Drawn To The Fire was a lot better than I had anticipated. Didn't read the one-shot, of course. But since I'm writing, it probably means that I felt something enough to start yapping again. I was 100% uninterested in the artstyle and it felt like the least interesting of this batch, what with being a spokon debuting next to a legendary, highly anticipated return that has had everyone foaming at their mouths. And Sorachi.
If we review back the lineup of spokon of 2025, all three series had some strong points, but all of them were severely lacking in chemistry. As in, while individually, you'd find one or two characters that you like, it would be hard to find a relationship you would find yourself invested in. For Mound, that shortie was doing way too much that his entire team lacked their own agency and devolved into an extension of him. For Ping Pong, the guy was pinging and ponging to ping pongers of the week. For Ekiden, hahaha, well, it was already the end when the author decided to lock in. Then there's Embers which was just lacking on the character front and defended the bottom with its life on the line. So the result are sports where only the sports are what matters, and if you aren't into any of those games, you'd find yourself lacking much interest in the characters and cast. That's right, unlike other spokon, Drawn To The Fire is not about the sports, it's about the characters. (The 2 mecha fans reading this just choked on their drinks)
I think there's just enough sauce and purpose in Keiki's overall goal to compete in the Koshien just to reunite with his childhood sweetheart. A little tacky and by today's standards, really outdated (You guys can just video call each other), but I think any boy can feel for that. We've all had friends we love that we lost connection with because we or they moved far apart. There's a lot to like in his relationship with Hana where she was as much a mentor and a partner to him which helped him grow into a better player, certainly a lot more spunk than the average spokon love interest. Throw in some misunderstandings and implied love triangles (there isn't one) and the romance arc feels like a good payoff. At the very least, even if it gets axed, I would like to see these two brats reunite. Natsu's here as the de facto rival guy, meant to be cooler than the protag's passionately hot fire. Course, we're doing a Kuroko setup where his and Keiki's strengths complement the other, rather than compete. Not as much of a jerk as people in his role, in fact, he and Keiki have the exact same views about the other, and that's really interesting. I like him, he's closer to a bro and a wingman than a rival. Keiki may have a girl waiting for him at the Koshien, but I can see the fujoshi shipping him with Natsu. They click just right to me. A character's canon sexuality has no effect on how gay people want them to be.
Basketball? Yeah, it's a simpler game for me to digest than baseball. Five guys, shoot the ball into the hoop. Basketball manga may have had much more success in Jump than other sports simply because the smaller player count allows them to hyperfocus on its characters in the time it needs to develop and audience. It's pretty easy to digest what Keiki and Natsu's strengths are in the game, even if your basis is "ball goes into hoop". Nothing too technical or otherworldy going on here. "He's good at fakes" and "he can read the fakes" makes for a core gameplan that can stack a hundred times in the psychological game. "Is he faking or is he not faking?" and the first major threat going, "I can read your fakes."
Wasn't big on the artstyle honestly, but seeing it in action made me grow toward it. I think everyone's lanky limbs makes for excellent and visually pleasing silhouettes that makes it damn clear what's happening at every given time. This artstyle is an animator's wet dream because it allows you to play fast and loose with how you want the characters to move. The dunks are drawn with this impact that makes you hear that sound of it, and generating sound from black and white paper is some mad crazy game.
What'll make or break it is the rest of the team and how soon it generates an interesting story arc. Spokon have lived and died by their first arcs. I'm personally interested in seeing the longterm romantic arc see its conclusion. I would like Hana to return, not physically, but as a schizophrenic tulpa that advises Keiki how to overcome his current predicament through flashbacks.
Roku's House Of Horrors is a step back from Agravity Boys, which itself was a hit-or-miss gag manga, with more misses than hits imo. One thing's for sure, the artist is super talented. But goddamn can his comedy chops fall into the dirt a lot of the time. I feel the gags in Roku are too wordy to truly hit. I've said my piece that it really should've been a shoddy "five girls live with some dude" harem manga for a better chance to survive. While it would be some piss easy strat, it's a niche that isn't really being taken advantage of as of late. Yes, there's Nue, but that's too much action. Yes, there's Hima-ten, but that's still three girls after two years of publication, it's barely a love triangle. The artist clearly has the talent to draw girls that absolutely mogs any of the girls Nue and Hima-ten have put out. Ah well. One thing is clear for me though: Agravity Boys was way funnier than Roku. There's probably an emotional arc in finding out why the curses are curses, but to reach it, we have to have a solid platform for comedy, and it's not hitting. I mean, come on, look at the cast.
A shy ghost girl, a stone faced vampire who kinda like showing off, a masked dude, a puppet kuudere and a dog. By god, 4 out of the 6 cast members are emotionally unreactive characters with only the main character working overtime making funny expressions. This cast is way too unbalanced towards the side of stoicism to be funny. Stoic comedy is funny, but you can't have two whole characters for that purpose! It's too much!
Gonron Egg, The Mage Next Door and Hero Girl and Demon Lord Call It Quits all kicked the bucket to no one's surprise. All three had artwork that I felt were far below the standard of Jump. Not to be demeaning to the authors, but I felt it was far too early for all of them to publish. The only one that I felt had actual potential was the third and last. Gonron Egg always felt like it was reaching for the stars but flying on paper wings. The Mage Next Door never felt like it was trying, and just kept going with the most standard plot developments for its genre it could go with. HGDL had a solid foundation but didn't build a proper cast on top of it that could endear readers. Like I'm sorry, but after 20 chapters, I still don't know what role subspace was supposed to fill and why he's part of the main cast. It scores a major win in the 2025 Finale for including a really hot milf who spent an entire chapter holding her bust up while expositing. Should've started with the milfs, I'm just saying.
2026 batch came in hot but left us dry. Under Doctor trying to be a battle shonen when it's best chapters were spent on the doctor drama. Really, people can dig a doctor drama, there was no need to add battles to it. Wholly unnecessary. Even this arc and antagonist feels half baked. Kinato's Magic had people positive on it, but now it's rushing to get some form of audience with the looming threat on the horizon, and it's never good for a manga to rush. We already did Black Clover, now we doing My Hero Academia now? Guess we know which era of shonen Kento Amamiya grew up on. Alien Headbutt is a love it or hate it deal, and it's dumber than a sack of bricks. But I gotta admit I felt the raw testosterone of hitting an alien with another alien's head and calling it Alien Headbutt. I notice the proportions are a lot more solid than the somewhat chibi proportions in the first few chapters, so I guess the author's adjusting?
Other shower thoughts... Sakamoto Days is doing that thing where the focus on the Order and at such a pivotal time in the manga's life, I really couldn't be bothered. They even offscreened the whole plotline about that one kid and his deadbeat dad, like why? I haven't been feeling these antagonists either, and I want to get a move on. Akanebanashi proves Moue does not know what an 80 year old woman looks like and I don't disapprove. As usual, the stakes are skewed against Akane (and even Kaisei)'s favor but she's rising up with a one two punch. But her going first just means Kaisei is set to humiliate the crap outta her. Oh, but then Issho goes after both of them, so I guess he's set to reawaken Kaisei's trauma. It would probably be the first time in 200 chapters that we get to see his rakugo that's been hyped up to hell. Nue's Exorcist ended it's previous arc and I think it was paced pretty well overall. Would've been nice if they relaxed a little, but like a true shonen, the next baddie gotta explode onto the scene. Who's he going to ask Gakuro to impregnate? Raisei? Shinobi Undercover going with its usual powerups of giving Yodaka basic functional human brain faculties and that's always funny as hell to me. Last time, it's "putting that aside", now it's "make your own decisions". Makes the power system highly unpredictable because you never know what basic thought you have that Yodaka does not.
Voting...
1) Akanebanashi
2) Shinobi Undercover
3) Kagurabachi
4) Nue's Exorcist
5) Me & Roboco
