Tsuyoshi is not what it promises to be. Tsuyoshi promises to be seinen instead its a standard shonen battle manga. It promises to be about a wimpylooking strong man instead its about a revolving cast of martial artists. It promises for Tsuyoshi to be the main character instead hes not. What kind of story is it really? Though filed under seinen the seinen elements primarily amount to window dressing. Occasional cleavage characters who take sexual pleasure in being beaten innumerable strikes to the family jewels. There are also some truly uncomfortable Sniper Elitestyle internal views of bones being crushed or organs being damaged. But those are all accoutrements: the nature of the story rather is that of a shonen battle manga: rather than focusing on what Tsuyoshi brings to the table the story revolves around fighters who come from across the world duel each other and pit various countries martial arts against one another. Though the title translates to Tsuyoshi: No One Stands a Chance Not Against HIM only a fraction of fights involves Tsuyoshi himself perhaps precisely because no one stands a chance and thus any fight with him has a foregone conclusion. Its a shame though: fights between increasingly strong combatants is something weve all seen a million times and theyre awfully drawn out comprising the lions share of the story whereas Tsuyoshis fights have a refreshing air of creativity and humor. The tropes the story engages in also fall decidedly under the shonen umbrella. Defeated villains repent and become allies. Characters big moments are invariably preceded by a flashback to a tragic backstory. Every human emits a threat aura which can be felt and seen. As the story goes on the fighting becomes more and more outlandish with chi blasts funnily enough being introduced as a technique this becomes somewhat less amusing when the author insists in an afterword that the series is still realistic because chi is real can be seen with the naked eye and can heal otherwise incurable illnesses. This isnt to say that there arent moments of greatness There are laughs to be had especially for someone who enjoys slapstick or silly visual gags. One thing I found particularly notable was that in a spectacularly rare move the story occasionally treads where other manga dare not and touches on controversial political topics Vladimir Putin Tiananmen Square the 1 which lends some heft that impressed and engaged me. The moments where the title character is front and center are offbeat and gratifying though those moments are oddly rare So who is the main character if not Tsuyoshi? The storys perspective shifts between a number of challengers whoevers closest to Tsuyoshi at the moment a kind of audience proxy and in the variation that offers it lends novelty. For someone whose trope tolerance is higher than mine the characters might be enjoyable. Regrettably every female character is a walking trope although they certainly have agency theyre also objectified and dripping with gender roles. The majority of the cast are either gratingly condescending or villainous most everyone is a terrible person played for laughs your mileage may vary including the eponymous Tsuyoshi. Though in his case that turns out to be an entertaining subversive trait In the storys generic swaths which unfortunately comprise most of it Tsuyoshi is relegated to the sidelines. When its good though Tsuyoshi is an inexorable force of nature a John Wicklike existence. Far from the meek youngling one might expect Tsuyoshi is a revengedriven nighhomicidal maniac when his switch is flipped: all yan no dere. Hes often and hilariously depicted as if it were a horror manga less likely to say please I dont want to fight and more likely to say you lookin to have your ears ripped off huh? One of the storys best parts many volumes in is told from the villains perspective as Tsuyoshi enters an unbridled Alien vs. Predator mode and hes both Alien and Predator. Hes the Alien stalking through corridors and incapacitating anyone in his way and the Predator using his supernatural chi sight to see people through walls and home in on weak spots. It takes circa 10 volumes but eventually these Tsuyoshifocused moments grow in frequency as the focus shifts to revolve more around him personally making the experience somewhat more unique. In a nutshell Tsuyoshi is a manga with a captivating premise that it largely fails to execute on. Its peppered with laughs and glints of glory here and there and for someone who enjoys a runofthemill shonen story it would certainly be a different beast but I found myself impatiently flipping through chapter after chapter to get back to the good parts. Distilled into a single phrase I would describe this manga as more average than it lets on.