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.
