The despair and questions of the first chapter of 'Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa' that I remember every World Cup, and the answer that came 24 years later

*Thumbnail from Nobuyuki Fukumoto's 'Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa', Kindle Edition Vol. 1, No. 6

As of July 2026, although the Japanese national team has unfortunately been defeated by Brazil, the World Cup is still ongoing. Every time the World Cup is held, I am reminded of the first chapter of the first volume of 'Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa' by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, the creator of 'Kaiji', 'Ten', and 'Akagi'.

It begins with a scene from the 2002 co-hosted World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and the whirlwind of excitement—yes, it is still exciting even now, but the excitement 24 years ago was truly something else. While surrendering himself to that fervor, the protagonist, Kurosawa, realizes one fact.

The story begins with the realization that no matter how much the whole country is excited about the World Cup, it is merely jumping on the bandwagon of what others are doing, and in the end, it is someone else's business; there is absolutely no emotion of his own, his very own, to be found there.

The first chapter depicts the day of the 44th birthday of the protagonist, Kurosawa, who has worked as a site staff member for a construction company called Anahira Construction for 26 years since graduating from high school.

He subtly tries to hint that it is actually his birthday, but no one around him notices at all, and on his way home from work, he has a drink that doubles as dinner at an izakaya out of habit, reflecting on his life where he has just aimlessly added years to his age.

Afterwards, on his way home, he encounters younger employees returning from a drinking party, realizes that he was the only one not invited, and the first chapter ends with him feeling lonely, painfully aware that he does not fit into the circle of the young people.

It is a first chapter that depicts a truly unremarkable day in the life of an ordinary middle-aged man, but what makes this first chapter amazing is that Kurosawa is not definitively impoverished, nor is he so hopelessly despised by his workplace that he is an outcast; he remains a person within the range of being a functioning member of society, yet he agonizes and despairs over his situation with all his might. Despite there being no particular reason to sympathize with his circumstances, he suffers with all his might for his own life. That gap forms the core of this work.

The final panel is amazing.

From here, the story depicts the tragicomedy of Kurosawa, who runs around seeking true emotion and popularity at his workplace (the horse mackerel fry episode is truly the best...!), but this first chapter is truly excellent. If it were a one-shot and the story ended here, I think it would be a truly amazing story in its own right.

That is how much the first chapter of 'Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa' depicts the loneliness held by a single middle-aged man in a way that is both caricatured and universal. And the way it ends, throwing a definitive question at us, is also vivid.

Nobuyuki Fukumoto, who once asserted that there was "no emotion" and closed the first chapter with an unanswerable question, has, after nearly a quarter of a century, drawn the answer to that question with his own hands. The subtitle of chapter 139 of his latest work and new frontier, currently being serialized to great acclaim, 'Nikaido Hell Golf', is none other than "Emotion".

What is the culmination of an author who took nearly 24 years to depict what he dismissed as "nothing" on the first double-page spread of his serialization? It will soon be available for free, so everyone, please keep your eyes peeled.