no2no2

I hated that I had to see this announcement. But that doesn't mean I didn't come prepared. I had to. The writing was on the wall.

See, I’ve cooled on *Kengan Omega* after a while, and after exhausting all of <<Teppen>> I still felt like I needed a fix. *Baki*, especially late-stage *Baki*, is fun, but not the same experience. *Martial Master Asumi* didn’t simply come close to providing the same fizz as Kengan’s best; it did so without needing to reach for absurd tools.

Throughout this (effectively) half-year run, this manga proved to be effective at retaining my attention entirely within its grounded milieu. Nito Asumi and Nao Okiba made for a lightning-in-a-bottle duo whose journey would’ve fueled arc after arc with gusto. The intrigue surrounding Kaz-low and the grandad’s characters bring a dark contrast to the otherwise easy-going Nito, and the setting in general is lived-in without feeling “unreal” — there’s a sense that Nito’s world is a lot like us.

And the manga knows how to “fight” by leaning into its roots. It doesn't need any typical system, because the real world has one right here, and it makes the Asumi style **when** it pops up that much more fun to see. Again, very much the opposite of Kengan.

Yet I knew from Chapter 1 that it wasn't gonna last. Not because the story is inherently bad (though we'll get back to that), but simply because it's trying to peg itself as a *Hajime no Ippo* for MMA in a landscape that has precious little patience for slow-build action fighting manga **and** has run out of respect for the UFC and ONE Championship after the scandals that now cast a shadow over the whole sport. In the same way that *Tenmaku Cinema* is a good manga in the wrong slot, Asumi Kakkeru is a good manga that simply can't keep up on Sunday, not when *Kagurabachi* took the meme rocket and hit peak fuck it knowing the axe is three months away. Kawada played it too safe, foolishly thinking that those who came from <<Hinomaru-Zumo>> would flock to this manga. I did. Not enough followed.

Kawada had to extract the essence of the sumo manga and re-distill the feel in a shorter time frame, serving an audience that wants it NOW NOW NOW, but he just can't. This manga had good buildup, a two-person focus where Nao AND Nito enjoy excellent development and was on a nice trajectory, the undercurrent of familial drama keeps characters on their toes, and the fights, while not earth-shattering, are still top-of-the-pops and in line with Kawada's prior work. Yet its inability to rouse a more powerful emotion or anticipation week-over-week means that there isn't much there to hold onto, so it's hard to look forward to another upload. The vision was clear, but its ambitions seemed quaint compared to the rest of the JUMP lineup.

But I still want something like this. I already read STAR: Strike It Rich and love it (hey maybe Nao can guest-star there) but a lot like Baki, it's a different sort of manga. Not exactly the thing I want. I hope one day this idea gets revisite and refined for the fast-impact age, especially because the gem I see is still worth cutting.

The cancellation also further proves that Akane-Banashi continues to do everything correctly and then some. Longevity is on Suenaga's side, of course, but there really is something about it that no one else has yet to equal.