While I weep quietly in my little corner of the world, I’m thinking only one in a hundred people who saw the title of this post have any idea what Buyuden even is. It is, in my opinion, one of the best Japanese manga out there ever.
The story starts with Take Isamu, a top student at his upper elementary school who excels at everything from math to sports to catching the eyes of the ladies, and he knows it too. His being oozes superiority complex. That is, until he runs into some delinquents that give him a beat down. Then a new girl at his school jumps in and, with some fancy boxing footwork and an iron sense of justice, defeats the bullies. His new schoolmate, the girl Kaname Moka, is a boxing prodigy. Instead of being grateful, of course, Take is completely humiliated from being saved by a girl and yells at her for coming to his rescue. She calls him a “weak man” and takes off.
Needless to say, Take finds himself unwittingly becoming obsessed with Moka and soon realizes he’s falling head-over-heels in love with her–his first love. So to hang out with her more, he takes up boxing, and quickly and dramatically, his whole life is changed, and he’s on the fastrack to becoming a stronger, smarter, and better person than he ever could have imagined. Superiority complex destroyed.
This manga caught my eye because it’s all about boxing, but I never expected the character development and the absolutely phenomenal portrayal of strong girls. Aside from all the awesome fun boxing action, I really enjoy all the characters and absolutely adore the two main characters, Moka and Isamu. Their flourishing relationship is just so genuine.
So why is this amazing manga story being discontinued? Well, the truth is, the sales in Japan are apparently not good enough. The manga is “finished” but it’s really not. It’s just been stopped. The story is supposed to go from when Moka and Isamu are 10 years old all the way to world championships, and they’re only mid-high school at this point. But no money means no more chapters and a lot of heartbroken fans like myself.
I had dreamed of seeing this turned into an anime some day so that I could enjoy the action-packed animated version of the story, but now, it looks like those dreams have been officially and unequivocally dashed.
I may have to write a fanfiction continuation of the series to ease my aching heart.
