It looks like one of Shonen Jump’s most iconic series is returning to television. Following a slew of reports, the team at Shueisha and Toei Animation have confirmed an anime revival is coming for Kinnikuman. The announcement went live courtesy of a fresh poster, and it shows the manga’s buff hero in all this shonen glory.
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As you may have heard, Kinnikuman is one of the original hits to come from the Shonen Jump family. We had Suguru Kinniku well before Son Goku, and the novice superhero went on to define what shonen could be. If you are a fan of series like My Hero Academia and One-Punch Man, Kinnikuman paved the way for their success, and the series is now getting its due decades down the line.
This new anime is meant to celebrate the original Kinnikuman show’s anniversary. The original Toei Animation title debuted in 1983, so it has been 40 years since Kinnikuman has been on television. So far, we have no details on what this all-new series will cover or how it will be formatted. No formal studio has been announced either for the project, but Toei Animation is listed as part of the show’s production committee.
If you are not familiar with Kinnikuman, don’t feel too bad. Kinnikuman is a classic shonen, and it peaked just before shonen made its way out of Japan to the United States. The action-comedy tells the story of Suguru Kinniku who we all know better as Kinnikuman. Working as a bumbling superhero, the man’s life is turned upside down when Suguru learns he is a long-lost prince. His birthright makes Suguru the head of a race filled with powerful superheroes, but if the man wants to rule his homeland, he must prove his strength to the universe. As such, Suguru begins showboating in wrestling competitions to prove his might, but things get out of control when villains appear in a bid to take Suguru’s succession away.
Currently, Kinnikuman’s original anime is all but impossible to find streaming legally outside of Japan. There are copies of Yudetamago’s manga available in English, but much of the series has been kept within Japan. The Kinnikuman manga is still being published to this day thanks to its sequel. So hopefully, the superhero series will get the love it deserves once its anniversary anime goes live.
What do you make of this first look at Kinnikuman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
