... but we have to take care of business

One of the more recent additions to the manga arsenal that really caught my attention is entitled somewhat misleadingly as “All Rounder Meguru”. Misleading, because every time I glanced at the title sitting there on my plan to read list, an image of some round girl mahou-shoujo named Meguru would pop up in my mind, and I would ponder what such a title was doing there.

That being said, one single look at the author’s name was enough to clear up my confusion and to dissolve any lingering doubt about the manga’s worth. Are you ready? The name of the author is none other than ENDO Hiroki. If that name does not ring a bell straight away, you have some manga homework to do, because this man has written one of the darkest, most ruthless and realistic scifi stories that I have ever come across, “Eden: It’s an Endless World!”. Any word short of amazing used to describe this manga is a crime. The guy is also a master at the short story genre, his collection of one shots entitled simply as “Hiroki Endo’s Tanpenshu (short stories)” is regarded as being among the best of the best in the seinen one shots genre.


The story of All Rounder Meguru starts off with a bang, introducing two motherless boys, a grandfather as a karate instructor and a father who is chased by the yakuza. Endo gives us an immediate taste of the cruel and unforgiving nature of the world, as well as the sadness that men should be able to bear. In this world, men have their duties to uphold, and a boy needs to take his own path and find his own place on the way to manhood.





After the eventful start, the reader is transported back into the slow pace of reality. This is, after all, a martial arts manga, so in comes the world of competitive shooto fighting. I will provide you with some samples, though I fear spoiling too much; you can expect some down to earth action, the author’s take on life, on man’s quest to improvement, on humour, on high expectations and disappointment and on the paradox and absurdity of love and our need for it.





The first volume proved to be really compelling, grabbing me with its complexity as well as its simplicity. Relating to the characters is really easy, and the author never preaches or tries to convince, he simply shows what is, as he sees it.



I definitely recommend it, a good coming of age story with lots more in between the lines.