TOUGH
a review by InspectorJKB
a review by InspectorJKB
Tough is a testament to those qualities, internalizing them in one of the most brutal and grittiest martial art manga you’ll ever read. The charm of Tough rises from its adrenaline-fueled action moments, a refreshing technicality in the fights, and an array of colorful but unforgettable characters.
I enjoyed Tough a lot. It’s one of the few series where I was completely sucked into its martial arts world, which was in my opinion nicely and neatly executed. Nothing too rushed and nothing too short. Tough is an easy read and if it’s your first time getting into martial arts manga, then I highly recommend this to you.
There’s a prequel for Tough which tells the main character’s beginnings, but it’s non-consequential if you start Tough even if you haven’t read the first part.
Now, for my review. Let's get started.
Tough begins with the struggles of Kiichi Miyamura, a young martial arts fighter with the mindset of overcoming whoever is waiting on the top of the martial arts world. With his knowledge of his family’s secret fighting style, the Nadashinkage-ryu, he enters the realm of the underground, where dark and gruesome matches are held by enigmatic patrons. Here, Kiichi is about to challenge the world’s most lethal and coveted fighters.
The story is mainly simple, spread over several arcs that all tell Kiichi’s quest into climbing up the ranks. In the first opening chapters, you get a glimpse into the bloody world that Kiichi has stepped into. He faces opponents that have trained under diabolic methods, conditioning their bodies beyond what can be called even superhuman. Seeing Kiichi defeat his many enemies is certainly a highlight of the manga, as it is written with gripping tension and nonstop tension. The rising tension is so tightly packed it has been the very element that made it hard for me to stop reading Tough. That’s also thanks to Saruwatari’s excellent pacing all throughout the story, which flowed nicely and never overextended its welcome.
Learning the history of the Nadashinkage-ryu as the story unfolded was also a delight. The Nadashinkage-ryu style has a philosophy similar to Aikido, where the central concept is the flow of energy. Ultimately, that style rests upon the fighter’s will to examine his reflection and erase his presence, allowing the fighter’s purest essence to take over. A nice touch Tough has is on certain philosophies, like Buddhism and Nihilism. In the end, Tough teaches us that our selves will always be the best challenger for us.
Overall, for me, the story really suited Tough well and Saruwatari did a spectacular job weaving a very explosive and action-packed manga that almost reads with no stops. My small issue would be that the last arc wasn’t as impactful as the arcs before it. Nonetheless, it’s a small nitpick of mine and I still enjoyed my experience with Tough.
The characters here are damn, damn impeccable. Saruwatari’s characters are so intimidating and destructive on paper, yet at the same time they are overflowing with poisonous charisma.
The main character himself, Kiichi Miyawaza, has a hard headed air of bravado around him, but at the same time he isn’t written so comically as other shonen protagonists. He walks the talk all the time, and he wastes no time for words in battle. His seldom moments of self reflection are actually a bit inspiring, but what’s more inspiring is seeing his growth into a more strategic and skilled fighter. At a young age, he has embraced the spirit of the warrior and the unadulterated feeling of fighting. From his father, Seiko Miyazawa, he inherited priceless values that shaped him to who he was now. All in all, Kiichi Miyazawa is a solid and convincing main character.
Seiko Miyazawa, the father of Kiichi, is also excellently written. He has his painful tragedies itching in his heart, yet the strength of looking after his son beckons him to fight everyday. Stoic but full of understanding, his character is the guardian angel, the sensei, and the father to Kiichi, pushing him beyond his limits, but teaching that limits are sometimes beyond his wisdom. If he is the guardian angel, then who is the monstrous devil?
It’s none other than my favorite character in the manga. The man, the myth, the legend-- Kiryuu Miyazawa. Shadowed in the robes of deception from head to toe, his tongue is as sharp as his deathly Nadashinkage-ryu mastery. When he starts appearing in a panel, you know shit’s about to go down. His devilish nature never fails to push Kiichi’s mental barriers to the challenge, as he tries to deviate him from his father’s good-natured upbringing, to the dark side of complete domination against everything. Kiryuu is very much menacing, but that is why he is also charming. I believe he’s also the most fleshed out character in the story, having his little moments displayed in omake chapters. What I love about Kiryuu is his love of reading books and the fact that every now and then he quotes some notable characters. It’s a nice touch to his menacing but calculated mindset.
I also love Sonou Miyazawa's silent but overpowering presence. The third brother in the Miyazawa trinity, he acts as a neutral spectator, between the good brother and the evil brother. His character design is reminiscent of masked wrestlers back in the old days, a certain taste Saruwatari has from famous wrestlers. Sonou reminds me of a taller and deadlier Rey Mysterio. His fighting style is also my favorite; it’s full of style and flair, utilizing whimsy mid-air levitations that are actually deadly combinations of attacks getting ready. It's safe to say that Sonou's strength is his silence.
Saruwatari’s art in Tough is a hidden gem. The man knows how to draw in a reader by not wasting a space. Everything is focused in the moment. His action moments are all focused at one event, allowing the reading to follow them with clarity. It allows us to feel like we are also in the audience in that manga, watching with eager eyes the every hit and impact the fighters deliver against each other. The way he draws continuous motion, and how he connects it to the final impact, is very enthralling to see.
His art definitely brings out the raw power and brutality from his characters. I love the lock techniques that he draws, because they are really detailed and almost realistic to real-life techniques. As a martial arts practitioner myself, it’s always a delight to stare for hours at those, and it just brings up the hype factor for this manga by a ton.
You can feel the flexibility, the joints tearing, the bones creaking and cracking, the grasp choking and immobilizing the opponent thanks to the spectacular artwork.
I love Saruwatari’s character designs too. The archetypal facial structure for the male fighter truly embodies the “Tough” aspect he was going for. Everybody has this stealthy, murderous stare hiding their true selves. The body structures are also very close to real life dimensions, not as overdone like in Baki, but it’s clearly treated with close attention to the human anatomy. It is truly apparent that Saruwatari did his homework beyond thoroughly.
The only small nitpick I have from his art is that sometimes in heated fighting moments too much detail is sacrificed for the motion; in order to show speed and strength, he had to draw in blurs instead, where on the contrary, I think some of those panels could just use more expressive detail to embolden the focus.
Nonetheless, I loved Tough’s artwork wholeheartedly.
Tough is an amazing martial arts manga, and it is super underrated. I wish this review will encourage people to read this and experience the awesome brutality and story. This will be also a good introduction to martial arts manga, as it is fairly easy to read and follow. For me, this has been a grand experience, and I am calling this a martial arts manga masterpiece.
Story - 9.5/10
Characters - 10/10
Art - 10/10
Enjoyment - 10/10
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