Currently Running Manga Discussion

[VLordGTZ]

Damn, that's very low first ranking for Hungry Marie.  Considering that Jump bothered to give it a color page last week, I don't think it should be completely discounted yet.  I suspect Jump will try to push the series a bit more before they attempt to cancel it.  Right now, the only cancellations that are a safe bet are U19 and Poro, imo.  That being said, it seems like Viz did end up getting the three most successful Jump Starts (I'm still hoping that they pick up HM though). 

After a long time, I'm finally fully caught up with all the weekly series in english Shonen Jump, and Promised Neverland is getting intense as hell.  That upcoming Lead CP is definitely well deserved with how great it's been.  Since I'm starting to have a lot more free time lately, I want to try to start reading Kimetsu no Yaiba and Hinomaru Sumo.  I'll also probably check out Yuna of Yuragi Manor out of pure curiosity of its popularity.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Keijo has ended!

For a series that was an abject failure, this sure took a long time to end.

[VLordGTZ]

Yeah, this was long overdue considering how badly the series sells.  With Shogakukan trying to revitalize the magazine, hopefully they'll be a bit more strict when it comes to cancelling series from now on.

[Painted Outlaw]

And, nothing of value was lost.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One might even say that this is a gain for the magazine. As in, it could gain an actual worthwhile series to fill in that now vacant slot.

[Spark Of Spirit]

And the creator is burning bridges along the way.

I have trouble feeling sympathetic when other authors in Shonen Sunday (like Fujita) never got near the promotion and chances his work got despite having a much higher sales base that could have been promoted instead. This series was a flop from day one and never should have gotten the insane pushes it did. Keijo fans trying to spin this as a screw-job really don't know what they're talking about.

[VLordGTZ]

The people who say that Sunday is in the wrong for cancelling Keijo are no different than those who called Jump "disgusting and awful" for giving Kubo an ultimatum with Bleach.  Regardless of the quality of the actual series, Keijo lasted in Sunday for longer than it had any right to.  If it had been in Jump, it would have been cancelled in a heartbeat. 

I'm currently about half-way to being caught up with Yuna of Yuragi Manor and Kimetsu no Yaiba, and I have pretty positive impressions of both so far.  KnY in particular is giving me some serious HxH vibes, which is certainly explaining why Togashi has given his seal of approval for the series.  I should be completely caught up by sometime next week.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Kimetsu no Yaiba is probably my second favorite currently running WSJ manga after MHA; I'm not counting One Piece since that series is now basically exempt from having to worry about competing for rank (not that it ever really ranks particularly low on any given week). That said, I'm going to be starting The Promised Neverland soon enough, so that could potentially usurp it and MHA since going by the premise, this series should really be up my alley.

I recently caught up with Dr. Stone and Robot X Laserbeam. Dr. Stone feels tonally very similar to Eyeshield 21, in that the plot is something that you would expect to take itself very seriously, yet the delivery is intentionally over the top, both in terms of its humor as well as its more genuine moments. That worked well for Eye shield 21, but admittedly feels a bit awkward with this set-up. That said, the general impression that I have so far is leaning more towards the positive side, so I'll be sticking around to see how this series plays out for at least a while.

As for RXL, firstly I just want to commend Fujimaki Tadatoshi on coming up with the most awesomely misleading title for a manga series in recent memory. Clearly "Roboto no Golf" wouldn't have been the most attention-grabbing thing out there, so he had to spice it up somehow. 

As for the manga itself, it's pretty entertaining so far. It's nothing atypical for the genre, but even given how Tadatoshi clearly lost momentum with KnY after about the first two-thirds, I have to give him credit for understanding sports manga story structure well enough in order to set up key characters and get you invested in their development and growth fairly quickly, which is a lot harder to do than it sounds. That said, the one thing that I could see backfiring on Tadatoshi is how clearly overpowered Roboto is. I have no problems with the main character being a genius at whichever field they compete in. That said, if they are doing this well against top-level players this early on, then the series runs the risk of getting tiresome and predictable really fast. Both Food Wars and Black Clover are currently facing that very problem, IMO. Occasionally an OP character can work if the series is high-stakes like Akagi, or a bat-shit-insane comedy like Yakitate!! Japan, but since RXL is comparatively more tame and serious, it is a bit worrying to see how godly Roboto is this early on. That said, despite my distaste for where Kuroko ended up, and how much I loathe the spin-off, Tadatoshi has still produced more good content than bad, in my eyes, and the good stuff shows that he has some genuine talent up his sleeve. If his editor guides him properly, this could be a pretty fun sports manga in the long run.

[LumRanmaYasha]

As for the manga itself, it's pretty entertaining so far. It's nothing atypical for the genre, but even given how Tadatoshi clearly lost momentum with KnY after about the first two-thirds, I have to give him credit for understanding sports manga story structure well enough in order to set up key characters and get you invested in their development and growth fairly quickly, which is a lot harder to do than it sounds. That said, the one thing that I could see backfiring on Tadatoshi is how clearly overpowered Roboto is. I have no problems with the main character being a genius at whichever field they compete in. That said, if they are doing this well against top-level players this early on, then the series runs the risk of getting tiresome and predictable really fast. Both Food Wars and Black Clover are currently facing that very problem, IMO. Occasionally an OP character can work if the series is high-stakes like Akagi, or a bat-shit-insane comedy like Yakitate!! Japan, but since RXL is comparatively more tame and serious, it is a bit worrying to see how godly Roboto is this early on. That said, despite my distaste for where Kuroko ended up, and how much I loathe the spin-off, Tadatoshi has still produced more good content than bad, in my eyes, and the good stuff shows that he has some genuine talent up his sleeve. If his editor guides him properly, this could be a pretty fun sports manga in the long run.

I'm not too worried about Robato being overpowered right now, especially because the latest chapter showed he's pretty bad at putting and pitching. Robato has a powerful drive with his iron and learns quickly, but golf is a game that requires tempering the power you put behind each shot based on club, terrain, and distance, as well as technique and precision, and it seems so far Robato isn't skilled at anything but straightforward drives. So he has a lot of room for improvement.

The people who say that Sunday is in the wrong for cancelling Keijo are no different than those who called Jump "disgusting and awful" for giving Kubo an ultimatum with Bleach.  Regardless of the quality of the actual series, Keijo lasted in Sunday for longer than it had any right to.  If it had been in Jump, it would have been cancelled in a heartbeat. 

We'll discuss the Keijo!!!!!!!! news on the next Manga Mavericks, but this is basically my position. I sympathize with the mangaka for the effort and dedication he put into a series he really wanted to succeed, but at the end of the day it was on life support from day one. Shokakugan gave it plenty of chances, more than many series and mangaka get in both Sunday and other magazines, and for it to get an anime when more successful Sunday series haven't, said anime not selling that well, or giving the manga a decent boost in sales, you can't say Sunday had much of a reason to continue running what was arguably their least successful currently running series.

[Spark Of Spirit]

As far as KnY, I'm really enjoying the current train arc. I was expecting it to slow down for a while after the Spider Mountain arc, but that just seems to not be the case. I'm still disappointed Viz didn't pick this up, but hopeful they could eventually license it for volume releases down the road.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm about a dozen chapters into The Promised Neverland. Just based on early impressions, this series gives me a similar sort of feeling to Death Note, in that it focuses on psychological battles of a sort in a way that makes it stand out from its other Shonen Jump contemporaries. Obviously the actual plot and characters feel completely different, but the vibes that I personally get from it so far are very Death Note-esque, and I mean that in a good way, though obviously my impressions of it can drastically alter the further along I read.

Overall, though, it's another good series currently running in WSJ's lineup.

[Spark Of Spirit]

From an early interview regarding the series:

Some of Shirai's influences include Naoki Urasawa, Takeshi Obata, Yusei Matsui (He liked Neuro a lot), Hirohiko Araki in suspense factor, and various others.

I think that explains a lot about why it works so well. You can see influences of all of them in there.

I'm not sure how he's gonna keep it up, but it sure is a fun series to read week to week.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Isabella from The Promised Neverland makes me realize how few great female villains I've encountered in manga, especially shonen manga. I mean, there are definitely others, but not many that have really stood out to me. I think what works so well about her is that you know that she's always up to something, yet you are often left in the dark as to what she's actually thinking or what kind of tricks she has up her sleeve, so when she finally does make a move it often catches you off guard, making her leave a big impression despite seemingly not doing that much.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #23 (May 4th, 2017):
The Promised Neverland (Cover, Lead CP)
1. My Hero Academia
2. One Piece
Boruto (CP)
3. Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction
4. Black Clover
5. Spring Weapon No. 1
Dr. Stone (CP)
6. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
7. Haikyuu!!
Samon the Summoner (CP)
8. Robot x Laserbeam
9. Yuna of Yuragi Manor
10. We Never Learn
11. Hinomaru Zumou
12. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
13. Hungry Marie
14. Gintama
15. Demon Prince Poro's Diaries
16. U19
Chronicle of Isobe ~Life is Hard~


Speaking of TPN, it's got the cover this week and lead color. AND it's getting a color page next week. There are no real surprises this week except the obvious result that Poro and U19 will the first out. I'm still surprised at the reaction to Hungry Marie. I really thought it would rank better. Kimetsu no Yaiba is getting the cover next week and a popularity poll for its first year. It's safe to say it's a success at this point.

None of the new series are lighting Jump on fire right now, but it's too early to say how things will go. It might be a case of fans already liking the current line up quite a bit and not voting for the newer series.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This Keijo crap is STILL going on.

I'm just going to throw my hands up on this one. The series didn't sell; Sunday canceled it. This isn't rocket science.