Kinnikuman

Kinnikuman
Fifth tankōbon volume cover, featuring Suguru Kinniku (right) and Meat Alexandria (left)
キン肉マン
Genre	Action[1] Comedy[1] Sports[2]
Manga
Written by	Yudetamago
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Jump Comics
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump (1979–1987) Shū Play News (2011–present)
Demographic	Shōnen, seinen
Original run	Initial run May 28, 1979 – May 4, 1987 Continued run November 28, 2011 – present
Volumes	86 (List of volumes)
Further information Manga Tatakae!! Ramenman Written by Yudetamago Published by Shueisha Magazine Fresh Jump Demographic Shōnen Original run 1982 – 1988 Volumes 12 Anime television series Kinnikuman[note 1] Directed by Yasuo Yamayoshi (#1–65) Takenori Kawada (#67–137) Atsutoshi Umezawa (#138–183) Written by Haruya Yamazaki Kenji Terada Music by Shinsuke Kazato[note 2] (#1–137) Akihiko Yoshida (#138–183) Studio Toei Animation Original network NNS (NTV) Original run April 3, 1983 – September 27, 1992 Episodes 183 (331 segments) (List of episodes) Anime television series Tatakae!! Ramenman Directed by Masayuki Akehi Produced by Masahisa Saeki Music by Keiichi Oku Studio Toei Animation Original network NNS (NTV) Original run January 10, 1988 – September 11, 1988 Episodes 35 Anime film Tatakae!! Ramenman Directed by Masayuki Akehi Music by Keiichi Oku Studio Toei Animation Released July 9, 1988 Runtime 25 minutes Manga Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy Written by Yudetamago Published by Shueisha English publisher NA: Viz Media Magazine Weekly Playboy Demographic Seinen Original run April 1998 – April 2004 Volumes 29 Manga Kinnikuman II Sei: All Chōjin Dai-Shingeki Written by Yudetamago Published by Shueisha Magazine V Jump Demographic Shōnen Original run May 21, 2001 – March 20, 2007 Volumes 4 Anime television series Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy[note 3] Directed by Toshiaki Komura Studio Toei Animation Licensed by NA: Discotek Media Original network TXN (TV Tokyo) English network AUS: Cartoon Network CA: YTV UK: Toonami Kix US: FoxBox Original run January 9, 2002 – March 30, 2006 Episodes 77 (List of episodes) Manga Kinnikuman II Sei: Kyūkyoku no Chōjin Tag-hen Written by Yudetamago Published by Shueisha Magazine Weekly Playboy Demographic Seinen Original run 2004 – 2011 Volumes 28 Manga Kinnikuman Lady Written by Masashi Ogawa Published by Shueisha Magazine Ultra Jump Egg (formerly) Ultra Jump Demographic Seinen Original run June 2008 – June 19, 2013 Volumes 3 Anime television series Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Directed by Akira Sato Written by Makoto Fukami Music by Yasuharu Takanashi Studio Production I.G Licensed by Netflix[3] Original network JNN (CBC, TBS (Agaru Anime)) Original run July 7, 2024 – present Episodes 12 Related media List of Kinnikuman films

Kinnikuman (キン肉マン, lit. transl. "Muscle Man"^[4]) is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. Nakai and Takashi planned the series when they were attending high school originally as a parody to Ultraman.

The manga was originally published in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1979 to 1987, and was first adapted by Toei Animation into a 137-episode anime series broadcast on Nippon Television from 1983 to 1986. It restarted publication in 2011 in Shueisha's web magazine Shū Play News, and has spawned spin-off manga and anime series, video games, anime films, and several Kinnikuman-related merchandise.

There is also a sequel, the Kinnikuman: The 2nd Generation (キン肉マンII世, Kinnikuman II Sei, known as Ultimate Muscle outside Japan) manga that was serialized in Weekly Playboy between 1998 and 2004. It was published in North America by Viz Media under the title of Ultimate Muscle. It was also adapted into three different television series, all of which were broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan and released in North America by 4Kids Entertainment.

Kinnikuman is one of the best-selling manga series in Japan, selling over 77 million copies by 2021. As popular as was the anime series and its merchandise, such as Kinkeshi, a line of action figures released as M.U.S.C.L.E. in North America. It received the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga^{[note 4]} in 1984.

A new anime television series adaptation produced by Production I.G, based on the 2011 revival manga and celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original anime television series, aired from July to September 2024 on CBC and TBS' programming block Agaru Anime [ja], and is to be streamed worldwide on Netflix. A second season is set to premiere on the same programming block in January 2025.

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