The Climber, Vol. 2

孤高の人 [Kokō no Hito] #3-4

by Shin'ichi Sakamoto (Illustrator), Jirō Nitta (Creator), Yoshio Nabeda

Buntaro Mori is a loner, but being alone in a crowd is almost as bad as being forced to fit in. When a dangerous bid for solitude introduces Mori to the rush of solo climbing, he becomes addicted to the brilliant sense of freedom he finds as he pits his body and soul against the heights. But how high does he have to climb to leave humanity behind?

For a brief, brilliant moment, Mori thought he had found his purpose in life, but after an unscrupulous reporter’s sensationalized article gets the climbing club canceled, he finds himself more at odds with the world than ever. With nothing left to lose, Mori agrees to go alpine climbing with Kurosawa, the very reporter who ruined everything, not caring that he obviously doesn’t have Mori’s best interests at heart. But Kurosawa isn’t trying to destroy Mori. He just wants to ignite the boy’s intense potential, no matter who it hurts.

Genres: Manga, Sports, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels Manga, Mountaineering, Climbing

450 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2025

About the author

Sakamoto Shin'ichi (坂本眞一) is a Japanese mangaka.
He is mostly famous for his series Innocent and Innocent Rouge.
He is currently working on #DRCL midnight children based on the classic by Bram Stoker.

Reviews

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m no longer me. I’m one with the mountain!

The singleminded pursuit of a goal. An almost frightening dedication to one thing and only one thing, nothing can get in his way. When a former classmate appears and seduces him- for the first time, he isn’t filled with a singleminded purpose. I believe he will climb K2

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid five stars up until the last couple of chapters. Too explicit for me, and totally jarred me out of the somber beginning of the volume. Super disappointed, but also kind of glad that I don’t have much reason to invest in the rest of the series.

[Eros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peak fiction. Peak Art. Everyone read this

[Noah Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mori, determined to climb as he always does finds himself going up the Amida south ridge all by his lonesome, when all the sudden, a blizzard strikes down. There's no time for help to be called, so Oshino and his old rope partner must climb to reach Mori and make sure he comes back safe.

I cannot get over this series and how in love with it I am, I said it enough in my last review, but Mori's passion and desire is so strong you really feel it through the pages, and it just keeps getting stronger the more I read.

Oshino and Kurosawas backstory was so intense and heartbreaking while pursuing Mori up the ridge, the tension, the grudges, the pent up energy against the partner killer is undeniable.

The delivery in their story, taking the blame for the murder, all the misunderstanding, while climbing he found redemption and a new fire, it's all just SO GOOD.

Oshino looking up to Mori climbing this icy mountain with no gear, raw, asks himself if he's just been climbing a sand hill, and that sent shivers down my SPINE.

Kurosawas and Mori's philosophy against Oshinos, the amazing focus on this dynamic is so thrilling and conflicting and I can't stress enough how much I loved reading through all of this.

Oshinos death was unexpected, and it hurts so much, especially after seeing how everything Mori touches turns to shit, his stubbornness still prevails as he seeks to live, lives to climb, or rather climbs to live, it's just AHSHSH.

I was not expecting a time skip either, seeing how our cast shaped up is HEARTBREAKING. I loved Yumi bro what the hell HAPPENED, and Miyamoto moved to france, and I genuinely feel so connected to these characters and they feel so real and it's a lot to handle seeing it like this.

Everything about The Climber is so immersive and attached to who I perceive myself as a person, and it's honestly one of my favorite manga series I've read so far and I'm only 2 volumes IN (albeit big ones)

The art is immaculate and never fails to impress me, the panelling is phenomenal, the story is beyond amazing so far, I genuinely can't wait to read more and get lost in this amazing world.

[Marc Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was on a whole other level. I’m starting to see why people say this series is one of the best OAT.

Volume 2 took it even deeper into exploration of isolation, loneliness, obsession and passion. Mori is a character I simultaneously like and dislike, intentional by the author. I want him to set aside his “loner persona” and desire to do things alone, but I get where he’s coming from.

So far, all the characters feel extremely human and fleshed out in that way. Not good or bad, just flawed people.



SPOILERS AHEAD:

Oniishi’s death hurt BAD.

Yumi became just the worst too. One could argue that she’s just as human as the other characters, but her sexual assault on Mori was just terrible. I definitely think that things getting to the point they did is overall Kurosawa’s fault, but that doesn’t excuse what she did.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mori once again finds himself at the center of drama where he gets more blame than he should. Did he unsafely climb a cliff face? Yes, but he did it to save a classmate and the media used it to start trouble.

Then they started more trouble and Mori got himself caught in a blizzard on the side of a mountain and the only reason he survived was because he rejected the safety of civilization.

But even this had consequences where he… once again, got blamed for an accident. Honestly at this point I don’t blame him for wanting nothing to do with other people, even if they do mean well.

This omnibus contains volumes 1-2.
This series has 17 volumes.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume really shoves it in your face that people die during rock climbing, which very effectively raises the stakes of this sports manga. Normally the highest consequences a character might face in your average sports manga is like, concern over a back injury or graduating before they make it to Koshien.

Also, even if you don't die, you get horrible frostbite blisters that the author illustrates in nightmarish detail.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I was super into this and felt so bad when Ohnishi died and was cheering Mori on when he wanted to climb K2. But Yumi’s sexual assault on Mori was completely unexpected and threw me for a 180 degree loop. I really needed better trigger warnings to prepare me for that. I probably will go ahead and finish the third volume because I want to see if he conquers K2, but the whole assault issue was def a big drawback for me.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mori gets lured by Kurosawa to climb a dangerous mountain with no gear. His teach Mr. Onishi chases after him to save him but sadly get caught by rocks. Two years past by and Mori is living frugal to save for rock climbing gear and Kurosawa finds him and entices him to join a wealthy individual to climb the K2 mountain with him and his team.

[matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

woah… first of all, they killed my guy ohnishi. that’s not cool at all, i cried. second of all, they just had to add a scene where mori is being SA’d???? why?? one star taken off for that, i don’t enjoy the normalization of SA in manga, regardless of how “graphic” it is. it’s not necessary to the plot.

[Tahani Hc · Rating 5 out of 5]

midori is sooo relatable, you cant even hate him for wanting to do anything and everything alone. Every event that takes place just gives you a more and more understanding of him.

[Nicholas Dehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is just ridiculous and the story has kept me on my toes. I did not expect some of these turns. I want to see what Miyamoto is up to now!

[Mersi · Rating 5 out of 5]

O...M...G!!

I wasn't sure anything could beat Vol. 1, but....I cried tears of sadness and frustration. so freaking amazing

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kid is crazy intense.

[leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

page 254🫡🔥

[Al Capwned · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first volume. At some point I had the feeling that the author might be influenced by Elia Kazan's "America, America" (only when it comes to a specific part).

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serving verse same as the first, beautiful art but now we get good character writing as well

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mahdiye HajiHosseini · Rating 5 out of 5]

چقدر دارک شد، همانطور که از جناب ساکاموتو انتظار میرفت.

[Chris K.]

God the art is so beautiful. I wanna get back into climbing because of this manga lwk

[Andrew Wenzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art work improved. The story is more interesting after the high school arc.

[Kamis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mori may be a great climber, but he's also kind of an idiot. I am still enjoying the series though.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

bro, shit gets so much better

[Hale Burckin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still an amazing read, but things are getting a little weirder. Kind wished it had stayed with high school. Definitely wanted more of those characters.

[shania austine · Rating 4 out of 5]

i want to climb a mountain now

[Caroline Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dang yumi

[bErgUP · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7