Round and Round
If the first two chapters of All-Rounder Meguru didn’t convince you that this is an entirely different beast than Eden, hopefully the next two ones will. Hiroki Endo, fresh off his existentialist sci-fi epic, decided to create a down-to-earth story that sounds deceptively simple. Boy joins a mixed martial arts gym hoping to become stronger. One day he meets his childhood friend who is practicing the same kind of martial arts (shooto) and who harbors a dark secret related to his past. They fight once, then part ways. Boy goes on to learn more about shooto… It’s the kind of set-up you’d expect to find in a typical shonen fighting manga, but this being a work by Hiroki Endo, there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
One thing that makes Meguru stand out from the crowd is its realism. Everything in here is firmly rooted in the realm of the possible. There are no secret techniques, no power-ups, no fighting prodigies. The main character is just your average teenager who tries to do the best with what he has learned. By keeping the story lean and without gimmicks, Endo has a lot more freedom to focus on the characters and their relationships, even though he does often indulge in the sport aspect as can be seen in chapter 4. I guess Meguru’s biggest selling point lies in its combination of the slice-of-life episodes and the short but intense fights that once again demonstrate Endo’s ability to draw dynamic action scenes that actually look real. We can only hope the author has some sort of a plot with a middle and an ending in mind instead of just giving us one fight after another.
Speaking of ending, today we release the “final” chapter of Shoujo Nemu. I really wish we had more of this wonderful story to scanlate. Alas, Hirosuke Kizaki, the artist, passed away before he could complete the manga. It’s a big shame because I think his premature depart rid Japan of one of the most talented young artists of this generation. Even though Shoujo Nemu didn’t get a proper ending, following Nemu’s journey as she grows up from being a shy and insecure girl to a young woman determined to follow her dream has been an extraordinary experience. One that I’m very glad to have had.
Leave a Reply
About Kotonoha
Since the group's inception in 2004, Kotonoha has established itself as the premier source of off-beat, sophisticated manga scanlations aimed at both the seinen and josei demographics. Among our most influential titles are Soil by Atsushi Kaneko, The Hour of the Mice by Kei Tōme, The Music of Marie by Usamaru Furuya, and the works from Inio Asano.
Contact: kotonoha (at) gmx (dot) net
Latest Releases
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch14
- The Music of Marie v2 ch12
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch11-13
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch9-10
- Garden ch1
- Soil v5 ch37-40
- The Music of Marie v2 ch11
- Memories of Emanon (complete)
- All-Rounder Meguru v1
- Soil v5 ch36
- Soil v5 ch36
- The Music of Marie v2 ch10
- The Hour of the Mice v3
- Soil v5 ch35
- Shoujo Nemu (complete)
- Soil v5 ch34
- Before Dawn and the End of the World (complete)
- Soil v5 ch33
- Owari to Hajimari no Miles ch11
- The Music of Marie v2 ch9
- Owari to Hajimari no Miles ch10
- Kaikisen (complete)
Regarding Soil: HOLY SHIT! Quite literally. That is all.
Thanks for both chapters, I’m really enjoying Meguro so far.
Keep up the good work everyone!
I was wondering why this was the end of Shoujo Nemu. What a shame indeed.
It’s very sad to see Shoujo Nemu end so soon, even though I knew it was short going in. The art and story work so well together. The style reminded me a bit of Iwahara Yuji, namely the backgrounds and the full black and white color, and perhaps the great usage of each panel. I digress, thanks for bringing us Shoujo Nemu, it was truly a joy to read. Bittersweet, but worth it for sure.
Also, All-Rounder Meguru is already getting better.
I found myself craving more immediately after reading the new chapters.
really loving Meguru. , great work, thanks
Thanks for Meguru. I’ve been wanting to read more after your first two chapters.
thnxs for the chapters XD omg i love this manga, its not boring to read and the page isnt cluttered with lots of text or cluttered in the pictures, and its even provided me with training techniques (in mma not sex
lol… well) keep it up, ur doin great 
OMG TT_TT &sob shoujo nemu ended surprisingly… sigh it hurts to think i wont be able to know how nemu would get to be a manga artist!!!
Oh, wow, that’s terribly sad to hear about Shoujo Nemu’s artist. Thank you for scanning and translating it; it was a joy to read.
very good chapter of soil .. the real blindfold man is more horrific than the OTHER ^___^ … hurry with the next chapter pls.
Always eager for more Meguro chapters.
And it’s never easy for any death. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of that manga.
Thanks a lot for working on Meguru guys, thought we’d never see it over here, as the only group doing it is the pay-to-read group WFP, so good stuff guys.
All-Rounder Meguru is awesome >:]
Pay-to-read…. WFP? Are those the guys with the Baki-scam too? Lol wow.
^Bingo Laika
For some one who has been training in Muay Thai and BJJ for the past 3 years, I’m happy to say that All Rounder Meguru is a frighteningly accurate depiction of a beginner’s MMA training as could be done. Superb manga.
So sad to learn Hirosuke Kizaki passed away before finishing Shoujo Nemu. I loved that manga so much
I´ve just started reading Hanashippanashi. and OMG!!! Why I let this for so long in my pc???? It was a long time ago that I read a manga so good like this one. Thaks Kotonoha *bow*
Meguru is freakin awesome. i love the way the mangaka portray realistic life story
Thanks for the chapters. Seems like a really interesting manga.