24 minSeason 1 • Episode 8
LatestAoba Suzuki is a gloomy high school freshman who has always been a social outcast, and he leads a fulfilling student life in which he continues to get beat up by his classmate, Sannosuke Iwase, in what he calls “pretend fights.” One day, Kenshin Akazawa, a student in the class next door who also happens to be a superstar in the martial arts world, saves Aoba from a “pretend fight.” But when Kenshin tells Aoba, “You really are empty, huh?” Aoba can’t let it go. He declares that he wants to punch Kenshin. Aoba joins the Shark Gym, which looks like it’s on the brink of shutting down, and enters the MMA Koshie n, a competition to determine the strongest high school martial artist. Aoba has his eyes on winning the championship, using the techniques he learned from Aochi, a grappler. A social outcast attempts Mixed Martial Arts A New Sports related Life Story
Acting
Keito Kimura's deadpan desperation — you can't look away.
Practical Effects
Actual MMA choreography that looks like it genuinely hurts.
Production
Shark Gym: so authentically depressing you'll smell the mildew.
Creator
Atsushi Namikiri
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gaku Sano (Tokiwa) is a real martial artist who competed in amateur MMA — the casting is suspiciously perfect.
The 'Koshien' name deliberately echoes Japan's famous high school baseball tournament, framing MMA as a legitimate scholastic sport — which it absolutely is not in reality.
JP
