Martial Master Asumi: Research Notes
Added 2024-05-01 21:00:03 +0000 UTCTitle:
Asumi Kakeru アスミカケル
Ah-sɯ-mee Kah-keh-rɯ
Author
Kawada 川田
Kah-wah-dah
Apparently his pen name comes from Japanese pro wrestler Toshiaki Kawada
Characters
Asumi, Baku
Asumi, Rei
Asumi, Toyoko
Ah-sɯ-mee, Toe-yo-ko
Asumi, Kazutora
Asumi, Nito
Ah-sɯ-mee, Knee-to
Personal name pretty much just means “second son” (“second man/boy”)
Asumi, Shiryu
Asumi, Kazuro
Asumi, Miu
Fuchida, Yuya
Fɯ-chee-dah, Yɯ-yah
Okiba, Na’o
Oh-kee-bah, Nah-oh
Remember that Na’o is two syllables and is now pronounced like “now”
Okiba, Yoshitoki
Oh-kee-bah, Yo-shee-toe-kee
Ito, Yoji
Ee-toe, Yo-jee
Do’i, Hiroko
Dough-ee, Hee-roe-ko
Shirase, Jin
Shee-rah-seh, Jean
Kozaki, Yuriko
Koe-zah-kee, Yɯ-ree-koe
Other
Ukemi 受身
ɯ-keh-mee
The art of falling safely in martial arts
Vale Tudo
VAH-lee TOO-doo
Portuguese for “anything goes”/”everything’s okay”
In Brazilian Portuguese, E at the end of a word is usually an “ee” sound (different in Europe), and an O at the end of a word is usually pronounced like “oo”
MaxyBee
Author: Kawada
Notable people they were an assistant for
Ryo Hoshino
on Ns'Aoi and/or Ns'Aoi ~THOSE DAYS~
Tadatoshi Fujimaki (of Robot x Laserbeam fame)
on Kuroko's Basketball
Notable people they had as assistants
none known
Other works
Hinomaru Sumo (2014-2019, 28 vols, Weekly Shonen Jump)
The most popular of a very small handful of sumo manga in Weekly Shonen Jump's history, despite its status as Japan's national sport. Not a massive seller, but enjoyed a significant amount of colour pages (like one every 10 chapters, roughly) throughout its run, three light novels, and an anime adaptation from Gonzo.
Publishing Details
Magazine:
Weekly Shonen Jump
Run Dates:
June 19, 2023 to February 12, 2024
Series it replaced:
its spot had been occupied by one-shots beforehand, unclear what series would have counted. I think I’ve used everything else on surrounding titles.
Series that replaced it
Dear Anemone by Rin Matsui (ongoing)
Series that started at the same time as it
Ice-Head Gill (2 vols, flop, Episode 92)
Chapters/Volumes:
32 chapters/4 volumes
Manga Itself / Misc thoughts
Kawada is obviously a pen name, and savvy pro-wrestling fans would have already guessed that it's in tribute to Toshiaki Kawada, the Best Match Machine, one of the four pillars of heaven, and quite possibly the greatest professional wrestler of all time.
The fake MMA organisations shown in chapter 9 have real world equivalents. Here’s two I identified:
Shugeki’s real world equivalent is Shooto, founded by TIGER MASK (well, the first one) in 1985
Cross Impact’s real world equivalent is Pancrase, founded by wrestling legends Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki in 1993. You should watch some old Pancrase, it’s real good!
A glasses fetish doesn’t have a traditional latin name, but people with too much time on their one free hand have decided to call themselves spectaphiles.
Yes the “Kid Tiger” mask is a reference to Tiger Mask (the wrestling persona and the manga that inspired it). Hence having it worn by Taiga, a guy fighting for his orphanage. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.
A knockout with a flying knee in under ten seconds will be familiar to any fans of Jorge Masvidal, who knocked out Ben Askren in 5 seconds with one.
The Dropout’s 70 kg and under championship belt is literally just the WWF (now WWE) Hardcore Championship.
The flaming eye effect is a visual motif brought over from Kawada’s debut series, Hinomaru Sumo
Chihiro Kunisaki, the inspirational MMA champion and father to Okome, is a significant character from Kawada’s debut series, Hinomaru Sumo. The character is a wrestling reference powerhouse, performing Cena’s Attitude Adjustment in a Hinomaru Sumo OP, having a nickname pinched from Randy Orton, and a design based off of ANOTHER greatest wrestler ever candidate, Satoshi Kojima, including a breathing strip on his nose.
Ayako Hanagasaki is an ‘ojou’ type character, an upper-class wealthy young woman with ringlet hair and a fancy laugh one would typically do into the back of their hand. OH~HOHOHO. A genuine anime cliche, and one you can read more about on tvtropes or whatever.
Volume extras include:
Character profiles
Move explanations (with mini-profiles of those who pioneered them)
Explanations from Grandpa about rules and concussions and such.
Pointless trivia (i.e. what injuries the bullies got in chapter 1, whether Kazuro is allowed to train at gyms in Japan with his tattoo)
Bonus comics (both full page and little gags between chapters)
Staff credits (with accompanying cheesecake of the series’ many buff women)