Sakigake!! Otokojuku

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Otokojuku: Founded by its principal, Edajima Heihachi, during World War II, it is an infamous private school long since known to harbor the worst delinquents imaginable and transform them into the manliest of men through rigorous (and highly unorthodox) training methods of both mind and body, in order to prepare them for the hardships of Japanese society.

Unfortunately, the latest freshman class consists of nothing but spineless tough-guy wannabes just aching to escape... until a delinquent named Tsurugi Momotaro comes to attend. What follows is a gradual change for the freshman class as they struggle under Momotaro's leadership to overcome anything and everything that stands before them, be it the incompetent and hypocritical teachers, or worse...

Sakigake!! Otokojuku (Charge!! Men's Private School) is a comedy martial arts manga series created by Akira Yamashita that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985 to 1991, focusing on the absurdities of the titular school at large, as well as its awkward place in modern Japanese society. As the genre indicates, not only are there plenty of crazy things happening in each story, but there is also no shortage of amazing moments from many of the main characters, both expected and unexpected. Note that these moments often intersect in this series.

It received an anime adaptation of 34 episodes in 1988, and is quite a watch if only to hear voice actors such as the legendary Daisuke Gouri simply act as outrageously as possible.

Tropes used in Sakigake!! Otokojuku include:

• The Alcatraz: Alcatraz itself makes an appearance in the Tusks arc, as one of the battlegrounds. However, it is misplaced (here, it's located off the East coast, instead of the West coast).
• An Ice Person: Shai Khan.
• The Archer: Souketsu. His fight with Gekkou is basically an archery competition, except Gekkou uses a golf club.
• Awesome but Impractical: Tougou Souji's motorcyle-fu. His motorcycle gets destroyed after his Tusks arc fight.
• Badass: Almost everyone that isn't a background character.
• Badass Longcoat: Part of Otokojuku's uniform.
• Badass Long Hair: Toramaru, Hien, Jaki, maybe Togashi, and others.
• Badass Mustache: Almost everyone.
  • Raiden takes this trope literally, as he makes a martial art style out of his mustache.
• Bald of Awesome: Edajima Heihachi. And others. But Edajima Heihachi is the only one who matters.
• Battle Boomerang: Manjimaru.
  • Boomerang Comeback also shows up, performed by unlikely weapons.
• The Beast Master: Henshouki (bats), Enpou (monkeys), Centaur and Suiketsu (a horse), Shu (mice), Baron Dino (some sort of bird), Koushuushi (a giant eagle), Fuuketsu (snakes), Horus (crows), Pharaoh (fireflies), Houketsu (bees), Raja Mahal (an elephant), Gobarski (wolves), Qubilai Khan (piranas), Clinsman (crocodiles), Gishou (a spider).
• BFS: Akashi.
• Big Bad: Toudou Hyoue is this of the Daibukai arc. And the Tusks arc. Effectively making him the Big Bad of the whole manga.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows
• Bifauxnen: Jinshou.
• Bishonen: Hien. To the point that Togashi calls him 'fag'.
  • Gemini.
  • Sanen.
  • Michele.
• Black Eyes: Jinshou.
• Blade on a Stick: Date, Ryuuhou, Suiketsu.
• Blind Idiot Translation: The English-language scanlations. It's not as bad as, say, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part 4, but it definitely needs improving.
  • And theres an in story version of this trope. And HOW.
• Blow You Away: Jaki's favourite attacks.
  • Paper Master
  • Kennou's main (only?) style of fighting is creating tornados.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Gekkou in the final battle of the Second Tusk.
• Brother Chuck: Tougou Souji just disappears after his one fight in the Tusks arc.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Hakuhou.
• Calling Your Attacks
• Catch Phrase: Edajima Heihachi's "I am the principal of Otokojuku, Edajima Heihachi!" In the early chapters, this was just about the ONLY thing he said.
  • Matsuo's "I have a bad premonition."
• Combat Commentator
• Combat Pragmatist: Characters who are this are portrayed negatively, and tend to die horrible deaths.
• Crazy Enough to Work : Heihachi is able to fool the police in such a way that its stupid to think they are able to be fooled by that.
• Curb Stomp Battle: Edajima vs. Zuiki. A single punch from Edajima sent Zuiki flying. To a lesser extent, Edajima vs. Zuikyou.
  • Also, Edajima vs. Jaki.
• Cut Short: The Tusks arc was supposed to be composed of Seven Tusks; the Fifth isn't even finished, as Edajima rescues himself and comes to get his students, therefore annulling the point of this arc. Then we get the very last arc, the Fuun Rakanjuku arc, which consists of five matches and can't even conclude four of them. This arc lasted 10 chapters. One can assume the manga was dropping in popularity and simply got cancelled. This is Shonen Jump after all.
• The Dandy: Horus, Michele and Giger.
• Dark Horse Victory: Toramaru's and Togashi's fights.
• Dead Big Brother: Togashi's brother was killed by the third-years.
• Death Is Cheap
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Militarism, xenophobia, isolationism, all Played for Laughs.
• Disappeared Dad: J's dad was a boxing champion who died while saving him from a fire, using a fist that creates hurricanes. J inherited this from him, which wins him the fight against Hakuhou.
• Disney Death: This has happened a lot in the series. For example, J was said to have died in the first trial of the Kyoura Daiyon Kyosatsu but was saved by the 3rd years.
• Dynamic Entry: Edajima lands on Meiou Island by taking a World War II plane and smashing it into a mountain, and then coming out of the wreckage alive. And when he finishes his business he still leaves in it and takes down another, newer plane. Like a boss, indeed.
• Eagle Land: Features both types. Early on, it portrays Americans as bruttish thugs who have no respect for women. Then came one arc where Otokojuku receives American exchange students, among whom is J, who is portrayed almost in the same light as Momotaro.
• Egyptian Mythology: Pharaoh Sphinx, a team from the Daibukai.
• Eighties Hair: Among the main characters, Senkuu and Manjimaru. Hilariously, Manjimaru's haircut is the same as his kenpou master's.
• Everything Is Better With Spinning: Senkuu's battle techniques.
  • Battle Tops
    • Taiketsu has a technique which allows him to become a human top.
• Evil Weapon: Yukinojou's sword Shiranui. One scratch drives people insane.
• Eyepatch of Power: Suiketsu.
• Eye Scream: Suiketsu attacks Baron Dino's eyes with alcohol and then needles.
• Feather Flechettes: Red Thunder.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Horus. Putting make-up in the middle of a fight? Oh yeah.
• Fictional Document: The books from the fictional Minmei Publishing. Miyashita invents other sources, later on, such as Shinnosuke Morita, which is actually just the author with a wig.
  • Encyclopedia Exposita
• Fighting Series: Once it got serious.
• Five-Man Band
  • The Hero: Momotaro
  • The Lancer: Togashi
  • The Big Guy: Toramaru
  • The Smart Guy: J
    • This is the initial formation; it keeps adding more and more allies, so the dynamic changes a lot.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Momotaro is phlegmatic, Togashi is choleric, Toramaru is sanguine and J is melancholic.
• Fundoshi: Mandatory for Otokojuku's dress code.
• Fun with Acronyms: Most of J's attack names.
• Gag Series: First part.
• Gasshole: Toramaru.
  • Fartillery
• Genius Bruiser : Students of Otokojuku will end up in this position, but its taken Up to Eleven by Edajima Heihachi, which as the prequel shows, is capable of
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Jaki punches Momo right before the former dies from his battle against Spartacus.
  • Akashi does the same thing to Toramaru when Togashi dies in the fight against Kintan and Gintan.
• Giant Spider: Chougi, Gishou's spider.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Togashi, Date, probably more.
• Graceful Loser: Happens as often as Dirty Coward.
• Gratuitous English : Definitely one of the iconic part of the show. look for it.
• Greek Mythology: Fighting Olympus Gods, a team from the Daibukai.
• Hachimaki: Momotaro.
  • Improbable Weapon User
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Momotaro.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Usually in the form of Taking the Bullet.
  • As well as Taking You with Me.
• High-Pressure Blood
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Houketsu is stung and defeated by his own bees. Same thing with Qubilai and his piranas.
  • Red Thunder is struck by lightning.
• Hollywood Acid
• Hotblooded Sideburns
• Informed Ability : Tazawa, known as the Brain of the first years. He is the same person who gives the iconic in series Blind Idiot Translation. Subverted since he is quite a genius, and everyone in Otokojuku is a genius by the end.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Common Oh Crap moment. Even though almost no one dies from this.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Souketsu shows off his abilities by shooting and overlapping several arrows into the badge of Togashi's hat. Gekkou does the same thing, killing a horse with two golf balls.
• Instant Chucks: Eikei uses ax-chucks.
• Japanese Delinquents: Serves as the Trope Codifier.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Onihige is a coward and a hypocrite, but he cares about his students.
• Keet: Toramaru and Hakuhou.
• Kiai: The Great Chime Yell of Otokojuku.
• Killed Off for Real: Lots of opponents in the Daibukai arc. Out of Otokojuku students, Jaki and Gobarski.
• Light Is Not Good: Pharaoh.
• Loads and Loads of Characters
• Magical Native American: Red Thunder.
• Master of Illusion: Gemini.
• Megane: Tazawa.
• Men Don't Cry / Manly Tears: The author can't seem to make up his mind about which one is ideal.
• Motorcycle Fu: Souji.
• Multinational Team: The Meiou Island Warriors.
• My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Tazawa when trying to speak English.
• The Napoleon: Koushuushi.
• Nice Hat: Togashi. It used to belong to his brother.
  • Baron Dino wears a top hat.
  • Souji.
• No Animals Were Harmed: Averted. HARD. Among other things, a guy eats a little bird just to spite its owner, and rabbits are constantly being thrown into sulfuric acid pits.
• No Export for You: Only a few Asian countries get to read it. No wonder, though.
• No Shirt, Long Jacket: Most Otokojukians, really.
• Paper Fan of Doom: Sanen.
• Phenotype Stereotype: All Americans are either black or have blond hair.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Hidemaro, when needed.
• Playing with Fire: Ryuuhou and Shai Khan.
• Poisonous Person: Eikei with his poison fist. Other characters use techniques with poison, but none fit the trope as perfectly as Eikei.
• Prehensile Hair: Raja Mahal.
• Rain of Blood: Chapter 59.
• Raised by Wolves: Implied to be the case with Gobarski. All Rousouken practicioners have to be raised by wolves from a very early age.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: J.
• Rated "M" for Manly: It's actually Shonen Genre, published at a time when incredibly violent and sexual content was pretty kosher for that demographic. Nowadays, though? Totally Seinen.
• Right-Hand-Cat: Toudou Hyoue.
• The Rival: Fuun Rakanjuku is the Western Japan counterpart to Otokojuku, with Kumada, its principal, being the rival to Edajima.
• Seppuku: Togashi fakes one in an early chapter. Later, some characters do it for real, but don't die.
• Shirtless Scene: Actually pretty frequent. You'd think that the author was actively trying to get female readers into this manga.
• Shock and Awe: Red Thunder.
• Shout-Out: Matsuo's haircut is that of Sazae-san.
  • Michele (that's a guy, by the way) looks way too much like Lady Oscar to be a coincidence. And he's French to boot. Toramaru and Togashi even mock him, saying "He looks like he came out straight of a Shoujo manga!".
• Smarter Than You Look : Pretty much everyone that enrolls at Otokojuku, since they are given hard training in both physical and educational side. Theres a reason why the show informs the reader early on that the alumni of the school will become a huge part of the country.
• The Stoic: Too many examples, one of the most important being Momotaro himself.
• Suck My Rose: Senkuu and Michele (in Michele's case, they're poisoned).
• Tag Team: Every so often.
  • Tag-Team Twins: Amon and Unmon; Kintan and Gintan.
• Theme Naming: Everybody in the Ryouzanpaku has "-ketsu" in their name.
• Those Two Guys: Togashi and Toramaru are relegated into this trope as the manga goes on. They do most of the commentary, dramatically announce the name of the next battler, and such. Lampshaded quite a few times.
• Those Wacky Nazis: Doctor Eberstein, who looks like Hitler and is possibly based on Josef Mengele. Hitler himself is mentioned.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: Momo vs. Gouki.
• Time to Unlock More True Potential: Almost everyone shows off a new fighting style in every battle and the original styles are rarely, if ever, touched upon again.
• Toilet Humor: Raiden's monkeys sometimes throw poo, Pharaoh drinks a chimpanzee's pee, etc.
• Took a Level in Badass : If there is a inappropriate students in Otokojuku, most of the time, they are going to have tons of this in short time. And by most, we mean everyone but one person.
• Tournament Arc: Pretty much every arc once the comedy chapters stop.
  • The Tusks Arc is both this and a Rescue Arc, as Edajima was kidnapped and needs to be saved.
• Training from Hell : Daily activity of the Otokojuku. To put it simply, the only subject that matters in Otokojuku is this, both educational and (especialy)Physical.
• Use Your Head: How Togashi crushes the ball holding the antidote during his fight with Michele.
  • The entire fight between Edajima and Zuikyou.
• Where It All Began: The final arc was something of a 'return to roots', as it was set in the actual school, relied more on gags and gave the spotlight back to Tazawa and Hidemaro (not really Matsuo, though).
• Whip It Good: Suiketsu has two of these, which bury into the ground and attack opponents from below.
• Wolverine Claws: Horus (they're poisoned), Raja Mahal.
• You Killed My Master: Why Manjimaru wants to fight Taiketsu and Touketsu.
• Younger Than They Look: Almost every student looks at least 30. They're 16-18.
  • In a subversion, Jaki at least 28 years old and he's a third-year. Wrap your head around THAT one.