323 – One Shot 33 – My Broken Mariko
Morgana is away this week so the boys take advantage by having a lengthy discussion about professional wrestling and why New Japan Academy is strange! For our main segment we examine the impressive debut work of Waka Hirako, My Broken Mariko!!!
Continue readingThe Promised Neverland
A manga about an orphanage that is actually a human farm for demon consumption.
We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.
The Promised Neverland was a hit series that ended this year after 181 chapters. I was personally never a big fan because Posuka Demizu‘s character art never resonated with me but I still skimmed through each new chapter in Weekly Shonen Jump.
This series took a turn after the story left the original setting and I can’t help but feel that Kaiu Shirai carefully crafted that first section of the story but hadn’t with the rest. The narrative never rebounded and it led to a subpar ending. It’s a shame that this series fizzled out at the end but I still think the beginning is good and I highly recommend the anime adaptation.
Available in English from VIZ.
~dakazu
Demon’s Plan
A manga about two orphans friends, Boro and Carlos, who obtain powers through an evil artifact known as Demon’s Plan.
Sometimes you read a manga and you can immediately tell it won’t succeed. Unfortunately Demon’s Plan was one of those manga. Basically everything from the character designs to the story structure seemed lacking compared to other series in Weekly Shonen Jump. This is another manga that might have found success in something like Weekly Shonen Champion but in Jump it fell flat and was canceled in 12 chapters.
Yoshimichi Okamoto hasn’t put out any other works since Demon’s Plan so they might have quit drawing. A sad fact that many manga artists quit before finding success.
~dakazu
Ole Golazo
A manga about disgraced former Japanese Taekwondo Junior Champion Masami Banba who uses his dynamic kicking ability to play soccer.
What do I say about sports manga in Weekly Shonen Jump? They don’t succeed! Ole Golazo is no exception! So while Moue Takamasa‘s art is fine and the hook of applying skills from a martial art to a team sport is fun, it was more or less doomed to from the start!
~dakazu
U19
A manga about youths under the age of 19 who awaken in special “libido” powers that they use to fight against the Grown-Up Party that ruthlessly oppresses youths in Japan.
This manga has some good qualities, such as the main character Eiji Kudo who goes against male gender stereotypes with his hobby of sewing. Unfortunately the pacing at the beginning really killed this series. They spend the entire 1st chapter building the oppressive environment and Eiji doesn’t even activate his powers until the end of chapter 2. When you’re fighting for popularity in Weekly Shonen Jump against the likes of One Piece and Black Clover, waiting to reveal flashy special powers in your manga seems ill advised.
U19 could have survived a little longer than it’s 17 chapter life span with some revised pacing. The truly sad part is that Yuji Kimura seems to have quit being a manga artist as they haven’t done anything since this ended.
~dakazu
Demon Prince Poro’s Diaries
A manga about the powerful Demon Prince Poro Kurokami who wants to live a quiet life in the human world.
This series was quickly canceled in Weekly Shonen Jump. Hitsuji Gondaira‘s art is pretty good but the story about a demon who ends up using their monstrous powers while hiding their identify just doesn’t really go anywhere interesting. Luckily Gondaira’s current series Mission: Yozakura Family has picked up in popularity after the vacuum left after The Promised Neverland and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ended.
~dakazu
Hungry Marie
A manga about High Schooler Taiga Bijogi who ends up becoming a vessel for Marie-Thérèse Charlotte after participating in a resurrection ceremony for the girl next door he’s in love with.
We’ve discussed this in a previous episode.
Here’s another example of a manga artist struggling with their past success. Ryuhei Tamura previous work, Beelzebub, was fairly popular and even had an anime adaptation. In comparison Hungry Marie suffers from some awkward body swap clichés that are pretty outdated by modern standards. It was canceled after 32 chapters.
Currently Tamura is drawing a new series for Weekly Shonen Jump called Hardboiled Cop and Dolphin and it’s not really doing well. I feel bad for him but I won’t be surprised if that one also gets canceled.
~dakazu
322 – Morgana’s Manga Makeup 2 – An Invitation from a Crab, The Full-time Wife Escapist, Seven Shakespeares
Apologies in advance as we had to swap out two series we had announced last week. On this episode Morgana gets a chance to read An Invitation from a Crab, The Full-time Wife Escapist, and Seven Shakespeares for the first time! We also have a spoiler-filled discussion on BEASTARS volume 9 and discuss the implications of Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro returning to Weekly Shonen Jump!!!
Continue readingROBOT×LASERBEAM
A manga about an high schooler named Robo who has extreme precision and control in swinging golf clubs.
This sports series was Tadatoshi Fujimaki‘s follow up to the popular Kuroko’s Basketball. Manga artists who have to launch a new series after finishing a successful series have added pressure to create a new work that will be judged against their previous work. Unfortunately Fujimaki was unable to find that continued success with ROBOT×LASERBEAM and it was eventually canceled after 1 year. Personally I liked this series on golf but I’ll say it again, “Sports don’t do well in Weekly Shonen Jump.”
Available in English from VIZ.
~dakazu
Shudan!
A manga about the players at Hamanishi Football Club including their newest female teammate.
Takuma Yokota had a semi-successful run in Weekly Shonen Jump with Sesuji wo Pin! to before he returned with Shodan!. Unfortunately this manga fell victim to the curse that sports manga don’t do well in Jump. The large cast here didn’t really help anyone stand out despite the emphasis on a female player joining the boys team. It ended quickly. Luckily Takuma has found success with other work outside of Shueisha.
~dakazu