Man I wish I had gotten around to this manga sooner. SMK has been around for a while now and when something becomes a hit even in niche circles I feel like it takes away some mystery from the work cause you go in knowing what's it about and why people loved it but Kurosawa has so much to offer that I sure hope more people give it a try.

Starting point of the manga is the lowest point for its protagonist. Kurosawa is old, poor, unattractive, doesn't have any family or friends and he loses the last shreds of hope he had for having a good life, everything is going downhill. No matter which way you look at it he couldn't be much more of a loser but in a way it's extremely easy to empathize with him because his situation is what most people are afraid of, Kurosawa is an example of a man who made all the wrong choices and didn't take chances with any of the opportunities presented to him. In this way the manga is both a bit of a cautionary tale that shows what happens if you passively let life go by and a motivational message that you shouldn't lose hope, aim for bigger things and fight for your future to avoid getting into the same situation as Kurosawa.

The thematic elements in themselves are simple but what makes Kurosawa stand out is the execution. While plenty of manga have those moments where characters get through bad times with sheer guts and determination, hardly any of them are as brutal about it as SMK. What makes it hit hard is how grounded it is. While most manga characters usually deal with ancient evil or genocidal villains, the hardships of Kurosawa are far more relatable to an average person. Not being able to find a good job and slaving away for mediocre wages to live until you get old and die, not being able to find someone that will love you, not having any friends to share both the good and bad times, getting abused by other people who have more authority or strength than you do, having to abandon any pride you might have as a human being just to get out of harm's way. This and much more is something that Kurosawa is actually faced with with no sugarcoating to make it look better. It's not until he overcomes himself and starts to take action that things start to slowly turn in his favor.

After Kurosawa is well fleshed out into a miserable but believable and likable character a pivotal moment happens that drastically changes his mentality while also keeping things grounded enough to keep it relatable. Even though Kurosawa decided to take action you can still sense his fear and anxiety, after all, he's a man who never experienced a success in his life, why would he have any confidence in his actions when nothing he has done up to this point turned out to be good? It's mostly a series of lucky coincidences that lets him gain much needed confidence and establish an outlook that lets him keep forward while still stumbling with every step. Despite things looking good on the surface he keeps getting dragged into increasingly difficult situations that put his life at risk and force him to reflect on his own life and people around him
It all culminates beautifully in the last two volumes when he has to help out people who are not much different than he was not too long ago and encourage them to fight for his life. At this point his thought and actions largely revolve around the ideology that nobody should come in terms with their hopeless lifes, that for each person there's a dream and a purpose they should aspire towards and face challenges head on rather than avoiding risks for security and peace of questionable value.