Maru Kang was just an ordinary kid with ordinary interests, until one day his father forces him to watch a soccer game on TV, sparking an obsession with the sport. Filled with determination, he sets a new goal for himself -- to become an amazing soccer player! The only problem is, he has already been proclaimed the “King of the Losers” at his high school. Can Maru overcome the obstacles in his path and transform into a talented and successful soccer player?
Source: Webtoon
The Build Up It is also Known as: ビルドアップ
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life , Sports
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Top 5 Manhwa/Manga Like The Build Up (Bildeueop) [2025 List]
- 5. Tetsugaku Letra
- 4. Aqua
- 3. Ashita no Joe
- 2. Real
- 1. 3-gatsu no Lion
5. Tetsugaku Letra
In middle school, Ichinose Kimitaka taught his friends how to play basketball. Despite his experience with the sport, his friends quickly outmatched him in skill. After an incident brought on by his frustration and jealousy, he was crushed to overhear those same 'friends' discussing how they wished he'd just kill himself.
On his way to toss out his special basketball shoes, he met a girl who was just as frustrated, throwing her own dancing shoes away. She was so tall, and her hands and feet are so large, that she had been rejected from her chosen hobby of Spanish dancing. He urged her to give basketball a try, and the two exchanged their shoes instead of throwing them away.
As he enters high school, Kimitaka learns that meeting him changed that girl's life for the better, and she is now a happy, social basketball player. Will Kimitaka be able to find the courage to make new friends and pursue his own talents?
has finished publishing and it has 27 Chapters. It is also Known as: 鉄楽レトラ, Tetsugaku Letra
4. Aqua
After 150 years of Terraforming, Aqua, the formerly planet known as Mars, now has more than 90 percent of its surface covered in water. A young girl named Akari Mizunashi arrives at the city of Neo-Venezia, an exact replica of the old Italian city of Venice, hoping to become an Undine, the most coveted job on Aqua.
Aqua has finished publishing and it has 10 Chapters. It is also Known as: AQUA, Othello Game, Ebony & Ivory
3. Ashita no Joe
Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again.
Ashita no Joe has finished publishing and it has 171 Chapters. It is also Known as: あしたのジョー, Rocky Joe, Tomorrow's Joe
2. Real
A motorcycle accident, bone cancer, a speeding truck crashing into a boy on a stolen bicycle—tragic life-changing events turn the worlds of three young men upside down. These three very different personalities have only one thing in common—their passion for basketball.
Note: Won an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2001 Japan Media Arts Festival.
Real is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: リアル, Real
1. 3-gatsu no Lion
A youth named Kiriyama Rei, who lost his family as a child, endures loneliness to become a professional shogi player. Then, through a chance meeting, he develops a relationship with the three Kawamoto sisters, who hail from a working-class district of the city, and little by little his frozen heart begins to thaw.
March Comes in Like a Lion is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: 3月のライオン, Sangatsu no Lion, March Comes in Like a Lion, Lion of March
