Burning Kabaddi

Burning Kabaddi (Japanese: 灼熱カバディ, Hepburn: Shakunetsu Kabadi) is a Japanese kabaddi manga series by Hajime Musashino. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website and MangaONE app since July 2015 and has been collected in twenty-three tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment aired from April 3 to June 19, 2021.

Burning Kabaddi
Cover of Burning Kabaddi volume 1 by Shogakukan
灼熱カバディ (Shakunetsu Kabadi)
Genre	Sports (kabaddi)^[1]
Manga
Written by	Hajime Musashino
Published by	Shogakukan
Magazine	Ura Sunday MangaONE
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	July 2015 – present
Volumes	25 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Kazuya Ichikawa
Written by	Yūko Kakihara
Music by	Ken Ito
Studio	TMS Entertainment Toei Animation
Licensed by	Crunchyroll NA: Toei Animation Inc SA/SEA: Medialink
Original network	TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run	April 3, 2021 – June 19, 2021
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)

Characters

Nōkin High School

Tatsuya Yoigoshi (宵越 竜哉, Yoigoshi Tatsuya)

Voiced by: Yuma Uchida^[2]

Masato Ojo (王城 正人, Ōjō Masato)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto^[2]

Sōma Azemichi (畦道 相馬, Azemichi Sōma)

Voiced by: Gen Satō^[3]

Kei Iura (井浦 慶, Iura Kei)

Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa^[4]

Kyōhei Misumi (水澄 京平, Misumi Kyōhei)

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki^[5]

Shinji Date (伊達 真司, Date Shinji)

Voiced by: Shunsuke Takeuchi^[6]

Nobutaka Ban (伴 伸賢, Ban Nobutaka)

Voiced by: Shin'ichirō Kamio^[7]

Ryuta Seki (関 隆太, Seki Ryūta)

Voiced by: Wataru Komada^[7]

Yūki Hitomi (人見 祐希, Hitomi Yūki)

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase^[7]

Souwa High School

Ayumu Rokugen (六弦 歩, Rokugen Ayumu)

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto^[8]

Ren Takaya (高谷 煉, Takaya Ren)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura^[8]

Shintarō Kizaki (木崎 新太郎, Kizaku Shintarō)

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro^[8]

Yū Eikura (栄倉 祐, Eikura Yū)

Voiced by: Osamu Uchida^[8]

Daisuke Muroya (室屋 大助, Muroya Daisuke)

Voiced by: Junichi Yanagita^[8]

Saitama Kōyō High School

Manabu Sakura (佐倉 学, Sakura Manabu)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae^[9]

Hiromoto Utou (右藤 大元, Utō Hiromoto)

Voiced by: Soma Saito^[9]

Media

Manga

Burning Kabaddi is a manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Musashino. The series began serialization in Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website and MangaONE app in July 2015. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. As of August 9, 2023, twenty-five volumes have been published.^[10]

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	February 12, 2016^[11]	978-4-09-127027-6
2	May 12, 2016^[12]	978-4-09-127257-7
3	October 12, 2016^[13]	978-4-09-127446-5
4	February 17, 2017^[14]	978-4-09-127530-1
5	July 12, 2017^[15]	978-4-09-127719-0
6	September 19, 2017^[16]	978-4-09-127815-9
7	January 12, 2018^[17]	978-4-09-128119-7
8	May 18, 2018^[18]	978-4-09-128297-2
9	August 17, 2018^[19]	978-4-09-128464-8
10	November 12, 2018^[20]	978-4-09-128719-9
11	April 19, 2019^[21]	978-4-09-129107-3
12	September 9, 2019^[22]	978-4-09-129395-4
13	February 12, 2020^[23]	978-4-09-129584-2
14	July 10, 2020^[24]	978-4-09-850196-0
15	October 12, 2020^[25]	978-4-09-850291-2
16	March 18, 2021^[26]	978-4-09-850480-0
17	April 12, 2021^[27]	978-4-09-850499-2
18	May 12, 2021^[28]	978-4-09-850568-5
19	July 12, 2021^[29]	978-4-09-850619-4
20	December 17, 2021^[30]	978-4-09-850837-2
21	April 19, 2022^[31]	978-4-09-851079-5
22	August 10, 2022^[32]	978-4-09-851229-4
23	December 12, 2022^[33]	978-4-09-851444-1
24	April 18, 2023^[34]	978-4-09-852010-7
25	August 9, 2023^[10]	978-4-09-852667-3
26	December 12, 2023^[35]	978-4-09-853054-0

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on July 6, 2020.^[1] Produced by TMS Entertainment, the series is directed by Kazuya Ichikawa and written by Yūko Kakihara. Mari Takada is designing the characters, and Ken Ito is composing the series' music. DOMERICA is credited with animation cooperation. The opening theme, "Fire Bird", is performed by Shunya Ōhira, while the ending theme, "Comin' Back" is performed by Yūma Uchida.^[36] The series aired from April 3 to June 19, 2021, on TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, and AT-X.^[2][37] Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia.^[38] Medialink has licensed the series in Southeast Asia, and is streaming it on their partnered platforms.^[39]

No.	Title ^[40]^[41]	Directed by ^[a]	Written by ^[a]	Original air date ^[42]
1	"What is Kabaddi?" Transliteration: "Kabaditte Nanda yo" (Japanese: カバディってなんだよ)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	April 3, 2021 (2021-04-03)
Tatsuya Yoigoshi, the former ace of Junior High Soccer team has come to dislike sport and does online live streaming. He is invited by Souma Azemichi to join the Kabaddi club. After many tries, Yoigoshi finally agrees to only see their practice. He goes to the Kabaddi Club with Souma and meets, Vice Captain Kei Iura, Shinji Date and Kyouhei Misumi. After seeing their practice match and getting amazed by Kabaddi, Iura gives him an offer - If he wins a One-on-one Match against Souma he will allowed to go or if he loses the match he has to join the club. Yoigoshi accepts and after a few practice matches loses to Souma. According to the offer, he joins the club. Iura contacts the Captain Masato Oujou to tell him about the new member.
2	"Men Who Connect" Transliteration: "Tsunagaru Otoko-tachi" (Japanese: 繋がる男たち)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)
Tatsuya Yoigoshi starts practicing with the team. First, he refuses to practice in a defense formation because in this form they have to form a "chain" where they have to hold hands with each other and he doesn't like the idea. Instead, he preferred to practice as a raider. His raid success rate against them was zero. But after he is observing the deputy director Kei Iura, the second year students Misumi Kyohei and Date Shinji, Yoigoshi has discovered a successful way to win against them: "a raiding hat trick"
3	"Into the Burning World" Transliteration: "Shakunetsu no Sekai e" (Japanese: 灼熱の世界へ)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	April 17, 2021 (2021-04-17)
First year students Tatsuya Yoigoshi and Sōma Azemichi start practicing as a team against second year students Kyōhei Misumi and Shinji Date, unfortunately the first year students suffered during the match and defeated with a huge score. They realized that their failure happened because of the lack of coordination between both of them as team players. Yoigoshi used to hate all teamwork activities and gets irritated with all miss cooperation with Azemichi. Suddenly, Yoigoshi gets an idea, if he needs to win this match, he has to invent a method to communicate with Azemichi in order to enhance their performance; done by using specific “codes” to harmony their plays. Both start practicing secretly to get used to the codes. Meet with the second year students again in new match and gain more points.
4	"The Strongest Raider" Transliteration: "Saikyō no Reidā" (Japanese: 最強のレイダー)	Kanako Yajima Mana Uetake	Yūko Kakihara	April 24, 2021 (2021-04-24)
Tatsuya Yoigoshi wants to know more about Kabaddi; its rules, number of players per team and more. He becomes impatient to capture the ‘winning’ feeling in training as he thinks that the game won’t be fun unless you become a winner. Vice Captain Kei Iura notices that and influences him to use his potential strength factors to become “Noukin's Beast ــ the strongest raider”. Yoigoshi went to Shinji Date for advises to be more toned physically. One Day, while Yoigoshi was out running, he accidentally ram into a thin male that emerged suddenly without any sensed presence. This person was just released from a month stay in the hospital. Later, we’re about to reveal the male's identity.
5	"The Match Begins!!!" Transliteration: "Shiai Kaishī!!!" (Japanese: 試合開始ィ!!!)	Mana Uetake Takuma Kaneko	Midori Gotō	May 1, 2021 (2021-05-01)
6	"Chase X Counterattack" Transliteration: "Tsuigeki×Hangeki" (Japanese: 追撃×反撃)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	May 8, 2021 (2021-05-08)
7	"STRUGGLE" Transliteration: "Sutoraguru" (Japanese: ＳＴＲＵＧＧＬＥ)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	May 15, 2021 (2021-05-15)
8	"Team Applicants" Transliteration: "Nyūbu Kibō" (Japanese: 入部希望)	Mana Uetake	Midori Gotō	May 22, 2021 (2021-05-22)
9	"A Battle of Wills" Transliteration: "Iji no Shōbu" (Japanese: 意地の勝負)	Mana Uetake Takuma Kaneko	Midori Gotō	May 29, 2021 (2021-05-29)
10	"Because He's the Ace" Transliteration: "Ēsu da Kara" (Japanese: エースだから)	Kanako Yajima	Yūko Kakihara	June 5, 2021 (2021-06-05)
11	"The Direction We're Aiming" Transliteration: "Mezasu Hōkō" (Japanese: 目指す方向)	Mana Uetake Kanako Yajima	Midori Gotō	June 12, 2021 (2021-06-12)
12	"After Giving Every Last Drop" Transliteration: "Subete Dashi Tsukushita Saki ni" (Japanese: 全て出し尽くした先に)	Miyuki Kaieda	Yūko Kakihara	June 19, 2021 (2021-06-19)

Reception

Burning Kabaddi was nominated for the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2020.^[43]

Anime News Network had six editors review the first episode of the anime:^[44] Caitlin Moore critiqued that it contained "moderately typical sports anime beats" but felt its cast displayed "little in terms of depth or complexity" and the animation degraded as it went into the kabaddi scenes; Nicholas Dupree commended the episode for explaining the central sport's fundamentals but criticized the stiff animation and shoddy direction of the kabaddi matches, and the unlikable cast ranging from "mildly unpleasant to loudly unpleasant"; Richard Eisenbeis also praised the explanation of the sport but was unimpressed with the overall cast and humor, saying: "Frankly, despite the rather fluid animation and interesting subject matter, this is not a series I would likely choose to pick up."; James Beckett criticized the production for having weak direction in its character interactions and not displaying "fast, fluid, and impactful animation" in its kabaddi scenes; Rebecca Silverman wrote: "In all honesty, Burning Kabaddi looks like it's going to be like any other sports anime [...] It'll probably be fine, and the lure of a somewhat unusual sport may be enough of a draw for those on the fence." The sixth reviewer, Lynzee Loveridge, wrote: "I want to recommend Burning Kabaddi for its efforts to highlight a unique sport and for its particularly dumb teen protagonist, but I found nothing impressive about this premiere and much of its sports action falls flat."^[44]

Notes

1. Information is taken from the ending credits of each episode.

References

1. Sherman, Jennifer (July 6, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi Sports Manga Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
2. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (October 5, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi TV Anime Reveals Staff, Main Cast, April 2021 Premiere". Anime News Network. from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
3. Loo, Egan (October 13, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime Casts Gen Sato". Anime News Network. from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
4. Sherman, Jennifer (October 20, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime Casts Makoto Furukawa". Anime News Network. from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
5. Loo, Egan (October 27, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime Casts Tatsuhisa Suzuki". Anime News Network. from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
6. Mateo, Alex (November 3, 2020). "Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime Casts Shunsuke Takeuchi". Anime News Network. from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
7. Mateo, Alex (January 26, 2021). "Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime Casts Shin'ichirō Kamio, Wataru Komada, Ayumu Murase". Anime News Network. from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
8. Loo, Egan (February 23, 2021). "Burning Kabaddi TV Anime Casts Top-Tier Souwa High School Team". Anime News Network. from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
9. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 6, 2021). "Burning Kabaddi TV Anime Reveals Promo Video, 2 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
10. 灼熱カバディ ２５ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
11. 灼熱カバディ １ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
12. 灼熱カバディ ２ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
13. 灼熱カバディ ３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
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28. 灼熱カバディ １８ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
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31. 灼熱カバディ ２１ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
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33. 灼熱カバディ ２３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
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36. Loo, Egan (February 9, 2021). "Shunya Ōhira, Yūma Uchida Perform Burning Kabaddi Sports TV Anime's Theme Songs". Anime News Network. from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
37. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 15, 2021). "Burning Kabaddi TV Anime Reveals April 2 Premiere, New Visual". Anime News Network. from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
38. Cardine, Kyle (March 30, 2021). "UPDATE: Crunchyroll Announces Spring 2021 Anime Lineup! (3/30)". Crunchyroll. from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
39. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 31, 2021). "Ani-One Asia Streams Burning Kabaddi Anime". Anime News Network. from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
40. "Episōdo Shakunetsu Kabadi｜Terebi Tōkyō Anime Kōshiki" EPISODE 灼熱カバディ｜テレビ東京アニメ公式 [Episode Burning Kabaddi｜TV Tokyo Anime Official]. TV Tokyo (in Japanese). from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
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43. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 30, 2020). "Chainsaw Man, Teasing Master Takagi-san, Duel Masters Nominated for 66th Shogakukan Manga Awards". Anime News Network. from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
44. "Burning Kabaddi – The Spring 2021 Preview Guide". Anime News Network. April 2, 2021. from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2022.

External links

• Burning Kabaddi at Ura Sunday (in Japanese)
• Anime official website (in Japanese)
• Burning Kabaddi (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia