Disclaimer: This review contains minor spoilers

Tetsugaku letra is a one of a kind manga that tells the story of Ichinose Kimitaka, a former basketball ball "prodigy" that turned into a recluse. In this review, I will not delve deep into the story, but rather just share my thoughts and feelings about this manga.

First off to give a brief idea of the manga, Tetsugaku Letra is not a manga for everyone especially those action-loving junkies. (No offense) Instead, it is a "realistic" SOL that includes themes such as discovering oneself, struggles to adapt in new environments etc... The main character, Kimitaka is a person who is a recluse, often shunning people, having no particular interests and leading a boring and dull life despite being once passionate in basketball. During an unfateful event, Kimitaka eventually lost interest in confidence in himself and the sports, eventually falling into the lowest point of his life. However on one occasion, Kimitaka was about to throw his beloved red shoes into the river, he was greeted by a girl who was about to throw her own pair of red shoes into the river. A similar shade of red shoes yet both served different purposes, one was for basketball and another for flamenco - a traditional Spanish dance. They eventually exchanged their shoes in hope of giving their pre-loved shoes another opportunity to serve their purpose. Eventually, Kimitaka and the girl had found their true calling, for the girl, it was basketball, thanks to her big stature, she was exceptionally good in the sport. For Kimitaka, it was Flamenco. Despite the shoes being made for female dancers, Kimitaka did not give a shit. He was determined to make it work. He faced countless setbacks and judgement but damn was he determined.

So the big question is......should you read this manga? Honestly, it's up to you, though this manga definitely has something that is relatable to all of us. Having no directions in life, facing a never-ending spiral of depression and self pity and bullying etc... Life itself is not all sunshine and rainbows and I feel that this manga brought up the fact well. In this manga, the main character did not excel in his craft, flamenco. Initially, he was struggling, I mean he is still struggling until the end, but......the point is — he never gave up. Especially since he was rocking a pair of shoes that were meant for female dancers. The friends he made along the way, the character development he had, from a person that bathes in self-pity into someone who was determined, someone that has a goal he wants to achieve. These are what made the manga so inspiring for me, something that i can learn from, and why i enjoyed it so much. I feel that the storytelling and the art style in this manga is simple yet realistic. Nothing to fancy nor is it boring and dull. The chemistry between the main characters was strong and enjoyable. The characters were all written very well and realistic, all of them have their own struggles and weaknesses, which made all of them feel very human and relatable. I'm in awe of how the author managed to tell such an intricate story in only the spread of 27 chapters

In conclusion, I've personally enjoyed reading this manga, I myself haven't really read much manga but I can definitely say this manga would be in the top of my list currently and probably would still be in the future. Though the only gripe I have in the manga is the ending. To put it in words, i feel that a more solid conclusion would have made it much better, and it definitely could have used more romance. That's all I have to say, this may not be a good review but I just wanted to express my thoughts and feelings about this manga. Thanks for reading.

~~~~