Ring ni Kakero

Ring ni Kakero (Japanese: リングにかけろ, Hepburn: Ringu ni Kakero; lit. 'Put It All in the Ring') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump between January 1977 and October 1981. The individual chapters were compiled by Shueisha into twenty-five tankōbon volumes. A sequel, entitled Ring ni Kakero 2, was serialized in Super Jump between 2000 and 2008.

An anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation premiered in October 2004. It was followed by a second season premiered in April 2006, a third season in April 2010 and a fourth season in April 2011.

The story centers around the life of a young boxer named Ryuuji Takane and his sister Kiku, who is his coach. Ryuuji and his sister both inherited their father's talent for boxing with Ryuuji inheriting his strength and techniques while Kiku picked up his talent for analysis and strategy. In the past, their father was a famous boxer. Ryuuji and Kiku went away from home to train and become famous in order to help their lonely mother. On the way to stardom, they have to defeat the strongest challengers all over the world.

In Ring ni Kakero 1, the characters are briefly introduced, telling the story from the moment Ryuuji and Jun Kenzaki (his eternal challenger and supposedly best friend) fight for the National Boxing Title and having both achieved stardom. Ryuuji's sister then tells the story from the beginning which starts from when Ryuuji is the finalist in a local youth championship and had to compete against Kenzaki, the latter winning after an almost tie and K.O. one-to-one fight.

Afterward, most of the series tells about Ryuuji being the successor of Kenzaki (as the latter was terribly injured and almost crippled), who competes in the Japan National Boxing Championship, where he encounters strong and deadly opponents, including Ishimatsu Katori (a comic relief, but also a strong fighter), Takeshi Kawai (who specializes in the upper jab technique; he is also a pianist and also likes to cheat) and Kazuki Shinatora (who specializes in the Rolling Thunder technique; he is a former kendo practitioner, who retired when he challenged his father due to his cruel training).

Later on, the Jr. Japan team facing Blackshaft's team was adapted into an anime. Ryuji, Jun, Katori, Kazuki, and Takeshi represented Japan. Blackshaft had no intention of taking Japan seriously in a boxing match so he recruits Mick, leader of the Great Angels New York Branch (originally the Hells Angels in the manga), a deathrow inmate Monster Jail, Missie Chanel, a mysterious androgynous boy boxing champion known for his unhealthy obsession with his own beauty that knows no bounds (even in the ring) as well as that in which he savors reducing the "pretty" faces of any opponent he faces in the ring into mush, along with hypnotic powers that he casts upon his opponents to leave them as sitting ducks for his attacks and high-speed punches and fancy footwork, and N.B. Forrest, also known as the emperor of the south and a Ku Klux Klan member (in the manga). The second season ends with The Shadow clan, formed by a boxer who used the sweet science as an assassination art, aiming after Team Japan.

Ring ni Kakero is written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. The series was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump between January 10, 1977, and October 12, 1981. Shueisha compiled the individual chapters into twenty-five tankōbon volumes published between January 31, 1978, and January 15, 1983. The series was re-released into a 18-volume deluxe edition published between September 9, 2001, and May 6, 2002.

In 2000, a sequel entitled Ring ni Kakero 2 was published in Shueisha's Super Jump, a seinen magazine. Ring ni Kakero 2 tells the story of Kiku and Jun's son, Rindo Kenzaki, who is raised by Katori Ishimatsu after losing both of his parents. The series ran on an irregular basis until 2008. Shueisha compiled the individual chapters into twenty-six tankōbon volumes published between July 9, 2000, and February 9, 2009.