420https://i.ur.com/2chsYCm.jpeg I Martial arts is a genre that I love dearly in this medium but sadly is one that I find boringly traversed these days. In my eyes most are defined by a gimmick that quickly wears out or overstays its welcome and becomes erratic. Really only a handful of releasing series in the past decade had decent competency namely OPMhttps://anilist.co/manga/74347/OnePunchMan/ Reirihttps://anilist.co/manga/106035/Reiri/ Batuquehttps://anilist.co/manga/105774/Batuque/ and Hinomaru Sumohttps://anilist.co/manga/85612/HinomaruSumo/ and a few Bakishttps://anilist.co/manga/41425/GrapplerBaki/. Unsurprisingly theres been a shift in the genres landscape compared to a couple of decades ago. There tends to be more focus on hype characters/moments and gimmicks like the battle royale format or isekai which mostly comes off as cheap and monotonous in my eyes. This isnt where I raise a pitchfork and demand a return to traditional values though. There are series that fit this described mold somewhat yet possess refreshing value. Tsuyoshi being the fore front runner. As a simple analogy Tsuyoshi reads off like a cynical blend of OPMhttps://anilist.co/manga/74347/OnePunchMan/ and Bakihttps://anilist.co/manga/41425/GrapplerBaki/. II The impervious ordinarylooking protagonist. I blame a certain manwha for spreading this trope like wildfire in godknows how many manwha and manhua often reducing it to aura farming and fast power development for easy dopamine. Obviously theres no merit in criticizing brainrot for being brainrot and I enjoy it as much as the average 16 yearold Indian. But theres not much thematic presence in how this trope is typically done OPM however did it extremely well in its comedic relief with Saitama indifferently oneshotting monsters but also presenting the consequential emotional isolation of being the strongest. Tsuyoshi does this and adds even richer characterization. Tsuyoshi wears his heart on his sleeve. Hes one of the strongest characters in the series and emotionally and mentally the weakest. Martial arts mangaka generally follow two lines of writing or some variant in regards to their protagonists a weak underdog rising and coming up on top or a strong individual with some lofty goal. The point being that the protagonists possess or develop an ironclad mental fortitude that applies beyond fighting and to our mundane lives. Tsuyoshi however does not. 300 chapters thus far and he has does and likely for the foreseeable future will have a childs emotional and mental intelligence. Tsuyoshi mocks the genre. The cookiecutter martial arts or general action shounen protagonists strength and character development grow in tandem while Tsuyoshi stagnates. His romantic endeavors have failed thrice in a row his estranged family relationships grow further estranged he loses his legal identity as a result of political strife hes extremely inept at the single thing hes passionate about all his circumstances eventually result in unwanted conflict. All of these consequences of his strength. Its mockingly comical how rather than gaining Tsuyoshi continuously finds himself in deeper loss because of his power both in the material and character sense. And ironically this antigenre approach is what makes Tsuyoshi a worthy inheritor of my favorite goldenage martial arts series in its originality by breaking away from the mold. The most important aspect of any martial arts series that I value is subversion. Theres no point in fights if the audience already knows the outcome lest youre doing parlays. And subverting other areas of writing benefits this which I find is Tsuyoshis brilliance. III Going on a brief tangent Baki remains my alltime favorite martial arts series. For pureblooded martial arts series I find it very rare to find one that imposes its side characters as fullyfunctional rather than vehicles for the protagonists development and fight scenes. Certainly theres Bakis longevity to credit but Itagakihttps://anilist.co/staff/99488/KeisukeItagakis proficient in imbuing his characters with their own martials art philosophies and personalities that make every interaction both mundane and exciting charming and ridiculous. Maruyamahttps://anilist.co/staff/140310/KyousukeMaruyama writes in a lesser but similar vein. Tsuyoshi possesses both comical charm that doesnt wring out the same gimmick and bears characters with circumstances that arent solely external vehicles. Teru being one such great instance exemplified by his fallfromgrace his ascent another fallfromgrace and another ascent but with very different and interesting circumstances and characterization in each scenario. The characters gravitate to Tsuyoshi for his strength with interesting motives that pave way to exciting conflicts which instill him and others with characterization. The China/Japan vs Russia arc being another great example. It transformed the overpowered protagonist bit into a Cold War reenactment. Although not nearly as ludicrous as Bakihttps://www..com/watch?v=7ZwYJow3Blw Tsuyoshi maintains a ridiculous plot at times but the progression is sensible and keeps the audience excited. It doesnt rely on a tired out gimmick to retain entertainment value Tsuyoshi draws from its characters plot progression and fights to continue interest. The gimmicks dont tire themselves out either. Maruyama surprisingly retained the simp gimmicks comedic value longer than I expected but also wrote it into Tsuyoshis character development as of late. Same application with Terus onesided bromance. Its extremely satisfying to see a mangaka competent in keeping his sources of entertainment refreshing for over 300 chapters at this point in time. IV Refreshing martial arts manga are a scarcity these days and Tsuyoshi is the golden child among them. Maruyama has proved great competency in making an original mold out of the overpowered protagonist trope. He maintains a great balance between sensibility and ludicrous gimmicks and somber characterization and exciting plot progressions throughout 300 chapters thus far. In todays martial arts landscape riddled with onetrick gimmicks Tsuyoshi traverses it as my number one favorite manga at the moment. Perhaps others may find it ridiculous or generic but I believe that theres wellthought out writing behind it that continues to keep me immersed.