done a great job in terms of pragmatism and practicality, but the story can come off as a bit unrealistic at times. Some of the side characters are completely one-dimensional (we often see the stereotype of the high school girls who are solely interested in how hot the guys are, remaining vexingly indifferent to all the violence that occurs right before their eyes and the common street hooligans who usually lack depth in character) and in some cases the author's clarifications on certain techniques are slightly unfeasible for unfeigned combat with real life standards.

The only kind of negative thing I would like to call attention to about the story is that it can be quite dreary now and again. The "startingly determined protagonist manages to defeat a strong opponent without proper technique - following day he loses to an essentially weaker one due to his emotional incapacities" pattern, albeit somewhat necessary for his character development, seems to be repeating itself at the point of becoming a little tiring and predictable.

Another thing that I found rather interesting about this manga is the mangaka's outlook with the storyteller acting naturally and expressing his genuine thoughts or associating the events that take place with his own life experiences and personal growth. This causes his creation to feel nearer to the readers, allowing us to step into his world and recognize how his work impacted him as an individual.

I have fallen in love with this manga, me and my sisters enjoyed this to the point where we have read it over and over again. It never gets old for me, and its the only manga to this day that I can never get bored of re-reading.

The character development is done wonderfully, to the point where you feel with the characters. Everything can be someones reality, and the author even put his own feelings and his own thoughts into the manga which he related to, bringing the manga to life even more so.

I dont know if that made sense but I really love it ... and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good martial arts, or a good character development manga.

I wish i could buy this series as hardcopies so I could continue to re-read it.

Story: 8
The pursuit of strength, its meaning, its intended purpose and how it affects the people around you. Keep these things in mind when reading and you'll be more perceptive to the theme of Holyland. Where is your Holy Land? Or more accurately, what is it?

Art: 7
The only thing that may be off-putting to readers is the art style. If this manga had the art style of Sun-Ken Rock I guarantee it would be in people's top 5.

Character: 9
A manga that incredibly embodies tenacity and showcases it thru Yuu. The characters in this manga and their relationships with each other is top tier. I'll welcome ... a great story but characterization is a must for me.

Enjoyment: 10
I couldn't stop binge reading it once I started.

Overall: 9
The best manga I've read so far.

Holyland is my favorite manga (so far).

The art is amazing (except for the faces which are a bit weird, but you get used to it pretty quickly). The characters are amazing and feel real. The character development is great. The story is great. I really can't find anything I don't like about this manga.

The fights feel real but are still incredibly enjoyable. The main character isn't op and struggles, but gives it his all. Every character has his own story and you really get to know them and get attached to them. But the most important thing here is the meaning of this manga. The ... manga is about street fighting, but it's not ABOUT street fighting. It's about protecting what you love, about trying to find a place for yourself. It's about friendship and hardship and it's about life. Everything else is just added in to make the story fun and enjoyable (which is important, don't get me wrong).

Overall I'd say Holyland is a must read, whether you like martial arts mangas or mangas with great characters and story.

Well wow that was a really worthy lengthy ass manga that I read nearly all night (well I read it from 7pm to 4am yeah I’m dumb so what....?). I found it worthwhile to read because nearly all the characters (cmon who doesn’t like Shin, I need him as a bestie seriously!) grow on you and omg the fighting scenes are just so amazingly drawn man! You even get a description of each martial art moves that the characters would make and yeah I admit, they are pretty forgettable since this is of course, a 182 chapter manga so all I remember is just ... full on great gangster action. 😹

I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE ABRUPT ENDING THO, I DEMAND MOREEEEE😭😭😭😭😭😭😤😤😤😤

Not finished but 60 chapters as of this review.

This is a story about Yuu, who is a very lonely, low-confidence, bullied teenager who decides to gain confidence by learning how to punch. He pulls a Saitama and goes HAM with practicing every day and becomes a badass without even knowing it. He gets into a fight one day and unexpectedly wins, starting a bit of an adrenaline addiction for him as his life begins to revolve around 'the streets' and fighting for his right to belong, and a place to stay that he feels he deserves to belong in.

Very solid, enjoyable manga. Art is ... below the S-tier of series like Berserk or Vagabond and the paneling isnt masterful like One Piece's or Dragon Ball's or anything by Urakawa, but both are very solid here and i have no complaints. The characters look varied and there are a lot of characters with conflicting gang affiliations and desires, but the series gives them enough distinct features (glasses, lazy eyes, hair dye, skinny/fat weight) and personalities to make them stand out and keep them from being lost in the shuffle. Another impressive thing with the designs is they all look real- one thing i disliked in Tokyo Revengers was that all of the characters looked like they were out of some fashion magazine, with them standing out a little tooooo much. This series is more grounded in realism with a more mature intended audience, so these characters just look like normal people, though no less unique and interesting. The martial arts is detailed and explained (the author of the series is also a 'character' who interjects infrequently, offering some of their own life experiences and explanations of specific behavior or martial arts, which to me adds charm) and drawn well, and groudned with a sense of realism that adds edge and an unexpected air to every fight. This series is downright educational (without losing focus on the story), and i have learned a lot about fighting and martial arts which is very interesting. The martial arts depicted in the series are very varied, varying from the straight boxing (later evolves to kickboxing) of the protag, judo, karate, kendo, and more. Each is given their time in the sun and hyped up/explained equally by the author, adding intrigue to the fights. The dialogue is solid and i care about the characters. Yuu has already had a (incomplete for me as i am not finished) nice arc, and is a likable character for me and bounces off the other characters well. The series has a very nice blend of psychological character drama and martial arts action that is handled very well.

One complaint i have is with a minor issue in translation. The series frequently uses the word 'lynch' incorrectly, which is very confusing. From an american point of view (which i am), a 'lynching' is when a party of people gets together for the purpose of rounding up another person to hang them to death. Lynching is inseperable from a racial context, where it was frequently used by racists to hang people of color who did not behave the way they wanted them to. This series uses 'lynch' to basically mean 'assault'. In a chapter im reading right now (will not give details to avoid spoilers) a group of people go to a guys house to beat his ass, and the guy responds "Oh? You need this many people to lynch me?" No, thats not what lynching means. This series uses that every 5 chapters or so and its always so awkward every time.

I have read my fair share of manga and have never felt compelled to write a review on anything else until Holyland. A manga that I don't even view as the best manga I have read, but one that is without a doubt one of my favorites. The reason that I feel this way isn't because of the uniqueness of the art or panelling, because they aren't, or the way the story twists and turns and creates mystery, because it doesn't. I find this manga to be one of my favorites because of the emotion that it made me feel and because of the characters, ... which are some of the richest and deepest I have ever read. Excitement, awe, anger, grief, sadness. These emotions come in waves as you dive deeper and deeper into the world of Holyland, because Yuu's struggle to find a place in his world is so tangible.

In other incredible manga, being tied to the main character is something that the most skilled mangakas can do almost effortlessly. I have never had a goal as lofty as the Pirate King, yet Oda has made me a devout follower of Luffy's journey. I have never felt the inextinguishable desire for revenge that Thorfinn has, yet Yukimura had me binge read Karlsefni's adventure until I had no more chapters to read. I have also never been beaten and bullied every day of my life until it seemed like suicide was the only option, yet Mori has created circumstances where the only thing I want is to see Yuu succeeding, regardless of the atrocities he has to commit. I want him to find his Holyland. However, there was something different that I felt while reading this manga that I didn't share with any other. Anger. When Luffy got chased out of Sabaody or when Thorfinn lost his grudge match against Askeladd for the dozenth time, it made me upset. I wanted the protagonist to succeed, and therefore when they lost it made me feel as if I lost as well. Holyland is the same way. Even though Yuu can kick some ass like Thorfinn or Luffy, he also looses fights just the same. But when Yuu lost, I wanted blood. I wanted to jump into the story and make Yuu pick himself up off the floor and beat the brakes off his opponent. But why? The stakes are always high in every fight Yuu has because his reputation grows and grows, but whenever he looses a fight you can almost always assume what the next course of action will be. Every mangaka knows that they can't kill off their main protagonist before the manga is finished (except for Gantz but that piece of work is a whole different story) or else how could the story progress? Yuu never dies so you as the reader knows he always has a second chance at the opponent he just lost to, so why do I have such a strong feeling of anger and resentment whenever he does loose. I can't relate to the past hellhole of a life Yuu had to experience or to the unconventional and dangerous environment he lives in now, so the deep personal connection with the main character isn't something that I feel. But when Yuu does loose and I saw his reputation get tainted and people that believed in him start to turn their backs I couldn't not be upset. And the thing that irritates me the most is that I have no reason to have this anger in the first place. But because I do experience these strong emotional beats, it made the rest of the story feel like a genuine fight for survival.
Something else that I want to include quickly before I get into the issues I find are the characters. Yuu is a great protagonist. I think that you could understand this from what I previously wrote. The side characters, however, are where it's at. Unmatched is the only word and can really describe them as. They give advice and guidance to Yuu in the most brutally honest ways but are also equally compassionate and caring at the same time because they all want the exact same thing that Yuu wants. They want to get lost in the streets and find a place that they can protect, and they all do this together.

The reason I think anyone loves a manga and views it as their favorite is because they found something special within the story that they can grab a hold of. Something that makes their favorite manga stick out among the lineup of dozens and dozens of other stories they have read. But just because one manga is your favorite doesn't mean that it moves this manga into the objectively best manga category. If this happened then the Berserk elitists would be loosing their' shit. Everything has flaws, even our favorite manga. I believe that Monster is a better manga than Holyland when it comes to pretty much everything. I say pretty much because Naoki Urusawa isn't really strong in the art department. But that's not really the point of reading a piece of work by Urusawa, you read Monster or 20th Century Boys or Pluto to get your socks blown off by some of the most incredible stories ever written. It's for this reason that Monster is number 5 right now on MAL and Holyland is drifting around 120. Holyland isn't as tight of a story and it has more flaws than other manga that sit at the top of MAL. For example the repetition of the fights gets so bad that by the end of the series you can almost call what happens every page turn. I didn't find this a big issue personally but that doesn't mean others see the same way. Another big, glaring problem that I have is the dropping of a compelling conflict that I wanted to see more of and I thought would contribute greatly to the story because of how important it seemed. No spoilers I promise. If it were expanded upon I think that the story would have shifted greatly, maybe to the point where the entire manga as a whole would have changed. It was included in the beginning consistently so I was led to assume that it was a big problem. But it just ended up fading out.

Finally, I want to give my scores in the individual categories and explain why I gave the overall score I did. Story-9. Art-9. Character-10. Enjoyment-10. Overall-9. I'm not going to do the thing where I average out the scores and get a 9.5 and round up to a 10 because this manga isn't a ten. It's not even a 9.5. It's a 9. But when it comes to the raw emotion and thrill that you get while reading this manga, if I could put an 11 I could. I really wanted to put a 10 but I couldn't, because even though the best reviews are often subjective where opinions are thrown around like distasteful jokes at Thanksgiving dinner, objectivity still plays a role. You must look at a piece of art for what it is and take all of its pieces into account. That being said, I beg you, please put Holyland near the top of you next reads list if you haven't already. I promise you will find something that you can be happy with reading. Thank you, and have a wonderful rest of your day.

This is a special series. It's the quintessential teenage manga, written by a mangaka with an innate belief in the world and the people around him. There is no pretension here, the mangaka regularly chiming in to talk about his own experiences, the fighting breakdowns having the same feel as advice from a close friend who just genuinely wants you to be safe and happy. It's himbo fight club, all the characters wanting to genuinely improve themselves and find the things they can't put into words. It's earnest, it's simple, it's stupid. And I do mean that, it is very stupid at times, but that's ... part of the charm. It keeps everything grounded and fairly small, the entire series a constant through line of the main character's journey of self discovery. There are parts where the title is said as a revelation, and they land. There are parts where you can feel the author maneuvering things, and they land. This manga is much like the protagonist, here to clobber you with his earnestness till it becomes a favorite.

I've never read something that is simultaneously a 5/10 and a 10/10. You just find yourself rooting for the mangaka to keep going. It's near impossible to hate this manga even with all its flaws visible because it's honest about them. All I can say is if you're looking for earnestness and positivity, take a trip to the Holyland. For surely, Yuu is waiting there.