History Manga / KenganAshura

* SharedUniverse: ''Manga/HowHeavyAreTheDumbbellsYouLift'', Yabako Sandrovich's episodic weight lifting manga, is connected to this series. It features many character cameos from ''Kengan'', even those from characters who have already died in the story; and one of the leading girls is Shion Soryuin's little sister and the cast goes to/works at the Koyo Academy, where she is chairman.

* WorfEffect: Lihito slowly becomes this after his first fight with Ohma Tokita, losing nearly every battle against named characters from that point forward despite his continued growth in strength and skill.

-->- '''Ohma Tokita'''

''Kengan Ashura'' is a manga series written by Yabako Sandrovich and drawn by Daromeon,[[note]]One might recognize his art from ''Ketchup Ninja''[[/note]] beginning publication in 2012 it runs in ''Ura Sunday'', a [[{{Shonen|Demographic}} Shonen]] Magazine, published by Shogakukan.

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: Yamashita Trading Company is founded by Nogi as a shell company so his clique could enter more fighters in the Annihilation Tournament. In ''Omega'', it secretly serves as a branch of the Kengan Association that registers and hires out fighters. Koga's friend is immediately able to identify it as fishy because it's the only business on the list of Kengan participants that produce ''nothing''. Kazuo immediately admits the business is a front when Koga confronts him.

See also ''Manga/HowHeavyAreTheDumbbellsYouLift'', a more light-hearted manga series set in the same universe and written by the same author, though under a different illustrator. See also ''Strike It Rich'', made by the same team and a more blatant DistaffCounterpart to ''Kengan''.

* AcquaintanceDenial: In one {{Yonkoma}}, Rihito and Okubo get themselves drunk while hanging out with Himuro and Kaneda, then starts [[NakedPeopleAreFunny going nude]]. When the two are arrested, Himuro is shown telling the police that he's never met the other two before.

** By ''Omega'', Cosmo and Adam have vastly improved from their appearances in ''Ashura'' and are prime candidates to represent the Kengan Association in the tournament against Purgatory. [[spoiler:Internal politics within the Association prevent them from representing Kengan, as their employers belong to Chairman Nogi's faction, and accommodating other factions was required.]]

** In ''Omega'', [[spoiler:Koga steps up to defend Kazuo from some of the Worm's henchmen. Despite managing to win a five-on-one fight against armed opponents, he still takes a massive beating that leaves him crippled. As it turns out, multiple stab wounds and deep lacerations put you in lengthy recovery no matter how tough you are, and Koga is forced to bow out of the tournament with Ohma as his replacement.]]

** [[TheRival Kiryu]] probably has the most dramatic reality check in the series in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. Despite having an unresolved rivalry with Ohma, practicing an esoteric and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology anatomy-shattering martial art]], having his SuperMode and inventing numerous new techniques on the fly, he loses in the ''second round'' to the fundamentally superior Gensai Kuroki, not in an epic grudge match in the finals to Ohma.

** [[TheRival Kiryu]] probably has the most dramatic reality check in the series in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. Despite having an unresolved rivalry with Ohma, practicing an esoteric and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology anatomy-shattering martial art]], having his SuperMode and inventing numerous new techniques on the fly, he's eliminated in the ''second round'' to the fundamentally superior Gensai Kuroki, not in an epic grudge match with Ohma in the finals.

** Kiryu probably has the most dramatic reality check in the series in his battle against Gensai Kuroki where, despite having an unresolved rivalry with Ohma, practicing an esoteric and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology anatomy-shattering martial art]], having his SuperMode and inventing numerous new techniques on the fly, he simply cannot stand up to the fundamentally superior opponent who takes all his improvisations in stride. Kuroki systematically dismantles his incredibly strong palm strikes piecemeal throughout the fight and beats him with down with bread-and-butter moves until he was so close to killing Kiryu that the latter was forced into ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere using his lethal palm strike to shove his heart out of the way]] so that he'd leave the match alive.'' Despite his extensive injuries, Kiryu later tries to take on Ohma while still horribly injured from the previous match, with predictable results.

** Purgatory has overtaken the Kengan Association because there are rules that protect their fighters; most importantly: if a fighter kills their opponent, they are disqualified and not paid. The promise of a safety measure attracts more fighters and a greater audience, as not many people actively ''want'' to see a man killed in the ring.
** As big as Kengan is, it remains a shady bloodsport that more respectable combat sports associations and martial art schools want no involvement in. The Rokushin karate dojo refuses to train active members, and Kiozan's black sheep status in the sumo circle is because he participates in them.

** Carlos Medel, a boxer who dropped from heavyweight to bantamweight and is arguably more skilled than Kaolan. Carlos may be more mobile than him, slips his blows easily and land more strikes, but the weight difference means that landing even a jab is enough to hurt Carlos. The size difference is enough that Carlos [[spoiler:abandons fighting with purely boxing and mixes in some kicks of his own. When even that fails, Carlos settles for a Ring Out.]]
** As discussed by several fighters on the Kengan Association side, Carlos increasing weight to go from Middleweight to Heavyweight hampered his performance in the ring, his frame was not suited for putting on 30 excess kilos of muscle, and thus his striking power peaked far below Heavyweight. At the same time, the sheer weight difference between him now, a Bantamweight at best, fighting Kaolan Wongsawat, a Heavyweight, means that while he moves in a higher dimension of speed, even a jab from a heavyweight would hurt him and being fast doesn't mean he's unable to be figured out. Kaolan ends up walking away from the fight with barely a couple of bruises, while Carlos is a beaten mess with a horrifically broken nose in comparison.
** Carlos' initial move to "underground martial arts" shows him struggling against other martial artists that he had no experience with, and demonstrates that even the pound-for-pound greatest boxer and heavyweight champion needed to adjust his weight and add new techniques to his arsenal to stay on top of different martial arts. He decided to add Capoeira and Digongquan to his skillset, rounding out his striking, increasing his reach, and giving him knowledge of striking joints.
** Like Carlos, The Falcon is fighting someone with greater offensive power but not as nimble as him. So when [[spoiler:Lihito]] hits him once with his SignatureMove, The Falcon is not gonna be able to recover without medical intervention and must end the fight fast, or he'll lose. Kaneda also mentions that by the weight difference between the two The Falcon can't knock out his opponent with one hit.
** Jurota is a massive Judoka who was already world-class in his teens, and getting thrown by him is every bit as dangerous as you think it would be, ''especially'' on a tiled ring. Which is a problem for Jurota. The power of a throw is much harder to regulate than, say, a punch, so he has to be careful in how he throws his opponent without killing him. Rolón points out the irony of Jurota having become so incredibly powerful that the Purgatory rules are actively holding him back from performing at his best.
** No matter how powerful his "Swing" techniques are, [[spoiler:Jurota is unable to throw Masaki, a skilled heavyweight Judoka, with one arm after his right clavicle is broken.]]
** Just like real fight night MMA events, there are a few hiccups in the final lineup Idemitsu is left with. In addition to delaying the competition for several months due to Yumigahama getting his arm broken in Jose's revenge match, there are several fighters who had to be replaced on short notice; an A-list [[SumoWrestling Sserium wrestler]] had to pull out of the tournament due to suddenly having to take over the family's greengrocery back in Korea. Swedish A-list fighter Kim Kurt had to pull out due to an injury. [[spoiler: That's not even getting into the fact that just under a ''third'' of the full lineup are Worms or directly working with Worm.]]
** Despite Koga having now two years of training by some of the best fighters and being a rising star from his starting point [[spoiler: he loses to Lihito in the final of the Berserker Bowl because Lihito has much more experience, weight advantage and got out of his fight in much better shape than Koga who nearly died fighting Ryuki.]] Koga admits he could have realistically lost much earlier if the pool and brackets were different.
** Ryuki may have TheGift, a complete LackOfEmpathy and an arsenal of very lethal techniques, but his ''complete'' and utter dismissal of other martial arts and the idea that his opponent could ever counteract what he's doing doesn't even enter his mind. As such, against a seasoned, TalentedButTrained bruiser in the form of Adam, he's caught off-guard that his opponent can even [[AwesomenessByAnalysis see him coming]], and his internal monologues are [[PaintingTheMedium disrupted mid-sentence multiple times]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from the sheer asswhooping Adam put upon him]]. While Ryuki ended up winning, he only did so by [[PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou threatening his opponent to kill him]] [[CombatPragmatist before stabbing Adam in the vertebrae while his guard was down]], [[TheFriendNobodyLikes turning him into a pariah for the spectators and the few people he socializes with]].

** Fighting in a shrinking ring with a large body against a skilled smaller opponent ends up being a disadvantage in the long run for Yumigahama, hampering his mobility and psychologically affecting his performance as he worries about stepping outside the ring. In comparison, his smaller opponent doesn't have such issues. To make things worse most of the styles he uses are made for a wide-open area.

** There is in theory nothing stopping anyone from using "Removal", the Kure and Wu clan bloodline technique of releasing their muscle inhibitor, if they can learn how. It's just that, unlike the Kure and Wu, they aren't bred to have a body that can handle the strain and will face [[BodyHorror gruesome consequences from using something always described as a]] DangerousForbiddenTechnique for '''very''' good reason.

** As big as Kengan is, it remains a shady bloodsport that more respectable combat sports associations and martial art schools want no involvement in. The Rokushin karate dojo refuses to train active members, and Kiozan's black sheep status in the sumo circle is because he participates in them.

The following day, Kazuo is summoned by the Nogi Group's CEO, Hideki Nogi, who introduces him to the world of the Kengan Association matches: a place where wealthy business owners, corporation leaders and merchants hire gladiators to fight in unarmed combat where the winner takes all. With Kazuo being reacquainted with Ohma, the latter of whom has become the Nogi Group's latest fighter, the two's journey into the Kengan world begins. Several bouts into Ohma's careers, the eccentric leader of the Kengan Association Metsudo Katahara announces his desire to see things shaken up in the organization- by hosting a tournament of the best fighters in the business, with the winner being given anything they want and the CEO they represent being given chairman position in the organization. Kazuo and Ohma are entered on behalf of Nogi, and so begins a long-running TournamentArc that sees Ohma's shady past slowly be brought to light.

** Julius is pretty much the living embodiment of why weight classes exist in normal combat sports. It does not matter how good you are at your martial art or how many secret techniques you have if the guy you're up against is 2-3 times your size and weight and knows what he's doing. Julius' sheer musculature renders him practically immune to both striking and grappling attempts from anyone that isn't close to his size.
** [[spoiler:He takes this to a logical extreme with his fight against Toa in ''Omega''. Even though Toa is a martial artist of comparable size and musculature, in the past two years, Julius managed to gain such control over his muscles that he's effectively invincible to strikes. While Toa could have reasonably adapted to Julius' change in body makeup, Rolón notes that "passivity is the wrong move" as Julius leaps forward and crushes his defenses in an instant. In the end, the only way to beat someone so strong is to never let them get a chance to strike in the first place, but Toa's ego blinded him to this fact, and as a result, Julius cuts him down in one blow.]]

** Gensai's an OldMaster at the tail-end peak of his physical prime, and his tournament run shows off just how deadly that combination is. He's SeenItAll as he knows about the Niko and Koei styles so when Kiryu [[spoiler:and Ohma]] use them, he recognizes them as old allies of the former two's masters. He also has fought and discussed their martial arts, which makes him instantly realize that they have passed it down to both of the young fighters. His [[TrainingFromHell incredibly intense and painful training]] gives him a RazorSharpHand, and he's a GeniusBruiser who can predict and parry almost every single one of Rei's attacks despite them being too fast for the human eye to follow. [[spoiler:Agito Kanoh is the one of only fighters who proves able to fight him on a fairly even footing.]]
--> '''[[ArrogantKungFuGuy Ohma]]:''' Yamashitakazuo did tell me that there might be guys out there who are stronger than me, and this old man's definitely one of them.

** Koga is a very talented fighter, and it's heavily implied that he has TheGift for martial arts in the form of his willingness to learn, unmatched eyesight and reaction speed. He doesn't take long to be educated enough to start being a serious threat in martial arts, but there's one thing he lacks - ''experience.'' It does not matter how much of a savant you are, as a lack of experience means that your well of talent won't get put to good use. [[spoiler: Thus, while Koga is on his way to being a seriously dangerous fighter (possibly on the level of Ohma himself, if Ohma's comments towards him in the hospital are true) his lack of experience means that he can't hope to measure up to any of the real heavyweights in the association. As a result, he barely ekes out a win against the guy who's probably the worst fighter in the association, and is forced to bow out of the Purgatory grudge match following his injuries from the above ambush.]]

** Koga may have been undergoing TrainingFromHell and made leaps from where he was a few months ago, but a few months of hellish training does not give the years of real combat experience that other fighters have. [[spoiler: When Koga is forced to fend off five armed attackers trying to kill him, while he fended them off well, he still ends up badly wounded and needed to be helped by Metsudo's Bodyguards.]]
** Although Koga might be talented, six months of hellish training isn't enough to bring him up to the level required to participate in the Kengan-Purgatory Tournament, discounting the knife wounds he took. After seeing the first match between Kaolan and Medel, he's forced to sheepishly admit that, quote, "I wouldn't have been able to do shit in there."

** As Rolón points out, Naidan's "Eye in the sky" technique is not a real TopDownView, it's his instincts being so good it feels like he can survey from above, but he can't see what is happening behind his back if his opponent is too fast or unpredictable.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Despite how over-the-top the series seems at first, it frequently invokes this. The action is less outright fantastical and more an exaggerated version of real combat sports, and thus remains somewhat grounded.
** Haruo is an overweight giant of a man, which comes to bite him in his match when Akoya delivers several focused strikes to Haruo's right knee. Eventually, the injuries take their toll and Haruo's leg starts straining from the sheer weight of his own body.
** Sekibayashi is a human tank that makes up for his unwillingness to block or dodge by being able to soak up an enormous amount of damage. After his win against Takeru Kiozan, he collapses from exhaustion, a fractured knee capsule, and extensive injuries after leaving the stadium.
** Also, no matter how physically tough a fighter like Sekibayashi truly is, he still needs to breathe. [[spoiler:Both Ohma and Muteba managed to knock him out by striking his windpipe and his heart, respectively.]]
** Kaneda's Kujin Style is designed for combat in warfare, specifically by disabling an opponent with weapons and armor, then finishing them off as quickly as possible with (what the style assumes the user should have) a knife. This martial art is largely unsuited against the unarmed styles of the other, stronger Kengan fighters and he ends up taking a beating before he finally manages to get a hit in.
** Suekichi is ''damn'' good at predicting his opponent's moves, but he lacks the physical ability to take down individuals in the Kengan matches and has to resort to sneak attacks to eke out a win. This means that on paper, he's a very effective fighter, but in practice, his style has its flaws. [[spoiler:When he fights Kaolan, a person who has spent years honing his ''own'' reflexes to make micro-adjustments to his movements when he sees his opponents going to block, he ends up losing.]]
** Cosmo Imai may be a hard-working young genius with incredible pound-for-pound strength, but he's still a featherweight in an Openweight fighting league. He constantly goes up against opponents who are bigger, stronger and tougher than he is and often just as skilled as well, meaning they have his number in a straight up fist-fight. Thus he uses Jiu-Jitsu, with his personal style having a particular emphasis on chokeholds, allowing him to somewhat negate the disadvantage and bring down his hulking opponents. Nonetheless, the injuries he suffers from the blows they land on him cause him to collapse right after he wins and accumulate over time (a serious problem at the Anihilation Tournament, which has only a day to rest between rounds), while his opponents come out barely injured due to the manner in which he defeated them. Cosmo spends most of the tournament in a wheelchair as a result.
** Cosmo is a 19-year-old who entered the tournament simply to ''fight'', not fight to the death. Unfortunately, this tournament has no rules towards killing and allows mercenaries and serial killers to compete. So when [[KnightTemplar Akoya]] bites into Cosmo's leg, the boy starts shaking uncontrollably and fearing for his life. His employer Akira is fully aware of this and states that he doesn't consider himself to be considered a good person for it by any means.
** Kaolan is a boxer who fights in the heavyweight division despite being a Cruiserweight. His style of boxing, which emphasizes mobility and rapid strikes, is built for fighting opponents who are usually bigger than him. He is the Fang's superior in striking and has the upper hand for most of the fight. Nonetheless, against the massive Agito, who outweighs him by 30kg(66lbs), this style of fighting becomes a disadvantage because Agito's sheer size ([[MadeOfIron and just being ridiculously tough even for his size]]) lets him power through over twenty clean hits from Kaolan. On the flip side, Kaolan ends up on the ropes after a mere two clean hits and two throws.

* EyeScream: The fight between Muteba Gizenga and Meguro Masaki. The most brutal is culminated by the method with which Muteba [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill finishes]] the fight.

See also ''Manga/HowHeavyAreTheDumbbellsYouLift'', a more light-hearted manga series set in the same universe and written by the same author, though under a different illustrator.

** There is, in theory, nothing stopping anyone from using "Removal", the Kure and Wu clan bloodline technique of releasing their muscle inhibitor. It's just that, unlike the Kure and Wu, they aren't bred to have a body that can handle the strain.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Most fighting manga treat combat styles done for sport or entertainment, like boxing or pro wrestling, as weak compared to more "practical" styles seen in modern MMA. In ''Ashura'', the boxer and pro wrestler are both terrifying and two of the strongest entrants in the Annihilation Tournament, with the latter [[HorrifyingTheHorror almost stealing his opponent]], TheDreaded Fang of Metsudo,'s soul.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Most fighting manga treat combat styles done for sport or entertainment, like boxing or pro wrestling, as weak compared to more "practical" styles seen in modern MMA. In ''Ashura'', the boxer and pro wrestler are both terrifying and two of the strongest entrants in the Annihilation Tournament.

** Sekibayashi is a human tank that makes up for his unwillingness to block or dodge by being able to soak up an enormous amount of damage. After his win against Kiozan Takeru, he collapses from exhaustion, a fractured knee capsule, and extensive injuries after leaving the stadium.

''Kengan Ashura'' is a manga series written by Yabako Sandrovich and drawn by Daromeon,[[note]]One might recognize his art from ''Ketchup Ninja''[[/note]] beginning publication in 2012 it runs in ''Ura Sunday'', a [[{{Shonen|Demographic}} Shounen]] Magazine, published by Shogakukan.

''Kengan Ashura'' is a manga series written by Yabako Sandrovich and drawn by Daromeon,[[note]]One might recognize his art from ''Ketchup Ninja''[[/note]] beginning publication in 2012 it runs in ''Ura Sunday'', a {{Shounen}} Magazine, published by Shogakukan.

* EveryScarHasAStory: Before the finals, [[spoiler: Ohma goes over the scars and damage he incurred throughout the series, all the way back to the gouge wounds Rihito gave him in his first major fight.]]