Action · Comedy

Kinnikuman

Nintendo exclusive

Japanese manga series

Released: —
Platforms: Game Boy
Genres: Action Comedy
Developers: —
Publishers: Jump Comics Glénat Éditions
Country: Japan

About

Kinnikuman (キン肉マン; lit. 'Muscle Man') is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. Nakai and Takashi planned the series when they were attending high school originally as a parody to Ultraman.

The manga was originally published in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1979 to 1987, and was first adapted by Toei Animation into a 137-episode anime series broadcast on Nippon Television for three seasons from 1983 to 1986, with the final arc being adapted in 1991 as a fourth season. It restarted publication in 2011 in Shueisha's web magazine Shū Play News, and has spawned spin-off manga and anime series, video games, anime films, and several Kinnikuman-related merchandise.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

The story involves Kinnikuman (real name Suguru Kinniku), a clumsy, foolish, comical superhero who discovers that he is the missing prince of the planet Kinniku (known for producing the greatest superheroes in the universe). Since he is a clumsy fool, however, he must prove himself worthy of the throne. To do so he enters wrestling competitions and battles evil Chojin, culminating in a tournament between Kinnikuman and five pretenders to the throne: Kinnikuman Big Body, Soldier, Zebra, Mariposa and Super Phoenix. Many of Kinnikuman's allies begin as villains (Ramenman, Buffalo Man, Ashuraman and Warsman) or arrogant heroes (Terryman, Robin Mask and Wolfman). The heroes and villains are collectively known as Chojin, which literally means "supermen".

Mantaro Muscle (also known as Kid Muscle, Mantaro Kinniku in the Japanese version) is the spoiled son of superhero wrestler King Muscle (Kinnikuman in the Japanese version). After 28 years of peace, the Seigi Choujins' (Muscle League) old enemies regroup and form the Demon Manufacturing Plant (dMp, known in the English version as Destruction, Mayhem and Pain). The Muscle League has lost its edge and are overwhelmed by the young, well-trained fighters. Recognizing their weakness, the Seigi Chojin reopen the Hercules Factory (a school for superheroes) and begin training a new generation of heroes to take on the dMp.

Reception

The manga series has received several awards and sold well during both its 1980s serialization and its 2010s revival. In 1984, Kinnikuman won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award in the category Best Children's Manga. , a survey of the manga and publishing industries, named Kinnikuman the seventh-best manga series for male readers. Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine ranked it 23rd on the "Book of the Year" in 2019.

Several volumes of the series have been featured on Oricon's weekly chart of best-selling manga in Japan; all volumes between the 40th and the 66th have reached the top 20. Between 2008 and 2010, five volumes of Kinnikuman II Sei: Kyūkyoku no Chōjin Tag Hen also ranked on Oricon's top 30 list. The series as whole had over 77 million copies in circulation by 2021; As well as Kinnikuman's manga was considered a hit, the series' merchandise in general was also successful. by 2025, it had over 85 million copies in circulation.