Aug 12, 2023
I want to get this out of the way and say that this is both my first review and story that I've read of Tsutomu Takahashi. I only got to know a bit about him through Naoki Uraswa's Manben series. Anyway, after reading through Black-Box, all I can say is that I'll be reading more of his stories.
To me, the strongest part of this series is of course the rivalry between our protagonist, Ryouga Ishida, and the former kickboxer now boxing star, Leon Shidou. I feel like Takahashi did an amazing job developing their rivalry as I believe that their first official match has
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become a personal favorite of mine due to the sheer chaos(despite some of the gross stuff involved in it) and inensity. It was interesting to see how he developed it further into the manga and the conclusion he came to, but I feel like choosing to focus on that rivalry really made this story unique.
This is further helped by Takahashi's amazing artwork. I personally am a fan of his 2 page spreads where a boxer lands a devastating strike. The way he illustrates these moments is what really caught my eye and made me appreciate his style. Regarding backgrounds, I really enjoyed all of the work he put into them during the big fights. His illustrations of the arena and the crowd during these bouts made me feel like the backgrounds and those within the arena played a big role during these moments.
I will say that Black-Box isn't a perfect story. Personally, I wasn't the biggest fan of how it ended and found myself wanting to see the protagonist interact more with his family. This is partly because I felt like it ended to quick, as I found the pacing after Ryouga and Leon's first big fight to go by fast.
Either way, I feel like Black-Box is a good if you want to enjoy a quick boxing story. Both the art and main rivalry will keep you engaged all the way to the final chapter.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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