Boys on the Run

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Boys on the run should be required reading for all college students.

It perfectly portrays the weaknesses, manipulations, and common mistakes both men and women make when young (and sadly many make when older too).
This is a manga about people ruining their lives because of their mistakes. These mistakes have valuable lessons to teach its readers.

Its also simultaneously extremely soul crushingly sad and hilarious. The plot feels extremely authentic and real. There are no cheesy power ups, plot armor, or anything. Instead we see a gritty depiction of the real world. I've read all sorts of messed up manga and stories, but this one really hurts. ... The realness of it penetrates your soul and makes your heart crumble.

But through it all we see the virtues of human spirit as well, and gain enough wisdom and hope to become better people after reading it.

A dumb man cannot learn from his own mistakes, but a wise man can learn from other people's mistakes so they never have to make them. Read this if you want to improve your wisdom. Also its pretty short, great pacing, doesn't waste your time, and its a page turner, so, yes, its a 10/10.

Note: I hate quantifying a manga scoring in multiple categories - story/characters/pacing etc - because to me that's just min-max type of scrutiny that dilutes the holism of the entire work. So, I'm going to score the entire manga as a whole and nothing else and tell you why I liked the manga.

Ah f*ck, I finished this manga in half a day, basically I binged it.
This is the greatest manga I've ever read that's also been able to hurt me the most.
I don't know how to properly describe it without spoiling so let me put it this way -

You've read NTR manga right? Where the ... guy steals someone's girl and stuff - well, what about the guy after the "stealing" is over? What of his life during the day? During the normal hours? During his work hours?
And what of the girl? What of the guy who stole the girl?

In an essence, Boys on the run is an NTR manga from the perspective of an ugly, talentless boring, repulsive, lazy, hopeless 27yo fool. But then be that as it may that he is ugly, talentless, boring, repulsive, lazy, hopeless, antisocial, incapable of being social, too dramatic, too good at finding trouble, too good at trusting the wrong person, too good at finding himself in the wrong spots, too good at being unable to control his own self, too good at f*cking up - what is he to do?

What if there's nothing redeeming about him - what is he to do? Stop living? Can't do that, too p*ssy. But then what to do?

Boys on the Run isn't about boxing - boxing is a side-story, a B-story, a B-line, a background element - What Boys On The Run is truly about are messed up, hopeless, depressed, sad, self-serving, evil, malicious, poor and mostly poverty-stricken characters coming across opportunities in a city filled with rampant sex - being unable to say no to them - and facing the consequences.

But what to do? Stop living? Can't do that.

Make no mistake. Boys on the Run is sad, sorry, depressed, and full of unmet expectations. But that's life too.
When the sun sets and your bruises - whether physical or emotional - hurt - can you do what Tanishi does? Probably. I mean, anyone can run away.. right?

P.s. This was a very heavy manga to read and I think I'm done with reading manga for a while. Take that as you will - if you're in the mood for something really heavy or not.

TL;DR: Well-written character interactions carry this manga forward, but mischaracterizations and abandoned plot points leave a bitter taste by the end.

Full review:

It's hard to review the story of Boys on the Run properly because, well, there is no story. If the vague synopsis wasn't enough of a warning, let me tell you clearly: this manga isn't sure what story it wants to tell. Sure, it has consistent themes and a message it wants to transmit, but it has no idea how to do it. The results are drastic tone shifts from volume to volume (or arc to arc), abandoned characters/plot points, and, worst of all, ... complete mischaracterizations. For example, a character who used to vehemently believe in something shows up a couple of chapters later advocating against that very belief. While many mangas face similar issues, these character shifts are usually done to reflect the new direction in the story. Unfortunately for Boys on the Run, there is no clear direction, so these character changes feel completely out of place.

This is especially sad in this manga because what really keeps you going are the impeccably written character interactions. The manga, although containing plenty of fight scenes, is at its best when it displays human drama. The MC is a complete disaster of a person, and although he means well, he constantly falls prey to his own worst instincts. This leads to an entertaining dynamic between him and his friends and results in a love drama that is a real page-turner. The author is so skilled at writing these interactions that, even though you know the MC will fail once again, you cannot help but cheer for him. Even when the author scraps an entire cast of characters and plots, leaving you feeling orphaned, the new cast that is introduced leads to equally interesting interactions.

Still, isolated scenes and dynamics can only carry a manga so far. By the end, when you try to make sense of what you just read, all the problems in the plot make themselves crystal clear. If you are a reader who is looking for a great story, this manga is not for you. However, if you are happy to spend a couple of hours reading well-written human drama, you've found the right title.