Tough (manga)

Tough, known in Japan as High School Exciting Story: Tough (高校鉄拳伝タフ), is a Japanese martial arts manga series written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari. It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from 1993 to 2003, with its chapters collected in 42 tankōbon volumes. A sequel series, titled Tough (Latin-script title in the original release), was published in the same magazine from 2003 to 2012, with its chapters collected in 39 volumes. The first series was licensed in North America by Viz Media, who only published the first six volumes from 2005 to 2006.

A three-episode original video animation (OVA) series adaptation was released in 2002, and released in North America, as Shootfighter Tekken, by Central Park Media in 2004; the third episode was only released in North America. A spin-off series, titled Oton, has been irregularly published across three Shueisha's magazines from 2001 to 2008, in 2009, and in 2021. Another series, titled Tough: Ryū wo Tsugu Otoko, started in Shueisha's Weekly Playboy in 2015.

Plot
The story follows Kiichi "Kiibo" Miyazawa, a 17-year-old high school student, and his father, Seiko Miyazawa, who trains him in their family's secret martial art, Nadashinkage-ryu. Kiichi is passionate about martial arts and seeks strength by engaging in street fights and tournaments across Japan and beyond. The martial art involves a combination of punches, kicks, throws, grappling, and knowledge of pressure points on the human body. Kiichi's journey is driven by a desire to become strong and test his skills against fighters from various regions.

Characters

 * Kiichi Miyazawa (宮沢 憙一) / Kiibo (キー坊)
 * Kiibo has been trained in the Nadashinkage-ryu—a martial art constructed around the art of assassination—from his father since childhood in order to be the next successor. Kiibo must team-up with a rag-tag group of friends in his journey to become a master. He faces the challenge of defeating his numerous adversaries without employing his fighting style's lethal techniques, an ideology his uncle believes make him "weak".
 * Kiibo has been trained in the Nadashinkage-ryu—a martial art constructed around the art of assassination—from his father since childhood in order to be the next successor. Kiibo must team-up with a rag-tag group of friends in his journey to become a master. He faces the challenge of defeating his numerous adversaries without employing his fighting style's lethal techniques, an ideology his uncle believes make him "weak".


 * Seiko Miyazawa (宮沢 静虎) / Oton (オトン)
 * 14th master of the Nadashinkage-ryu. He has a calm personality, yet will put up a good fight whenever one occurs. A long time ago, before Kiichi was born, Seiko was one of the best fighters in the world. His retirement match against Iron Kiba is still talked about to this day.
 * 14th master of the Nadashinkage-ryu. He has a calm personality, yet will put up a good fight whenever one occurs. A long time ago, before Kiichi was born, Seiko was one of the best fighters in the world. His retirement match against Iron Kiba is still talked about to this day.


 * Kiryu Miyazawa (宮沢 鬼龍)
 * Seiko's twin brother and Kiichi's uncle. Unlike his brother, Kiryu is wicked and completely ruthless. In the side story Oton", it is revealed that Kiryu fathered a child with the daughter of the United States President. One of his children, Ryusei Nagaoka is a main character in the third series.


 * Sonō Miyazawa (宮沢 尊鷹)
 * The eldest Miyazawa sibling believed murdered by Kiryu, according to the series' back story, who later resurfaced as the Battle King of the Hyper Battle, a title bestowed on him because of his great fighting skill and his winning of the last tournament. He also has the ability to change his appearance with the use of a special technique. He is the Battle King


 * Kintoki Miyazawa (宮沢 金時)
 * 13th Master of Nadashinkage-ryu. Father of Seiko, grandfather of Kiichi.

Fighters

 * Mitsuhide Kuroda (黒田 光秀) / Ashura (阿修羅)
 * Master of rival style Nada Shinyō-ryu who becomes Kiichi's friend.
 * Master of rival style Nada Shinyō-ryu who becomes Kiichi's friend.


 * Masaharu Kiba (木場正治) / Iron Kiba (アイアン 木場)
 * The greatest pro wrestler in Japan. A very tall man with massive strength and an artificial eye, he has faced and defeated judoka, wrestlers and boxers through his career. He lost his eye against Seiko and vowed to destroy Nakashinkage-Ryu out of revenge.
 * The greatest pro wrestler in Japan. A very tall man with massive strength and an artificial eye, he has faced and defeated judoka, wrestlers and boxers through his career. He lost his eye against Seiko and vowed to destroy Nakashinkage-Ryu out of revenge.


 * Goji Kano (加納 剛次)
 * The number one school judoka in Japan and a future Olympic. Though he makes himself look like an honorable and respectful opponent, he is actually an arrogant and sadistic young man.


 * Yoshio Takahashi (高石 義生)
 * A brutal pro wrestler who was blacklisted from wrestling companies after crippling a Mexican champion named Chico Fernández with a piledriver technique. An eccentric but violent man, he trained muay thai in Thailand for three years, before working for Iron Kiba.
 * A brutal pro wrestler who was blacklisted from wrestling companies after crippling a Mexican champion named Chico Fernández with a piledriver technique. An eccentric but violent man, he trained muay thai in Thailand for three years, before working for Iron Kiba.


 * Heizo Onikawa (鬼川 平蔵)
 * A professional wrestler and jiu-jitsu expert, he was regarded as the best grappler on the planet. Onikawa works as a wrestling enforcer.
 * A professional wrestler and jiu-jitsu expert, he was regarded as the best grappler on the planet. Onikawa works as a wrestling enforcer.


 * Kiyomasa Samon (左門 清正)
 * A professional wrestler, disciple of Onikawa.
 * A professional wrestler, disciple of Onikawa.


 * Shingo Aoi (葵 新吾)
 * An agile jiu-jitsu fighter, expert in the use of the flying armbar. He was born in a rich family, but was overlooked by his parents in favour of his ill brother.
 * An agile jiu-jitsu fighter, expert in the use of the flying armbar. He was born in a rich family, but was overlooked by his parents in favour of his ill brother.


 * Krungthep Suwanpakdee (ギャルアッド・スワンパクティ)
 * Thailand's muay thai champion.


 * Noboru Asada (朝田 昇) / Chōshō (朝昇)
 * A shoot wrestling greatmaster. Former university student, he became feared in the pro wrestling world when he destroyed a wrestler who bullied him.


 * Heath Clancy (ヒース・クランシー)
 * A fighter from a family of martial artists, who competed in the tournament to fight his brother Gordon to avenge the death of their father, Emilio Clancy. He is defeated by Gordon and learns that their father actually died of cancer.


 * Gordon Clancy (ゴードン・クランシー)
 * Heath's big brother, unbeaten in 500 vale tudo matches. He fights to gain money for his ill son, and can use yoga to control his body. Kiichi defeats him at the end.


 * Shinichi Kiba (木場 新一) / Kibashin (キバシン)
 * The son of Iron Kiba. Unlike his father, he has some honor and respect for his opponents.


 * Remco Yarobu (レムコ・ヤーロブ)
 * Iron Kiba's hitman, he is a gigantic sumo wrestler from Hawaii. He actually wants to gain money for his alcoholic mother.


 * Enzo Sasagawa (笹川 エンゾウ)
 * A ferocious fighter who does not feel pain due to years of abuse from his parents.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, Tough: High School Iron Fist Legend was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from 1993 to 2003. Shueisha collected its chapters in 42 tankōbon volumes, released from March 13, 1994, and July 18, 2003. In North America, Viz Media released six volumes of the first manga series under its "Editor's Choice" imprint from January 4, 2005, to April 16, 2006. These volumes omitted some chapters and artwork for graphic violence, and have been discontinued.

A sequel series, Tough (Latin-script title), continued serialization in the magazine starting on July 31, 2003, and finished on July 19, 2012. Shueisha collected its chapters in 39 tankōbon volumes, released from January 19, 2004, to August 17, 2012.

A gaiden series, titled Oton (おとん), was irregularly published in Shueisha's Young Jump Zōkan Mankaku (from 2001 to 2008), and Monthly Young Jump (in 2009). Two volumes were released on January 19, 2004, and February 19, 2008. Another chapter was published in Grand Jump in 2021.

Another series, titled Tough: Ryū wo Tsugu Otoko (TOUGH 龍を継ぐ男) started in Weekly Playboy on December 21, 2015. Shueisha released the first volume on May 19, 2016. As of November 17, 2023, 29 volumes have been released.

Original video animation
The series received a three-episode original video animation (OVA) adaptation animated by AIC. The first two episodes were distributed by Spike in Japan and released on January 31 and March 28, 2002.

It was licensed in North America by Central Park Media as Shootfighter Tekken. The first two episodes were released on August 24 and October 19, 2004, respectively, while the third episode (unreleased in Japan) was released on December 7 of that same year.

Video game
A video game based on the series titled Tough: Dark Fight was released for the PlayStation 2 console in Japan on December 1, 2005. The fighting game takes place in between the two missing years between the two manga series. The game features a number of characters from the manga, as well as eight new characters.