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Takeda Yuto (다케다 유토, Takeda Yuto; "Yuto Takeda") is a professional boxer and the former light welterweight world champion.[1]
Appearance[]
Yuto is a boyish-looking individual with an angular face, black spiked hair with blueish highlights at the front, thick black eyebrows and large eyes with black irises and blue pupils.
Summary[]
Yuto was born with no talent for boxing, yet he still became world champion; this is due to his extreme willpower and dedication. Yuto Takeda is a symbolism of hard work, he's often referred to as the classic orthodox hero in a superhero comic.
Personality[]
Yuto is known as a positive person, always looking at the bright side. He's very motivated and doesn't give up despite all the obstacles he had faced. He's motivating not only himself but also those around him, helping them at the same time.
History[]
Yuto was first introduced to boxing when his dad, Hiroto Takeda, brought him to his future coach's ( Misaki ) boxing gym for the first time. That's when Misaki noticed that something was off about Yuto. Geniuses with outstanding athletic ability are able to create a natural flow of energy in each movement that they make, however, people with no athletic ability are unable to create that same flow of energy; when Misaki put Yuto to the test and thought him how to jab, she discovered that Yuto was completely unable to create the flow of energy people with talent could create.
It was also in that same chapter that we discovered that Yuto's mother, Miho was in a coma.
Yuto's parents have their own backstory. Hiroto ( Yuto's father ), Miho ( Yuto's mother ), and Misaki, were all childhood friends. Hiroto and Misaki ( Yuto's coach ) were said to be strong by nature, but Miho was said to be weak and fragile. There is one scene in the boxer where Hiroto, Miho, and Misaki were seen taking a walk and Miho trips and falls to the ground. Since Hiroto knows that Miho is weak and fragile, he carries her on her back; this makes Misaki jealous however and Misaki falls to the ground aswell in an attempt to make Yuto carry her aswell. This time, however, Yuto does not carry Misaki on his back and just lets her deal with it on her own.
Fast foward to the time where Misaki, Hiroto and Miho had finished growing into teenagers; Misaki is seen boxing ( which means that she had begun taking up boxing near the time she grew into a teenager ) and Hiroto announces that he and Miho were officially in a relationship as of now. This makes Misaki extremely sad since she probably had feelings for Hiroto aswell, but she hides her sadness and congratulates them. Misaki, Miho, and Hiroto all remained friends and eventually, Miho and Hiroto got married.
This is when things begin to derail for Hiroto and Miho.
Hiroto becomes a police officer, and one day, he sees what is probably a gang attempting to rob/rape a woman. One of the members of the gang tells Hiroto to keep walking, but Hiroto, being the good-willed samaritan that he is, decides to apprehend the gang and save the woman. Although Hiroto ends up apprehending the gang and rescuing the poor woman, he gets stabbed, calls Misaki, tells her to take care of Yuto, and dies a few minutes later. Miho grows sick, and also dies a few days later. Yuto is henceforth left in the care of Misaki.
This is when Yuto will finally begin to commence his journey to becoming a world champion.
After Miho and Hiroto's death, Misaki is left completely devastated and does nothing but lie down in her boxing ring all day long. Yuto's home is now the Misaki Boxing Gym, and he develops an immensely strong passion for boxing in an attempt to become strong like his father. Soon enough, Misaki discovers Yuto's gigantic mental strength, and since she doesn't know anything besides boxing, she decides to do what she does best and teach Yuto how to box. Yuto begins to call her coach and starts his way up to being a world champion.
This, however, would take a lot more time than expected.
Even though Yuto had been gifted with his immense mental strength, he still had no physical strength and was left with an enourmous disadvantage. His growth speed was absolutely appalling, it took him over a month to learn the simple one-two combo. Soon enough, he grows up into a teenager and with all the years of extraordinary efforts, he reached the level of an average boxer.
However, though he had grew a lot stronger since he had begun boxing, it was discovered that Yuto would grow no more. See, he had already reached his peak.
But one day, he showed up in a hospital gown soaking wet from the rain, and from then on, everything began to change.
On his first day of high school, Yuto sees a bully harassing a young student. In an attempt to stop the bully, Yuto grabs the bully's hand and stops the harassment. However, this enrages the bully and the bully hits Yuto a couple of times. Since Yuto was trained, he felt nothing from the bully's punches and just asked the bully to be friends as soon as he was done punching Yuto. This enrages the bully even more and he storms off. Yuto asks the young student ( who would later be known as Yamaguchi ) if he is okay, and carries on with his day. Later in the same day, Yuto would encounter the bully harassing/beating up Yamaguchi again. He asks him to stop, and the bully attempts to punch him again, but this time Yuto defends himself and knocks out the bully in a single blow. After seeing Yuto knock out the bully in a single blow, Yamaguchi formed a strong admiration for Yuto. Yamaguchi asks Yuto if he could train with him, Yuto brings Yamaguchi to the Misaki Boxing Gym, and Misaki tells him about the gym and the prices for the training. Yamaguchi then returns home and asks his mother if he could take boxing classes. This is the time where it was revealed that Yamaguchi's mother was abusive. Yamaguchi's mother obviously declines and calls Yamaguchi useless, but although Yamaguchi can't go to Yuto's gym, he did not give up and started running with Yuto every morning.
However, on the same day that Yamaguchi would decide to improve himself, his bully would meet someone called knight-errant would later be known as Kazu.
This would be a turning point for both Yuto and Yamaguchi.
Kazu is a boxing genius who has defeated biker gangs all around the town that Yuto lives in and is bored with it all. Kazu thinks no one can defeat him and that he is invincible. Upon discovery that Yamaguchi's bully got beaten up, he wanted to see who had beaten him up to see if he could finally find his match. Kazu decides to kidnap Yamaguchi and video call Yuto showing Yamaguchi tied up, and bruised. Yuto obviously rushes into the action, and attempts to hit Kazu. However, it is shown that Kazu is much more powerful than Yuto, and after dodging and playing with Yuto for a while, Kazu notices that fighting Yuto was like fighting a video-game character. Yuto had no technique, no flow, nothing. Kazu concludes that someone like Yuto could never beat a genius with natural flow and talent like him, and knocks Yuto out.
Yuto wakes up in a hospital with a letter on his bedside table. It was a letter from Yamaguchi. In this letter, Yamaguchi states that he has given up and accepted that he will never be able to change and become strong. Yamaguchi moves to a ship to make money, and that is the last time Yuto will see Yamaguchi in a while. This makes Yuto very sad and angry, and he rushes out to the Misaki Boxing Gym.
In a hospital gown, soaking wet from the rain. Everything was about to change for Yuto.
Yuto tells Misaki that he wants to stop going to school and work on boxing full-time. Misaki hesitates, but then says that boxing is all she knows, and accepts Yuto's proposition. Yuto begins to train a lot harder than before, and after a week or two, comes back to Kazu to challenge him again. Kazu says that Yuto has not improved at all, and completely trashes Yuto. He trained even harder, came back to Kazu, and got trashed; he trained harder, challenged Kazu and got trashed, he did this again and again until many seasons passed. Eventually, he reached the point where it was getting hard to count how many times he tried and lost, fighting Yuto almost became a routine for Kazu. But one day, he woke up, and something changed within him, it was as if he'd got stronger. Much stronger. He had surpassed his growth peak. He came back to Kazu, only this time, Kazu noticed that something changed, Yuto had gotten stronger. Yuto lost, and Kazu said that even though he had improved, he'd never reach his level and should just stop trying. Soon enough, the winds of change began to blow, and no one could undo or stop the changes that had begun. Even stronger than before, he challenged Kazu again, and lost. Stronger, he challenged Kazu again, and lost. And on the third year, the catarpillar that he was slowly metamorphosed into a butterfly; he challenged Kazu again, and after the dizzying efforts, countless defeats and frustrations...
He won.
A superman had been born.
Plot[]
After beating Kazu, Yuto started his journey to being a world champion. He grew stronger and stronger until he finally reached the title of junior welterweight world champion. Eventually, he grew so strong that no one in his division posed any sort of challenge to him. But this time, things may change for Yuto. Yu, the challenger with never seen before strength and talent. His polar opposite was coming to fight him. It was ultimate hard-work versus ultimate talent.
When Misaki first saw Yu fighting Jean Pierre, she admitted that Yu was talented, but since Yuto had never actually fought Jean Pierre, she had no idea how powerful he really was. She really started to understand how big of a threat Yu was when he fought Elliott Von Heinberg, former junior welterweight world champion, ranked first in the junior welterweight division, he was Takeda's most demanding opponent. Yu completely obliterated Elliott Von Heinberg, it was described as not even being a fight, it had a similar vibe to watching a pro boxer humoring an average person in a fight. When Misaki saw Yu do that, she had already accepted defeat, she couldn't even imagine Yuto being able to beat Yu, but for Yuto's sake she accepted the match and decided to proceed with it all. And, it ain't over until it's over, Yuto had done wonders before, it's possible that he might do them again, you never know what'll happen in boxing.
The day of the match came and both players stood in the ring, ready to fight each other, a few minutes away from the match, the people watching shared their opinions. Everyone had differing opinions, but there was one thing they all knew for sure, Yu was going to win. It was impossible for Yuto to win. Yu was an invincible challenger, the epitome of natural talent, he was so fast he could make a trained boxer bleed with his punches, the only weakness he could have is the inability to have a prolonged match. Maybe Yuto could have a chance if he took advantage of that factor.
The bell rang and both players begun to fight. Yuto was pushing Yu back, in an attempt to not let Yu hit him. But it would not be long until Yu showed revealed his true self. Yu began to copy Yuto's moves. Yuto attempted to punch him, but it was useless, Yu just hit him back with even greater speed and force. Yuto attempted to feint, but it was useless, Yu just punched him with extreme speed before he could do anything. Yuto attempted to punch Yu again, but it was all useless, Yu would just copy his moves to a T and there was nothing Yuto could do about it. This set an immense amount of fear in Yuto. The moves he had been practicing for his entire life, were being copied with faster and sharper accuracy by someone who hadn't even trained remotely as close as him. This is around the time that Yuto realised that no matter what he did or how hard he tried, he would never be able to beat Yu.
However Yuto had made it through the first round and his coach had made him a game plan, Yuto was planning to exchange blows with Yu. Hope. Yuto was the symbolism of hope, he never gave up, and fought on until the end. He exchanged blows with Yu a lot and ended up pushing him back and seizing the upper hand. But there was something Yuto hadn't realised. Yu had not been taking him seriously and everything was about to change. Suddenly, Yu dashed back and widened the distance, before Yuto could react, Yu hit him with three punches, Yuto blocked the punches but wasn't able to close the gap. Yuto had his guard wide open. And Yu hit him so hard that he immediately went down. Despair. Yu is the symbolism of despair, no matter who you are, or how hard you try, it is impossible to beat him, despair is the utter loss of hope.
However, even with that blow to the stomach, Yuto had built up an extremely strong body over his immeasurable years of training, so even though Yu had probably what was the most talent anyone had ever seen, one punch wasn't going to knock Yuto down. It was getting hard to breathe, but Yuto still got up. Yuto still kept pushing Yu back, even though he took such an extremely heavy blow from Yu, he was pretty much back to normal. However, Yu had not taken any hits, and kept widening the distance, Yuto decided to stop closing in the distance and blocked Yu's punch, it was a long shot, but he still managed to do it. He blocked Yu's punch and dashed in on Yu with explosive force making Yu lose his aim and timing. However, he was still no match for Yu and Yu hit him with a body blow and a punch to the head and knocked him down again. Even though Yuto knew he had no chance of winning, he decided to stay beside what he stands for and get back up again. Six rounds past and Yu was beginning to feel tired. Yuto just wouldn't stay down and he needed to do something about it. He knocked Yuto down again, Yuto tried to get back up but he couldn't. His knees were creaking and his legs would break if he put anymore strain on them. But Yuto wasn't going to give up just yet. He needed to prove that wherever there's a will, there's a way.
Upon being knocked down again, Yuto realised something. Yuto went back to the years were he was still a teen, training to fight Kazu. Misaki mentioned that he should stop fighting so hard, that he should just be grateful for the gift of life, and that he can just lay down his burden and be freed. Misaki told him that she wanted him to know that he was the greatest gift that life has ever given her. Upon going back to those times, Yuto realised something. Yuto realised that his life, all the boxers he's ever come across, Yamaguchi, Misaki, and even Kazu, was all just one great gift.
In those moments, Yuto discovered the meaning of life.
Yuto stood back up, a blue light flashing in his eyes. It was the same light that Yu noticed in Jay, it was the same light that made J shine so brightly, it was the same light that shined so brightly in the stars of episode one.
Yuto punched Yu, and something was different, it was as if he'd broke his growth peak again, but this time, it was more than that. This time, he had acquired the flow of energy he had been searching for all his life. The harder someone tries, the further they get to acheiving that flow of energy. But in a turn of events, Yuto had achieved that flow of energy, that flow of energy which all geniuses have. From now on, his growth will be on an entire different level.
A monster had been born.
But Yu... Yu was a god. No one could stand up to his level... He was the devil.
Yu threw a total of three straights at Yuto. They all landed on his face. They blew Yuto back across the ring, almost throwing him outside of the ring, Yu thought: 'What was that light?' 'Show me!' 'Show it to me!'. These are the only times that Yu ever has a thought bubble in the entire series. And one of the only times that Yu ever shows any type of emotion throughout the series.
Misaki throws in the towel and the match ends. Yuto wakes up in a hospital, with a fruit basket from Yamaguchi who has recently opened his own fruit market and treated his mother for alcholism. The doctor says that Yuto is unable to continue boxing because he broke his jaw. Yuto meets a young fan at the hospital, talks with him a bit, cries because he reminds himself of his father.
A couple of months later, Yuto finds love, helps Yamaguchi with the fruit market, and gets a happy ending. In the end, Yuto got all that he wanted. He became stronger than his father, he was a good person, etc.
With 31 wins and 5 losses under his belt, junior welterweight world champion Yuto Takeda has crossed the finish line.
Abilities[]
Even as a Boxer with a boxer with no talent for the sport whatsoever Yuto Takeda was able to become the Light Welterweight Champion of the World through nothing more that hard work and diligence. The skillset that he gained through his training allowed him to establish himself as and maintain the reputation of the strongest in-fighter there is.
Indomitable Will: Yuto's willpower is the key reason he was able to progress as a boxer before his retirement. According to K he grows stronger in the face of adversity similar to a hero in a sports comic. Undeterred by physical pain or psychological trauma, Yuto's resolve gives him the strength he needs to overcome various difficulties in his life and exceed his limitations through perserverance.
Formidable Resilience: Yuto's pain tolerance is staggering. As someone described as being able to get back up not matter how many times he is knocked down he is able to continue pushing forward even after enduring incredible amounts of punishment. In his match with Yu he was able to prolong the match for 6 rounds in spite of all the damage Yu inflicted upon him and the pain accompanying it.
Incredible Stamina: Yuto's training has given him the ability to remain constantly physically active for long amounts of time without exhausting himself. Yuto makes use of this skill by constantly putting pressure on his opponents, often overwhelming them, not letting up for a second from the beginning to the end of a match.
Heightened Durability: As a result of years of effort, Yuto has developed a body that allows him resist blows like a suit of armor. He is generally unfazed by most punches and is able to recover even after receiving blows that would KO most opponents. However, accumulated damage will wear him down given time, as during his match with Yu he was brutalized until his body was completely unwilling to cooperate.
Impressive Reflexes: Yuto boasts impressive reaction speed, which allows him to respond to attacks immediately and perform explosive dashes that allow him to close the gap between him and his opponent and throw off their timing and aim.
Monstrous Potential: Despite lacking talent, Yuto has proved time and time again that he has a vast amount of untapped potential laying dormant within him. This is shown early on when despite him having reached his estimated limit after a couple of years of rigorous exercise he was able to exceed his growth peak after receiving further training from Misaki, which allowed him to contend with and eventually defeat the boxing prodigy, Kazu Uesugi. During his match with Yu, K noted that Yuto was improving throughout the bout as if learning to box for the first time and in the climax of said match he finally gained the "freedom" that all geniuses possessed, giving him the edge he needed to force Yu back for a short amount of time.
Notes & Trivia[]
References[]
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| Main Characters | Injae | K | Yu | |
| Pro-Boxers | Aaron Tide | Elliot von Heinberg | Gang Amseok | Injae | Jean-Pierre Manuel | John Taker | Kasim Al Hajad | Santorino Fabrizo | Takeda Yuto | Yu | |
| Supporting Characters | Ryu Baeksan | |
| Other Characters | Josh | Kim Tae-Pung | Peter Kent | Steel | |