The Boxer

CONTAINS SPOILERS

The Boxer is a manhwa that perfectly encapsulates and depicts the human experience and the constant struggle that comes with it, and I cannot get over how well JH expresses it through this story.

The protagonist, Yu, is a character that's unlike anything you would typically see in this sort of genre, being mostly silent and enigmatic, seemingly not even human, but possessing an uncanny amount of strength.

So a power fantasy? Well, not quite. What seems like a regular sports manhwa on the surface quickly unravels into the existential and cathartic story that it truly is.

After being taken in by Coach K, Yu is pushed to become the champion of every belt, which then introduces the supporting characters of this series. They each have their own story and depth to them, delving deep into their minds and how they became who they are or their reasons for pursuing boxing, with each backstory deftly expressing the hardship those characters had to endure. From being obsessed with the idea of perfection to having no talent at all, it's all expressed in ways that are realistic and meaningful to the reader. Yu is used as a catalyst to further drive those stories and highlight them even more when they eventually face off in the ring, the place where those characters fully display who they've become from the pain and struggle they've endured. My favourite example of this would be Yuto Takeda and his story. Being born with very little talent, losing his parents at a very young age, and eventually being taken in by Misaki, he pursued boxing regardless of how stagnant he became, which eventually led to crossing a skill threshold Misaki never predicted and eventually becoming the light welterweight champion.

As for Yu, it's both captivating and tragic to watch his absolute dominance over all of his opponents, which is further shaped by his innate talent and the hard conditioning imposed by the megalomaniac Coach K. But why? Well, the manipulation and tight grasp that K has over Yu evokes an empathetic, almost pitiful feeling from the reader, recontextualizing what the reader perceives. It makes readers want to see Yu fail for once, to finally taste defeat, and to possibly... just possibly, be free from boxing and truly develop. We saw this nearly happen when Yu started to get closer to Carmen, which eventually was thwarted by the Santorino brothers to provoke a reaction from Yu.

All in all, The Boxer isn't just some ordinary, run-of-the-mill sports manhwa that only covers generic topics like hard work vs. raw talent; it tackles so many other profound themes, like nihilism and the meaning of life, creating a meaningful and satisfying story for Yu, an apathetic tool who learns how to love, both people and life.