All Rounder Meguru

This is the very first review I have written on this site, so bear with me if it is shoddy work. At the time this review was written I had read only up to the end of volume 4 (chapter 38), so my opinion will only be up to that point.

Story: All Rounder-Meguru focus' on Meguru, a former karateka who is now training mixed martial arts. In his first amateur fight, he was astonished to be fighting his childhood friend Takashi sporting a large flower tattoo on his left shoulder. Takashi proved early that he was leagues ahead of Meguru at that point and Meguru was quickly submitted with a RNC (rear naked choke). Meguru and Takashi are training MMA for very different reasons, but are both improving at a rapid pace and are now fighting on the amateur circuit.

Characters: The story's titular character Meguru is what I call 'tenacious'. What he lacks in skill he makes up in hard work and heart. He continually goes up against better guys and beats them (sometimes). There is also a strong supporting cast, mostly the people he trains with. Takashi on the other hand is perhaps the most interesting character thus far, showing great depth that can only be expanded on. His motives for fighting are for a much darker reason than Meguru, but I won't spoil too much in the story.

Art: The artwork here is great. I don't read a lot of manga, but so far the character designs and settings are all unique in their own way. Takashi's flower tattoo is perhaps the most distinguishing mark in the entire manga thus far. But, where it's good, it does have its flaws. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between characters when both are wearing head gear, as they often have similar body types and sometimes the faces can look similar.

Enjoyment: Honestly, I don't read a lot of manga so I can't say that this is the best one as I can't compare it many others. But I can say that this manga is a very entertaining one. The fights in the manga are so well explained, and the techniques are so accurate that they are better than most 'anime/manga' fights. The manga also doesn't leave people hanging who are unfamiliar with the terminology. If the characters don't explain what the fighters just did, there is often a text under the panel briefly explaining what the reader may be unfamiliar with. I can only remember one instance where this was not the case.

Overall: All Rounder-Meguru is a very enjoyable manga thus far. As a long time MMA fan, I can say that the author hasn't let us down and knows his stuff when it comes to MMA. The world often views MMA as 'human dog fighting', but it's things like this manga that help disprove that common perception. This manga is well worth the few hours it takes to read for MMA fans and non-MMA fans alike.

The entire plot of All-Rounder Meguru revolves around the titular character and his group of friends trying to make it on the Japanese amateur circuit with some hoping to go pro. Appropriately, this MMA manga dedicates a good part of itself to the rigors of training.

Rather than a conveniently condensed montage, All-Rounder Meguru builds up Meguru and company step-by-step. Meguru starts as a neophyte with a karate background and painstakingly builds himself to be an all-rounder. From basic sprawls and jabs to submissions and kicks, it really mirrors the growth of an earnest fighter.

This is packaged together with the traditional love, laugh, and heartbreak accompanying any group of friends.

If you’re okay reading right to left and going out of your way to find it, All-Rounder Meguru is an MMA fan’s hidden treasure. It’s a love letter to the sport in Japan and an engaging story that’s tempting to binge read. And who knows, make the author enough money and maybe we’ll get a TV adaptation!

All Rounder Meguru is a niche piece of work. Whether you enjoy it or not depends on your interest in MMA. As an enthusiast, I found this manga super informative and accurate. I feel like I'm appreciating the sport in a whole new light.

Story (9/10): The plot is very simple and straight forward, much similar to other sport animes. We follow our protagonist on his journey of bettering himself. What makes the story great for me is how closely it follows real-life MMA. The fights are vivid, real and exciting to read despite all the technicalities.

Art (10/10): As expected from Endo Hiroki, the art is as good as it gets. My preference leans towards realism, so this is pretty objective, but I think this manga is one of the best at depicting action.

Character (7/10): I like how our protagonist is a chilled guy. There's no grand goal to strive towards. He just wants to see how far he could get and enjoy the sport along the way. It's refreshing to see someone not busting his nuts trying to get to Koushen or something. But overall, the characters are a bit bland.

Enjoyment (9/10): I don't think this is supposed to be an entertaining manga. But if you have the slightest interest in MMA, that's enough for this manga to be super enjoyable.

Since no one has written a review yet, i'll do a basic one.

Story revolves around a karateka, meguru, and him doing shooto/mma and his trials and tribulations. It's pretty realistic in it's depiction of training and real world physics.

Art is very crisp, clean and easy to follow and character designs are very sharp and defined too. If you've read Hiroki Endo's other masterpiece, Eden, you should be familiar with the art style. Since this is all about the fights, i'll go into extra detail concerning this. You can tell Endo knows what he's writing/drawing about. I was really impressed with his depiction of fights in Eden(Kenji's battles were some of the best i've ever seen in manga.. he's like the sammo hung/yuen wo ping of manga), and Endo's imagination and ability to convey it on paper are just as good here. As someone who follows MMA and does martial arts myself, i was impressed with just how accurate his art is. From armbars to hip throws to roundhouse kicks to sweeps, everything is portrayed realistically.

However, he doesn't babysit the reader, like some other fight manga would with paragraphs of theory explaining each move, so i don't know how easy it would be for those with no background of martial arts to get into, but i think the artwork is clean enough to enjoy it anyway, and the rest should be common sense since it's realistic.

Endo has covered boxing, JJ/BJJ, wrestling, kickboxing/MT, Judo, Karate, but i wonder if he will touch kung fu? I hope he does, since he has covered some traditional karate..

The most realistic hand to hand martial arts manga i've read to date. Forget Kenichi, forget Shamo and also forget Holyland(ok, holyland is decent), but this is just more realistic and all round more class.

A realistic take on the MMA sport.

All-rounder meguru (ARM) is about a Boy named meguru without Ambition. He is a decent grappler, decent boxer, decent Karate expert, Decent martial artist. You could call him... AN ALL ROUNDER. He meets his childhood friend a man who is filled with ambition. They both meet in an amateur contest once again. While Takeshi keeps going forward wanting to be the very best like no one ever was. Meguru continues doing MMA for fun. So these 2 just sorta have this push and pull momentum going with each other.

All-rounder Meguru was more tame than i was expecting. After reading through Eden Its an endless world. You'd expect more graphic nudity and violence. There is very little of that. The story aren't just wildly different but ARM is much more grounded. Instead of opting for an over the top spectacle. ARM grounds itself, and succeeds with surprising success.

Now the strong points of ARM would probably be the supporting cast, The action and the pay off.

The supporting characters are very dynamic. Feeling like they have there own place in the world, rather than being stepping stones for the main character. This does bring some issues to the pacing. But is largely controlled. The action on top of it is very exciting. Especially in regards to the boxing and grappling. There is something really satisfying watching a rear choke, going into a triangle choke, going into a leg choke, going into a back choke, going into an arm bar etc. Its just insane seeing all the techniques play out. The action is very satisfying and the author clearly understands what the audience wants to see. Another thing is the pay off. After all the fighting there is a satisfying crack with each end making the fight significantly more exciting.

In regards to the bad though there is a decent amount. I don't know who started it but screw you man. When i'm watching a fight go down the last thing i need is 2 chapters of back story of how badly the other guy wants to win. Its one thing to add a few panels giving motivation and explaining character moves. But when you dedicate entire chapters to it. You slam the breaks on the pacing. All rounder Meguru is no exception to this rule.

Another issue i had was Meguru himself. Even though the cast is very dynamic the main character is very dull. The reason for that is basically is that he has no ambition. He's doing MMA for fun. Granted there is this likable characteristic from this but that doesn't change the fact that Meguru likes a lot of charisma that the other characters have. Takeshi, His rival is so much more interesting and i would've loved to see more of him even though he is already a major part of the story.

The Female fighters is also a decent sized portion in this series. The odd part about it though is that the female fighting seems to be more violent than the male MMA fights. Kind of odd but maybe its the author's way of showing Female MMA's can just be as brutal.

The romance, comedy didn't really land for me albeit a conclusion was welcomed. The ending was good as well. Did i want more? sure. But thats more in regards to wanting more of a good series in general.

TLDR: Strong cast, entertaining action with good ending. Rather than saying this series has bad parts its more like it has good parts just that it never really reaches the heights of top tier series. Arguable the most consistent good series I've read to date. 7/10

Since there are only 2 reviews of this manga, i figure i'll write a review. It's also coincidentally my first review here.

Story: 8/10
You can see the synopsis, the manga is about Meguru's growth as a martial artist and also his friend Takashi, but more characters and background stories will come into play as the manga goes on, and they're executed quite nicely.

Art: 8/10
Art is very good, fights are depicted clearly and realistically.

Character: 8/10
The characters' depictions are also really good, whether the protagonist, his friends, or others. As this is a martial arts/sports manga there are really no 'good' or 'evil' characters, they're just competing. Sometimes we get a glimpse on a character's background and motives without really spelling out everything, so it's fascinating to uncover them. For abilities, character 'growth' is by skill learning through practice or basic gradual fitness improvement over time.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Enjoyment is a big part for me to read/grade a manga. As someone who did boxing and is doing judo (just for health and fun though!) and also read a lot of manga I can say that this manga has realistic martial arts fighting down. Reading them gives you a feeling of tension even without crazy abilities and whatnot. Victory and defeat also make sense. You won't have a hard time following fights, as things are explained, whether briefly during a fight, or in depth during practice/extras to help you make sense of fight situations. The story portions are also good and thought provoking, to say the least.

Overall: 9/10
A great manga. If you want to read a manga with great realistic fights coupled with compelling story and characters, look no further.

All rounder meguru is a very realistic MMA anime that lacks memorable characters (except for a few) but makes up for it with the ultra detailed and realistic fights, especially the grappling and BJJ which are presented in a way that is very accessible for people who don't know a lot about it. For most people these parts (the grappling) might be the more boring parts, but for someone who has been practicing grappling himself for the last year or so it is very entertaining. Enjoyement 10! Art is okay, and the story is fine.

Certainly a MUST read if you like MMA!