Reviews for Shamo

Over the last month or so I've seen a ton of praise for the manga "Shamo" and recently I just read the whole thing and I feel very let down. Overall the characterization of Ryu just felt like really all over the place and I didn't feel like it was because he was crazy, it just felt like the author didn't know what he was doing exactly with the character and experimented a lot more than he should have. Then there's the whole constant perspective swaps that end up taking up nearly half of the chapters in the series. Ryu is the protagonist, he's the "interesting"character yet many other characters half the time characters who have just been introduced get the spotlight namely Toma and the retarded brothers at the end.

Also Ryu was constantly learning new things throughout the series then in the next part he would completely forget it. There was the whole arc (which I thought was a large part of the downturn of the series) where he learned to use ki. I guess the author thought that addition was as pointless and stupid as I did because Ryu never used that shit again. Then there was the whole "left-handed" concept where Ryu swapped to southpaw in the middle of the fight between him and the Heavyweight champ that was also never used again. Basically anything he learned to do for a fight, any training regimend, any new technique, he would forget by the next time a new fighting opportunity came up.

Overall the whole "arcing" concept and the pacing in general was really poor and disjointed. The author once again felt like he was just experimenting with what he wanted to do with Shamo and some of the arcs could have been different series in themselves because of how different they were. Like the ki arc and the end one with the retard brothers, so off from the overall feel of the series. The ki arc felt like freaking dbz, he just defeated the strongest opponent then all of a sudden he gets stomped by a completely unknown dude and he has to power up his ki to freaking win. The latest arc is practically a gag manga in it's stupidity.

Maybe I went into the manga with too high of expectations from all of the people praising it in this sub but damn I definitely stopped enjoying the manga when his conflict with the karate champ ended and it's not like it was the perfect manga up to that point I would say like 8.5/10 but the quality after that point was crap.

I have heard a great deal about Shamo prior to reading it and it left me with the impression that it’s supposed to be one of the most unique manga around. Furthermore, the synopsis certainly did much to cement that impression. Well, Shamo is a great and unique manga, but readers may find it is also very familiar. To begin, the synopsis is misleading. Everything it says does happen, but it gives the impression that what it says is the primary focus of the manga when I would easily argue that it is a fairly unimportant detail that only serves as an explanatory backstory. Seems crazy tocall parricide an unimportant detail, but aside from serving as a MacGuffin for why the MC is so hated, it doesn’t really do much else in the story. Honestly, it seems to me the MC pretty much forgets it altogether at times.

No, instead, if I were to rewrite the synopsis, I would write out one describing a pretty standard martial arts manga – you know, the whole weak guy gets trained by a martial arts master, trains hard, and gradually faces challenges improving along the way. However, there would be one difference and it is basically the whole theme of the manga: the POV of view is from that of the villain.

Imagine every martial arts manga you’ve ever read. Know that villain the good guy MC typically faces who fights dirty, mistreats women, bullies everyone, and basically act like an all-around asshole? Well, he is the MC in Shamo.

And it is a unique and interesting premise. It basically explains how the martial arts villain becomes the way he is, how he succeeds, what he generally does, and etc. In a lot of cases, he basically does the same things as a good guy MC, except, obviously, there’s a lot more darkness and Shamo really revel in that aspect. The MC, Narushima Ryo, is basically a gangster and his life reflects that.

Ignoring the whole martial arts journey – which is common and standard – and the fact that Narushima is essentially your classic villain, what makes Shamo such a great read? I think the strongest compliment I can give it is the sobering and realistic portrayal of a common street thug. This is something most manga does very poorly.

It’s not the fault of most manga. Most of them focus around the good guy MC and can’t give much time to the side characters, thus they can’t really do a portrayal justice. Instead, they eschew subtlety in exchange for blazon portrayals, e.g. the street thugs you see seem to spend all their time robbing others, molesting random women, committing crimes, and all while bellowing evil laughter.

Shamo is, again, all about the villain so the author has a rare opportunity to do the portrayal justice and he does it magnificently. Narushima is a street thug and it shows. His life is sometimes glamorous, but, in most cases, it’s ugly. He commits crimes easily, but, in fact, he does things legitimately most of the time. He is surrounded by shady people who hates him and gladly takes advantage of him, but he can’t do much about it because normal society despise him so he has to survive by being tough.

When he needs money, he turns to doing ugly things. Most often that involves getting into a life-threatening fight, but he survives by backhanded means every step of the way. He knows he is not honorable or fair and he doesn’t give a damn. He intends to live.

He has only a few friends and most of them are outcasts like him. Being around them tends to bring him harm and, likewise, his presence causes them harm too. Any normal people or ‘good guys’ who comes into contact with him or his crew quickly comes to regret it and, in fact, a great deal of the manga has readers cheering for his defeat because the people he fights and cheats against are often such great guys unlike him.

So in short, Narushima’s life sucks because he sucks and everybody hates him knowing how much he sucks. The manga contains little romanticism and things like destiny/fate/good karma/redemption are laughed at. From beginning to end, the mang depicts an utterly sobering life in Narushima Ryo and all those around him.

All in all, the manga is a fantastic read for that reason alone. The art is pretty good and it can get highly suspenseful at times, but all in all, the character exploration of Narushima Ryo is the primary motivator. The author has created a genuinely amazing manga and it should be read for that purpose alone.

I don't hate this manga, but I do wish in a way that I never read it. I picked up Shamo after reading all these MAL reviews calling it a 9 or 10 and praising it as some sort of 'philosophical,' 'existential,' 'masterpiece.' In the reccomendations I see it wrongfully compared to Berserk, Vagabond, Punpun, and...Holyland... I'm not afraid to admit that Shamo has lots of good aspects to it: - (Most of) the fights are technical and lots of strategy goes into them - The art is very appealing - The author does a great job of making you love or hate characters - The characters are prettymuch all unique and different

- The main character is developed decently, just decently.

The problems I have with Shamo lie in its abundance of flaws. I'm not here to nitpick, I can usually look the other way when a story has some flaws if it's executed well overall, but there comes a point where there are just so many issues that I just can't ignore them anymore.

If you don't like:

- Meandering storylines (no logical through-line, motivations, or goal)

- Characters taking one step forward and 2 steps back constantly

- Main characters (mostly the antagonists) getting written out of the story for no reason

- Unsatisfying endings to most character arcs

- Plot conveniences

- Flat characters

- Lack of explanation for almost anyones motivations/reasonings

- Weird fantastical breaks from an otherwise grounded story

- Following characters for many chapters that ultimately have no impact on the overall story

- Fake depth to compromise for poor writing/ideas

Then you probably wont like this manga.

The first 2 arcs (prison arc, and the lethal tournament arc (and the Ryou-Sugawara finale)) were very splendid and well written. I was glued to my laptop reading, and I'd recommend that everyone at least reads those.

The rest I can really take or leave, you wont be satisfied with the development or endings of any other arcs. They do have some good elements, but at the end of the day they aren't worth the read UNLESS you're just reading Shamo for the fights and action.

(Note* I also thought the Ki arc was dope, but I admit it wasn't executed well and had no business being in this story*)

If it weren't for the manga being on hiatus, I would consider this the true spiritual successor to Fist of the North Star. (Hokuto Shinken) One has to only look at the first few panels to wonder why I'm comparing this to something more fantasy based as FotNS. ...and I think this is what makes Shamo a masterpiece if it actually had a legitimate ending. The manga is just pure existentialist material for me. On one hand you had the basic premise. Shamo shattered any doubts I had that a legitimate exciting MMA manga could be made. On the flip side, Shamo's failure in doing that, is something that wouldbreak or make the illusion of the very concept of manga. One close comparison to this is if you've watched Nadesico and was conflicted with what Nadesico was in terms of it's war torn reality.

On one hand you had the fictional idealism of heart, courage and guts willing towards heroics typical of manga. On the other hand, the idealistic heroes not only died but in the Prince of Darkness OVA, even the pragmatic ones were tortured beyond your typical dark manga. (and not blatant sociopathic kick the puppy type of scenarios either.)

This is more magnified in Shamo...but only if you have a surface knowledge of martial arts especially in this age ...and it is this manga's greatest strength and greatest turn off.

See nobody truly believed that the Hokuto Shinken martial arts where real even during FotNS' time but the way those styles and characters just appealed to the battle fan, you just can't helped but feel it was...tolerable. Tolerable as in the battles might be fantasy but the struggles transcended towards reality but obviously using fantasy elements.

This to me has always been what got me into anime and then later on manga.

As a kid, I wasn't exactly watching the deepest of animes but the difference between something like DBZ to me from that of say your average brutal masterpiece like Clockwork Orange was that even though DBZ was kid's stuff...it was more "mature". It dealt with more mature people trying to rise up to the challenge in more character building/character destroying incidents than simply a moving script.

Maybe that's going too far since I'm not exactly representing the masses here and Shamo isn't exactly a manga without nudity (though as a kid I was too much looking into plots that I didn't really get bothered by nudity) so let's shift it into something much more related to real life sports.

Everyone probably knows such classics as Hajime no Ippo and Slam Dunk and while no Japanese ever really had been like the Ippo or Rukawa of reality, there's a certain sense that manga is transcending between the lines of reality and fiction and in turn it is recreating what made us excited about the sports even though if you know something about the sports beyond the surface level, it clearly is tailored for excitement and escapism like any type of pop entertainment product.

It never bothered me though and I think for the majority of fans, they too accepted the margin of fantasy inter-mixed with the margin of reality and those manga just inspires fans to be more passionate about their passions even though they weren't "realistic" but came too close to being idealistic inspirations.

Shamo doesn't do that. But unlike how it often is, Shamo doesn't do that because it is a step above. It took what Fist of the North Star's claim to fame originally was and it evolved it into modern perceptions.

What I mean by this is that even today, even the greatest battle manga that has come and gone, there has nothing quite like Fist of the North Star where you literally had Superman but this wasn't Superman as in Super Powers or Superman as in Martial Arts power-up like Goku but Superman as in the guy who literally took assassination to it's utmost fantasy limits while retaining close to the anatomy of a realistic human body in a battle type setting. Simply speaking, Fist of the North Star pre-empted many of the pseudo realistic appeals that manga like Slam Dunk and Hajime no Ippo had. Especially if you looked beyond the violence. And it did that for one of the most mystical concepts in our world which was martial arts.

It is what it was for martial arts then. Hokuto Shinken added the fantasies we all had of martial arts but it also added the reality of fighting in the sense that if you're not some brutal supermaster martial arts, you just died. You just get killed and died. Even if you reached the temple of greatness, you simply disappeared. It is only because the concept kept itself close to fantasy battles and wars that it didn't feel like a downer. Yet at the same time, no one would say it wasn't stretching what was acceptable for fantasy. At least for me, it transcended the struggles often seen even in real life accounts. It had horror, it had reality, it made you want to desire women but at the same time accept that having the utmost power of fucking a beaut isn't exactly the highest showcase of martial arts superiority. Sure it was post-apocalyptic and it based itself on an American movie but like Slam Dunk, like Hajime no Ippo, like other quality battle or sports manga...there was a sense that it was just sugar coating for the present reality.

...and all that, only manga could deliver and if it got through an anime sometimes it reaches more audience while retaining mostly the same soul of rugged pseudo-fantasy, pseudo-reality, pseudo-inspirational, pseudo-downer that manga had brought forth that not even many Western comics could do at a consistent rate especially in terms of depth. (Just look at Sin City where the events literally had to take itself within a city and it was all close to one shot arcs because the characters couldn't interact too much with each other or else the grittiness dies)

In many ways though, you can't improve much on the formula outside of art or concepts because at a certain point, fantasy becomes standard fantasy. Even if you bring up an unorthodox character, you can never replicate the times where people wondered about Reiki, Dim Mak, Bruce Lee and all those times of innocent mysteries that made the concept of certain mangas much more "innovative" emotionally for people living in those times. (especially if you're not the type to laugh at the bad fashion or the bad science or whatever)

...at least until this manga, I never thought it was possible to spiritually succeed Hokuto Shinken. Sure you can make sequels but you can overall overhaul the thing. It would take something really special to break something that is already really special. After all, even when you have video games with epic storylines almost all of us understand that elves are elves, energy blasts are energy blasts, pressure points are pressure points...and in reality for martial arts, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Machida karate, Counter-boxing are more proven effective arts than pure Judo, pure Sambo, pure lots of things at a generic level...the only mystery really left is the mystery of willing disbelief or ignorance.

You can no longer be a fan of Bruce Lee and then research on Lee at a surface level and not encounter the fact that Bruce had no real combat experience compared to even bar room brawlers much less many of the guys who cross train nowadays and easily have both technique and strengths.

Yet this is what Shamo tries to break. This is what makes this notable from a contemplative psychological standpoint.

If you're just going to look at the basic premise, I still say this manga is enjoyable but it's no 9.

It is only by understanding what Fist of the North Star added and what Shamo tries to bring back but does with modern martial arts that you get back this old sense of urban post-apocalyptic nihilism and a guy who simply tries to rise over that but in turn gets destroyed by the very same bureaucratic society he was born into and it is critical to empathize from that perspective in order to really understand why this is not just a manga you pick up and read. At best you're doing yourself a favor by checking this out as early as possible after finding out what this manga is.

At the same time, it still cannot be denied that the manga fails.

It fails both because it has a 2nd arc that is irrelevant to the 3rd arc and it fails because simply you're stuck with the fantasy elements where even an elementary knowledge of martial arts nowadays would dissolve any type of pseudo-realistic elements the characters should have and in the end you almost have the same type of caricatures as past their era pseudo-realistic depictions where the final product becomes silly...yet appealing.

...and yet digging deeper, trying to create a review from my perspective that doesn't mimic other reviews, what makes Shamo most difficult to portray is that it simply digs too deep. The artwork and scenes are just too close to reality that you can't help but say...well...they're fake once it hits the more fantasy parts.

Albeit Fist of the North Star is not exactly a hard manga to review. It's just that with Shamo, I'm not trying to portray it as the next Fist of the North Star as much as saying imagine Fist of the North Star's innovative elements pushed towards the modern context of the world of martial arts. How dry would that be on one hand because most modern arts are full of go to moves rather than flashy moves but not only that flashy moves are proven failed attempts. How can Shamo get away with that and yet still be that pseudo-realistic mega-violent nihilistic apocalyptic battlefield of one-on-one that Fist of the North Star popularized? ...and bring it to an overall product?

Sometimes you just can't. Sometimes it's easier to just say Shamo is a different product. Shamo failed at representing modern martial arts by trying to be about Karate. Shamo simply is a crude attempt that came close but never sniffed at the results...but then that wouldn't be fair to the overall journey that a manga like Shamo can bring forth to a reader. So how?

Do a reviewer just say it's a martial arts manga? Do we just settle on the protagonist Ryo Narushima being a step above your desperate manga protagonist?

I'd really like to not settle on that perception because it doesn't do justice to what it brings. This is not just a masterpiece level manga, it is a very unique manga that ranks up there with some of the best manga and it is only a 9 because it is both unfinished and it is unfinished in such a way that it detracts from how the characters were built in the first place.

That said, since I can't seem to portray this manga well at all, all I can say for potential readers is that: the first chapters are dry. This manga has no conclusion. It is unfinished. Character developments aren't perfect. Sometimes you wonder if the manga isn't a real type of manga at all and everyone took LSD and had hallucinations and yet...

If you're ever a fan of manga that challenges your concepts of manga especially if you're a martial arts fan, you owe it to yourself to read up on what is currently out there for Shamo. Even if it's just scanlations. The arc might be incomplete but unlike most incomplete quality works (especially since I'm not the type to read a manga until it is finished) the experience brought forth by this manga is pretty complete. I'm not sure if you will have a concept crisis as to what manga is like what reading this did for me nor can I guarantee you this manga will blow you away especially with the dry introductions but this manga is as special as it gets for me.

I read some of the reviews and how can someone hate this manga? yall just don't understand the latest chapters, the message from the author, and the philosophy of it. tbh I was going to score this manga 9, but the ending made me score 10. everyone is upset with the ending, but why you hate something that you don't understand? Shamo doesn't deserve a score below 7-8 trust me. everyone has their own opinion, but saying like that "It'S BaD" makes me mad. People who keep saying that in shamo there were no psychological meanings, no philosophy and that was just stupid story, hadno development, then I have nothing to say to people like that, I just feel sorry for you cos you don't understand and won't be able to feel Shamo's aura, philosophy. The ending was truly a masterpiece... I didn't read, I felt every moment, I felt everything in the latest chapters and it even made my mind gone high... People who are laughing at shamo and now at my review, are people who hate things, that can't/don't understand. It just like with Monster Urasawa Naoki's other masterpiece, some people laughed at monster cos they couldn't understand what was the point and "who was the monster" I know everyone has their own opinion so I'll stop my anger from now.

I don't want to spoil it so I'll just write my own opinion about this Masterpiece...

firstly I wanna admit while reading the first chapter I was like: "wtf is this?" IDK why, I was 14 yr and didn't understand art, aura, didn't liked so much I guess... after 6-7 chapters I remember that I changed my mind and started to like it very much! It starts with a young boy, who killed his parents, goes to juvenile prison, he is a passive boy who can't even fight and defend himself, every prisoner beats him, but one day when one prisoner forces him to..... ahem! I can't write that on MAL I fear moderators will ban me so.. :d

He stands for himself... (SPOILER ALERT) he will kill that prisoner after that character really changes a lot, you can't recognize him, even more... you actually starting to hate him, but It's too soon to hate him cos story develops in every chapter, so as a character too...

THIS IS MASTERPIECE right here fellas! so read this if you want, don't listen to hate reviews, If it's bad check it by yourself and make your own decision.

Shamo is not something for those light in heart to read. In chapter two the main character is sent to prison were he is raped, not only once, but twice. On top of that, the story if very violent, lost of fights happen as the main character grows. Good story over all, but not something for people used to Shonen. This is X-rated stuff.

Recommendable for anyone looking for an easy to follow, dark, action filled psychological seinen, which follows a young troubled protagonist. It's complimented with a visceral and detailed art style. The story is an interesting commentary on Japanese underground crime culture, following a twisted anti-hero's struggle. It is mainly martial arts orientated and character/fight driven, so anyone looking for an exceptional or detailed story, maybe should look elsewhere. The manga does flow and read well as an outcome of this though. What it lacks in complexity it makes up for in character development. The mangaka does a great job in engaging the reader with the characters choices,as well as the violence and despair he continually faces. it is often dark and sometimes too nihilistic (comparable to the early volumes of Gantz). This can leave more to be wanted from the protagonist, who's personality can be described as one dimensional, despite its complexity. This may be intentional though.

The fighting is probably the manga's biggest strength, displaying a gritty and realistic representation of mixed martial arts.

It is of course important when mentioning this manga is to bring up its hiatus, which it has recently came back from. The manga isn't yet finished, but can be split into 4 parts. A often complaint is the abrupt departure from the story in the 3rd part, and its consequences that I am not sure was the cause of the hiatus.

Nonetheless to anyone also returning to read this series, it is now well back on track and heading in the right direction. Like I said before, it isn't incredibly deep, but it more than well makes up for it in entertainment and shock value. Along with its great art, it is very easy to pick up and read for anyone who struggles with manga or particularly the seinen genre.

"Shamo" I knew this manga by name for a pretty long time now I began to read it without any expectation, just knowing that it was a violent one. Well, I was disappointed. For me, it's as if I was reading some fighting manga with sex, violence, drug ..... and I laughed hard when I saw people's review about Shamo : deep psychology, deep moral... Let's talk about the beginning which may contain "deep psychology" : A boy - "Ryo" also nicknamed "Shonen A" after, kills its parent with a knife. Precisely, he brutally murdered them. We don't know why, only few moment in the manga explainthat.

Well, I though that he had a good reason but no- he killed them because he was too oppressed. You can imagine a reason : his parent wanted him to do something he didn't want, wanted to erase his personnality,to look good with their son before others, loving him too much, writing with right hand wheareas he is left handed, too much love... nothing is precisely explained.

Come on, Kids should kill teachers because they give a lot homeworks. Kids should kill their parent because they receive spanking...let's party!

After he is send to the Ajigasaki Reformatory for 2 years where youngster are send for theft, killing, rape, violence.... Sort of jail but for minor. Ryo get raped here, beaten ,forced to do oral sex with a man., bitten the man's hot-dog.... He got raped and what after ? For me, he didn't seemed affected weirdly or it was badly shown. I was expecting more but it's not a caracter centric manga after all.

Ryo learn karate to defend himself at first and is unexpectly good at it. It will be the beginning of his love for Karate ((Banryu-kai) and violent fights

And after that, you have street fights, lethal fights .... fight

-----------------------

The issue I have with that is it's not well developped which is bad for a "deep" manga . Ryo kill his parent then almost don't give a shit. He doesn't ask himself "what he have done ?" "why ?" "the consequences" and doesn't feel any remorse. It doesn't affect him much emotionaly.

His sister became a prostitute and junkie thanks to him and is not asking qestions - "Is she alive", "does she hate me ?", "what if i didn't kill my parent", "how she is feeling ? "... no he don't care...

Our little Ryo swear that he would protect her - something he didn't do earlier. He searched for her during one chapter then forgot, only thinking about fighting, raping someone girfriend.... Let's say he dont give a shit about her :)

So that's why I don't see anything deep. The beginning maybe but after that, It's only fights with some redemption moments... to try to make us like this unlikeable caracter

If you love violent, free rape manga but poor story => read

If you like developped caracters => don't read

Shamo is one series that is difficult to write a simple review for, but I'll try to keep it brief. I may as well get it out of the way - Shamo has one of the worst endings to a manga series that I've ever seen, There's no resolution, no ultimate lesson, just a strong feeling that the author wanted the series over and done with. Now, there are plenty of mediocre manga series but it is particularly distressing here because of the way Shamo started out. The first several volumes or so were cerebral, dark and well-paced. It took a lot of risks, givingus a main character that was clearly a villain, but who the reader is compelled to root for. This is done by giving the reader a clear look at how he got to be where he is and how he feels during the whole process. It gives us a look at the less savory elements of Japanese culture, but the themes are fairly universal. One of the central themes is how society can never really forgive a criminal and often perpetuates their unlawful behavior because of it. What we get is a character study of a person completely shunned by society. While he is intelligent and talented and desires recognition, his experiences and bad decisions continue to haunt him and prevent him living a rewarding or even a normal life.

That's why I need to give this manga a good rating despite its glaring flaws. The latter half of the series really begins to lose track of what the story is about. The last few volumes are a complete waste of time. Those that have followed the series know about the long hiatus it experienced. It was stuck in a long, messy lawsuit where the creators fought over ownership. In the end, it's understandable how the series ended up but no less disappointing.

I still recommend giving it a read. Just don't bother reading after the first half or so.

The first story I've read where the main character is raped... Unlike other manga or anime he is not acknowledged for what he can do. He truly is a shamo ( fighting cock). So what do I think of this... Pure brilliance! This is not for someone with a feint heart, but if you can understand and respect this kind of genre it becomes a great story. It is a shame that this manga is so unknown. For me this is better than Naruto, Bleach, Soul Eater, Daisy, Vampire knight, Death note, Deadman wonderland, hellsing and allot more. Truly this is pure gold. Pitch black gold.I first thought that Shonen manga were the best, but this is a real story that shows what true fighting is about.

I recommend you watch this now. Go mangafox, they have it. And if you love this read Vagabond, the strory of miyamoto musashi. It is of the same genre

The series is quite unhinged in an explicit manner, much like its sadomasochistic cousin, Ichi the Killer. It presents a cocktail of brutal violence, graphic injuries, as well as sexual assault/rape, drug use, and disturbing psychological imagery. This serves as both a warning to readers and an invitation to be disturbed. I believe these tags are not superficial but are more substantial. Whether it's gore or rape, each can be used effectively in a story if executed well to communicate the intended emotions. Shamo avoids using such elements for mere titillation. Shamo follows Ryou Narushima, who, in a visceral breakdown, kills his parents. He is then sentto a delinquent correctional facility for rehabilitation. The series sheds light on the lowest points Ryou experiences.

While there is a strand of empathy for Ryou, the series critiques social family hierarchy and Japanese social mannerisms without portraying Ryou as a hero or glamorizing him. Instead, it highlights the self-destructive path he's on. The manga acknowledges that Ryou continues to make vile choices, further condemning himself.

However, the series repeats arcs about Ryou's character, featuring isolated, self-contained arcs that aren't referenced afterward. This is problematic and leaves the feeling of these arcs being unnecessary distractions.

The fights in Shamo are psychological, emphasizing mind games. Ryou's preferred method is a scrappy survivalist style, reflecting his mentality to win and survive, whether for positive or negative outcomes, discarding honor. This also outlines the evolution of martial arts, initially about survival, shifting to a cleaner, more honorable, sport-focused version.

Shamo stands out as a poignant psychological work, exploring the inner shadow of a person suppressed in a Jungian way, warped over time. When it emerges, it does so in a desperate and violent expression, with violence becoming Ryou's sole means of expressing himself through vile acts.

While cynical, there is a sort of neutrality in the sobering way the story shows Ryou.

As far as I'm concerned, the story ended at chapter 131, and all is well in the world. Seriously I rated the manga 10 until chapter 131 but I'm pretty sure it's going downhill super fast after that. But I wouldn't want to ignore my best manga reading experience just because some editor forced the writer to write 200 more crappy chapters. Story : 9, captivating from the getgo, as an over anxious kind of "edgy" dude, I totally sympatised with Ryo, the "protagonist" and thus was taken in by the story. I'm honestly placing Shamo131 story's on the same level as Berserk till volume 18or so. It's that intense. Not in the apocaliptic hellish scale of berserk, but in the personnal and archetypical opposition between the characters, and the constant shifting of expectations which makes the story stimulating and thought-worthy.

Art : 9, Very simple but efficient, detailled and powerful art. It made me think about the medium in new and dynamic ways. The fights arent always 100% followable, but its a 95% in my book. The faces are much more human-like than what I'm used to in other mangas. It's not hyper-realistic, but it's just human with a slight exagerration of traits.

Character : 10, The characters are archetypical in that they represent ideas and have also very strong motivations as individuals. It's up to personnal experience and liking there, but I found only 1 almost useless character, all recurrents characters were usefull and thought-provoking.

Enjoyment : 7, Not gonna lie, it wasn't joyful. It got pretty frigging dark in ways that I can't spoil. But I was hooked much in the same way that I was when I was 14 reading Berserk. It's very curious how something so emotionnally scarring and exhausting can be so stimulating that it gets addictive.

I you really like the protagonist (I won't judge you buddy) you can prolly enjoy it till chapter 340. I sure as hell don't wanna dirty my Shamo image in my brain mcbrainy, so I won't. It just seems like regular shounen stuff from then onwards, so zero intensity, predictability, and generic motivation. It even got fucken Kung Fu movies cliches within the next 5 chapters after the ending. Jesus. Imagine that, going from Berserk to Karate Kid in 5 chapters. Fucken editors with their muney.

Shamo is a really hard sell for me. You get this duality in story writing where, on one side, you feel like he's meant to be completely ostracized and despised as a human being, where even the possibility of pitying Ryo is depreciated. He's shown to be self-righteous and delusional in his mental gymnastics of having murdered his parents, yet, on the other side, the author wants us to feel for Ryo even if he shows no real emotional evolution in his character arc, there is no progress in repentance or his internal processing of guilt. The reader is served fac-simile redemption moments with nosubstance behind them. The manga lacks, overall, real realism (forgive the oxymoron) and offers fake realism: for a manga that wants to present a really difficult character with very adult themes and alleged gray POVs, it sticks an awful lot to black and white perspectives with very little to attenuate the abrasive shallowness of its takes. It reads like a straightedge straight-A student's fantasy of what living a morally challenging life is like.

It's funny because Shamo references 2 other works that own up to their concepts better than it does:

- Musashi/Vagabond: more nuanced and detailed about the guilt and mental struggle to live with murder in pursuit of strength and ego.

- Baki: more bonkers and nutso ridiculous macho power-creeping villainous characters, committed to the silliness and the exaggeration.

It may be why it's so frustrating since it tries to tackle a lot and comes close to developing interesting story points, however it do so very mildly or 180s the wrong way.

[light spoilers]

The series is reset completely at random intervals, with the last arcs being ridiculously uninteresting, out of place and mis-paced. You forget Ryo's presence in the story, following either a DBZ-trope shonen villain OR an infuriatingly "lore invalidating" duo, reminiscent of a bad Ichi the Killer ripoff, as they negate any pre-established boundary in the series and are allowed to pull the dumbest manoeuvres unchecked by the reality of Shamo's universe.

The Toma arc is set up with a nice premise and its "ruining a hero" mandate is enticing for a story about a tormented villain archetype, however I feel like it didn't pay out as it should have -- we're left with an abrupt end without a real grasp on the consequences of the arc, its lacking the fallen saviour complex POV.

The end scene as a concept is good in my opinion for its mundane qualities, it solidifies this "realist" aspect the manga had been struggling to bring forth the whole time.

Art's good for the most part.

Still enjoyed the first half because I have goblin brain syndrome and fighting scenes tickle its fancy + it happens in a restrained environment and that also hits my special spot.

Izo Hashimoto’s and Akio Tanaka’s Shamo, later solely written by Tanaka, is an amalgam of identity. It follows Ryo Narushima, a felon, a man who committed parricide as a teenager. A societally unforgivable act, rightfully so, and a permanent mark on Ryo's social status as a human worthy of respect. Having been sentenced, prison taught Ryo about pride, and karate became his outlet for anger. The framing of martial arts in Shamo is complex, finding arrogant shades of confidence underscoring the elegance of talent. As the story progresses, this conflict between the two approaches to the same discipline increasingly becomes a foregrounded theme, often shiftingthe scope of the manga past Ryo and into martial arts politics. While the narrative usually finds its stride when studying Ryo's psyche, as a sports series, there is value in its presentation of intimidation and the intangibles that may sway the outcome in combat sports, a completely unpredictable result that's hinged on something as spontaneous as the human body and mind.

Shamo particularly excels at Ryo's character study, effectively designing a complicated and confused man. He is very clearly an anti-hero, and interestingly enough, there is never a shred of sympathy for him throughout the narrative. Not that he deserves it as a convict, especially given his crime, but in terms of writing a holistically interesting character, it can be difficult to avoid giving the cast an inclination for pity. Tanaka successfully steers clear of any form of justification for Ryo's crimes, and, contrarily, he's constantly the subject of hatred, even in a place like prison. The narrative is perpetually about him navigating the scrutiny, and again, Tanaka doesn't offer a semblance of compassion. Ryo is sometimes an angry, seething young man, and other times, he will show tough kindness. He's a dynamic presence, immersed in his mind and contending for dominance over his instincts for violence. The violence that created his infamy and would soon prove to be his unmaking.

The narrative structure phases through a set of ensemble casts and doesn't necessarily target them individually, but as an entity. The number of characters isn't inherently important because their purpose is what threat they pose to Ryo's psyche. It all goes back to when he committed the crime of murdering his own blood, leaving his sister and him as orphans. We never truly understand his reasoning for that act, and I would argue Shamo is rough around that storyline. Tanaka describes it as an impulse, a suffocation that Ryo felt in the comfort of his life that he had to escape from. It's vague, and while I think the pretext could have been addressed in more depth, the implications are frequently well-portrayed. The cerebral rage pumps his brain with adrenaline, and once he's off that edge, sinking into the fear of death, he's reborn as an assassin. A messenger of viciousness sent to brutalize his opponents by any unethical means. This is vividly illustrated in each of his fights, either on the street or in the ring, by an equally savage man capable of fatally injuring any adversary.

The combat sequences in Shamo are beautifully depicted with heavy brush strokes. Power and impact are key points in Tanaka's art with a keen focus on masculine anatomy. The reader is privy to many singular panels putting a body or muscle frame into display, making the weight difference in many of Ryo's fights graphically apparent. Characteristic for its mature material, the manga also employs sexual violence to an extent, and while some of it created conflict, there are moments where it was undoubtedly unnecessary. Despite my misgivings, Shamo consistently surprises with its knack for orchestrating and creating hype before a main event. Across the story, a lot of the variety can be credited to the many martial arts techniques used, some more far-fetched than others, but wholly unique, even including a weapons arc. The analysis of Ryo Narushima is arduous, and he is often a martyr symbolizing the source of others' misfortunes, supposedly stemming from their mere interest in him. A shadow of misery trails him as we witness the breadth of being human.

I can't help thinking about this manga in 4 very distinct arcs of which, for the most part, I'd keep the first and obliterate the rest. It's not fair to make that distinction, but up until Volume 14, Shamo had earned it's masterpiece status, at least in the world of martial arts manga. It wasn't violence for violence sake, it was a study of a loathsome character, a true villain who, true to classic villain fates, had to fight odds stacked entirely against him but which he "deserved" due to his heinous, egotistical actions. Story: This follows Ryou Narushima, a brilliant teen who, out of theblue, knifed his parents to death, this being shunned and sent to a reformatory.

In there he was bullied, raped and, eventually taught karate by a shady yet talented figure. At this point, and arc is formed, where Ryou goes from desperate teen to victim of a harsh world, to the sprout of a villain that we will see grow in every sense all the way through to Volume 14, where the whole thing takes a dive into Crying Freeman, more or less, only to then turn and go back to it's grounded setting, but never recovering it's intense focus or purpose.

And that's the thing, there was a purpose, there was a line to follow, one which could end with Ryou's redemption or absolute fall into the darkness.

Neither came to be, though.

Characters:

Ryou Narushima is the absolute focus, the titular battle rooster with a deep feud against life. A man who ruined his own life when pressure got to him and never really looked back, yet not entirely devoid of ethics, morals or empathy. The tragedy of this is that Ryou isn't a psychopath, he's an insecure egomaniac, a survivalist, but also a thrill-seeker. A cunning mind, yet a thug. He lives by his own rules but he can't find happiness because he's unable to see himself for what he truly is. He can't ask forgiveness, he can't forgive himself and he can't escape his increasing number of evil deeds. So he's haunted by them.

Natsumi Narushima is Ryou's sister, who's life was essentially ruined by him, which she didn't take too kindly. She goes into her own spiral of doom, trying to survive, but finds herself perhaps even more lost than his sibling.

She's not properly developed and she's there mostly to be a burden over Ryou.

Kenji Kurokawa is Ryou's karate master, the man who changed his life by giving him the first tools to survive and shape his surroundings.

A mentor figure to him, he also carries a terrible evil within, some of which is passed down to Ryou in one way or another, being instrumental in shaping him as a selfish, violent man.

Naoto Sugawara is Ryou's first and foremost nemesis. The man who did everything right. A strict yet fair karate master who rose to the top by honing his talent and becoming an icon. Ryou hates him immediately.

The rest are other players in Ryou's story. If it isn't obvious yet, it's all about him, it is his character study fist and foremost, and all the other developments serve to move his story forward or add some nuance to it,

but these four are definitely the key players of first and better part.

Tragedy:

There was a point to all this. To all the violence and the suffering and the horrible things happening. This would either be a story about falling into the darkest pit and drown in his self-provoked misery... or a story of redemption from that darkest of pits. Unfortunately it was none.

Somewhere around the third arc, where another, more flashy nemesis was introduced to contrast and perhaps save Ryou from himself... the already unfocused authors had a falling out and got entangled in a legal battle from which, after a long time, the artist, Akio Tanaka emerged victorious with the rights to the manga. This was not so great.

While it's former right wasn't doing his best, at least he seemed to have remembered the point of it all and was moving forward in that direction.

Then the change happened and the point got further and further away.

The last 4 volumes of this are, essentially, painful to read.

Terrible characters are introduced, lots of threads are left loose and the conclusion to it all is an irritating, pseudo-poetic drag after the most ridiculous fight in the whole series. It's a mess.

So yeah, I'm giving the whole of Shamo a 7. The art reaches a peak and never goes down from it -some weird arm anatomy aside- while the highs of the story somewhat compensate the lows -although some of those basically destroy the initial point of it all. To me the first arc gets a 9, the third arc gets a 7, due to a lousy finish, and the second and last arc... they shouldn't exist. So a 4 or something.

Conclusion:

If you like martial arts stories, if you like dark stories, if you like to understand the origins of evil, to see the worse depths and not feel like you're reading adolescent edgy angst, there is a wonderful story for you... up to volume 14. Then there's a whole arc to skip until volume 17, where you get an interesting complimentary story... that falls flat at the very end, in Volume 28.

And then you evaluate your inertia. I can't deny there is no satisfactory conclusion, but sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination.

And skipping a couple of stations.

Shamo, oh Shamo. So, I decided to read this as per recommended by a reader of Ichi the Killer, the prior story i have read before this. I have many good and bad things to say about this book. Let us start with the good things. So this book has many enjoyable and fun moments. The art is magnificent and the story was looking very intriguing in the early chapters. The dark tones are enjoyable and great at setting the scene. The characters and locations give you much to look at, however it almost feels like they have no real point to the story. Iam really disappointed as to the direction this story took, it seemed to be going somewhere great and I was loving it. There was so much to relate and chew on. However, lets get into the bad things. To start, Ryo is a lovable MC, however he stays static throughout the story and that is a huge problem for an MC. MC's should be dynamic characters because if they weren't there would be no point to the story. The story loves to trash on Ryo as it goes on and shows him as evil repeatedly, even when we the readers can see he isn't evil at all, maybe a little bit brash and rough. the ending of the story helps to cement how pointless this venture was and how evil Ryo is, when he isn't and the story writing is contradicting itself completely. The story throws out so many ideas and so many possible hinted interactions for later chapters. the author and Illustrator had a falling out during the writing of this book, and that may be partial reason for the outcome, but that is no excuse to write a let down of a story. Read this at your own discretion, I loved it but was extremely disappointed at the end.

as a writer, one of the basic rules is that your main character has to be either likable, sympathetic, or someone cool enough that readers will admire him. Shamo breaks this rule, and unlike other series *cough*Tenjou Tenge*cough* they do so on purpose. Ryo is a horrible, horrible person. A murderer, rapist, prostituting, violent, insane sociopath, he isnt likable at all. In the beginning he had some sympathy, with the condition of his life, but he quickly loses all of it. Ryo is a monster. his sole redeeming feature is how he does care for his sister and occasionally does random acts of charity, butwhile this seems to prove he is capable of redemption, he adamantly refuses. that being said, Shamo is great. looking past the incredibly dark and violent story, one can see it is very deep. recurring themes include society's cognitive dissonance towards violence, the justice and prison systems being counter productive, that parents shouldnt be pressuring and overbearing as they are in real life, and so on. So much is up to interpretation, including who is the villain. a lot of people would say Ryo, but i disagree, he's a byronic hero who fights because of a warped and sickened survival instinct. but then who is? Is it society as a whole? is it the chairman of the MMA association? is it the main characters parents who he murdered in the beginning? its all up to interpretation, but its incredible nonetheless. There is much more to it than the graphic content, but it still is pretty graphic. But, if that doesnt bother you, then I highly recommend it

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Shamo. At first, i wasn't very sure about reading this manga but I decided to do anyway , hoping it would turn out to be something like Holyland. But I really couldn't connect with it, specially witht the main character Ryo. Despite that I realized how good it is while I figured that the story was not about redemption of a hero but rise of a villain. It started to remind me of a classic movie named Raging Bull whitch also featured the same main character. I started to enjoy the story and everything was going greatuntil vol 13. If the manga have ended with the vol 13, I would have put shamo in my top favourite manga list. I genuinely believe the story that was told from vol 1 to vol 10 was great and it could have been one of the most unique takes for a main chracter in manga history. But unfortunately after vol 13 the manga started to fell off. The creators just decided to experiment with ideas and bring the story to new arcs that just felt unfinished. A lot of issues weren't cleared throughout the story, furthermore it got just worse with vol 20 when the manga were just filled with unexplained, experimental arcs. It seems the creators just wanted to raise sells by making more issues but they didn't know how to.

Im leaving this 5 duo to great art and the first volumes

Shamo: A Short Review. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS including the ending. Shamo is quite difficult to review, so I am only able to create a short summary of my own personal opinion of my journey reading this Manga. The first half of the manga drew me in immediately with Ryo's dark background, his development through the use of martial arts and his delinquent like characteristics. The art was beautifully presented, especially throughout the fight chapters, but as I read further, the writers took an odious and confusing turn. I was quite frustrated with the ending. Despite Ryo being a protagonist with villain like qualities that somehowleave us advocating for him, I found his death to be quite mediocre. The arching was messy at times and there were moments where I wanted to discontinue the Manga. However Shamo is THAT Manga I could not give up on and still see it as a favourite. Despite the series of flaws throughout the volumes, you cannot ignore Ryo's level of intelligence and persistence to learn the art of 'ki', excluding his malefactor behaviour. I still recommend that people give it a read at the very least. The first half is fantastic, but loses it's way in specific volumes. Shamo is an eye-opening read for those who have taste in action, drama and a dark, odious filled storyline. The ending is satisfactory, but this manga still holds a close place in my heart.

Shamo was a lot of 'firsts" for me: First manga i read all the way trough,first "politically incorrect" manga i ever read,first "trully evil" protagonist i ever saw (light yagami doesn't count,he tought he was making "justice'). Seeing ryu's "dark evolution",from a killer in juvenile prison to a violent thug and eventually a professional MMA fighter was great. But,do a favor to yourself and stop reading when the sugawara arc ends. Anything beyond that can just be called a "clusterfu#k of ideas with no relation to each other". Aparently the people responsible for the manga were passing trough some juridical tribulation regarding copyright ownership andit definitelly shows. The plot completelly loses its track after sugawara saga,even to the point of shoving KI powers and kung fu mysticism that is never mentioned again.

The last arc is what can only be called "michael bay-ish".Car chases,explosions and whatnot....but in the end,the antagonists were way too silly and completelly unrelated for this manga and the single atempt to give them a single remnant of 'depht"was cut short by its sudden and unsatisfactory ending.

To this day i search for news about manga regarding a possible return for a proper ending to be made. But,as it is,its like delicious cake filled with s#it.Just stick with top of the cake,the frosty,the upper layers,etc. Don't go all the way to find the shit.