Teppu
Natsuo Ishido is so amazingly awesome it's a burden. She can beat anyone in any sport, effortlessly, but in doing so drives everyone away, and so she is desperately lonely.
Actually she's just a sadistic bitch of a high-school girl. When she finally meets someone, Yuzuko Mawatari, who's much better at her in a sport she can't effortlessly excel at, Mixed Martial Arts, and who is happy and well-balanced, she makes it her mission in life to run Yuzuko into the ground.
A Seinen Manga series written by Oota Moare, serialized in a small magazine Good! Afternoon. Although it's been running since 2008, at the time of writing, late 2011, there have been only 14 ~40 page chapters (and it's a regular feature in the magazine), due being a trimonthly publication. It has a lot in common with Airmaster, which also features a tall schoolgirl who excels at sports as the main character and largely avoids fanservice, although Maki is much less a sadistic bitch and more a Shrinking Violet. Also, Teppu is very realistic, while Airmaster... isn't.
Teppu can be best thought of as an inverted Shounen manga. Natsuo, instead of being a happy and well-balanced young male, is an easily irritated and arrogant young female. Instead of starting off relatively weak and working her way up, Natsuo is already one of the best; Yuzuko is her first real challenge in ages. Instead of losing her first fight and learning some lesson about hard work, she wins it handily, through a cheap tactic. Really, Natsuo acts as an antagonist to Yuzuko, having all the characteristics The Rival would have in a regular Shounen work. The best part is that this is all lampshaded by various characters, often Natsuo, who sees the whole situation as irritating, though also accepts being a Villain Protagonist rather easily.
Besides Natsuo and Yuzuko, there's also, Sanae Sawamura, Natsuo's old rival, Ringi Cordeiro, Yuzuko's exchange sister from Brazil, Kotani Karin, Natsuo's super-butch MMA instructor, Kirido Haruka, a student at Karin's dojo, Mario Cordeiro, Ringi's father, and Risuke Takenaka, Karin's old mentor, plus a handful of other minor characters.
- Abusive Brother: The explanation for why Natsuo acts the way she does. May have something to do with how she, the younger sister, saved her brother from bullying in middle school. Might have also turned him into a shut-in.
- The Ace: Yuzuko and Ringi. Natsuo qualifies for most of the sports she tries but not MMA, to her relief.
- Action Girl: Most characters. Natsuo, Yuzuko, Sanae, Ringi, Karin, and Haruka all qualify. It's a mostly realistic manga about women in MMA, what do you expect? In fact, there are pretty much only two named male fighters, Mario and Risuke. Both are, story-wise, defined in terms of the female characters, and in Risuke's first appearance he gets beat by Ringi in a staged fight.
- Awesomeness By Analysis: To an extent, Natsuo, who after realizing she can't just bull through MMA like with everything else, spends the time to carefully examine the holds and locks, often deliberately allowing herself to be caught by the opponent.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Yuzuko's most notable feature, besides her (short) height.
- Blood Knight: Natsuo, full stop. She's only ever happy when challenged in some sport. Too bad she's too good at them all.
- Invincible Hero: Natsuo has lost twice, both times against Yuzuko, and fully expected to the second time, though she didn't anticipate how badly she was going to get beaten. Her first "real" fight was won easily, and she kicks everyone's ass at anything that isn't MMA. All of this greatly disappoints her.
- Cat Fight: Averted. MMA involves a lot of grappling and holds, and the style remains semi-realistic (this sometimes leads to complaints about feeling detached).
- Catgirl: Fellow Takenaka Gym member Manami Hiki is about as close to one as you can get in a fairly realistic manga. All she's really missing are ears and a tail.
- Foe Yay: Yuzuko and Natsuo, easy.
- Genki Girl: Yuzuko. It's part of why Natsuo dislikes her so much. Also Ringi.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Natsuo, at 5'10". She enjoys it, though. People who are taller than her piss her off a little.
- Haruka Kirido as well who's only a few centimeters shorter than Natsuo.
- Jerkass: Natsuo is very up front about it, too. Oh, and also Karin, Natsuo's teacher, though it manifests somewhat differently.
- And Mario Cordeiro, though it's uncertain how much of it is putting on a show to promote interest in women's MMA, and how much of it is genuine contempt towards Risuke Takenaka.
- Lampshade Hanging: Natsuo occasionally references standard manga tropes and how she's avoiding them.
- Martial Arts Do Not Work That Way: Averted big-time. In terms of the niche, one of the most realistic ones around.
- Morality Pet: To an extent, Kei for Natsuo, who appears to be Natsuo's only friend.
- Perpetual Frowner: Natsuo's default expression is a frown. Smiles are reserved for insults or anticipation of a challenge.
- Slasher Smile: A really good one develops at the end of chapter 3, when Natsuo resolves to beat Yuzuko down with "all of her effort." Not to mention her glee at the end of chapter 10.
- Training from Hell: Absurd (yet realistic!) levels of physical training are what make Yuzuko and Ringi such good fighters, and Natsuo, while considered by many to be pretty strong, is told point-blank by Karin that she'll need to go through a lot more conditioning if she ever intends to seriously participate in MMA.
- Villain Protagonist: As said before, in a normal Shounen manga, Natsuo would be the antagonist for Yuzuko.