Reviews for Katsu!

First thing to note is the disappointing character artwork. Yet, it didn't bother me. Not to mention that the environmental artwork is amazing, and it's easy to see what's going on too (which is rare for action manga who are more often confusing and sometimes hard to follow). If you look behind the artwork of the characters you'll most likely find either a blank page, another manga page or... if it's digital: the back of your screen. But if you look behind the way the characters are drawn and actually read a few chapters, you won't even notice and after a while start liking the weirdartwork.

So I wouldn't put down 'Art' as a negative; since it's not bad, plus it fits the manga fairly well. As far as characters and story go; there is plenty of development ging on. Which isn't so rare for a sports manga; they still need to improve right.

This is a sports manga about boxing; which is pretty much what it's about most of the time. A lot of revealing being done; lots and lots of boxing and boxing and sometims a little romance and some dry-in moments. You see, there aren't any 'blushing' and 'what should I do, I never talked to a girl before' moments in this manga, mainly since it's a boxing manga. But there is romantic development in between; though hard to notice since they never seem to be nervous or surprised about what's happening. I mean, the guy can watch porn in his room, be caught by his dad or anybody and reply with: "o, is that so" without worrying about it at all. Which is different, refreshing you might say. For once a different type of humor which in this manga's case worked out well.

Take a note though, there isn't much 'technical' about boxing revealed besides that two guys hit each other in a ring with some people looking impressed at it in this manga. Which is the only real negative point.

There aren't too many characters; especially considering it's 150+/- chapters. But the characters that do come into the picture are almost always the same in emotion and all that; so not much development there thoughout the story.

There is one thing I can tell you though, this manga entangles you. Mostly because you just ALWAYS have something to read/continue with at the end of a chapter. Since it's fun, you give in and do so. Before you know it, you already finished it (speaking out of experience). Most of the awesomeness is obviously caused by the mangaka Adachi Mitsure, a pure manga genius with lots of good work.

Don't worry about the picture looking lame or the first chapter not leaving a good impression artwork-wise. This manga is definitely worthwhile and a great read all throughout (not any filler-like pages/chapters too). I did feel the ending was rather rushed and would've loved for it to continued; which is a shame. The ending didn't give me a bad/unfinished feeling, rather, it did finish. But it still seemed a little rushed.

If you like sports/boxing, romance, dry-humor and/or something different yet good for a change; this is the manga for you!

It took some time for me to decide what to give this manga. It felt like a manga which was a mix of Hajime no Ippo and Cross Game, the story that is. I agree with the others that the artwork is not up to scratch like many other animes but for the anime itself it works. It is a sort of smooth flowing manga. There are a few funny scene but not so great that you will wet yourself. Like other great manga's, this manga's lead male is a character which the average person can relate to. The love scenes make you want to ripyour hair out and say "just go for it will you".

The only main thing I can criticize is how abrupt the end was. It was like "ok the main scenes are finished so let's just end this". I would have prefered a couple more chapters using the same ending but just making it more of a smooth ending.

I've read a lot of Mitsuru Adachi's works and Katsu! is among my favorites. Like most of his newer works, Adachi sets out to establish the main relationship from the start, and builds up this relationship throughout the series - it's even touching to know that both characters had feelings for each other before they became friends. Lots of Adachi's trademark humor, self-insertions, and a good tie-in to the sport gimmick (in this case, boxing). In addition, the antagonists/rivals are actually pretty decent guys, you don't root for them, but you don't hate them either - you want them to be successful in their livesas long as they don't steal the girl away from the boy.

Unfortunately, which is typical with Adachi, the ending is abrupt and leaves a lot of things hanging (particularly with side characters). But that doesn't spoil the overall work.

Very good manga! A simple story, but very well told and extremely charismatic characters leading to a very pleasant read. The characters are amazing, being quite charismatic and having a good depth throughout the manga. Following Kimoto, Satoyama's or Misaki's father and seeing their motivations and regrets is great. That said, unfortunately some characters are forgotten throughout the story, which makes them miss them... Kimoto for example The MC, Satoyama, is a very charismatic character who grows throughout history. It's nice to see that the MC is proactive whether in romance or boxing, preventing the story from being boring to follow. The FMC, Mizutane, is a very strong character.Her personality, values ​​and even her boxing make her very passionate to read.

The story is very good. Having unexpected surprises within the story, with an interesting plot and constant movement.

Not only is boxing very interesting, but romance is also a lot of fun.

Beyond Satoyama's rivals who are very charismatic and the conclusion of everything is very satisfactory.

Art is okay. It's not exceptional, but it's very functional to convey the emotion of fights.

My only criticisms are, the fact that Satoyama is helped by the script in the toughest fights and the drama in his relationship with Mizutane in the final arc. Unnecessary and even a little tiring in a story so enjoyable to follow.

Katsu is a manga with a good story having great characters and a lot of surprises within the story. My only criticism of manga is that it unfortunately ends.

28 chapters in, there's still nothing to care about. Things are happening, but we haven't been given any reason why we should be invested. Mizutani is training to fight her childhood friend, but given either outcome, what's the point? She doesn't have particularly much to prove, all the boxers are already aware of her ability. This childhood friend hasn't shown himself to be an asshole, or given really much of a reason for wanting to win either. We can infer that he wants to be able to stand up for himself since she used to defend him, but again there's no payoff in that; wedon't have a reason to sympathize particularly with that goal of his. At some point, he will become stronger by default in any case.

Satoyama suffers from the same issue. In the other Adachi work I've read, Rough, there was an obvious point of conflict that carried the story; the feud between families and the question of whether their children would be able to resolve it. But Katsu has nothing like that. Typically a sports story works by having the main character work to be recognized, but there just aren't challenges that have been put in front of the characters like that here.

It gets a perfect 5 because it's a record of a series of events that happened, like reading a report. Nothing good, nothing bad. Did I remember to mention that the reader has no investment in it?

I don't understand people's thinking process. People apparently dislike the art, but love the story. In my case, it's vice versa; the art is perfectly fine, but the story is not that strong. I just don't get people at all! To each their own I guess. Adachi Mitsuru's "Katsu!" is okay. I just had to read something that wasn't baseball. Baseball did end up in some of it, so I guess he couldn't help himself. This manga started off well. Katsuki Satoyama is a neat protagonist who I did enjoy. Surprisingly, he's pretty indifferent to the sport of boxing, which is ironic considering he hasboxing blood running through his veins. The story did keep my attention for twelve volumes, but that last quarter wasn't interesting in the least.

With the first twelve, it was just a honest-to-goodness boxing story with a couple of dramatic plot twist that did shock me. It has hints of romance because why the fuck not, it's Adachi. Everything was just okay until volume thirteen when the story just loses me. I was hardly paying attention because the manga was trying to introduce these new plot points so late into the story that I just stopped caring. The humor isn't really funny. It's just a lot of fourth wall breaking that isn't funny in the first place. YOU CAN make fourth wall breaks funny with the right jokes, but none of them are really funny. It's just characters poking fun at the lifestyle of a mangaka a few times and Adachi making references to his previous work. He does make fun of himself by mocking his art, since his characters all look the same. I thought that was kind of funny.

The ending was a little lame. Everything I thought was going to happen didn't, so that's something. It was very sudden and open-ended. At it's best it can be a 7 out of 10. I'm not going to give it that score because for most of the manga it's not that strong. A 6 out of 10 is more accurate. It's a helluva lot better than H2, but not as good as Touch.

I've read Katsu! 3 times. After my first read, I rated it a 7/10, after my 2nd read I've rated it 9/10, and now I'm rating it 10/10. I don't know why, but I find it more and more enjoyable with every time I read it. But that's the thing with Adachi's manga, if you re-read them you'll definitely notice stuff you didn't previously. If you're going to read Katsu! then I recommend you take your time. Look at the text bubbles, look at the pictures, at the character's expressions, at what's happening in the background. There's honestly lots of symbolism that goes unnoticed bya lot of people and it gives a very cozy vibe to Katsu! and Adachi's manga in general.

The highlight of this manga are the human interactions. Honestly, to me sports manga that focus on the sport are just bland and not worth my time. High-shoolers aren't supposed to be obsessed with a sport 24/7 and think about competing/the team/making nationals or whatever all the time. A good sports manga needs a good balance of family interactions, friend interactions, humor, some romance to spice it up, among a bunch of other things. And this is what Adachi Mitsuru does right, with other examples being "Kono Oto Tomare!", "Your Lie in April", and "3-gatsu no Lion". To me these kinds of sports/competition manga are peak, with Adachi's work being my favorite.

Both leads of this manga are such lovely characters with interesting backgrounds. They're probably my favorite leads among all Adachi's manga. Even during my first read I thought that they were 10/10.

Anyway, I recommend you give Katsu! a try, but remember to take your time. I'm honestly glad I read this manga 3 times. Probably gonna keep revisiting it every year or so.

Katsu! is a good manga all-around. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is how the saying goes and it applies here: the story, the art, the characters; everything in Katsu! is satisfactory, but nothing really stands out. First, the story: good. There are some nice unexpected twists and turns, the pacing is good, and there's also a good amount of humor in the writing. The only problem I have is the ending; the last two volumes or so wrap the story in a hasty, messy fashion. My rating for the title was actually an 8 until this disappointing end. Then, the characters. They're really good. Everynamed character gets their moment (big or little, depending on their importance to the story). They're all enjoyable and memorable. My only gripe is that I wish some of them had been more utilized; there's a sense of wasted potential with a lot of the supporting cast.

Finally, the art. I liked it. I thought the character designs were good (though they aren't exactly original) and nice to look at. The author likes himself some cute girls and muscly dudes and so do I. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the boxers aren't manly and jacked to the point of parody like so many shonen fighting series. The action is clean and engaging and there's some pretty, almost melancholic composition.

In short, I recommend Katsu! It is enjoyable, easy to follow, and sometimes surprising. I can't really see this being someone's favorite manga ever, but it might join your top 20.

The manga will bring you somewhat a twist, but it is just a normal story of the youths trying to figure out their own identity, struggling to choose love or passion. The story at its core is not fighting physically, it's fighting to complete yourself. I love the set up and how it went, I don't think anyone would like it if they are not seeing it for what it is. The art style is so fitted to tell these type of story, however, you may see the same face syndrome that a lot of artist have. The characters gives you an easier time inenjoying this story because this is a walk, the road maybe bumpy but they made an effort of understanding themselves in order to pushing on with their goal.

Once again, this is the story about the youths finding out about themselves. You may not enjoy this walk, but why not just sit down and enjoy the journey. Sometimes dangerous adventure will give us motivation to keep moving forward, but sometimes looking at life unfold is enough.

10/10 for the love of the youth.

One of the most notoriously glaring things about quality in the manga is the production. the art (which reminds me a lot of Tetsuya Chiba), and about the cartooning? I just say that it is good and to me, efficient. I also think that the relationship between the characters is good. What I don't like about the manga is precisely the boxing part, because although I find it interesting that the main characters' parents are linked to boxing, and I understand that it does make sense for them to box, I believe that the way in which the mangaworks boxing is too professional... Also, I think that satoyama's rise in boxing is completely unnatural because it's extremely fast and, like HNI, the protagonist never loses!! (I'm being hyperbolic, of course) I also have the belief that he is flawed in raising us to the fight, because despite having a great comic, he fails in the psychological aspect (this one never addressed in the manga).

In addition, the end is rushado.STRONG HUG TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ THIS HERE!!