The Climber

Its a sort of coming of age story, that is to say, we watch as this young aimless boy becomes a man through the many trials and tribulations he faces, through the mountains he climbs and the people he meets. From the inception he is ostracized from those around him (largely by his own accord) who has no clear goals in life. As fate would have it, he is bullied into climbing, and in turn he develops a deep love for it. Death, betrayal, disloyalty and sacrifice follow Mori on his passage to adulthood and Kokou no Hito is able to present the harshrealities of life. Suffice it to say, this is far from a heartwarming story, at every turn in Mori Buntarou's life he meets adversity and every interaction with those around him acts as character defining moments which are often not for better but for worse. This isn't simply a story about mountain climbing, which seems to be a common criticism. While largely prevalent, climbing acts as a means of escape for Mori. Atop these mountain peaks Mori is finally able to escape society and reality as each climb not only acts as a physical crucible, but a psychological one. All of which slowly, yet inevitably, leads to the maturation and growth of Mori who by the end of the series has taken a complete 180 out of his introvert shell. In the end Mori no longer climbs to escape reality because he has come to terms with it, because there is now something not on the peak, but on the ground waiting and calling for him. At heart, Kokou no Hito is an intricate story that exhumes a very realistic setting. Despite being on the extreme side of this scale, there should not be a single point in this story where one could consider something unrealistic or unfeasible. The painstaking amount of detail the mangaka - Sakamoto Shinichi - puts into this story guarantees this. From mountain climbing to the characters on the ground, Kokou no Hito delivers a very realistic and detailed notion of the harsh realities of life. The romantic side of the narrative beautifully juxtaposes this harsh world. Instead of retreating to the top of mountains, relying on mountains for a brief reprieve, he is able to find a place on the ground to belong. The detail Sakamoto puts into Kokou no Hito can be seen in every chapter. Despite the story having jumps in its time frame, everything is explained meticulously. Mori is shown at work and his work-life is explained continuously, all of which is an attempt for Mori to save money to climb the mountains he loves. Not only this, but the detail in describing the many mountain climbing techniques and limitations gives even the ignorant reader - such as myself - a base of knowledge and understanding as to why and how everything happens. These are only small examples of the detail Sakamoto puts into the entire series. Similarly, the art is truly majestic, which is very important in a series like this. The detail put into every aspect of the manga's art is a sight to behold. Whether it's the double page art spreads of the beautiful mountains or the characters themselves, every aspect of the art is detailed and unique offering a very easy way to immerse the reader in the story. The biggest aspect being the arts realism which compliments the fact that this is a realistic narrative. Characters are drawn perfectly, they are not ripped behemoths nor are they weak boys, they are drawn realistically and they are, for the most part average yet unique. No two characters look the same. Similarly, the climbing utensils and equipment all look realistic. Of course, the mountains and weather are no exception. Mountains are drawn to perfection with excruciating detail and the snowy biomes and weather are masterfully drawn. Kokou no Hito has some of the most beautiful and detailed art in any manga I have read. As previously mentioned, this is a coming of age story and as such a very large emphasis in regards to characters resides with Mori Buntarou himself. He is a character with phenomenal depth, development and backstory. For the most part, this provides us with sense and reason to every action Mori makes. We understand why Mori is socially withdrawn, we learn why he wants to climb and we understand why he begins to open up as the narrative progresses. Many characters inevitably die, in either a literal or metaphorical sense. That is to say, while some characters simply die others die in the sense that what they believed in and what they aspired to do has died and they are no longer what they once were. Regardless of how characters die, it presents us with a very realistic approach. These deaths end up being tests of Mori's strength and resolve. By the end of the manga it is beautiful to see how far Mori developed, which is really what the series is about. While the main focus resides on Mori, other characters are developed for better and for worse. As mentioned, some of these characters meet a literal or metaphorical death. It's understandable how they can be criticized but regardless of how they develop, their outcomes and actions are equally realistic despite being on the darker side of realism. While they are used to develop Mori they are more than that, often reaching tragic outcomes these characters represent what happens in life without the resolve to do what they dreamed to do. Ultimately, Kokou no Hito is not your typical sports manga. It is a dark story about growth and maturation. It is a story with its emotional ups and downs which are both juxtaposed beautifully. It is important to note that the manga does not glorify any actions or outcomes within the series, it illustrates a painfully realistic scenario where life is full of consequence and hardship. It is a story that shows while dreams can be achieved, a herculean resolve is often required and even still there is a price to pay. However, that isn't to say there's no light at the end of the tunnel. But above all else, it is a story that isn't simply about mountain climbing, knowledge and passion of climbing is not a requirement to appreciate this manga. Thanks for taking the time to read.

(THIS REVIEW COINTAINS SPOILERS) I am gonna start with the positive cause I have a lot of bad to say, but I don't wanna paint the impression this manga is bad so: The art is incredible, and undoubtedly the highlight of this manga. Sakamoto’s portrayal of climbing and mountain landscapes is breathtaking, capturing the raw, grueling essence of the sport. The visuals immerse you, making the physical and emotional challenges of the characters tangible. In that aspect, The Climber shines, offering a truly visceral experience of what it feels like to climb mountains. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t match the quality of the art. While the story centers onMori Buntarou, it fails to develop the supporting events and characters adequately. Much of Mori's journey is presented as reactions to events that lack sufficient justification or background. This weak foundation creates a false impression of depth and mastery, but on closer inspection, the writing falters. The most glaring issue is the treatment of the supporting characters, for example I am gonna take Yumi and Miyamoto: Yumi, initially presented as a good kid with a normal personality (gambling aside haha), Yumi’s downfall feels absurd and unjustified. After losing her reputation due to speculative rumors, she becomes a prostitute. This turn is baffling. Why couldn’t she move elsewhere or rebuild her life rather than resorting to such an extreme decision? Her character shows no prior traits or inner struggles that would hint at such a trajectory. She doesn’t fight for her reputation or try other means to pay bills, which makes her transformation feel contrived and overly dramatic. And is not only prostitution is what she does to Mori. Miyamoto’s arc is similarly frustrating. He starts as a somewhat overconfident, goal-driven climber—a “popular kid” archetype with a clear passion for climbing. Then, out of nowhere, he devolves into a self-destructive bum who wastes his money on partying, cheats in climbing, and abandons his aspirations. This dramatic shift feels hollow and unjustified. There’s no convincing reason provided for why he would spiral so far out of control. His downfall seems more like a convenient plot device to highlight Mori rather than a natural progression of his character. You can try to justify it with he was feeling inferior to Mori, or he felt he wasn't so talented idk, but I don't take this justifications as valid, cause he wasn't talentless, he was man who structured his entire life around the sport - skipping classes to train, working jobs to fund his passion, and diligently saving money - inexplicably transforms into someone who not only abandons his lifelong goal but actively deceives others in climbing-related matters. These abrupt changes undermine the believability of the characters and feel like they were written to serve Mori’s story but fail to than stand on their own. The pattern of weakly justified events isn’t limited to Yumi and Miyamoto. Many situations occur without sufficient setup or payoff, giving the story a hollow feel. For example: Mizuki: Introduced as though he would play an important role, Mizuki ultimately does nothing of significance and disappears, only to reappear like 100 chapters later with no real impact. Ninomiya: Despite a grand introduction, this character contributes almost nothing to the story. Kobeni and others, I could go on but I think i have made my point. Some might argue that the shift in writers (with Sakamoto taking over after the climbing tournament) is to blame for these inconsistencies. However, as the final writer, Sakamoto bears responsibility for connecting the dots and justifying the events already set in motion. Instead, he fails to integrate these threads cohesively, leaving many parts of the story feeling poorly written. It's not to blame the other writer, cause also writing problems happen with situations the other autor didn't influence at all (As i previously said Ninomiya, Kobeni, etc). Despite the flaws in writing, The Climber is an enjoyable manga. The art alone elevates it, and some of the moments, especially those that focus on the physical and emotional struggles of climbing, are genuinely powerful. These moments allow you to feel the raw difficulty of the sport, and they’re executed with stunning detail. However, I feel the praise for The Climber as a masterpiece is overstated. Its inclusion among the top-tier mangas feels misplaced given its significant narrative shortcomings. While it’s a good manga, the weak character development and poorly justified plot points prevent it from reaching the level of greatness many attribute to it. And thats why I have mixed feelings, it's an enjoyable manga but I felt dissapointed, and I feel many others will feel too.

Kokou no Hito is about Mori, a young, very angsty and lifeless man who initially transfers to a new high school. In 1-2 chapters Mori is goaded by a classmate into climbing up the school building and seemingly in a trance, he does so, almost killing himself in the process as he climbed up a small pipe 4 stories up. After being scolded heavily and slapped in the face by Onishii-sensei, he is encouraged to take up climbing and take part in a local contest, of which he initially refuses but ends up going through a series of events. Mori realizes rather unconciously, as heis a very dense youth (not stupid mind you), that he feels alive by climbing and takes it up almost religiously and out of nowhere, as if climbing was meant for him all along. This dude also makes some funny faces sometimes. Mori then decides to take up climbing not really professionally, but as if its the only thing that matters in the whole world. Moving on- Alot of things happen in and out of climbing to these characters, as there is a cast of sorts. It's very realistic, there is zero nonsense in how they interact and how events transfold between them. "That makes no fucking sense" will never be said to describe anything here. In fact its so surprisngly serious in parts it may completely take you off guard, as if you just got in the face with some of the stuff. It's pacing is all over the place, which is PERFECT for this type of story, as life does not always go fast or slow. Good atmosphere, basically. Now you may be thinking that this kind of story is not entertaining, as you are not a supposedly overly pretentious reader who needs everything to be dramatic and realistic and etc. HOWEVER you would be surprised how entertaining someone climbing rocks is. It is. I say beforehand I enjoy every manga I review but I very much doubt others would disagree with me on this for the most part, but don't let my perceived minor uncerainty shake you just try it for yourself its bretty good. So the characters are fantastic, the plot is a very human drama about life and death, moving on, things of that nature. It's hard to swallow, it very much is. That's another adjective that you can use to describe the entire manga, "heavy." Everything is heavy in this manga. Even the art style is heavy. Elaborating on that the art is very good It's very difficult to make the review standout so I think most of the time at the end of these I will right a paragraph that is a thinly veiled "read it read it read it" statement. I loved reading this and if you are in the mood surely you will as well, I don't really believe that someone is only an "action reader" etc. rather you just have to be in the right mood for certain stories. This is one of the best manga I have ever read. I found it by clicking the random button at batoto lol

This is not a typical sports manga. There is no friendship, no team spirit, no working towards the same goal. It's more psychological than sports. The goal of climbing is not to beat the opponent, it is to reach the top of a mountain. That is usually done in a team of two or more people, so you would expect some team dynamics at least, but that is not the case with Kokou no Hito. The protagonist Mori Buntarou climbs alone and over the span of the story you learn about his past and why he pushes everyone away and isolates himself. It starts likeany normal sports manga would. We have the amateur climber Mori who has great potential, we have the rival, we have the love interest, we even have a school climbing club. That all changes after a certain event that will show the real tone of the manga. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong. It tries to have so many harsh realities about life that it comes off as unrealistic sometimes, because they come out of nowhere and there is no explanation or foreshadowing for them. It tries to shock you and to make that effect stronger the author uses a lot of time skips. And I mean A LOT. Sometimes it is just a few days, but it can go up to years that just get skipped. It works a few times, but when you use time skips that often the characters suffer under it. It can seem annoying and can ruin the enjoyment of scenes, but there is a reason behind it. The time skips are the main reason the manga keeps you invested in it. When the story reaches a point where it seems boring or slow, the time skips hit hard and keep you on the tip of your toes wanting to read as fast as possible to know just what the hell happened in the time that was skipped. But time skips are not the only device used by the author. He uses a lot of transitions, metaphors, allusions and literal passages from poems and books. He tries to express extreme feelings of joy and euphoria in very weird and memorable ways and uses a lot of obscure art to back that up. The one that I liked the best was when the sun was rising over a mountain that was climbed by a character. To show just what he was feeling in that moment the author drew an orchestra that followed the sunrise with its performance. It was a new experience for me and really improved the manga. http://imgur.com/a/qJ2js But back to the characters. Because of the time skips characters change and characters that were introduced in previous chapters just disappear. The author tends to make his characters change completely in the blink of an eye. That is one of my biggest gripes with the story. It is unreasonable how the characters develop, because you are not there when they do. It is supposed to shock you, but you just cannot make a connection with the characters and thus do not care about their changes. The character that was developed the best is Mori, but even he suffers from that problem. Well in conclusion I have to say Kokou no Hito is no ordinary manga. Its use of stilystic devices remind of a poem and really made the manga for me. If not for them I would have given it a 6-7/10, because of the sudden time skips and changes in characters, but as it is it deserves a 8/10. I highly recommend it if you are tired of usual sports manga and want something with more focus on the mind of the protagonist and with a more realism and mature themes.