Teppu

Story: 7 Art: 7 Character: 8 Enjoyment: 8 Overall: 7 This is my first review ever because this is the first manga I've read after making my MAL account. I hope this review is written well and is helpful for those who read this review. Abbreviations: MC = Main CharacterOP = Over Powered *My average rating for generally enjoying things is 7.* Starting off with the easiest part of the review for me: art. I'm not one for super fancy art so I generally enjoyed it. My enjoyment was 8 due to the characters being quirky on their own (even to the point of being "creepy"). For the story, it's a bit more complicated than that (which I go into detail below). The plot seemed... backwards at times. With my choice of mangas/animes being "let's push on because I have a mentality of positivity", this manga was really from the "If it isn't hard and I'm top ranked, I'm bored." It gave a backwards feeling in comparison to an overpowered MC who is hidden in the shadows/a lazy character who is secretly strong: an overpowered character who really seemed underdeveloped emotionally (only motivated through revenge to prove their strength) and the "99% talent, 1% skill", something that made me believe in the character. It brought selfish feelings into this alongside the human characteristic of a quirk to their characters (M, being the top gun, etc.). To hopefully wrap up my thoughts (if they're even coherent at this point), the reason why I said "the plot seemed backwards" is because it almost felt like I was in the seat of the villain. As I said before, my usual choice of mangas/animes is the positivity side but this manga is from the "petty" side: "I want to do this to null the other person's feeling". It's honestly something I would expect from a younger person and surprise surprise, it made me understand the MC's point of view. It got me to enjoy the story a bit more. While I felt like I was in the seat of the villain, it was also fun to be in the seat of the "uphill battle". It felt thrilling to imagine myself in the MC's position, staring at the back of someone which you despise with all your heart. In my opinion, it's a believable and hard drive/motivation for the MC. In my experience, there aren't many mangas that I've read nor animes I've watched where the main goal is literally in front of everyone (both the MC and the reader) and the whole mangas premise is that uphill battle. Sure I can say One Piece had these uphill battles in arcs (like Impel Down) but since this manga was pretty short, it really only had one arc/the WHOLE premise of the manga was the uphill battle. While the MC was certainly different than other stories I've read, the supporting characters were all unique in their own way. As pointed out in other reviews for this manga, I wish the other characters were more fleshed out and the manga seemed to end too early to develop those characters. To wrap everything up, I think this manga is a great change of pace (in comparison to my choice of entertainment). I think I gained more enjoyment because I do karate in real life (with a hint of MMA) and seeing MMA in a manga made me excited. The mixture of techniques from different style is a blessing and really shows the many different approaches one can have to a controlled fight. With this fact in mind (about my experience with karate), I don't know if those who aren't into MMA would be into this manga. I think the plot has a lot of strengths to it but it could dull out through a long period of time (specifically the childish aspect of one being vindictive). There's only so much I can take without being forced to live real life. I hope this review is informative and helps you understand my take on this manga. I do enjoy sports mangas/animes and wouldn't be against new recommendations. I hope you have a wonderful day and as always, keep on smiling. "Today's lessons are tomorrow's personal development/growth. Take the good and improve so you don't make the same mistake on your next attempt." "Smile because we don't have enough time." - Today's random words from user "LightningKiddo"

Teppuu is one of those manga that have something special going for them. The realism to which it's depicted, the nuance in how it's told, the clear love put into making an audience invested in what the manga is about. I can't fathom the amount of effort the author put into this piece. A story that collects the most important time in what we may consider the antagonist of the story. Story: 8.5/10 Fresh, so, so fresh, new, exciting. A story that begins with somebody we can easily classify as the endgame villain. The 100% talent, no effort person that destroys any ounce of love anybody canput into a passion. Similar to one of the best webtoons of all time, "The Boxer", people are far more complex than "the monster", "the bitch", "the underdog". People have problems, and framing those problems into how they express them when learning a passion, a sport, violence, we get the best stories. Of course, the device is MMA, the fights, the technical and amazing art, but the real hook are the characters and how they break clichés and conventions of the genre. Teppuu knows what it is, what it does to change the formula and prides itself on it to the point that we can only marvel at how interesting, and surprisingly simple it is. Characters: 7/10 While the main character had the biggest amount of subtlety, change, and love put into her; can't say the same about the rest. Considering the health problems that the author had when making the series, we can't expect every aspect of every character to be fleshed out. Sadly, there's limited time to make sense of how everybody changed, as well as how little some did. People don't change that much out of nowhere, I get that, but at the very end, nobody changed at all except the protagonist and only by a little bit. The future ahead of these characters is bright, but the story will never be continued. A hole is left on how they went ahead, it's as if we saw the first "Alita Battle Angel" movie, yes we get a character arc and story, but the world and elements have so much more to say. I like the personalities, but mostly, each character was an archetype that got a fresh use, but not in how they were interpreted or led to the end. Art: 10/10 The strongest aspect in Teppuu is the art. Masterclass in martial arts realism, in physiques, indicating subtle elements in each body. The consistency to which every part of every character was maintained to hold a perfect idea of how they work. The faces, extremely expressive, extremely well shown. I love every aspect of Teppuu in the art department, even how crowd shots have every person drawn without need. You can easily tell how people feel with their facial expressions, just as much as how their body moves. The lines of motion, how each impact isn't belittled, every single punch has importance, every grapple, I'm dumbfounded at the quality. Overall: 8.5/10 Teppuu deserves more recognition as an underrated gem in martial arts manga. A story that respects the theme, the characters, and the sport it talks about, it really needs more people reading it.

I’m on the fence with this manga. Some matches where very thrilling, and the main character starts off as an interesting female protagonist, but sometimes it was a bit boring. There is a lot of technique explanation, and most of the side characters are just okay. Apparently, the martial arts are very well depicted, and that’s good… I guess. I have no idea about this, and I didn’t care so much. In general, the combats are cool enough, and the paneling helps to understand how the movement goes. Although the character design and general drawing, including the positions of the bodies (quire complex in this mangawith so many martial art techniques) is good enough the art feels a little rough and it can look quite ugly some times. The character arcs are not that big of a deal either, not much changes. The protagonist is a talented asshole and she barely grasps what it means to respect the others by the end of the story. Do I need a big redeeming story or learning journey here? Not really. I like that the protagonist is different to the usual hero. She’s really good at many things and she’s bored with everyone else around her. Because of that, the situations around other characters are tense and conflict can burst at any time. I like that about this manga, and it was very entertaining to see the next thing this girl was going to do. The defiance in her stance when facing anyone she didn’t like, meaning, everyone but her only friend, is always menacing, as she is a very strong and tall girl. If you are interested in MMA I’m sure this will be and even better read for you, but even if you are not, it can be enjoyed.