NYCC 2026: The Boxer Lands Animated Adaptation at the Crunchyroll Ring

The Boxer is going to be streamed on Crunchyroll.

At Crunchyroll’s industry panel at New York Comic Con, the streaming platform released the special promo trailer for the animated adaptation of The Boxer. A butterfly lights across an injured boy, slumped against the wall. His hand twitches and he looks up, utterly beaten down. The trailer introduces the various characters the protagonist, Yu, will meet. At one point, the butterfly which has been fluttering around, falls into a pool of blood and can’t get up. Judging by the street names, it appears as though The Boxer will still be set in Korea and seemingly retain the same character names as the manhwa.

Back in 2023, Redbeanime reported that XTORM would be in charge of the animated adaptation of The Boxer and although it’s been a few years, the series will finally be made.

breccia and Studio JEMI produced the PV with Kang Wonyeong directing and Makoto Kimura producing. Kang and Suwa Masahiro oversaw the character design. Kazuo Sato composed the music.

For the animated adaptation, Kang Wonyeong and Takehiro Kubota will helm the series as the directors with Masahiro Suwa designing the characters. Toshiya Ohno will be in charge of the series composition and scripts. breccia and Studio JEMI will be in charge of the animation production. HAYATE produced the series along with Line, Crunchyroll, XSTORM, and BLUE RIGHTS. Koki Uchiyama will voice Yu. Toshiyuki Toyonaga will portray J. Tomokazu Seki voices K. Kensho Ono will voice Ryu.

Created by Jeong Ji-Hun, who writes under the pen name J.H. and previously wrote The Horizon and Mosquito Wars, The Boxer follows two up-and-coming boxers who have two completely different approaches to boxing. Considered a genius, Ryu Baeksan is able to overwhelm his opponents larger than him with ease, consequently fuelling his arrogance. That all comes crashing down when he suffers his first defeat at the hands of Yu, a seemingly emotionless teen who has the ability to sense attacks coming and evade them within seconds. The Boxer completed with 123 episodes on June 22, 2022 after launching its first episode on May 27, 2020.

Crunchyroll’s official synopsis is as follows:

A talent bestowed upon a monster. Is it a blessing—or a curse? K, a legendary boxing trainer who has produced numerous world champions, is searching for his “final disciple.” Then he encounters Yu, a boy in a back alley who simply stands there, taking punch after punch. The boy shows neither anger nor fighting spirit, yet K sees in him something beyond genius: a talent of unfathomable potential.

Under K’s guidance, Yu steps into the boxing ring. With an overwhelming strength that can only be described as monstrous, he begins his ascent toward the pinnacle of the boxing world. Standing in his way are champions who stake their pride on skills honed to perfection, and fighters who have overcome the limits of talent through sheer effort. Each carries a dream they refuse to surrender and a reason to keep fighting. Their clashes with the monster shake even the foundations of the lives they have built.

And what does Yu himself seek at the end of his fists? The life of one “monster” intertwines with the lives of those who fight him. Beyond talent and hard work, glory and defeat, a story begins—one that asks what it truly means to be strong.

A date for the animated adaptation has not yet been announced. The Boxer is available digitally on WEBTOON and in print by Ize Press.

Source: YouTube