To be frank, I read this over a period of years, start-and-stop, and I hated myself for enjoying the action; it goes without saying that he is a contemptible person, but it was oddly compelling, like watching a car crash in slow motion. I’m glad somebody is covering it in a serious manner. I’m subbing.
My sentiments exactly, it’s a sort of guilty pleasure, I still haven’t finished it though, haven’t read it in like a year, but this vid brings me right back into the story, the art, the feelings so vivid
You forget to mention the reason Sugawara want to fight ryo or to kill him actually cause ryo did horrible thing to his fiancee's in the hope to lure to a fight . that moment was very important to this story cause his fiance appeared again in the manga
Also, that same fiancee appeared in Touma's arc, revealed that she was pregnant from Ryo and aborted, and then stabbed Ryo. Which is the main reason he lost to Touma
In the original ending it was supposed to be revealed that Toma was Ryo's half *brother* and Ryo was supposed to die in the ring fighting him which I think would have made for a much better ending but with the court case we were lucky to get any ending at all. If you look at the Touma arc you can still see a lot of evidence of this as both he and Ryo share a lot of similarities. Both are natural born geniuses (Ryo in music and Toma in dancing) who's life changed after meeting Kurokai and seeing someone on television whereupon they decided to dedicate their lives to martial arts. Both were trained by Kurokai however Ryo trained almost exclusively in striking whereas Touma trained almost exclusively in grappling. Their faces also look very similar (with the exception of the eyes) which is strange considering the artist took special care to make no other two characters look the same. Both have a habit of having battles in their mind. Ryo's sister seems to have a special connection/ fascination with him despite never meeting him before. Both "snapped" and try to kill which turns them into a worse version of themselves and drives them down a dark path. Touma is the yin to Ryo's Yang.
"Original ending"? This is the first time I heard about original ending different from what we got in "Shamo". Can you please explain it more where you heard that part? I would be very interested in knowning. And yes, I agree, Touma ending would fill much more from what we got.
@@ΦιλήσυχοςΠολίτης It's been a *VERY* long time since I heard it but I basically heard it from a friend who is also a major fan of the series. He is a pretty reliable source but unfortunately it's been so long I wouldn't be able to show you a documented source. I do however believe him as the shift to Touma was so dramatic and out of no where it wouldn't make any sense if he didn't have some sort of connection to Ryo. He can't just be "some guy" and a lot of what he told me did in fact line up with the story.
@@periquitodonordeste8577 Maybe it is. Maybe not. But what I will tell you is this. It's a *WAY* better than the ending we got. Personally I think Toma being Ryo's brother makes sense as it would bring his journey full circle. Ryo's journey began when he killed his family and it ended when his family killed him
It’s unintiential probably but the fight with sugawara as the bodhisattva watches over him pretty much seals the deal and is some great foreshadowing karma’s a major theme throughout the entire manga
Ryo is a victim of circumstance and returning to what's comfortable even if it's detrimental. He is not a good guy. He isn't entirely evil either, but he certainly has done irredemable things. He is a whirlwind of trajedy, selfishness and rage. He succumbed to that violent world around him in his very last moments of trying to be "normal" person again. It was fitting. One of the few manga's I really don't suggest to read simply because it's really difficult to summize everything that is going on unless you're in a good place yourself.
Kinda reminds of vagabond is a way expect the character never loses his blood lust. I would love it if you made a video on vagabond as well because this one was very good
I'm definitely covering Vagabond in the future, it's one of the greats. Also Shamo is like an inverted Vagabond cause Ryo ignores all the philosophy stuff on purpose lol
really cool video the Kung Fu Arc really does feel like a completely different story with its insertion of Ki, but while i feel the actual ending to Shamo fits the rest of the story pretty well, i actually somewhat prefer the Kung Fu Arc's ending, because it´s not really a finale, but a stage in his life that yes, ended abruptly and without real closure, but it helped him grow as a person, moving on from the man he had become until that point.
I will always love Shamo If there are 1 Million Shamo fans, I am one of them If there are 100 Shamo fans, I am one of them If there is only one Shamo fan, I am that fan If there are no Shamo fans, thats impossible, even if I die, I will still love Shamo
this manga was a hate read for me. i downloaded it on my laptop to go on vacation... it was the only thing i had to read but god did i hate this mfer and his story. its kind of amazing as far as storytelling goes how they made a protagonist to be this thoroughly reprehensible. i rooted against him in every fight lol, and got pissed every time he won or got stronger.
Love Shamo, and it's sort of like Death Note in a way. You're watching a character who starts of empathetic, and relatable, slowly descend into his own hubris and obsession, eventually becoming a villain, and when he finally 'gets whats coming to him' it feels deserved.
Thank you for this video. Lot of work putting something like this together. I picked up this manga back in Japan 2002 when I wad a high school exchange student. My Japanese got to a point where I wanted to see if I could read & undertand a manga series I knew nothing about. Ended up picking Shamo blindly. What an experience that was lol
@@jeremiahtorrevillas4396 There was a legal battle between the artist and the writer. It seems the writer was hired by the artist, who created the manga, to help him develop the story. But the writer started trying to claim he created the manga. The manga stopped publishing for some time and then came back. It's possible the artist started writing too. Bear in mind I'm just going by the limited data I have.
@@jeremiahtorrevillas4396 the writers had a dispute i believe, the sudden change caused by authors dislike. Hence why the ki arc changed out so suddenly, most likely if it kept the two ryo wouldve had a somewhat less depressing ending
OMFG SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT SHAMO. I think you brushed over Ryo's most indefensible actions with Sugawara's fiancée and how that pushed the "rivalry" into a deathmatch and showed that Ryo really is the devil he is made out to be and deserving of whatever horrible fate is set for him in the future. That moment is one of the reason i have found it very difficult to recommend the manga to people because despite how compelling the story and fights are he constantly gets away with being the most vile human imaginable. It is literally watching a series from the perspective of a irredeemable villain. His actions consistently bring those around him down to the pits of hell with him, no light or goodness can really exist around him because of his innate (or learned) need to destroy the order and light around him. I also think Ryo's teacher is meant to be in part a stand in for Yukio Mishima because of the coup attempt which continues to make him more problematic to say the least Honestly i'm very glad to see someone speak about the manga as its one of the most interesting I've read. But it really isn't something i think people should read as Ryo is a very believable real villain. It could be very triggering for with sensitivities to SA and extreme violence
Remember when i first read this in Japan but didnt understand the reading. To this day it is probably my favorite manga. Very real story compare to the rest. Was pleasantly surprised seeing it on youtube after all these years.
The most fucked part is the end when he decided to arguably turn a leaf living for others instead of himself it was his demise as if his nature truly killed him
One thing i find interesting is that ryo never truly wins a fight after he gets out of prison, he always loses or wins with some dirty trick. The only one he truly won was in the end, the only one where he had something to lose, and just like Sugawara he was caught by surprise when he thought the fight was won.
Bro after the “Kung Fu” arc i gave up on him. I felt he understood his actions has consequences once the tai fighter he blinded in the earlier arc literally had become so pitiful that he could only fight dogs and was thrown to them upon death but nope. He was completely irredeemable after that so the “ballerina arc” made sense to me.
ngl this review made the manga way more cleaner then i remember cause bro i remember reading it like 5+ years ago. and the AMOUNT f r**e and sexual assault in this manga made it unbeareble.
I think the subtle underlying causes of everything and how things are always in domino effect is a big allegory of Shamo, so many things happen to him that you forget to mention that drastically change his perspective, and things he does to others that change theirs on him for the worse. Ryo was redeemable because mentally he was never evil, crazy to say when he did so much bad, but to be evil and to be bad are entirely different. Ryo got what was just though.
@@mertholomy8414 - yeah, reading tvtropes summary I see what he cut out. He doesn't need to cut that out though. There are ways to say that without youtube's censorship kicking in. Even if saying it that way makes you sound like a little child.
I read a comment that it would've been better if he died surrounded by his close ones than in a forest due to the death not being as impactful or abrupt in the manga leaving plot threads open making the ending hollow
I read shamo quite some time ago. Completely forgot it, not even that evil. Most manhwas nowadays are better than old ones. Some are very superficial and trash but you just need to find the right works, that have a nice pace, no superficial shit and good story. Its not simply art that improved but story telling as whole
I've NEVER heard anyone else talk about this manga lmao. Incredibly dark but honestly so good as horrible as it can be. The artwork is fantastic and the fights were always crazy.
I think you should have put in the reason why the one rival guy wants to fight the main character as I think that is integral character wise to the protagonist but I can understand if you want people to read it first before saying anything. I haven't read this manga in probably more than half a decade so it was interesting to see it again good vid.
i read this three times and still think abt it i wish it were printed in english. this and beserk may be the only hardcore books i want to own even if they still tend to skew to a less wild angle unlike manga that push the limits even further
Shamo probably is the last thing they should be given. If they need something edgy, try Goodnight Punpun, but something professing the glory of imperial Japan as the mythical past with which to fight off the degeneracy of the modern age is, uh, hazardous in the hands of alienated young men.
@@mortimerwake2974 Although supporting Imperial Japan is a bad thing, there's nothing wrong with reading something that is a product of their time and still read through it.
I've finished the prison arc few years ago and haven't read it since. But god damn the brutal live and the SA were definitely hard to read, then I saw he bite off his enemy's banana. 🤢🤢
I think the problem with Shamo (except the obvious writing problems) is that people read it like every other manga. They forget the fact that the protagonist is a psycho. His morals and ethics are never consistent. That's why he drags everyone around him to the gutter. Was he redeemable? I don't think so. Even he implies that in the final chapter. Saying "What is born rotten to the core will always remain rotten." This is the brutal truth for the society. Some people can't be saved :/
Read the novel Reverend Insanity. Thats a character who is evil. Not someone who enjoys but a guy who fed a girl to a bear and killed the bear to get stronger. Killed his whole clan to get more talent. Just watch some Fang Yuan videos
nice vid, been decades since i last read it and it was a great refreasher and synopsis, I've remember reading it and the series suddenly stop after the kungfu arc and thought it ended although the ending sounds kinda ass they should have just end it at the kungfu arc ( 一一)
I personally take the symbolism of the title like that but I'm not sure it the authors intensions: Ryo was born and bred to compete in society by fitting into the standards and being the best at what his parents and the Japanese school system expects from him. He tries to escape the school and societal rat race, but falls into another world of competition. Everytime he tries to escape it he is called back to it by other people or simply because that's the only thing he know. He tries many times but can never escape fighting for his life as if that's what he was born to do. Glaucos, another manga by Tanaka has a very similar theme (but is much much worse).
Alright I finished it and what an ending. Honestly I'm not sure I agree with your sentiments on Ryo. I believe he redeemed himself in the end by deciding to spare the idiot brother and saving the other. The chinese arc is really strange and doesn't fit the rest of the world at all. Pretty much everything is based in reality and true martial arts until this point and it is incredibly jarring. After the chinese arc things start to just get really jarring as well with Ryo meeting up with an old acquaintance on the beach and then they just sort of depart? I don't get the point of the whole encounter at all. I believe the scene with Saikiko slicing at her father with the box cutter and telling him that she is killing her is supposed to maybe give us a glimpse into what caused Ryo to kill his own parents? Perhaps something similar was happening and it set him off? We'll never really know and the reference to his art he made in elementary school goes literally nowhere nor does any of the research that had been done early in the story by the news reporter... I think maybe the writer of the actual manga itself got out of his depth with the side stories and either forgot what was happening and had happened or just decided he couldn't figure out how to tie the stories in and abandoned them. It's a solid 7/10 but it lost points for the lack of skill by the writer to tie things in and properly finish his story. Having Ryo die how he did was a copout. All he had to do was lie there and wait on the ambulance that the brother had called for. It was a meaningless and moronic out of character act for him to just decide he could walk it off after saying mid fight that he has to end this thing fast because he was bleeding allot.
This is a really interesting perspective! And yeah there are tons of loose ends. Imo after he leaves juvie the story gets out of hand. Shamo is like four mangas in one.
This was one of the most brutal and dark Martial arts manga I've completed next to 'Shigarui', (*SPOILER ALERT*) favorite arc was the Honk Kong chapter were he tries to learn chi techniques and gets owned several times by the deformed cripple...I didn't like his end, it was too good for a profane subhuman like him to die in such a sacred environment, even if he was crying like a pussy about dying alone, my opine, in the end the artist tried their best at depicting fictional karma, but he was merciful towards his creation.
Man I know the main character was really not a great guy, but by the end of the manga I did get kinda attached to him. Was hoping he'd get a better ending,.
I might be dense, but I'm genuinely asking here, what exactly did he do in response to his environments and the happenstances that made him irredeemable?
imo it's his overall lack of morals. he never left the animalistic "fight to live" mindset he had in juvie. that's just my personal interpretation, though
To this day I Still Don't understand why ryo Committed such an Action was he being Bullied Was He being Abused at home Or Did He have Sadistic Streak you know Some serial Killers Start with animals Before going on to humans
Great video man! I have to ask you, where did you read the manga? Nearly all the sites i tried to read that was completely out of chronological order and a big mess in general
In the Hong Kong live action movie adaption, it is implied that the one who killed their parents is actually his sister. He was covering for her. The movie was trash though.
His parents didnt really do anything monstrous. They were ur typical asian parents that were strict and have very high expectation of him. Hes also old enough to just move out and get a job.
Yeah the guy suvked vut it showed we all have human in us wether we know it or not in shamonhe lost his humanity but eventually gained it back after doing countless bad deeds he began to become a better person not what most people including me would exactly call great but he was trying and eventually he did and eventually learned how
To be frank, I read this over a period of years, start-and-stop, and I hated myself for enjoying the action; it goes without saying that he is a contemptible person, but it was oddly compelling, like watching a car crash in slow motion. I’m glad somebody is covering it in a serious manner. I’m subbing.
My sentiments exactly, it’s a sort of guilty pleasure, I still haven’t finished it though, haven’t read it in like a year, but this vid brings me right back into the story, the art, the feelings so vivid
You forget to mention the reason Sugawara want to fight ryo or to kill him actually cause ryo did horrible thing to his fiancee's in the hope to lure to a fight . that moment was very important to this story cause his fiance appeared again in the manga
Yeah I was wondering when he would mention that... it's what keeps him so "irredeemable" up until the end.
Also, that same fiancee appeared in Touma's arc, revealed that she was pregnant from Ryo and aborted, and then stabbed Ryo. Which is the main reason he lost to Touma
In the original ending it was supposed to be revealed that Toma was Ryo's half *brother* and Ryo was supposed to die in the ring fighting him which I think would have made for a much better ending but with the court case we were lucky to get any ending at all.
If you look at the Touma arc you can still see a lot of evidence of this as both he and Ryo share a lot of similarities.
Both are natural born geniuses (Ryo in music and Toma in dancing) who's life changed after meeting Kurokai and seeing someone on television whereupon they decided to dedicate their lives to martial arts.
Both were trained by Kurokai however Ryo trained almost exclusively in striking whereas Touma trained almost exclusively in grappling.
Their faces also look very similar (with the exception of the eyes) which is strange considering the artist took special care to make no other two characters look the same.
Both have a habit of having battles in their mind.
Ryo's sister seems to have a special connection/ fascination with him despite never meeting him before.
Both "snapped" and try to kill which turns them into a worse version of themselves and drives them down a dark path.
Touma is the yin to Ryo's Yang.
"Original ending"? This is the first time I heard about original ending different from what we got in "Shamo". Can you please explain it more where you heard that part? I would be very interested in knowning. And yes, I agree, Touma ending would fill much more from what we got.
@@ΦιλήσυχοςΠολίτης It's been a *VERY* long time since I heard it but I basically heard it from a friend who is also a major fan of the series. He is a pretty reliable source but unfortunately it's been so long I wouldn't be able to show you a documented source.
I do however believe him as the shift to Touma was so dramatic and out of no where it wouldn't make any sense if he didn't have some sort of connection to Ryo. He can't just be "some guy" and a lot of what he told me did in fact line up with the story.
Proably deleted or some stuff
Idk man, them being brothers even with all the foreshadowing still seems like an asspull
@@periquitodonordeste8577 Maybe it is. Maybe not.
But what I will tell you is this. It's a *WAY* better than the ending we got.
Personally I think Toma being Ryo's brother makes sense as it would bring his journey full circle.
Ryo's journey began when he killed his family
and it ended when his family killed him
Ryo vs sugawara is one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. In the ring and in the temple. Both are masterpieces.
he was redeemable but karma caught up to him.
That fucking hits hard
It’s unintiential probably but the fight with sugawara as the bodhisattva watches over him pretty much seals the deal and is some great foreshadowing karma’s a major theme throughout the entire manga
@@zacheryhernandez7298 like American history x
He killed his parents dawg 😭😭
karma isn't real
Ryo is a victim of circumstance and returning to what's comfortable even if it's detrimental. He is not a good guy. He isn't entirely evil either, but he certainly has done irredemable things. He is a whirlwind of trajedy, selfishness and rage. He succumbed to that violent world around him in his very last moments of trying to be "normal" person again. It was fitting.
One of the few manga's I really don't suggest to read simply because it's really difficult to summize everything that is going on unless you're in a good place yourself.
Hey you don't mind to share other of those few manga that is not good to read when you are not in a good place?
@@John_winstonI know a few, but are your depressed or something?
Kinda reminds of vagabond is a way expect the character never loses his blood lust. I would love it if you made a video on vagabond as well because this one was very good
I'm definitely covering Vagabond in the future, it's one of the greats. Also Shamo is like an inverted Vagabond cause Ryo ignores all the philosophy stuff on purpose lol
really cool video
the Kung Fu Arc really does feel like a completely different story with its insertion of Ki, but while i feel the actual ending to Shamo fits the rest of the story pretty well, i actually somewhat prefer the Kung Fu Arc's ending, because it´s not really a finale, but a stage in his life that yes, ended abruptly and without real closure, but it helped him grow as a person, moving on from the man he had become until that point.
OH MY GOD I DEADASS THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY SHAMO FAN LEFT
You're not alone.
I will always love Shamo
If there are 1 Million Shamo fans, I am one of them
If there are 100 Shamo fans, I am one of them
If there is only one Shamo fan, I am that fan
If there are no Shamo fans, thats impossible, even if I die, I will still love Shamo
Was not ready for the main character to get literally r worded in prison almost immediately
shamo is DARK
this manga was a hate read for me. i downloaded it on my laptop to go on vacation... it was the only thing i had to read but god did i hate this mfer and his story.
its kind of amazing as far as storytelling goes how they made a protagonist to be this thoroughly reprehensible.
i rooted against him in every fight lol, and got pissed every time he won or got stronger.
Fr you and me same.
Great vid. I think there's a niche on TH-cam for anime/manga content that doesn't just focus on super popular Shounen. Subscribed.
Thanks! And I definitely agree with you on that.
Shamo has been my favorite manga for years, I NEVER see anyone talking about it so thank you
Love Shamo, and it's sort of like Death Note in a way. You're watching a character who starts of empathetic, and relatable, slowly descend into his own hubris and obsession, eventually becoming a villain, and when he finally 'gets whats coming to him' it feels deserved.
Your literally the only youtuber I've seen talk about shamo, good video
Thank you for this video. Lot of work putting something like this together.
I picked up this manga back in Japan 2002 when I wad a high school exchange student. My Japanese got to a point where I wanted to see if I could read & undertand a manga series I knew nothing about.
Ended up picking Shamo blindly. What an experience that was lol
Considering the whole legal battle behind the manga it wouldn't surprise me that it changed writers.
What happened can u tell me ma im i trigued some commwnter said the original ending changed
@@jeremiahtorrevillas4396 There was a legal battle between the artist and the writer. It seems the writer was hired by the artist, who created the manga, to help him develop the story. But the writer started trying to claim he created the manga.
The manga stopped publishing for some time and then came back. It's possible the artist started writing too.
Bear in mind I'm just going by the limited data I have.
@@jeremiahtorrevillas4396 the writers had a dispute i believe, the sudden change caused by authors dislike. Hence why the ki arc changed out so suddenly, most likely if it kept the two ryo wouldve had a somewhat less depressing ending
I just finished it a few days ago, and your video popped up. Thank you for making this video. THeres not many videos on this manga. Thank you.
god, the end is so amazing, its honestly something that i catch myself thinking about once in a while
Glad you signaled you would have heavy spoilers, I went and read the series and was really impressed thank you for the recommendation
That artwork is wild
most underdog manga i have witnessed in my life
The kung fu arc is Ryo's personal Journey to the West transformation, I think.
OMFG SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT SHAMO.
I think you brushed over Ryo's most indefensible actions with Sugawara's fiancée and how that pushed the "rivalry" into a deathmatch and showed that Ryo really is the devil he is made out to be and deserving of whatever horrible fate is set for him in the future. That moment is one of the reason i have found it very difficult to recommend the manga to people because despite how compelling the story and fights are he constantly gets away with being the most vile human imaginable. It is literally watching a series from the perspective of a irredeemable villain. His actions consistently bring those around him down to the pits of hell with him, no light or goodness can really exist around him because of his innate (or learned) need to destroy the order and light around him.
I also think Ryo's teacher is meant to be in part a stand in for Yukio Mishima because of the coup attempt which continues to make him more problematic to say the least
Honestly i'm very glad to see someone speak about the manga as its one of the most interesting I've read. But it really isn't something i think people should read as Ryo is a very believable real villain. It could be very triggering for with sensitivities to SA and extreme violence
I love this manga!!! I’m still trying to finish it but I’m stuck on berserk 😂 but Shamo always gives the urge to train.
No cap
Remember when i first read this in Japan but didnt understand the reading. To this day it is probably my favorite manga. Very real story compare to the rest. Was pleasantly surprised seeing it on youtube after all these years.
The most fucked part is the end when he decided to arguably turn a leaf living for others instead of himself it was his demise as if his nature truly killed him
One thing i find interesting is that ryo never truly wins a fight after he gets out of prison, he always loses or wins with some dirty trick. The only one he truly won was in the end, the only one where he had something to lose, and just like Sugawara he was caught by surprise when he thought the fight was won.
I was just thinking about this manga before bed last night, I had forgotten its name. Universe is listening in on my bed time thoughts again.
Bro after the “Kung Fu” arc i gave up on him. I felt he understood his actions has consequences once the tai fighter he blinded in the earlier arc literally had become so pitiful that he could only fight dogs and was thrown to them upon death but nope. He was completely irredeemable after that so the “ballerina arc” made sense to me.
main character is irredeemable, illustrated by a guy named Akio Tanaka. Good vibrations, lovers
Having been a big fan of Baki, this manga was a real goldmine back in the day. Still is! Really hard to get through at times.
One of the greatest, most impactful experiences I've had with any kind of media.
For how short it is, it really sticks with you
Very cool video, I'd love to see more from you
BTW...this video with the spoiler warning at the beginning. inspired me to go and read all 334 chapters (not even kidding)
Yo audio is very low but the video is great keep it up, put your audio higher
Thanks man, I'll keep audio levels normal for my next vid
@@arby6097do you have an editor?
@@YxngJupe nope it's all me
@ Ik these videos are on the shorter side but I’d love to help in anyway I can!🙏🏾
ngl this review made the manga way more cleaner then i remember cause bro i remember reading it like 5+ years ago. and the AMOUNT f r**e and sexual assault in this manga made it unbeareble.
Gonna have to pause this and go read it before I get a minute in.
Wish more ppl would read this is one of my fav fighting tourney mangas
Great video, my fav manga. Nice channel definitely subbed
I think the subtle underlying causes of everything and how things are always in domino effect is a big allegory of Shamo, so many things happen to him that you forget to mention that drastically change his perspective, and things he does to others that change theirs on him for the worse. Ryo was redeemable because mentally he was never evil, crazy to say when he did so much bad, but to be evil and to be bad are entirely different. Ryo got what was just though.
This isn't a very good video because I have no clue why he's supposedly irredeemable based on anything you said.
He had to cut out the really bad stuff
@@mertholomy8414 - yeah, reading tvtropes summary I see what he cut out. He doesn't need to cut that out though. There are ways to say that without youtube's censorship kicking in. Even if saying it that way makes you sound like a little child.
this manga is an excellent showcase of what Karate actually is
Another one with a irredeemable protagonist is back when you called us devils
Theres actually unfortunately a lot of these in manga and anime thesedays....its just that people lack the morals to call it such
My favorite manga ever not talked about enough
I read a comment that it would've been better if he died surrounded by his close ones than in a forest due to the death not being as impactful or abrupt in the manga leaving plot threads open making the ending hollow
I was so scared that Tokichi was dead
I read shamo quite some time ago. Completely forgot it, not even that evil. Most manhwas nowadays are better than old ones. Some are very superficial and trash but you just need to find the right works, that have a nice pace, no superficial shit and good story. Its not simply art that improved but story telling as whole
I've NEVER heard anyone else talk about this manga lmao. Incredibly dark but honestly so good as horrible as it can be. The artwork is fantastic and the fights were always crazy.
I think you should have put in the reason why the one rival guy wants to fight the main character as I think that is integral character wise to the protagonist but I can understand if you want people to read it first before saying anything. I haven't read this manga in probably more than half a decade so it was interesting to see it again good vid.
i read this three times and still think abt it i wish it were printed in english. this and beserk may be the only hardcore books i want to own even if they still tend to skew to a less wild angle unlike manga that push the limits even further
Man I loved this manga, it's the best manga recommendation I have for alienated 19 year old males, besides vagabond
Shamo probably is the last thing they should be given. If they need something edgy, try Goodnight Punpun, but something professing the glory of imperial Japan as the mythical past with which to fight off the degeneracy of the modern age is, uh, hazardous in the hands of alienated young men.
@@mortimerwake2974nah I think it’s what they need. Why do you want to preserve the status quo so much?
@@mortimerwake2974 Although supporting Imperial Japan is a bad thing, there's nothing wrong with reading something that is a product of their time and still read through it.
@@mortimerwake2974why not both? Punpun to make em depressed and shamo to make em want to see the world burn
@@mortimerwake2974Youve bern wstchong too much CNN bro 😂
That one... Whew. That one was a rough read.
I was a bit salty at the end, but i understood it as i became more mature.
What comes around goes around
I forget the name, but theres a manga about a guy, abandoned at birth, raised by rats, grew up in the slums, and the guy just becomes a criminal
I've finished the prison arc few years ago and haven't read it since. But god damn the brutal live and the SA were definitely hard to read, then I saw he bite off his enemy's banana. 🤢🤢
One of the VERY few videos I put in my favorites
Also I was your 600th sub, satisfying
I think the problem with Shamo (except the obvious writing problems) is that people read it like every other manga. They forget the fact that the protagonist is a psycho. His morals and ethics are never consistent. That's why he drags everyone around him to the gutter. Was he redeemable? I don't think so. Even he implies that in the final chapter. Saying "What is born rotten to the core will always remain rotten." This is the brutal truth for the society. Some people can't be saved :/
Read the novel Reverend Insanity. Thats a character who is evil. Not someone who enjoys but a guy who fed a girl to a bear and killed the bear to get stronger. Killed his whole clan to get more talent. Just watch some Fang Yuan videos
I want to know what it’ll be like if ryo didn’t die and kept living
Is ryuji from persona 5 supposed to resemble Ryo? Cause he does 😅
I am confused because the protag is redeemable, he is just lost.
So there's a character called Goku in it? I thought the name was a DBZ invention.
Wild to see Goku mentioned in a non DBZ context.
Son Goku is just how Japan says Sun Wukong
nice vid, been decades since i last read it and it was a great refreasher and synopsis, I've remember reading it and the series suddenly stop after the kungfu arc and thought it ended
although the ending sounds kinda ass they should have just end it at the kungfu arc ( 一一)
Didn't the original write of Shamo leave after the China Arc? It would explain why future arcs ignore it.
I'm not sure but it really feels like that's where they split up
I personally take the symbolism of the title like that but I'm not sure it the authors intensions: Ryo was born and bred to compete in society by fitting into the standards and being the best at what his parents and the Japanese school system expects from him. He tries to escape the school and societal rat race, but falls into another world of competition. Everytime he tries to escape it he is called back to it by other people or simply because that's the only thing he know. He tries many times but can never escape fighting for his life as if that's what he was born to do.
Glaucos, another manga by Tanaka has a very similar theme (but is much much worse).
Glaucos?
@murderman8578 another manga by tanaka. It’s pretty but i found the story uninteresting if not plain bad.
The ending was weak but I love him as a villain
Alright I finished it and what an ending. Honestly I'm not sure I agree with your sentiments on Ryo. I believe he redeemed himself in the end by deciding to spare the idiot brother and saving the other. The chinese arc is really strange and doesn't fit the rest of the world at all. Pretty much everything is based in reality and true martial arts until this point and it is incredibly jarring. After the chinese arc things start to just get really jarring as well with Ryo meeting up with an old acquaintance on the beach and then they just sort of depart? I don't get the point of the whole encounter at all. I believe the scene with Saikiko slicing at her father with the box cutter and telling him that she is killing her is supposed to maybe give us a glimpse into what caused Ryo to kill his own parents? Perhaps something similar was happening and it set him off? We'll never really know and the reference to his art he made in elementary school goes literally nowhere nor does any of the research that had been done early in the story by the news reporter... I think maybe the writer of the actual manga itself got out of his depth with the side stories and either forgot what was happening and had happened or just decided he couldn't figure out how to tie the stories in and abandoned them. It's a solid 7/10 but it lost points for the lack of skill by the writer to tie things in and properly finish his story. Having Ryo die how he did was a copout. All he had to do was lie there and wait on the ambulance that the brother had called for. It was a meaningless and moronic out of character act for him to just decide he could walk it off after saying mid fight that he has to end this thing fast because he was bleeding allot.
This is a really interesting perspective! And yeah there are tons of loose ends. Imo after he leaves juvie the story gets out of hand. Shamo is like four mangas in one.
I forgot about this manga but I remember enjoying it.
This was one of the most brutal and dark Martial arts manga I've completed next to 'Shigarui', (*SPOILER ALERT*) favorite arc was the Honk Kong chapter were he tries to learn chi techniques and gets owned several times by the deformed cripple...I didn't like his end, it was too good for a profane subhuman like him to die in such a sacred environment, even if he was crying like a pussy about dying alone, my opine, in the end the artist tried their best at depicting fictional karma, but he was merciful towards his creation.
Man I know the main character was really not a great guy, but by the end of the manga I did get kinda attached to him. Was hoping he'd get a better ending,.
Nice analysis
No black dogi coverage?
The Red Blue profile pic and the fact that you're talking about Shamo shows that you know your shit.
Appreciate it bro, might talk about Red Blue eventually too
I might be dense, but I'm genuinely asking here, what exactly did he do in response to his environments and the happenstances that made him irredeemable?
imo it's his overall lack of morals. he never left the animalistic "fight to live" mindset he had in juvie. that's just my personal interpretation, though
I can change him 🥰
To this day I Still Don't understand why ryo Committed such an Action was he being Bullied Was He being Abused at home Or Did He have Sadistic Streak you know Some serial Killers Start with animals Before going on to humans
Great video man! I have to ask you, where did you read the manga? Nearly all the sites i tried to read that was completely out of chronological order and a big mess in general
In the Hong Kong live action movie adaption, it is implied that the one who killed their parents is actually his sister. He was covering for her. The movie was trash though.
Still favorite shit to read always go back to it
4:20 ashita no joe reference
Fight class 3 video when?
Gonna cover it after Viral Hit, so it's 2 videos away!
Is there a English physical copy ?
idk if my comment got deleted but do you wanna join this community i'm making of people that post similar content to us?
Yo wasn't expecting you to comment, I saw one of your videos a few months ago. I'd be down, where's the community gonna be hosted?
@@arby6097 idk if you can say d!scord in comments, but it's there, my user is Maidakill
@@arby6097 i swear my comment keeps getting taken down by youtube, idk how to tell you how to add me
comment keeps getting taking down so i'll use this account, email the Maidakill account and i'll send you the details
@@Maidakill try commenting it in the reply to this one, or just tag me in a fresh comment
Goated manga
His parents didnt really do anything monstrous. They were ur typical asian parents that were strict and have very high expectation of him. Hes also old enough to just move out and get a job.
Glad this got views
Oh man. I honestly loved the ending.
He deserved what happened to him as messed up as that is to say and I love him and the manga for it.
My favourite manga ❤
Blood Meridian has no redemption arc for any of it's characters. Every character is a piece of garbage.
Man, shamo was an odd manga
Any physical books, translated to english?
Nope
@Delta45566 harsh. Appreciate the reply 🍻
Yeah the guy suvked vut it showed we all have human in us wether we know it or not in shamonhe lost his humanity but eventually gained it back after doing countless bad deeds he began to become a better person not what most people including me would exactly call great but he was trying and eventually he did and eventually learned how
fix ur mic and your gonna become a millionaire, believe that
Nice Video
Uhhhh pretty sure the protagonist was redeemed
Nice vid
My favorite manga
Jean Genet???