is a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written by Rie Takada

Rie Takada

is a Japanese manga artist. She first debuted in 1990 in the 17th issue of the manga anthology magazine Sho-Comi with the series SP girl...

, creator of Happy Hustle High

Happy Hustle High

, is a manga series by Rie Takada. The series is published in Japan by Shogakukan and in the United States in English by VIZ Media.-Plot:Happy Hustle High follows the exploits of Hanabi Ozora. Hanabi is an assertive 16-year old who protects her less assertive friends. The all-girls' school that...

. The series is published in Japan by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

, and in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in English by VIZ Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

.

Punch! is about a young girl by the name Elle Nagahara, whose family are all involved in physical martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

, her mother was a wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

 champion, her father a world lightweight

Lightweight

Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

 boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 champion, and her grandfather the first Japanese to become the world champion of Muay Thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

 kickboxing. But the thing is—Elle doesn't want to fight! She just wants a normal life and everything changes when she meets a strange street fighter.

Characters

Elle Nagahara

The main character and daughter of two champion parents, but doesn't want anything to do with her family business and only wishes to live a normal teenage life. She was betrothed by her grandfather to Ruo, her childhood friend. However, she does not want to marry Ruo and wishes only to have a normal relationship. To avoid marrying Ruo, she lies that her boyfriend is Kazuki Shindo, a boy she happened to run into in a music store, but begins to develop a genuine relationship with Kazuki. Elle goes on an actually "normal" date with him, but it is cancelled when she burns herself while making dinner. Elle soon finds that she loves Kazuki and tells Kazuki (in her sleep) her true feelings and he feels the same. Volume 2 ends with Elle finding Choppy (Kazuki's dog) at the front door.

Gigi Nagahara

Grandfather of Elle and owner of a dojo

Dojo

A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...

 (gym), he made a promise to a long life rival that he would let his kid marry his rival's, but when he gave birth to only a son, Elle his granddaughter was betrothed instead. He has an eyepatch on his left eye and is bald.

Ruo M. Eschuck

Childhood friend and Elle's ex-fiancé, he's a professional martial artist. Elle only sees him as a big brother, who gave her comfort when they were younger. He tends to put his male groupies up against anyone Elle may like or have a crush on, which makes her very distant from other men. In Volume 2, Ruo finds out that Kazuki has a younger sister and uses her for revenge by visiting her every day and giving her flowers, he also blackmail

Blackmail

In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...

s Kazuki with surgery money for Kazue's eye operation if Kazuki will leave Elle alone. Kazue soon finds out it was all a hoax

Hoax

A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...

 and cancels the operation (and even her relationship with Ruo).

Kazuki Shindo

Street fighter

Street fighting

Street fighting is a colloquial term used to denote unsanctioned, illegal in some countries, hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people....

 and befriends Elle while she goes out to buy music, when she meets him for the first time, he calls her "Choppy" which confuses her. During that time, he gets jumped by a couple of men but Elle ends up finding that he beats all of them. He then later joins her grandfather's gym and trains so that one day he can defeat Ruo. Later on in Volume 1, Elle founds out he had a dog name Choppy. He also gives her, her first kiss. In Volume 2, Kazuki asks Elle on a date but it backfires as a small accident happens and Elle burns herself.

Hinako Komatsu

Elle's classmate and wishes to marry Ruo, so she tries to help her friend and break the marriage off between the two. In Volume 2, you see Hinako and Elle show more of their relationship together and how they use a sort of "soft" violence towards each other, meaning teasing and making fun of each other and even to a point of hitting each other playfully.

Kazue Shindo

Kazuki's blind younger sister. In Volume 2, she has a mild crush on Ruo who is only using her for revenge. She soon breaks it off when she finds out Ruo was only using her and refuses the money for the operation for her eye surgery. She lives by herself because her mother and father left her and Kazuki and Choppy. In Volume 1 she thought Elle was Choppy even though she is blind.

Choppy

Kazuki and Kazue's dog, she resembles Elle. She's a Pekingese

Pekingese

The Pekingese, or "Peke" is an ancient breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by the Chinese Imperial court, and its name refers to the city of Beijing where the Forbidden City resides...

. When she went to the gym, everybody thought Elle turned into a dog.

Volumes