Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2021)
It’s the ninth anniversary of my blog, and time once again to look at the current state of Shonen Jump! As with last year, I read Jump through the official Viz Comics website. One Piece continues to be the tentpole series, having reached Chapter 1000 this year and still going strong. My Hero Academia is the strongest of the remaining series, at well over 300 chapters (though this one may be ending in a year or two.)
Let’s look at some of the newer series out of the gate in 2021.
“Doron Dororon” by Gen Oosuka is set in an alternate modern Japan where creatures called Mononoke have been attacking humans. Dora Sasaki wants to become one of the “samurai”, the heroes who fight the Mononoke. Alas, he has no supernatural energy to imbue his weapons with, the one thing that can hurt the monsters except each other. When he meets Kusanagi, the one known anti-evil Mononoke, they team up to battle evil monsters outside the established order. The monster fighting field is pretty crowded, but it has some energy.
“Ayashimon” by Yuji Kaku features more monsters, but this time as Yakuza equivalents. Maruo Kaido grew up wanting to become a shounen manga protagonist, so he trained in strength and fighting skills. He’s now possibly the strongest boy alive, but real life just doesn’t have job openings for “battle manga protagonist.” Until he happens to run into the daughter of the former ayashimon kingpin, who wants to unite the feuding clans under her control. She could really use a strong bodyguard, and Maruo gets to be in all the fights he can handle! Nice monster designs, and Maruo is an endearingly dopey fellow who’s bad at everything except fighting.
“Protect Me, Shugomaru!” by Daiki Ihara has a more difficult bodyguard setup. Sanagi Ojo is the heir to a wealthy conglomerate, but is bored by the money-obsessed boys of her own social class. Thus she is trying to attend an ordinary high school in hopes of finding a boyfriend. The mysterious assassin Skull is rumored to be targeting Sanagi so a bodyguard has been assigned. Shugomaru is an intense ten year old who is truly devoted to protecting Sanagi from any threat, but has poor threat assessment skills and tends to use overkill. Sanagi considers him more of a threat to her safety and sanity than Skull! This gag manga is still new, but may need an upgrade to last past the one joke..
“Witch Watch” by Kenta Shinohara (creator of “Astra: Lost in Space”) is a fantasy comedy about a trainee witch and her oni (ogre) familiar. The romantic element isn’t overdone, and the humor is good. A couple of the minor supporting characters have managed to carry entire chapters by themselves without detracting from the core cast. Very likely to get an anime.
“PPPPPP” by Mapollo3 tells the story of Lucky Sonoda, who was born Lucky Otogami, one of a set of septuplets. Unlike his siblings, Lucky did not have a natural genius for playing the piano, and his diva father divorced their mother for sticking up for this mediocrity. Though he is forbidden by his cruel relatives from practicing the piano at home, Lucky plays for his terminally ill mother every day at the hospital. She finally sits up and tells him that he should become a pianist, so he goes off to music school because while he’s not a genius, he does have his own gifts… I don’t get it, but this series has some dedicated fans. (It doesn’t help that I want to give the protagonist a haircut, or at least a decent brushing.)
“Blue Box” by Kouji Miura is a sports romance about Taiki Inomata, a badminton player who has a crush on the year older basketball player Chinatsu Kano. His attempts to deal with this crush become trickier when she has to move in with his family for a year. And other hearts are also at stake. This is a gentle, heartwarming series so far. Hoping nothing bad ever happens.
“The Elusive Samurai” by Yusei Matsui takes us back to 14th Century Japan and minor historical figure Hojo Tokiyuki, who evaded capture for many years after the Hojo clan was overthrown. There’s a fantasy element in a priest who can foresee the future, but otherwise it’s all “these people just happen to be insanely good at real life skills useful in the situation. There’s some jarring tonal shifts between wacky comedy and brutal tragedy, especially in the early chapters, but it’s good for Jump to have at least one “historical” title in the magazine.
And then there are the titles that aren’t from Shounen Jump itself, but are featured on the website, like “One Punch Man”, “Spy X Family” and “Kaiju #8.” A subscription is still excellent value for money.
