Sugar

Sugar 

A manga about a young man who discovers his natural talent for boxing and his journey to become a professional boxer.

I really, really like this manga. It might be my favorite Hideki Arai book and the reason I got into Arai in the first place.

At it’s core it’s a sports manga but Arai fills it to the brim with a complete cast of wild characters that get into some very adult situations. It gives it a completely different feel than something like Hajime no Ippo. At the center is the protagonist Rin Ishikawa. 

Rin is a fascinating individual. He takes life in stride and is constantly joking around without taking things too seriously. The story follows him as he slowly begins to change his perspective about fighting and by the end he’s completely morphed into a literal dynamo inside the ring. On the way he stumbles and ends up in crazy situations but that just makes his journey that much greater.

~dakazu