Moon Land

A manga about a young gymnast who is more interested in reaching perfect control over his body than competing against others.

We’ve discussed this on Darfox Dabbles.

This is a decent sports series. I’ve read several manga about gymnastics and this one is alright but I think the gimmick of a non-competitive protagonist doesn’t work well for a sports manga. Creator Sai Yamagishi has set up main character Mitsuki as an gymnast who slowly starts to engage with opponents and grows into an athlete who can both be competitive and focus on their personal performance. However Mitsuki’s distant nature doesn’t work as well for a sport manga. Sports manga protagonists work best as characters who are filled with passion. They don’t have to be aggressive or assertive but they work best if they show off their effort. You can look at Yowamushi Pedal, Hajime no Ippo, or Haikyu!! as good examples. Unfortunately Mitsuki’s character is what Moon Land is all about so you immediately lose a bit of that passion. I will say that his teammates help make up for that a little.

It’s currently available to read on Manga PLUS.

~dakazu