or ''The Climber'' is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written by

Shin-ichi Sakamoto is a Japanese manga artist known for his ''seinen'' manga series ''Kokou no Hito'' and the ''Innocent'' duology. Both ''Kokou no Hito'' and ''Innocent'' were awarded an Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. His newest series '' # ...

and Yoshirō Nabeda and illustrated by Sakamoto, based on a novel by Jirō Nitta. It was originally serialized in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' from November 2007 to October 2012, with its chapters collected in 17 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. It tells the story of introvert solo

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

Mori Buntarō—partially based on real-life mountain climber Buntarō Katō—who is introduced to

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...

after being transferred to a new high school and later dedicates his entire life to professional mountain climbing, keeping the ascent of K2's East Face as his goal. In 2010, ''Kokou no Hito'' won an Excellence Prize at the 14th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

Synopsis

The story follows a lonesome and "gloomy" student named and his journey from the discovery of his new passion, climbing, starting from a high school climbing club, to being a world class professional climber. Going through the different stages of his life dealing with loneliness, solo climbing, and depression, in pursue of his dream, conquering the most difficult mountain, K2.

Publication

Written by

and Yoshirō Nabeda and illustrated by Sakamoto, ''Kokou no Hito'' was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from 1 November 2007 to 27 October 2011. Shueisha collected its chapters in seventeen ''

'' volumes, released from 18 April 2008 to 18 November 2011.

Volume list

Reception

''Kokou no Hito'' won an Excellence Prize in the Manga Division at the 14th

in 2010. It also won the Best ''Seinen'' Manga category at the 2011 Prix Mangawa Awards.

References

External links

* {{Weekly Young Jump - 2000–2009 2007 manga Mountaineering in anime and manga Shueisha manga Seinen manga