Kinnikuman / Ultimate Muscle : If you don't have love in your heart, you're no superhero!

[EdenCoven]

Kinnikuman (Muscle Man) is a foundational shonen manga created by Yudetamago, the collective pen-name of Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada. The series began way back in 1979, but new chapters are still being released even now!

The main purpose of this thread is to quarantine our obsession.

WHAT IS KINNIKUMAN?

Kinnikuman, real name Suguru Kinniku, is a wrestling superhero who happens to be alien royalty. In the beginning, he was an Ultraman parody who would grow huge and fight kaiju despite being bad at it, but after a year or so the kaiju were dropped along with the growing and the entire series would become dedicated to wrestling chojin (superhumans). Storylines take the form of ridiculous soap opera where all conflicts are solved through wrestling and all wrestling skill rests on THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

The sequel series, Kinnikuman II-sei, was localized in the west as Ultimate Muscle, and was pretty popular for a bit, but the anime we got, even after 4Kids paid for more episodes, didn't cover all of the series. The best stuff was unknown to the ignorant children of the time who watched the Fox Box for Kirby.

WHY IS KINNIKUMAN EXTREMELY GOOD?

1. Iconic Finishers



2. Rad Dudes



3. Corny Heartfelt Friendship Moments



4. Uncompromisingly Stupid




WHAT DO I READ?

There have been a number of spinoff series of Kinnikuman over the years, but if you want the main stuff then these are the important ones. You can find fan translations of sometimes dubious quality for all of these.

Kinnikuman (Original Run) : 1979-1987, 36 Volumes

The iconic original stories. Covers Kinnikuman's early days as an incompetent Superhero and discovery of his royal heritage, the 1980 and 1981 Chojin Olympics and the American Tour, the two Devil Chojin arcs, the Dream Tag Tournament and the final Scramble for the Planet Kinniku throne between Kinnikuman and the Five Fated Princes.

Kinnikuman II-Sei (a.k.a. Ultimate Muscle) : 1998-2004, 29 Volumes

28 years after Kinnikuman's ascension to the throne, bad guys decide to start showing up again and a new generation of chojin led by Suguru's son Mantaro rises up to face them and also be really gross perverts because this one was serialized in Weekly Playboy instead of Shonen Jump. Generally regarded as inferior to the original due to its weaker supporting cast.

Kinnikuman II-Sei Ultimate Tag Arc : 2004-2011, 28 Volumes

The second half of Ultimate Muscle, and honestly very good stuff in our opinion. A pair of time-travelling villains go back to the time after the Dream Tag Tournament to destroy the old Legends and also gain ultimate power. The New Generation's heroes build a time machine to go back and stop them, and end up settling things with a massive Tag Team Tournament featuring the new generation, their dads, and supervillains old and new.

Kinnikuman (2011 revival) : 2011-Present

Yudetamago went back and just started making the original series again where they left off, even continuing the volume numbers. In 1989, peace on earth is shattered by the leaders of the Perfect Chojin faction, who claim to represent the gods themselves. This series has been fantastic for letting lots of beloved characters return and get the spotlight, including the entire Devil Chojin faction. Honestly I'm still in the process of catching up.

OKAY NOW RISE FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

[SlushieCat]

I'm so far behind on manga I want to read, Kinnikiman included. I'll have to get into it at some point.

I've watched some of the original anime with my boyfriend and what I've seen is pretty rough. there's a lot of really good and fun wrestling but then there's also a lot of times where Suguru is just being a stupid hungry idiot and it gets pretty tiring. It's worth it for the wrestling though.

[EdenCoven]

Yes this is the case, though he gets a bit better over time. I have not watched the anime but I imagine there's not less stalling there. And then his son is a stupid HORNY idiot which is often even worse.

That said, there's something about the main characters being so reluctant before the fight while also having the coolest finishers and the biggest hero energy. It's like, you could never put them at the top of your favorite character list. Nobody does that. You want to see their cooler friends fight. But when they're at the top of their game, they're the most likable characters of them all. It feels deliberate and effective but boy is it hard to suffer through sometimes. It's pretty minimized in the revival at least.