Teppu

Review contains spoilers.
If you have read Teppu you have undoubtedly noticed this one line. A sentence so weird that even translators need to remark that it is indeed not a typo. It has puzzled me for quite a while but through it I have gained a new appreciation for this manga.

Let’s start with some context. Teppu is a martial arts manga, focusing in on the niche of female MMA. It primarily tackles a bread-and-butter narrative of the genre, that being the tug of war between talent and hard work. This time however, instead of the usual perspective you would find in any other sports manga we are let to see the events unfold starting from the top.

Natsuo is talented, more so than any person has a right to be, and in this quality she becomes completely unrelatable to the reader and to the people in her life. She is possessed by gifts so divine that in any physical contest she is sequestered from her peers. But her place at the top of the food chain is not to be envied; it is the ugly side of survival of the fittest, standing so far above everyone else is her discrimination.

Deprived of challenge and interaction, of the pleasure of trying your best, even her familial relationships are so frayed that they are nearly absent from the story, her mother being present in a single panel lamenting her daughter’s situation. The last thread that Natsuo holds on to is her wreck of a brother, another misfortune of her own making.

This inverted perspective is central to Teppu’s text; even the subject of the sport itself and its exclusivity to one sex, or the perceived standing of the characters are opposite from the norm. Of course, the combat is also emblematic of this. There is little glamour to the violence, no secret technique passed down from master to pupil, the training takes place in cramped gyms and not in fabulous montages between sworn rivals. The fighting is not so much an art as it is a system to efficiently dismantle your adversary. It is in the cold pragmatism of MMA that Natsuo – and by extension this manga – thrives.

The fight direction takes a similarly clinical approach, engineering some of the most precise, technical, and easy to read movements that I’ve seen in any fight scene. The simplicity of the style adds impact and speed to every motion, each action line is placed with the intention of grabbing your eye and dragging it through the motion. The manga does not try to sell the heaviness behind its blows with exaggerated drawings, instead it relies on its depiction of movement and your innate understanding of biomechanics to paint that verisimilitude.

Fighting is paradoxical in nature; unlike other sports you are completely isolated – in the case of MMA the presence of the cage makes that isolation quite literal – but you are also infinitely more connected to the person right in front of you.
In order to be an effective fighter you have to study your opponent, learn their moves, read their reactions; you have to intimidate them, talk trash, demoralize them. You have to form a unique bond and intimately understand the person standing next to you only so you can treat them like prey. And it is through these conflicting bonds that Natsuo is made to descend from her lonely mountain, chasing victory for the first time she cannot rely on her abnormal talents, she has to be human.

MMA becomes Natsuo’s way of interacting with the world and chewing through her complex emotions, it’s her coping mechanism, and every character she meets through it represents a different approach to martial arts and a different ideology to throw into the ring.

Sanae represents the natural order that Natsuo cannot be a part of anymore, she is the diligence and honesty that was lost during childhood, this is also represented in her practicing no contact karate.
In Natsuo’s eyes Sanae might be the root of all her problems, when she is asleep and we peek into her dream world everyone loves her, but when it comes to Sanae it’s more important that she has a good relationship with Natsuo’s brother than with her. Most of her dreams revolve around her brother, and it’s because of this that during their emotionally charged bout, Natsuo inflicts punishment on Sanae. Punishment for turning her into the kind of person that her brother hates, for daring to upset the status quo.

Yuzuko is Natsuo’s polar opposite. She practices brazilian jiujitsu which is the great equalizer of mixed martial arts, it is the style that the weak can use to take down the strong, and she is weak even though it’s not apparent on first impression. It is not in spite of her lack of gifts, but rather because of it, that she is Natsuo’s rival; a fighter made, not born, and the antagonist of this story. They complete each other perfectly, making up for what the other lacks both physically as well as emotionally. It’s only fitting for Yuzuko to be the one that Natsuo cannot defeat despite training hard for this moment, her efforts are invalidated, and in this loss Natsuo manages to achieve her initial wish.

Lindsay is Natsuo’s mirror, she steps into the role of the archetypal foreign adversary, and as such her genius for fighting is even higher than that of our protagonist. Where Natsuo is tormented by her talent however, Lindsay is empowered by it, she is a savage striker and even fights using muay thai techniques.
At the end of the story, she is one of the few threads that remain unconcluded, despite being established as one of the many end goals the G-Girl tournament doesn’t happen and we never see Lindsay in a serious fight. Sanae and Natsuo don’t consummate their feelings for one another, and Natsuo’s relationship with her brother remains unclear. However, Natsuo walks away from this story full of purpose and desire, no longer feeling the loneliness of talent.

Understanding Natsuo and her journey through MMA has been liberating. Never before have I been so aware of the privileges I’ve been afforded by not having talent. I am the underdog, the dark horse, I am the loser who fails 1000 times but cherishes the 1st victory. I have the freedom to try anything and the knowledge that my perseverance will get me somewhere. I can shoot for the moon and land among the stars, but for people like Natsuo, she had to earn the right to lose.