In recent months, I’ve been getting back into manga. Most I read once—catch up to the latest issue, and then forget about completely. But every once in a while, there’s a manga that so captures my attention, I make it a point to pick it up week after week (or month after month as the case may be). And I figure that if I enjoy a manga that much, you all might too. So without further ado, here is my first manga recommendation for you all: Saotome Senshu, Hitakakusu—lit. “Athlete Saotome, Cover Up.”
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First, the set up: Satoru loves boxing. He’s been obsessed with the sport since he was little. He eats, breathes, and sleeps it. Yet there’s just one problem. Despite his immense knowledge of everything boxing, he’s not very good at it. Having never won a match in his high school career, he’s thinking of quitting the sport.
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Yae Saotome is another member of the same boxing club. But Yae isn’t your average boxer. While she had never boxed at all before high school, within three months she had not only won the regional championship but came in second in the national inter-high school championships. Now in her second year like Satoru, people are already whispering her name as one of the favorites to join Japan’s 2020 Olympic boxing team.
Yet there’s one thing that Yae loves even more than boxing: Satoru himself.
But when she confesses her feelings, he rejects her—but not because he doesn’t like her. In fact, he idolizes her. He just doesn’t want to get in the way of her Olympic dreams. And that’s not to mention the troubles that would come from her rabid fanclub or their principal who wants to use Yae to put their school on the map.
Figuring out what is going on—and knowing how the rejection will affect Yae as a boxer—their coach comes up with a plan. She orders Satoru to become Yae’s trainer and boyfriend. However, if anyone finds out that they are dating, she’ll make it her mission in life to keep the two apart. Thus begins the cute love story of two meat-heads trying to make their way through their first serious relationship.
Athlete Saotome is equal parts realistic sports, light romance, and slice-of-life comedy. On the sports side of things, the manga shows both Yae and Satoru’s matches and focuses on the boxing culture that surrounds them. Moreover, while Yae is amazingly strong and can utterly destroy pretty much anyone her own age, she’s far from the best overall. The real challenge awaiting her is the established amateur boxers who will also be gunning for a spot in the Olympics.
And while forcing the two to date was originally just a ploy to help Yae’s mental health, Satoru shines even more as her trainer. Not only is he always watching her, eager to give her any edge he can, he is able to reign in her more reckless tendencies even when their coach is unable to. On the other side of the coin, she inspires him to be better—to not give up on boxing but instead redouble his own efforts.
But as great of a combination as they make professionally, their romance is a bit of a train wreck. Part of this is because neither Satoru nor Yae have been in a relationship before. But just as important is who they are as people.
Satoru is kind and outgoing with a passion for boxing that is contagious. However, this also means he says exactly what he thinks without considering how his words can be interpreted.
Image Source: スピリッツ編集部
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Yae, on the other hand, speaks rarely. And because of this, and her dead fish eyes, people assume she is a “cool beauty” who isn’t bothered by normal people troubles. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite her absolutely ripped figure and tendency to wear sportswear all the time, she wants to be treated like a normal girl—especially by Satoru. And she has all the worries that normal girls have—like body weight and looking cute—and a few that most girls don’t. After all, most girls don’t have thighs so muscular that they can’t find a pair of jeans that will fit both legs and waist.
Their conflicting personality types and utter romantic inexperience is the impetus for most of the comedy in the manga. However, it is helped along by the inclusion of Mito. Satoru’s classmate, she stumbles upon the pair’s secret. But rather than reveal it, she is content to mess with them. Sometimes, she tricks the pair into cliché romantic situations to see how exactly they’ll mess it up. Other times, she is the devil in Yae’s ear, playing on her lack of experience and insecurities to talk her into doing foolish-yet-romantic things. However, while Mito is certainly enjoying the results of her mischief—so much so that she becomes the club’s manager just to maximize her time with them—she does want the pair to stay together. Everything she does is in the hopes that it will make them closer in the long run.
Image Source: スピリッツ編集部
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In the end, if I were to describe Athlete Saotome in one word, it’d be “wholesome.” While there is drama—be that in the sports aspect or the romance aspect—it never falls into melodrama. It’s just the story of two people who love each other but aren’t sure what exactly that means or how it is supposed to factor into their lives. Moreover, there aren’t really any villains—just rivals who are all aiming for the same goal as our lovable pair. So if you’re looking for something lighthearted—full of relatable laughs and exciting boxing drama—check out Athlete Saotome, Cover Up.
Athlete Saotome, Cover Up runs in Big Comic Spirits magazine. It is currently not officially available in English.
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