Run on Your New Legs, Vol. 3

Run on Your New Legs #3

by Wataru Midori

東京2020延期! 義足の高校生は…?

義足の高校生・菊里は
パラリンピック出場者の堂島と出会い、
パラアスリートで初めて憧れの選手、そして大人を知る。
しかし、相棒である義肢装具士の千鳥が
堂島と過去の因縁があったことが明かされる。

一方、中学生の頃からの親友でサッカー部仲間の武川は
サッカー部顧問から退部を勧められ、
一年前の菊里が事故に遭った日々から今までを振り返るが…

そして、新型コロナウイルスのために
諸大会が中止になってしまった山ヶ峰高校陸上部の面々たち。
失った左足を競技用の義足で走り始めた
高校生男子の葛藤・衝突・成長ーー

少年の再生と歓喜の物語は止まらない!!

Genres: Manga, Sports, Contemporary, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Disability, Seinen

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2020

About the author

Name (in native Japanese): みどりわたる

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad we finally get into Take's head this volume - I suspected that he was mired in a combination of his own guilt, anxiety, and horrible intrusive thoughts of "abandonment," and that proves to be true. It's a terrible, and very real, cocktail of emotions, and it might be harder for him to come out of it than for Shouta to begin moving forward because his pain is locked in his head. This volume also does a solid job with the way that Covid crept up and pounced on the world, and I think it may be set to explore what having a toxic family member home all the time can do.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kikuzato is not Chidori’s first foray into athletic prosthetics, so why isn’t the latter a bigger name in the field? As we chew on that question and Kikuzato’s new leg is being built, well, real life slams into the manga hard. And the question now becomes, how badly do you want to run if you don’t have anywhere to go?

This volume takes an interesting sports manga and decides that it’s about to tackle something head on that I’ve only seen dealt with in Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You so far: COVID. What’s not helping a sports manga? Cancelling all the events.

So this wobbles off its path and decides to forge a new road and it’s definitely not a bad start. For one thing, the artistic conceit to keep showing expressions of masked speakers is brilliant and incredibly clever. Really shows what a talented artist can do. And it certainly carves a unique space for itself.

We also get the slightly less successful stage left introduction of Kikuzato’s utter boor of a father, who is suddenly working from home and such an absolute idiot that his casual cruelty almost turns him in a manga stereotype, except he has no gambling debt. For as interesting as most characters have been, he seems to exist to crap on things and that’s not super compelling.

It’s pretty obvious that this sudden change in the world and the decision to incorporate it into the manga (I’ve seen more than a couple books just ignore the pandemic entirely) has caused some massive rejiggers to the plot, so a little wonky is kind of expected. Also you can caveat all this talk - if you are sick of the pandemic and don’t feel like reliving that, avoid this story.

Before the arrival of COVID, however, we finally get Chidori’s backstory and we see that he’s less a conman than a confidence man (don’t even bother - I know and I’m saying it anyway), and the person he has the most confidence in is himself. He bit off way more than he could chew back in the day, however, and Kikuzato is his chance to show what he’s truly made of. It makes him much more dynamic as a character than he previously seemed.

The other big conflict this volume is between Kizukato and Takekawa over their past friendship. This is one of those situations where both parties are kind of in the wrong and neither wants to admit it. Kizukato ghosted Takekawa after his accident, which is unfortunate but very believable, but he still let the friendship die because he couldn’t reach out.

For his part, Takekawa feels rejected and more than a little awful because he not only blames Kizukato for his current status in the football club, but because he can admit to himself that his primary desire for Kizukato to never have lost his limb would be so they could play on the school team and he could achieve the high school life he dreamed of.

Which is what we call scapegoating. Takekawa is willing to blame everybody for not being as good as his friend, but can’t seem to figure out that if he made more of an effort to adapt to them he might get ahead a bit more. He’s more stuck in the past than Kikuzato, ironically.

So, it’s not perfect, but it’s quite good. The considerations for an athlete with different needs have always been front and centre and I have to appreciate any book that makes me think of things in a new light. Chidori’s speech about why every event or Paralympics matters so much more to these people is so obvious in retrospect, but having your horizons broadened is never a bad thing.

The moment to moment writing is not as sharp. Dad is kind of a mess of a character and, as noted, the sudden story pivot is interesting but definitely feels like it’s scrambling to stabilize itself in the face of the new normal. Which, in a way, speaks to it’s verisimilitude, so, maybe I’m just being picky.

3.5 stars - definitely worth the round up to 4 this time, I am very interested to see where we’re going and the usual technical aspects remain fascinating, but it is definitely a story that clearly got hit out of nowhere with the pandemic and now has to find itself once more to move forward.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as Shouta Kikuzato is finding his way as an athlete again with his new prosthetic leg, the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly disrupts his plans and those of his friends.

And the biggest disruption is arguably Kikuzato's usually absent father actually playing a role in his life now that he has to work from home.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 15. Don't Let It Show on Your Face -- Chapter 16. The Last Pass -- Chapter 17. On My Own -- Chapter 18. Phantom Pain -- Chapter 19. To Cheer Him Up -- Chapter 20. Putting My Mind to It -- Chapter 21. Young and Exciting High School Lives -- Chapter 22. Check Socket -- Special Thanks -- Bonus -- Translation Notes -- Preview of the Next Volume

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I have a few mixed feelings concerning this volume but only because with us finally getting Take's perspective, I really wanted to see more communication between him and Shouta after their confrontation. I felt like that arc(?) was cut short and really was hoping this whole volume would focus on their friendship (or lack of), but it didn't unfold quite like that.

However, I was grateful we FINALLY saw more of Take and what exactly has been going on with him personally! It was interesting seeing the perspective of someone who was deeply close to Shouta and how Shouta's accident affected him. In many ways, Take's own life was in shambles, and felt his struggles were so realistic and relatable. On that "final page" we see of him, my heart completely broke for him. I have no idea if he and Shouta's friendship will heal and bloom once again or not, but I think that is something I personally wanted for them (their friendship healing I mean), especially after seeing how hard Take was struggling.

This is the first time I've read a fictional story where we see the impact of Covid on *fictional* characters and not just the manga creators sharing in their "author's note" of how it's affected them. I feel that if someone were reading this as an athlete and had gone through Shouta's exact struggle (or even the third years), I could imagine it would be deeply relatable! I personally wasn't super fond of seeing the introduction of Covid in the story, but I appreciate how Shouta is starting to find what his reason is for running and what he wants to do to keep running.

His Dad is absolute crap. I'm glad we haven't seen him on page until now because I want to rip him off the page.

Overall, I really liked this volume even if it sounds like I didn't. Very curious as to where the story is going next!

[Zilliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize when this series was being made and got surprised when covid got mentioned and started affecting the plot lol.

[eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

โดนมังงะชุดนี้ตกเพราะเกี่ยวกับการวิ่ง แค่นั้นเลย ไม่ได้ดูด้วยว่ามันเป็นเรื่องราวเกี่ยวกับอะไร รู้แค่ว่าวิ่ง วิ่งอย่างเดียว เอาค่ะ! ซื้อ! (พูดกับพี่ ผจก นายอินทร์ 55555)

โชตะคุง เป็นเด็กมัธยมปลายปี 1 ที่ประสบอุบัติเหตุ ทำให้เสียขา 1 ข้างไป มันอาจจะไม่ใช่เรื่องใหญ่อะไรถ้าโชตะคุงไม่ได้จะเอาจริงเอาจังกับการเตะฟุตบอล หลังจากที่พักรักษาตัว โชตะคุงกลับมาเรียนอีกครั้งแบบซ้ำชั้น และแน่นอน ต้องออกจากชมรมฟุตบอลด้วย แต่การซ้ำชั้นทำให้มีโอกาสได้เจอเพื่อนใหม่ รวมไปถึงคุณชิโดริ ช่างทำแขนขาเทียม โชตะคุงจับพลัดจับผลูได้ไปเข้าชมรมกรีฑาและเริ่มออกวิ่งอีกครั้ง

และเพื่อนๆในชมรมกรีฑานี่แหละที่ทำให้โชตะคุงอยากจะเอาชนะตัวเอง ด้วยการฝึกซ้อมอย่างหนักเพื่อเข้าร่วมแข่งขันการวิ่งของคนพิการ

มังงะ 5 เล่มจบนี้ยังไม่ทำให้เราฟินเท่าไร เราว่ามันยังสนุกไม่สุดแต่ก็ดีที่ได้อ่าน มิตรภาพระหว่างเพื่อนน่ารักเสมอ น้ำใจนักกีฬาที่หยิบยื่นให้กัน ชมรมคนใส่ขาเทียมที่เข้าอกเข้าใจกันเป็นอย่างดี โดยที่ไม่มีใครรู้สึกน้อยใจในโชคชะตาเลย บางไม่มีขามาตั้งแต่กำเนิด บางคนเป็นโรคร้ายเลยต้องตัดขา บางคนประสบอุบัติเหตุ แต่ทุกคนใช้ชีวิตปกติดี ไม่ได้มีใครมานั่งเห็นใจหรือสงสาร ทุกคน treat พวกเค้าเท่าๆกัน ซึ่งดีมาก

นอกจากนั้นคุณชิโดริได้ทำให้โชตะคุงได้รู้จักกับขาเทียมสำหรับวิ่งโดยเฉพาะ ทำให้โชตะได้สัมผัสถึงความอยากออกวิ่งอีกครั้ง เราว่ามันเป็นมังงะที่ดีอีกเรื่องหนึ่งเลย เราได้รับข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับขาเทียมแบบที่ไม่เคยรู้มาก่อน รู้เลยว่าคุณนักเขียนทำ research มาเป็นอย่างดี ได้เรียนรู้ท่าทางการวิ่งที่ถูกต้อง และแน่นอน มันทำให้เราอยากหยิบรองเท้าวิ่งออกไปวิ่งเลย

แต่มันมีอย่างนึงที่ทำให้เรารู้สึกแปลกๆคือการเอาโรคโควิดนี้เข้าไปเป็นหนึ่งในเหตุการณ์ในมังงะ (เพราะเรื่องนี้เขียนขึ้นตอนที่โควิดเริ่มระบาดพอดี) เรารู้สึกแปลกมากที่เห็นตัวละครใส่หน้ากาก รู้สึกว่าไม่อยากให้มันเป็นหนึ่งในเรื่องราวที่ต้องจารึกไว้เลยกับความยากลำบากที่ต้องเผชิญ

แต่สิ่งหนึ่งที่เราชอบเกี่ยวกับมังงะโชเน็นคือการได้เห็นชีวิตมัธยมของเด็กๆที่สดใส เรามีชมรมให้เข้าหลังเลิกเรียนมันดีมากๆเลย จำไม่ได้แล้วว่าตอนเราอยู่มัธยมนั้นมันมีอะไรแบบนี้ให้ทำไหม รู้สึกว่าพอมีกิจกรรมให้ทำ มีงานอดิเรกให้ได้สนใจ มีเพื่อนๆรุ่นน้องรุ่นพี่นอกคลาสให้ได้สนิทกัน ดีจังเลยยยย

[Em reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the flow of this book! I haven’t read as many sports mangas but I love the unique quality this one sheds light on!!

This manga revealed a bit more into the relationship between Kikuzato and his old friend, and I enjoy learning more about his past! I also really like the way this book included COVID, because I’ve never read a fiction book that dealt with the pandemic and I like that take!

Definitely a good edition to the series!!

[Maureen Kesterson-Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still like the actual storyline but I’m kinda bummed the author added Covid

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by what Midori was able to do in this volume. Not only do I now understand where Chidori's optimism comes from and how Kikuzato and Takekawa need to reconcile over their friendship dissolving post accident, they were able to incorporate COVID in a sudden but meaningful way. This is the first time I've seen the pandemic talked about in media (beyond the Drag Race Season 13 special), and while I do agree with Mark's point of its inclusion feeling sudden, the virus does raise the stakes of Kikuzato getting to his goal. Incorporating facial expressions behind the masks was also a clever and sneaky detail. I even appreciated getting more of Usami so he doesn't come across as flat.

There were some reveals that didn't have as much impact as they likely should have (I referenced one in my status updates), but at least Run on Your New Legs is starting to find its ground after an okay start and iffy translation. I'm going to have to wait on the last two volumes now that I'm caught up. However, I'm interested to see where this series goes next and how it'll wrap the conflicts up.

[Momo · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some parts I really liked about this volume and there were other parts I thought were just boring. I am still enjoying this series but that first volume was just so good, so these last two volumes have been a bit disappointing.

[The Book Nerd's Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third installment of "Run On Your New Legs" has Kikuzato testing out the beta version of his prosthetic leg, bring him one step closer to acquiring a blade of his own.

After meeting a para athlete, Kikuzato is newly inspired to push the limits of how fast he can run. But this takes him further and further from his past life as a fantastic soccer player—which also increases the distance separating him from his ex-best friend, Takekawa. As some relationship continue to deteriorate, Kikuzato finds himself growing closer to those who are willing to support him through his journey while he learns how to run on his new blade.

This volume focuses a ton on Take and Usami. Take's tale tells about how he wanted to keep in touch with Kikuzato, but how Kikuzato refused his support. This led to them drifting apart and Take having to join the soccer team on his own. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to try to continue doing something that is just coated in memories of your best friend that is no longer in your life. Kikuzato's accident truly changed many aspects of their lives and I can empathize with how difficult it most have been for both of them. Usami's arc in this volume was very cute and endearing. He spends so much time trying to cheer up Kikuzato; he even goes as far to read self-help books on how to cheer up those dear to you. Usami is truly such a wonderful kid and he makes me want to hug him. The way that he supports Kikuzato is just gold, and I hope that everyone has a friend like him in their life.

The final third of the book takes a different turn, with COVID-19 hitting the world. This causes many rifts in the character's plans, especially when races start getting cancelled and school sports are shut down. I think it was very brave of the author to include the struggle against coronavirus in their manga, as it makes it very relatable to the teens who lived through COVID around the same time that these characters did. I was a freshman in high school when COVID derailed everything, so I can really relate to what these kids are going through. I am very interested to see how this series progresses now that COVID has been introduced.

Overall, I am enjoying "Run On Your New Legs" more and more with each installment I read. This series has been covering some really realistic and informative topics, and I'm excited to see what the next volumes entail.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an amputee, I love seeing a character go through some of the things I’ve gone through, but it is just so so wildly inaccurate, at least to the way things are done in the US. Where is the physical therapist? How could he run a year after his amputation- his leg would still be de swelling and loosing muscle mass rapidly. It took me 3 years to no longer need to use a crutch when walking and I was an athlete moving at a stellar pace! I haven’t even seen him own a pair of crutches. It is difficult to wear a prosthetic longer than 8 hours or even 12 hours if need be, crutches are crucial to move around while giving the limb time to recover from those incredible sheer forces. And how is he allowed to change his own knee at school? It can take an hour or me at the office to have the knee joint changed and checked for balance and center of gravity and everything.

I want to see more of Take’s perspective. Why did he ghost Take? Did he ever attempt to talk to him and then chickened out? Will there be anymore to their arc? And what about the rival from book 1? There’s only 5 books in the series, so why is there so little development to either of them? And the dad is also horrible? How can someone be that terrible? Why would the mom stay married to someone like that? Who is that judgmental of what the neighbors will think when it’s a miracle his son can even walk? I know plenty of kids with amputation who never leave the wheelchair or their crutches? We’re not even going to explore how much pressure it is to have to pretend to be someone you’re not? He will never have 2 real legs again, the prosthetic is never going to be a perfect replacement. It takes so much at home exercise, practically daily core exercise, let alone the stretching that I can’t do myself and either need a family member or pay someone to help me stretch, just to minimize the limp. He shouldn’t even be able to do half the things he does at track practice.

I will finish the series and I think it’s great to see the impact COVID had reflected in books and other media, but I am just so frustrated and annoyed at the false expectations this gives. I can’t in good conscience recommend it to other amputees

[Courtney Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Run on Your New Legs is one of my favorite discoveries of the new year, and volume three does not disappoint. As is standard now, Kikuzato is doing his best to relearn his running technique, partnered with the struggles of getting used to a sports prosthesis. Suddenly his life takes another huge turn as COVID strikes. This is the first manga I’ve read where COVID has been current enough to affect the plot, and it’s fascinating to read. Not only are sports competitions and practices suspended, which throws a spanner in the works for him as he needs to train as much as possible, but it also means his father is working from home. It’s apparent that the relationship between Kikuzato and his father has been strained since his accident, as his father tells him not to even go outside with his prosthetic on so he doesn’t disturb the neighbors. Considering that Kikuzato has been working hard to accept his situation, hearing his father telling him to hide away and not scare people over something he has no control over is callous and will likely foreshadow a family dynamic to play in the future.

We also get more backstory regarding Takekawa, Kikuzato’s friend, before the accident. Until now, it seemed like Takekawa was a shitty friend, but the situation has more nuance. Takekawa wanted to be there for Kikuzato and texted him often, only to be ghosted as Kikuzato was, understandably, dealing with his pain and grief over the situation. While he did put forth the effort to be a good friend, he’s still blaming everyone but himself for the situation he now finds himself in, as because Kikuzato isn’t playing with him, he’s lost a lot of his drive and passion. He’s mad at Kikuzato for getting hurt in a way, as now he can’t live his high school dreams. It’s an excellent way to build off these teenage dynamics and, at least to me, came off as entirely realistic.

We also learn more about Chidori and how he bit off more than he could in his first big prosthetic job and is now trying to move on and let his confidence propel him forward with Kikuzato. Learning more about Chidori makes his character far more dimensional, and I like him much more. He’s a fascinating adult character, which rarely happens in these teenage-themed mangas. Big fan of this series, and it’s only getting more interesting as it goes.
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[Lucky Karms · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually don't mind the addition of COVID-19 into this story, I think the useless addition of COVID-19 can often feel like it wasn't necessary or that it doesn't add anything to the story, but I understand why it was added here.

From the start, Run On Your New Legs was about the struggles that disabled athletes face, one thing that is a major factor is time. They might be at their peak for now, but in a year or a couple, that might not be the same because their disability needs might change and make it harder for them. Because we do not have a perfect solution to help disabled people and we're constantly trying to improve technology. People are not stagnant, so their needs will change with time.

Now you add in the sudden pandemic that crippled public events for a while, and it especially affected athletes. A lot of people can't afford to wait longer, even more so for disabled athletes. I think it captured how fast the pandemic swept everything upside down, but how people are trying to deal with it.

That aside, I also enjoyed the strained relationship between Shouta and Take. It's understandable why Shouta would push away his friends and his best friend Take. He lost his leg. He was going through a lot and for a while, we see that he was depressed. He said himself in the 1st volume that he doesn't feel like he can do anything and it makes him want to do nothing, so he just pushes them away. Something life changing happened to him, of course he won't be the same anymore. Take says that he wished that Shouta relied on him and while it is understandable, you can also understand that he and everyone who isn't disabled, can't fully relate to Shouta. We can empathize with him, but losing something as important as your leg, we can't understand the gravity of that situation.

I can't wait for the last 2 volumes to be translated, I want to see where the story goes from here

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kikuzato is impatient with his advancement in running skills, and thinks he doesn’t need to learn the basics. But the club leader and the Usami aren’t going to let him off that easy. Kikuzato also finally talks to his old best friend Takekawa who is a bit upset Kikuzato ghosted him during his recovery, regardless of how many times he reached out. As covid starts spreading, Kikuzato’s dad is around more often and the athletes start dealing with competitions they were looking forward to being cancelled.

We get a bit more back story in this volume, and things are set up for covid lockdown to hit them soon. Kikuzato gets some good reminders that even good athletes can’t skip basics, and he likes it when people are real with him. I really had thought Kikuzato’s dad was killed in the accident that took his leg so it threw me when his dad showed up. This was a good building plot volume, but nothing super revolutionary.

Notes on content:
Language: 1 minor swear.
Sexual content: None
Violence: None
Ethnic diversity: All characters are Japanese.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified.
Other: Kikuzato’s dad is ashamed of people seeing the prosthetic and also seems to have a problem with alcohol. Early days of covid restrictions recreated.

[Ellyn → Allonsythornraxx · Rating 3 out of 5]

30/06/2023
3.5 ⭐
Not as good as the first two but I'm still really interested to see where this series is going.

read for graphicsathon round 9!!

Letterboxd | Instagram | Bookstagram | Tumblr | Twitter | StoryGraph | Hoemance Book Club | Graphicsathon

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume hits a lull in the plotline. COVID has started to take over the world and the 2020 Olympics were postponed. The high school competitions were cancelled as well. 

I think it's interesting to see the pandemic from the perspective of an athlete, because I don't think that I even really thought the world of sports was in any danger from the pandemic? But also, can we just delete Kikuzato's dad? Because he really sucks.

The end of this volume feels like it's holding its breath. I wonder what's going to happen next.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kikuzato and his teammates must change their expectations when Covid sweeps the globe.

I like that this series fully engaged with the pandemic. The mangaka's decision to draw people in masks, then act as if they were wearing a transparent mask so you can still see their expressions, was a good one. I see that this series ended after five volumes which is disappointing - I had buy in for many more volumes in this world.

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take’s character is explored more in this volume which was nice to see. I hope that he and Kikuzato can become friends again. It was also weird to see COVID-19 as a plot point here, but that’s just because it’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that it was a universal experience. It’ll be interesting to see how Kikuzato and the others navigate the lockdown. Looking forward to the next volume!

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.75 out of 5 for me. I really admire Kikuzato for always trying to get better at track despite any complications that may arise. Whether it is prosthetics issue or Kikuzato building up endurance to be able to handle track, he never lets it really get him down. Which ic really admirable in my opinion.

[ferdi 🍉 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"i hope this virus business is over soon"

oh buddy....have i got news for you

reading this now feels like a slap to the face w/ all the mentions of COVID-19 when it was just becoming a worldwide pandemic...like yeesh...

also the dad can go eat bricks wtf do u mean "dont want the neighbors talking"???? jfc

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally written in spring of 2020, so twas interesting to see the way the storyline and characters were affected by early covid restrictions, with curtailed afterschool activities and sporting events.

[KJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this the first thing I've read that includes covid? Probably, pretty sure I've read something that mentioned it in a pat tense, but it's an interesting choice to see how it impacts the characters. Would have been wierd to read this when it was the height of lockdowns haha

[Katie❄️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying these. And it is really sad to see how C19 effected high schoolers mentally.

[Mark Will Never Cry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow ish progress and COVID-19. I really appreciate this series by now and am kinda sad that so far there is just one more volume.

[Liza · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the inclusion of covid as a thing in this volume I couldn't get into it. I like the story as an idea but I would rather not read stuff with covid going on in the background.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the first book I've seen that realistically incorporated COVID without being about COVID. Interesting.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that whole Covid story arc came out of nowhere. Realistic I guess, but...jarring.

[August Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dude I'm just sad that brought me back to 2020 where the pandemic was in full force and I'm not sure if I want to continue because the whole gang is going to be dealing with covid

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

when will shouta and take finally have a full on conversation PLEASE i am DESPERATE