Shamo (manga)
is a Japanese manga series written by and Izo Hashimoto and illustrated by Tanaka. It was first serialized in Futabasha's manga Weekly Manga Action from 1998 to 2003 and moved to Evening in 2004. It was discontinued in 2007 due to creative differences but returned in 2011 and ended in 2015. It tells a story of a boy who killed his parents and turned himself into a cold-blooded martial artist. The manga inspired a Hong Kong film adaptation released in 2007.
Plot
Ryo Narushima, a gifted high school student on track to attend the Tokyo University, murders his parents in a sudden act of violence. Convicted at 16, he is sent to a reformatory where he endures brutal assaults until Kenji Kurokawa, a former revolutionary imprisoned for an attempted assassination of the Prime Minister, teaches him karate. Ryo survives, hones his skills, and is released after two years—but not before viciously retaliating against his tormentors.Now free, Ryo drifts through Tokyo's criminal underworld, working as a gigolo and ambushing gangsters to refine his fighting abilities. He enters the Banryukai karate tournament, using psychological warfare and blackmail to secure victory. Despite backlash over his ruthless tactics, Banryukai leader Kensuke Mochizuki validates his win, acknowledging Ryo's skill.
Ryo's next challenge is Naoto Sugawara, a top Banryukai fighter. To provoke him, Ryo rapes Sugawara's girlfriend, forcing a televised showdown at the Tokyo Dome. After grueling steroid-enhanced training, Ryo—despite being outmatched—unleashes a hidden left-handed assault, nearly defeating Sugawara before collapsing. Their feud culminates in a brutal rematch at an abandoned temple, where Ryo leaves Sugawara hospitalized with a critical neck injury.
Later, Ryo attracts the attention of Toma Takahara, a former ballet dancer obsessed with "saving" him. After Ryo's physical decline from steroid abuse, he competes in a grappling tournament organized by Mochizuki, facing Toma's team. Though weakened by a stab wound mid-event, Ryo psychologically dismantles Toma before passing out from blood loss. The aftermath sees Mochizuki ousted and the Banryukai fractured, while Kurokawa dies mysteriously.
In the final story arc, Ryo begins a relationship with a woman whose father hires assassins to kill him. After defeating one attacker, Ryo succumbs to his injuries in a forest, his fate ambiguously symbolized by tattered remnants of his crow-patterned shirt.