Aug 8, 2011
This manga took a long time to grow on me. I would occasionally try to read it, since I love delinquent manga, and give up after three or five chapters. Once I got past that, though, I realized what I was missing. This is considered a classic of delinquent manga for a reason, after all.
The story that exists is mostly a shonen-style parade of fights. Literally, one fight after another, with glimpses of character development in between. The fights themselves are pretty damn awesome, covering everything from full out gang rumbles to one on ones. However, unlike most shonen, the parade of fights makes sense,
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since everyone's goal is to become the strongest of the strong, the toughest of the tough, baddest of the bad, you name it. And by everyone, I mean everyone. There are practically no characters who AREN'T a delinquent who show up in this manga. No teachers, normal students, random salarymen, etc. except for some quick gags. There are downsides, though: the sometimes boring exposition about gangs and their members and movements (the delinquent equivalent of Dragon Ball Z-esque exposition about techniques and power levels.) but there's often a saving touch of humor in the characters to get you through. It starts out seeming overly serious and complicated in the first arc, but once you get past that the story really picks up and never drops the ball.
Not only that, but the glimpses of character development are better handled than a lot of manga with a similar storytelling structure, making you actually care about the characters who are fighting. The characters themselves are nothing short of brilliant. You wouldn't expect a cast of nothing but delinquents aiming for the top to have variety, but there's a surprising amount; brash and hilarious Bouya, reserved and brooding Rindaman, charismatic Bulldog, etc. The other thing about these characters is that they actually develop in between and during fights: the reveal of Bouya's unexpectedly caring side, Bulldog's transformation from a goofy one-shot character into a powerful leader; his Kurotaki Alliance's transformation from a ragtag mishmash of his former foes into a group of real friends, etc., etc., and so forth.
The first impression you get of this manga may be an overly serious focused troop movements sort of thing, but eventually the characters manage to sneak in their charm, so keep reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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