Katsu!

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First thing to note is the disappointing character artwork. Yet, it didn't bother me. Not to mention that the environmental artwork is amazing, and it's easy to see what's going on too (which is rare for action manga who are more often confusing and sometimes hard to follow).

If you look behind the artwork of the characters you'll most likely find either a blank page, another manga page or... if it's digital: the back of your screen. But if you look behind the way the characters are drawn and actually read a few chapters, you won't even notice and after a while start liking the weird ... artwork.

So I wouldn't put down 'Art' as a negative; since it's not bad, plus it fits the manga fairly well. As far as characters and story go; there is plenty of development ging on. Which isn't so rare for a sports manga; they still need to improve right.

This is a sports manga about boxing; which is pretty much what it's about most of the time. A lot of revealing being done; lots and lots of boxing and boxing and sometims a little romance and some dry-in moments. You see, there aren't any 'blushing' and 'what should I do, I never talked to a girl before' moments in this manga, mainly since it's a boxing manga. But there is romantic development in between; though hard to notice since they never seem to be nervous or surprised about what's happening. I mean, the guy can watch porn in his room, be caught by his dad or anybody and reply with: "o, is that so" without worrying about it at all. Which is different, refreshing you might say. For once a different type of humor which in this manga's case worked out well.

Take a note though, there isn't much 'technical' about boxing revealed besides that two guys hit each other in a ring with some people looking impressed at it in this manga. Which is the only real negative point.

There aren't too many characters; especially considering it's 150+/- chapters. But the characters that do come into the picture are almost always the same in emotion and all that; so not much development there thoughout the story.

There is one thing I can tell you though, this manga entangles you. Mostly because you just ALWAYS have something to read/continue with at the end of a chapter. Since it's fun, you give in and do so. Before you know it, you already finished it (speaking out of experience). Most of the awesomeness is obviously caused by the mangaka Adachi Mitsure, a pure manga genius with lots of good work.

Don't worry about the picture looking lame or the first chapter not leaving a good impression artwork-wise. This manga is definitely worthwhile and a great read all throughout (not any filler-like pages/chapters too). I did feel the ending was rather rushed and would've loved for it to continued; which is a shame. The ending didn't give me a bad/unfinished feeling, rather, it did finish. But it still seemed a little rushed.

If you like sports/boxing, romance, dry-humor and/or something different yet good for a change; this is the manga for you!

It took some time for me to decide what to give this manga. It felt like a manga which was a mix of Hajime no Ippo and Cross Game, the story that is.
I agree with the others that the artwork is not up to scratch like many other animes but for the anime itself it works.

It is a sort of smooth flowing manga. There are a few funny scene but not so great that you will wet yourself. Like other great manga's, this manga's lead male is a character which the average person can relate to.
The love scenes make you want to rip ... your hair out and say "just go for it will you".

The only main thing I can criticize is how abrupt the end was. It was like "ok the main scenes are finished so let's just end this". I would have prefered a couple more chapters using the same ending but just making it more of a smooth ending.

I've read a lot of Mitsuru Adachi's works and Katsu! is among my favorites. Like most of his newer works, Adachi sets out to establish the main relationship from the start, and builds up this relationship throughout the series - it's even touching to know that both characters had feelings for each other before they became friends. Lots of Adachi's trademark humor, self-insertions, and a good tie-in to the sport gimmick (in this case, boxing). In addition, the antagonists/rivals are actually pretty decent guys, you don't root for them, but you don't hate them either - you want them to be successful in their lives ... as long as they don't steal the girl away from the boy.

Unfortunately, which is typical with Adachi, the ending is abrupt and leaves a lot of things hanging (particularly with side characters). But that doesn't spoil the overall work.

Very good manga! A simple story, but very well told and extremely charismatic characters leading to a very pleasant read.

The characters are amazing, being quite charismatic and having a good depth throughout the manga. Following Kimoto, Satoyama's or Misaki's father and seeing their motivations and regrets is great.
That said, unfortunately some characters are forgotten throughout the story, which makes them miss them... Kimoto for example

The MC, Satoyama, is a very charismatic character who grows throughout history. It's nice to see that the MC is proactive whether in romance or boxing, preventing the story from being boring to follow.
The FMC, Mizutane, is a very strong character. ... Her personality, values ​​and even her boxing make her very passionate to read.

The story is very good. Having unexpected surprises within the story, with an interesting plot and constant movement.
Not only is boxing very interesting, but romance is also a lot of fun.
Beyond Satoyama's rivals who are very charismatic and the conclusion of everything is very satisfactory.

Art is okay. It's not exceptional, but it's very functional to convey the emotion of fights.

My only criticisms are, the fact that Satoyama is helped by the script in the toughest fights and the drama in his relationship with Mizutane in the final arc. Unnecessary and even a little tiring in a story so enjoyable to follow.

Katsu is a manga with a good story having great characters and a lot of surprises within the story. My only criticism of manga is that it unfortunately ends.

I don't understand people's thinking process. People apparently dislike the art, but love the story. In my case, it's vice versa; the art is perfectly fine, but the story is not that strong. I just don't get people at all! To each their own I guess. Adachi Mitsuru's "Katsu!" is okay. I just had to read something that wasn't baseball. Baseball did end up in some of it, so I guess he couldn't help himself. This manga started off well. Katsuki Satoyama is a neat protagonist who I did enjoy. Surprisingly, he's pretty indifferent to the sport of boxing, which is ironic considering he has ... boxing blood running through his veins. The story did keep my attention for twelve volumes, but that last quarter wasn't interesting in the least.
With the first twelve, it was just a honest-to-goodness boxing story with a couple of dramatic plot twist that did shock me. It has hints of romance because why the fuck not, it's Adachi. Everything was just okay until volume thirteen when the story just loses me. I was hardly paying attention because the manga was trying to introduce these new plot points so late into the story that I just stopped caring. The humor isn't really funny. It's just a lot of fourth wall breaking that isn't funny in the first place. YOU CAN make fourth wall breaks funny with the right jokes, but none of them are really funny. It's just characters poking fun at the lifestyle of a mangaka a few times and Adachi making references to his previous work. He does make fun of himself by mocking his art, since his characters all look the same. I thought that was kind of funny.
The ending was a little lame. Everything I thought was going to happen didn't, so that's something. It was very sudden and open-ended. At it's best it can be a 7 out of 10. I'm not going to give it that score because for most of the manga it's not that strong. A 6 out of 10 is more accurate. It's a helluva lot better than H2, but not as good as Touch.

I would rate the first 3/4 quarters of this manga 8.5/10. The art is nice, the humor is good, there's good tension in between the main characters and the boxing ties nicely with the romance. It's typical Adachi but feels more shounen than usual, which isn't bad at all and fits the theme of a manga about fighting perfectly.

Unfortunately the last quarter is a confusing mess, with a lot of unnecessary drama and weird arc conclusions. Over half of the manga is dedicated to becoming the best boxer in high school nation wide, but in the end it ends up not mattering, and the title ... becomes trivial. After that we have the final arc that should be about pro boxing, however everyone starts acting weird and against their beliefs. I don't think the last arc is necessary at all. It should've ended with high school boxing and an open ending with a happily ever after.

The personalities of Katsuki-kun and Katsuki-chan are probably my favorite out of all the Adachi characters so far. They're funny and pretty straightforward with each other and the people around them when it counts. It feels like they actually grow up from the first year of high school to the third, and start acting like adults.

Overall, 8.5/10 for the journey, 7/10 for the story in general, 5/10 ending (final 30 or so chapters).

Edit: Adachi's manga get better with every re-read for me for some reason. Therefore after re-reading I'd like to say that the ending is actually fine, if anything I wouldn't mind if it lasted longer. Thus my rating changes to 9/10 for the journey, 9/10 for the story in general and 8/10 for the ending. There's simply a charm to Adachi's works and you honestly don't notice some details without reading his stories multiple times. Especially when it comes to the character expressions because they more often than not reveal the real intentions between what the characters say. Since his stories are often focused on teens, they more often than not say things they don't mean, and act differently from how they actually feel.

Katsu! is a good manga all-around. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is how the saying goes and it applies here: the story, the art, the characters; everything in Katsu! is satisfactory, but nothing really stands out.

First, the story: good. There are some nice unexpected twists and turns, the pacing is good, and there's also a good amount of humor in the writing. The only problem I have is the ending; the last two volumes or so wrap the story in a hasty, messy fashion. My rating for the title was actually an 8 until this disappointing end.

Then, the characters. They're really good. Every ... named character gets their moment (big or little, depending on their importance to the story). They're all enjoyable and memorable. My only gripe is that I wish some of them had been more utilized; there's a sense of wasted potential with a lot of the supporting cast.

Finally, the art. I liked it. I thought the character designs were good (though they aren't exactly original) and nice to look at. The author likes himself some cute girls and muscly dudes and so do I. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the boxers aren't manly and jacked to the point of parody like so many shonen fighting series. The action is clean and engaging and there's some pretty, almost melancholic composition.

In short, I recommend Katsu! It is enjoyable, easy to follow, and sometimes surprising. I can't really see this being someone's favorite manga ever, but it might join your top 20.

One of the most notoriously glaring things about quality in the manga is the production.
the art (which reminds me a lot of Tetsuya Chiba), and about the cartooning? I just say that it is good and to me, efficient. I also think that the relationship between the characters is good.
What I don't like about the manga is precisely the boxing part, because although I find it interesting that the main characters' parents are linked to boxing, and I understand that it does make sense for them to box, I believe that the way in which the manga ... works boxing is too professional... Also, I think that satoyama's rise in boxing is completely unnatural because it's extremely fast and, like HNI, the protagonist never loses!! (I'm being hyperbolic, of course) I also have the belief that he is flawed in raising us to the fight, because despite having a great comic, he fails in the psychological aspect (this one never addressed in the manga).
In addition, the end is rushado.STRONG HUG TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ THIS HERE!!