Seinen Holyland by MORI Kouji

[sabret00the]

Must admit that I'm really shocked at the lack of thread for this which is undoubtedly one of the best martial arts manga's out.

Holyland Volume 1 MQ/HQ RAW

Holyland Volume 4 MQ/HQ RAW

Holyland Volume 8 MQ/HQ RAW

Original title: ホーリーランド
Demographics: Seinen
Chapters at MH: 20
Writer(s): MORI Kouji
Artist(s): MORI Kouji
Serialized in: Young Animal Arashi
Published by: Hakusensha

Yuu is a high school kid who doesn't really fit anywhere. To find a place he can belong, be accepted, he will do anything. However one thing leads to another and he is forced to fight to keep his place, his holyland.

This amazing manga is being bought to us in English at present by the awesome group known as Illuminati-Manga.

In my opinion, this is a five star manga. It's writing style is incredibly indulgent but in a technical manner, the characters are well developed and the growth is heartfelt. Every arc is a journey in which you're not only given the best seats in the house, but you're tended to on hand on foot.

The work that has gone into the technical details is astounding, truly a feat to be proud of and it's not bullshit either. If you'd like to see someone that attempted to take this direction for a manga but failed, you only need to look at what's happened to Itagaki Keisuke and his Baki series.

The artwork may take a little while to get used to and it's in fact something that some may call dated, but where that falls down the story undoubtedly picks up and runs the length of the pitch to bury the ball in the top right corner of the net.

I could talk this manga up all day long. But I won't. I honestly want to and need to leave some scope for discussion here. Holyland is up to chapter 71 at present and thought It's coming a little slowly, there's a shed load of RAW's out and I believe that IM are doing their best to get these out as quickly as possible.

For those of you wondering what it's like. I believe that the closest manga's to this are Early Baki and Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru. I have no doubt that fans of Akumetsu, The Breaker, Dorohedoro, Gamaran, Hajime No Ippo, Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Until Death Do Us Part, Veritas, Vinland Saga , Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest and/or Zetman will find a home and new love here.

So let's show our support for this manga by keeping this thread active and tongues a wagging.

Please note, this authors other project is Suicide Island.

 

[sabret00the]

Found out that this is a currently running j-drama now too.

 

[ma][]

It's an interesting manga, I really like the main character and his "evolution" trough series. He's not just all positive like it would be in some shounen, he has some deep dark emotions inside, he struggles for some very selfish reason (at least in the beginning).

Oh, and also these detailed explanations of different street fighting techniques. I wonder if mangaca himself studied martial arts or something.

p.s. I'm really waiting for the outcome of the "kendo arc".

 

[sabret00the]

It's a great arc, sadly it's just wrapping up now. This next arc seems to come with a heavy heart which is a sad as I wanted something light and smilie.

 

[sabret00the]

Strangely I'm nervous about this fight, have no idea how it'll turn out if Yuu can't draw power from his darkness.

 

[scav]

i started this manga randomly, and damn it's just awesome. it's a shame that it's not popular.
btw it's up to chapter 120 now.

 

[sabret00the]

Glad to have someone else enjoying this awesome manga. It's one of the best out right now for me.

 

[WordlessDemon]

i like it because Yuu is still a little scared before he fights. The manga is awesome has a good plot and gives space not only to the main char but also to his friends. One of the many thinks that i like about this manga is that the mangaka shows some real fighting techs and also what someone thinks when he fights.

 

[k-dom]

This last volume was really great. The tension builts until the beast is out. I hope Illuminaty will solve their translator issues, it would be bad such a great serie was dropped.

 

[kidopitz27]

Yuu's inner beast is now released we will see a great fight :P

i just read this one like 7am today and then after chapter150 (time 19:40) in my mind it;s like WTF wheres the next chapter!

 

[kidopitz27]

man one of my favorite just ended

 

[sabret00the]

A round of applause. Standing ovation. That was amazing!

 

[k-dom]

Argh I keep the last chapters a little for later. This fight with king was really cool. Kamichiro is really something, he has grown up so much. Seing everyone around him make me want to restart the serie. There are some characters matches I don't remember well.
And thanks to Illuminaty for releasing the last volumes in a single batch that must have been some hard job, Kouji Mori is talkative :-). Now I hope they continue with suicide island, it's really an author which I like reading.

 

[StefanNecro]

It's such a shame really that this manga doesnt get more attention. Like Sabret00th said, the only "issue" I had with this manga at first was its artwork, but looking back on it, now that I've finished the series, I wouldn't have it any other way and it's just something you get used to pretty quickly.
But I have to say that Yuu really is one of my favorite protagonists so far, simply because he's a pretty plain and not really an eye catching character who displays massive badassary in his fights. And I think the thing that attracts the readers of this manga to him the most is the situations he puts himself into due to his emotions.
Plus the ending of the series wont disappoint you and is in fact a perfect ending for a series like this one that keeps you on the age till the very last page.
To sum it up, it's a manga I'd definitely recommend to everyone, especially martial arts fans.

-StefanNecro