Shamo

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: 軍鶏

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 34

Chapters: 338

Status: Finished

Published: 1998 to Jan 13, 2015

Genres: Action, Drama

Themes: Martial Arts, Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Evening

Authors: Tanaka, Akio (Story & Art), Hashimoto, Izou (Story)

Statistics

Score: 7.57¹ (scored by 12,262 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2494²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #495

Members: 37,597

Favorites: 952

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7.57

Ranked #2494Popularity #495Members 37,597

MangaEveningTanaka, Akio (Story & Art), Hashimoto, Izou (Story)

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Volumes: /34

Chapters: /338

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Synopsis

At the age of sixteen Ryo Narushima was a genius and looked to have no trouble of getting into Tokyo University and joining the elite of society. However, that summer something cracked inside Ryo's head. With a small knife he brutally murdered both of his parents only leaving his sister alive and cowering in a corner. It is at this grotesque incident that our story begins.

(Source: MU)

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Background

In 2004 the series moved from Manga Action to Evening, resetting the chapter count starting at volume 20. It was discontinued in 2007 due to authors creative differences but returned in 2011.

Starting from volume 26, the first volume from when the series returned from a long hiatus, the series has been completely written and drawn by Akio Tanaka. While Izou Hashimoto did write the series in the beginning, he had been doing less and less work starting from volume 4. Tanaka and Hashimoto reached a settlement and Shamo continued.

The series' first thirteen volumes were published in Spanish by Otakuland between 2003 and 2005.

More characters
Characters

Narushima, Ryou

Main

Sugawara, Naoto

Supporting

Takahara, Toma

Supporting

Kurokawa, Kenji

Supporting

Sanshiro, Fabio Marcos

Supporting

Wukong, Sun

Supporting

Fujiyoshi, Kouhei

Supporting

Tengenji, Gosaku

Supporting

Yan

Supporting

Funato, Moemi

Supporting

Reviews

Jan 29, 2025

Halcyon13

Recommended

Izo Hashimoto’s and Akio Tanaka’s Shamo, later solely written by Tanaka, is an amalgam of identity. It follows Ryo Narushima, a felon, a man who committed parricide as a teenager. A societally unforgivable act, rightfully so, and a permanent mark on Ryo's social status as a human worthy of respect. Having been sentenced, prison taught Ryo about pride, and karate became his outlet for anger. The framing of martial arts in Shamo is complex, finding arrogant shades of confidence underscoring the elegance of talent. As the story progresses, this conflict between the two approaches to the same discipline increasingly becomes a foregrounded theme, often shifting ... the scope of the manga past Ryo and into martial arts politics. While the narrative usually finds its stride when studying Ryo's psyche, as a sports series, there is value in its presentation of intimidation and the intangibles that may sway the outcome in combat sports, a completely unpredictable result that's hinged on something as spontaneous as the human body and mind.

Shamo particularly excels at Ryo's character study, effectively designing a complicated and confused man. He is very clearly an anti-hero, and interestingly enough, there is never a shred of sympathy for him throughout the narrative. Not that he deserves it as a convict, especially given his crime, but in terms of writing a holistically interesting character, it can be difficult to avoid giving the cast an inclination for pity. Tanaka successfully steers clear of any form of justification for Ryo's crimes, and, contrarily, he's constantly the subject of hatred, even in a place like prison. The narrative is perpetually about him navigating the scrutiny, and again, Tanaka doesn't offer a semblance of compassion. Ryo is sometimes an angry, seething young man, and other times, he will show tough kindness. He's a dynamic presence, immersed in his mind and contending for dominance over his instincts for violence. The violence that created his infamy and would soon prove to be his unmaking.

The narrative structure phases through a set of ensemble casts and doesn't necessarily target them individually, but as an entity. The number of characters isn't inherently important because their purpose is what threat they pose to Ryo's psyche. It all goes back to when he committed the crime of murdering his own blood, leaving his sister and him as orphans. We never truly understand his reasoning for that act, and I would argue Shamo is rough around that storyline. Tanaka describes it as an impulse, a suffocation that Ryo felt in the comfort of his life that he had to escape from. It's vague, and while I think the pretext could have been addressed in more depth, the implications are frequently well-portrayed. The cerebral rage pumps his brain with adrenaline, and once he's off that edge, sinking into the fear of death, he's reborn as an assassin. A messenger of viciousness sent to brutalize his opponents by any unethical means. This is vividly illustrated in each of his fights, either on the street or in the ring, by an equally savage man capable of fatally injuring any adversary.

The combat sequences in Shamo are beautifully depicted with heavy brush strokes. Power and impact are key points in Tanaka's art with a keen focus on masculine anatomy. The reader is privy to many singular panels putting a body or muscle frame into display, making the weight difference in many of Ryo's fights graphically apparent. Characteristic for its mature material, the manga also employs sexual violence to an extent, and while some of it created conflict, there are moments where it was undoubtedly unnecessary. Despite my misgivings, Shamo consistently surprises with its knack for orchestrating and creating hype before a main event. Across the story, a lot of the variety can be credited to the many martial arts techniques used, some more far-fetched than others, but wholly unique, even including a weapons arc. The analysis of Ryo Narushima is arduous, and he is often a martyr symbolizing the source of others' misfortunes, supposedly stemming from their mere interest in him. A shadow of misery trails him as we witness the breadth of being human.

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Feb 10, 2025

Gutz47

Mixed Feelings

Shamo. The manga that introduces Ryou the model student destined for a comfortable future in the upper class, who instead decides to massacre his parents in the most horrific of fashions in the name of freedom and inner peace. Izo Hashimoto presents the stories beginning and conflict, which allowed me to be dragged along as Ryou finds his new found standing within the world as he treads further into the heart of Japan's underworld. I wish I could say there was a fitting resolution to this tale but even with martials arts used as a mantra to anchor Ryou, he is faced with two primal ...

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Mar 28, 2022

exoticismisgross

Not Recommended

Shamo is a really hard sell for me. You get this duality in story writing where, on one side, you feel like he's meant to be completely ostracized and despised as a human being, where even the possibility of pitying Ryo is depreciated. He's shown to be self-righteous and delusional in his mental gymnastics of having murdered his parents, yet, on the other side, the author wants us to feel for Ryo even if he shows no real emotional evolution in his character arc, there is no progress in repentance or his internal processing of guilt. The reader is served fac-simile redemption moments with no ... substance behind them. The manga lacks, overall, real realism (forgive the oxymoron) and offers fake realism: for a manga that wants to present a really difficult character with very adult themes and alleged gray POVs, it sticks an awful lot to black and white perspectives with very little to attenuate the abrasive shallowness of its takes. It reads like a straightedge straight-A student's fantasy of what living a morally challenging life is like.
It's funny because Shamo references 2 other works that own up to their concepts better than it does:
- Musashi/Vagabond: more nuanced and detailed about the guilt and mental struggle to live with murder in pursuit of strength and ego.
- Baki: more bonkers and nutso ridiculous macho power-creeping villainous characters, committed to the silliness and the exaggeration.

It may be why it's so frustrating since it tries to tackle a lot and comes close to developing interesting story points, however it do so very mildly or 180s the wrong way.

[light spoilers]
The series is reset completely at random intervals, with the last arcs being ridiculously uninteresting, out of place and mis-paced. You forget Ryo's presence in the story, following either a DBZ-trope shonen villain OR an infuriatingly "lore invalidating" duo, reminiscent of a bad Ichi the Killer ripoff, as they negate any pre-established boundary in the series and are allowed to pull the dumbest manoeuvres unchecked by the reality of Shamo's universe.
The Toma arc is set up with a nice premise and its "ruining a hero" mandate is enticing for a story about a tormented villain archetype, however I feel like it didn't pay out as it should have -- we're left with an abrupt end without a real grasp on the consequences of the arc, its lacking the fallen saviour complex POV.
The end scene as a concept is good in my opinion for its mundane qualities, it solidifies this "realist" aspect the manga had been struggling to bring forth the whole time.

Art's good for the most part.

Still enjoyed the first half because I have goblin brain syndrome and fighting scenes tickle its fancy + it happens in a restrained environment and that also hits my special spot.

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