The Climber/Kokou No Hito [The Solitary Person]
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The Climber, or Kokou No Hito in Japanese, is a manga by Shinichi Sakamoto, Yoshirō Nabeda, based on a novel of the same name by Jirō Nitta.
Originally serialized in Weekly Young Jump from 2007 to 2012, it won an Excellence Prize in the manga division at the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, and won Best Seinen Manga at the 2011 Prix Mangawa Awards. The manga later was published into a 17 book manga series.
The story follows introverted & lonely student Mori Buntarō, and how he picks up climbing as a passion. After joining the climbing club at his high school and challenging more and more difficult mountains, Buntarō is ends up setting K2, one of the most difficult mountains to climb in the world, as his final objective. Although Kokou No Hito may sound like your average outdoor/climbing themed manga, it is much more than just that.
Apart from the whole physical climbing side of the manga, there is a mental, spiritual side as well. Mori encounters many difficulties throughout his life and journey, fighting depression and dark thoughts. The illustrative elements depicting Buntarō's depression is on another level, and can only be done through a medium that is manga.
The original novel, written by Jirō Nitta, also follows Buntarō. He is in fact based off of a real climber, Buntarō Katō, who broke the norms of typical climbing by attacking difficult mountains by himself, in his signature tabi-shoes. At the time, climbing was seen as a luxurious sport, where many people of the same interest would gather and create teams to reach peaks. Buntarō also was a regular class worker, which was also rare at the time. However, him and his at the time climbing partner encountered a major blizzard during a climb, and passed away at the young age of 30. The novel and manga also have completely different endings.
