REVIEW: ‘Run On Your New Legs’ Volume 4

Run On Your New Legs is one of the best sports manga I’ve read. While running and track can be mostly solo sports, this series has captured the ways in which it is not, especially for a parathlete. While we’ve seen our lead Shouta Kikuzato grieve the loss of his leg and begin the process of reclaiming what he loves, running, the series has taken time to dive into the emotion of it all, not just athletics. In Run On Your New Legs Volume 4, the story takes a new turn, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Written and illustrated by mangaka Wataru Midori, the series is published and localized in English by Yen Press, translated by Caleb Cook, and lettered by Abigail Blackman. This volume takes a turn when the worsening pandemic forces schools to close temporarily and cancels the track meets with it. Still, Shouta and the other members of the track and field club must find creative ways to keep up their training on the track, even if life is trying to derail it. For Shouta, though, the anticipation of his new custom-running prosthesis is more than enough to keep him motivated. Still, his excitement is undercut by the presence of his father, now working from home.

Run On Your New Legs Volume 4 is the first time I’ve read a manga, or any story for that matter, engage with the pandemic so thoughtfully. It explores the ways in which it robbed children of time to pursue their dreams and does so without belittling the necessity of restrictions. Additionally, since Shouta has already lost his ability to play his sport once, he is able to be a foundation for his friends who have to go through that for the first time. What could have been another moment of losing a part of him, he carries the difficulty in stride, pushes forward in his own way, and ultimately can help his friends stay together. Especially, Sakashita, who is having an exceptionally hard time losing her chance at track greatness with her competitions, stalled.

Mangaka Wataru Midori has been able to capture emotion since the first volume and the complexities of navigating changing emotions in any given situation too. That continues in Run On Your New Legs Volume 4 as well, and they do so across multiple characters, not just when it comes to Shou. That said, Shou does face a very specific level of complication in this volume: his dad. Not only does Shouta’s father want him to cover his prosthetic, but he also continually undercuts Shouta’s love of sport. Navigating their relationship takes a deft hand, and Midori has it. It’s easy to be on Shouta’s side, but Midori is careful to make sure that even in his rudeness, the reader will eventually understand why Shouta’s father is acting the way he is.

Run On Your New Legs Volume 4 continues to tell one of the best stories in sports manga by capturing emotion as much as the sport and the ways that you can keep moving forward even when your world changes. While the series has been focused on Shou’s loss of his leg, by adding in the pandemic’s complexity, Midori can showcase their ability to craft a story from loss and how teens carry that weight. But more specifically, in this volume, how they share the load.

Run On Your New Legs Volume 4 is available now wherever books are sold.