History's Strongest Disciple

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . Matsuena first published a manga titled ''Tatakae! Ryōzanpaku Shijō Saikyō no Deshi'', which ran in Shogakukan's '' Shōnen Sunday Super'' from 1999 to 2002. ''Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple'' is a remake of the series, and was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 2002 to September 2014, with its chapters collected in 61 volumes.

A 50-episode anime television series adaptation produced by TMS Entertainment aired on TV Tokyo produced an 11-episode original video animation (OVA) series, titled ''Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple – The Attack of Darkness'', released between March 2012 and May 2014. The anime television series was licensed in North America by Funimation in 2008, but the rights to the series expired in 2018. It was re-licensed by Discotek Media in 2020.

The ''Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple'' manga has had over 12 million copies in circulation.

Plot

The story centers on Kenichi Shirahama, a 15-year-old high school student who has long endured bullying. After befriending transfer student Miu Fūrinji, he resolves to strengthen himself and accompanies her to Ryōzanpaku, a dojo overseen by her grandfather, the undefeated martial artist Hayato Fūrinji, where several masters of diverse disciplines reside.

Following basic instruction from Miu, Kenichi defeats a prominent member of the school's karate club, drawing the attention of delinquents. Initially training for self-defense, he eventually becomes a full disciple of Ryōzanpaku and develops feelings for Miu. His routine alternates between training under the dojo's six masters and confronting members of "Ragnarok", a gang of bullies seeking either to recruit or defeat him.

After Ragnarok's dissolution, Kenichi and Miu face Yomi, disciples trained by masters of Yami, a rival organization to Ryōzanpaku. While Ryōzanpaku adheres to the principle of sparing opponents (Katsujin-ken), Yami embraces lethal methods (Satsujin-ken). The conflict between the factions escalates until a final confrontation over Yami's goal to instigate global chaos, termed "The Eternal Sunset." Following the prevention of this scheme and Yami's defeat, both organizations disband. Kenichi continues his training at Ryōzanpaku; years later, he emerges as a renowned novelist, with implications that he marries Miu and surpasses her grandfather's martial prowess—fulfilling Hayato's vow that Miu may only wed someone capable of defeating him.

Main characters

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:Kenichi is a second year high school student. The story follows him as he continues to train, and eventually live, at the Ryozanpaku dojo, fighting increasingly capable enemies. He lacks any form of ''sakki'' (killer intent) and adheres to a strict code of morals. As a result, Kenichi has made many friends, mostly of former enemies, and wins the affections of Renka Ma, Miu, Izumi, and Li Raichi.
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:Kenichi's classmate and love interest. Miu came into Hayato's care when his son murdered several of his friends and his wife, sparing Miu by accident. Thereafter Miu learned martial arts from her grandfather. Miu is often clumsy among her fellows, and requires Kenichi's support in making friends. Miu has a great fondness for kittens and becomes hostile towards anyone who harms one. She is prone to rash decisions in money-making.
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:Miu's grandfather and the elder of the Ryōzanpaku Dojo. He is tall, muscular, and possesses tremendous vitality despite his advanced age and is known for never having lost a fight in his entire life. Hayato is a kind old man but still possesses a reckless streak and can be arrogant. He is fond of Kenichi, calling him "Ken-chan", and is the only one who apologizes to him for difficult exercises. He also realizes Kenichi's feelings for Miu but declares that he will only allow Kenichi to marry her if he defeats him in a fight.
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:A 30-year-old master of karate. He is a tall man almost always seen wearing a leather jacket and has a long scar across the bridge of his nose. He is often depicted as fierce in conversation and embarrassed by trivial things, and tends to quarrel with others, especially Apachai. He also gambles and drinks frequently and often places bets on Kenichi.
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:A 28-year-old master of Muay Thai and is known as the "Grim Reaper" of the Muay Thai underworld fighting circuit. He is tall and powerfully built, has tanned skin, and is usually seen wearing a tank top and shorts with bandages wrapped around his hands and feet. Apachai has been fighting life or death battles in underground Muay Thai fights since he was a teenager.
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:A 23-year-old weapons master, who dresses in a small pink kimono; underneath she wears bandages over her chest and a . When fighting seriously, she dons chain mail. She has a pet mouse named who is also a weapons master.
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:A 38-year-old Jujitsu master, and the first master to train Kenichi. He is an old friend of Miu's father, Saiga. Despite his apparent fragility, he is immensely strong and capable, and can easily interpret other characters' unspoken thoughts. Additionally he has mastered calligraphy, painting, pottery, and sculpting, and builds contraptions as both training devices for Kenichi and power sources for the dojo, including a treadmill generator. He also owns an orthopedic clinic and can reset bones with ease. He has proved to be a good trauma surgeon also, and speaks Russian fluently.
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:A 42-year-old master of Chinese Kenpō. He is short, balding, and always wears a hat. He has been training in martial arts since he was very young and was the leader of a large martial arts alliance in China, which has 10,000 followers, which he left behind. He has a wife and three children in China. Kenichi has absolute trust in Ma and has stated that he has never questioned his convictions as a martial artist.
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:A member of the Newspaper Club at Kenichi's school and has a broad range of expertise, including stealth, lock picking, tinkering, programming, and blackmailing. He retreats from most physical danger; but is also a skilled tactician.

Media

Manga

Manga author first published a manga series titled , which ran for 28 chapters in Shogakukan's monthly magazine '' Shōnen Sunday Super'' from 1999 to 2002, with its chapters collected in five volumes, released from September 18, 2000, to April 18, 2002. Matsuena would later release the remake ''Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple'', which started in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' on April 17, 2002. The manga finished after 12 years of publication in the magazine on September 13, 2014. Shogakukan collected the chapters in 61 volumes, published under the Shōnen Sunday Comics imprint, from August 9, 2002, to February 18, 2015.

A volume was released by Shogakukan on September 18, 2007. A spin-off series, titled was serialized in ''Shōnen Sunday S'' in 2012 and collected in a volume by Shogakukan on September 18, 2012. An official guidebook was released by Shogakukan on May 16, 2014.

Anime

A 50-episode anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment was broadcast on TV Tokyo

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