Heavy

へう゛ぃ

Aired: 1990

50-minute original video anime adapting Motoka Murakami's 'Heavy,' serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday, directed by Noboru Ishiguro. Set in 1980s America, this sports-drama follows a Japanese-American young man raised in the slums who is discovered by a manager battling terminal cancer and rises through the heavyweight boxing ranks. With committed performances by Yasunori Matsumoto and Hiromi Tsuru, the work brings forceful boxing action and the bond of men chasing dreams at the cost of their lives. The gekiga-flavored artwork and tense match staging delivered a satisfying adaptation, channeling the manga's masculine, hot-blooded soul as a hard-edged boxing OVA. (C)Motoka Murakami / Shogakukan