So we're all anime fans here. I'm sure we always have that friend in the group that recommends something nonstop until they bully you into reading it, and when you do, you love it. It's a tale as old as time, and despite the annoyance it often presents, I probably wouldn't have gotten into stuff like Promised Neverland or Attack on Titan without the mindset.

But we aren't here to talk about those shows. Instead, we are here to discuss a recommendation from a friend. Specifically, the high flying, martial arts fighting, nail-biting, and having trouble with the rhyming manga Kengan Ashura by Sandrovich Yabako and illustrated by Doraemon.

Note

So before I begin, I have to make this clear. I'll be giving my thoughts on the completed Kengan Ashura Manga. Not every plot point in Ashura has gotten explained in Omega's sequel series, so my current information will limit you. While I know the anime exists, I find it doesn't do a good job translating the 2d and 3d animation well, and I also feel like the models are just uncanny to look at. 

I also know that the anime cut out a lot of important scenes that take away from specific characters, so I decided not to bother seeing the series. And don't go too hard on my friend since his recommendation was the tipping point to get into this (plus, I'm going to bully him into God of Highschool, so yeah).

Between the Netflix trailer for the anime and the fact I disliked the on-paper contemporary Baki (keep in mind I started while in season 3) for the largely lethargically ludicrous fights and powerups combined with the severe lack of the main character doing shit. However, after watching Kengan's in-universe sister series " How Heavy is the Dumbbells, You Lift?" (yes, really look it up) and the previously mentioned recommendation, I stuck with Kengan for about 4 to 5 months. Now on to the rest of the review.

Summary

Have you ever wondered how those pesky companies sort out those annoying business deals? The real answer is probably more depressing and complicated than you think, but in the Kenganverse, we get a far more fun alternative! For hundreds of years, wealthy merchants have bet their lives and riches on various representatives to compete in the illustrious underground fighting ring known as the Kengan matches. Flash forward to the modern-day, and the battles persist underground for the top corporations worldwide, with the competition fiercer than ever. 

With the recent addition of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, an event that may very well decide the fate of the matches around the corner, the world's strongest fighters have converged in a single stage to determine the outcome. However, one man stands beyond all this, for he doesn't want money, fame, women, or land. The only thing this man, Tokita Ohma, wants is to prove he's the strongest of them all! With this goal in mind, it's no wonder why the aptly named Ashura would later go to turn this entire tournament on its head!

Cast

So might as well get this out of the way first. Kengan's biggest strengths are in its characters and fights. The manga has a surprisingly diverse cast of characters for a manga about beefy men in next to nothing beating the shih tzu out of each other. Kengan has the main cast of 5, and its main tournament features over 32 competitors with dozens more bystanders, yet I remember and care for almost all of them(so long as their name tags show up).

Kengan's overall art is sublime, perfectly drawing dozens of unique characters with different ethnicities, sexualities, body types, and just unique styles. It also doesn't hurt that despite these differences, most Kengan cast meshes surprisingly well with each other, each having aspirations, experiences, comments, and interwoven dynamics between or during matches. This creates many hilarious moments as the level of sportsmanship is so high with characters that bitter enemies can become good friends with amazing comedic chemistry, like in the four koma panels.

But if we are talking about the main cast, let's go into Ashura himself. Growing up in a hostile slum-like area called The Inside, Ohma has always had a violent, low-maintenance lifestyle. However, after being trained by his deceased master in the endless adaptable Niko Style, Ohma features a relatively calm until provoked attitude to seek strong opponents. While in the beginning, Ohma is relatively arrogant in his claim/ need to prove that he is strongest in subsequent fights and later reveals give Ohma a much more open, mature, sociable, and intelligent mindset.

Following that up, we have my favorite character in the series Yamashita Kazuo. Kazuo sits as the audience stand-in between the insanely wealthy CEOs and over-the-top fights. He likes to put his head to the ground and is insanely nonconfrontational, self-deprecating, and cowardly.

However, the man seems to get himself in over-the-top situations with people who think he's more than meets the eye. So in such insanity, Kazuo manages to adapt and become a much more confident, intuitive, and observant person. Lowkey Kazuo and Ohma have no reason to work, but I was tearing up at their bromance since their dynamic works by the end of the series.

Presentation

Kengan's art style takes some getting used to. At the start of the series, simple backgrounds and simpler faces with a harsh black and white contrast. However, as time goes on, Kengan's art takes on a life of its own with a smoother command of black and white that leaves a more sophisticated detail to characters and leaves you with a real, almost cinematic look to scenes later in the manga, as if it's all in harmony. Kengan always shines in its expressions, which are always spectacular.

Every horrid face is uniquely detailed and gives the manga a larger-than-life appeal, making the fighters feel like monsters and demons. The choreography on display with the blurring of characters' hands and feet showing off the speed/power of the characters works well while at the same time being dynamic enough to have the fighters feel like actual martial artists. This makes sense, given that the team behind the manga has a background in it. Overall, Kengan works with its limitations but gets much better over time.

Overview

We can finally get into Kengan's bread and butter: the fights. Or should I say the pulse-pounding, dynamic, and balls-to-the-wall bouts of Kengan Ashura? But before that, I should mention suspension of disbelief and how it works. For those who don't know, suspension of disbelief is the intentional avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal, such as a work of speculative fiction, to believe it for enjoyment. 

Suspension of disbelief is how I can feel that dbz characters don't immediately destroy the entire planet by using their universe to destroy full power. Still, it can break if I see something like a regular sledgehammer do some damage against Goku, and it's supposed to get taken seriously. If you break suspension of disbelief, it can leave your audience confused and rolling their eyes. However, I think that against all odds, Kengan never really broke its suspension. And I think that's because Kengan has something that other fighting manga lack: respect.

Keegan's fighters come from a ridiculously diverse and large cast of different backgrounds, and yet it still manages to make each fighter feel essential and be able to stand on its own. From the mercenary Muteaba, primordial fisherman Karo and the decathlon athlete Gozo. The more developed martial artists like Kuroki Gensei. And finally, assassins like Kure Raian and Inaba Ryo all have unique fighting styles that don't make them feel less critical since they almost all get a chance to shine. 

Moreover, 75% of the fighting styles featured in Kengan are real ones that get their proper spotlight, from the famous Muay Thai to the lesser-known Lethwei. The series gives people a real sense of marital art and a way of making it look cool.

And while there are still many over-the-top martial arts like Ohma's Niko style and the psychotic Kiruyu Setsuna's Kohei Style, they still are built on realistic martial art principles. There are apparent weaknesses, making it incredibly clear that while there are stronger fighters, they aren't inherently better. There's always another peak these guys can reach. Kengan's unique method to its madness makes it easy to digest and fun to read. And believe me, no one gets plot armor in this series.

However, despite all that praise, I think Kengan has real issues. Since most of the entire series focused on the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, any storyline or character outside of that isn't related to it gets dealt with quickly. These diverse characters only get a few chances to shine, leaving them as wasted potential (looking at you, Hanafusa). Stuff like Ohma's backstory, the shady shenanigans of other companies, and training are quickly resolved or left up for the sequel series to finish. 

While the tournament, on numerous occasions, includes sly tactics from the companies to get ahead, they don't get explored beyond the preliminaries. The short tournament period makes fighters' improvements feel rushed. And finally, the biggest sin of the series is that I can't have any of the Kengan waifus for myself, but I digress.

Epilogue

Overall, Kengan is a must-read for anyone who wants some badass fights, fantastic characters, and amazing martial arts mayhem, with the sequel Omega shaping up as good. It knows what it wants to be and does that very well. Because what became a relatively interesting but not deep slugfest quickly became a rather interesting and, at times, heartfelt story of people putting everything on the line to prove they can get better. And I hope I can take that mamba mindset as I continue this writing journey. But yeah, if you guys want some pulse-pounding punches, you know where to go now.