Mag Talk Weekly Shonen Jump (2026) - News and Discussion!

[Shinuki no Reborn]

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I hope everyone reads the rules and use it as a guide to behave well in the thread, thanks!

 

[Shinuki no Reborn]

now imagine if kill blue got the same promo as akane with a cover etc.

loving this

 

[JBC008]

Alright, I will be glad to share how I felt about the 3 new series and where I think their strengths lie and what challenges they will have to overcome.

-Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz: Sorachi is back, and he still has it. One of Sorachi’s greatest strengths is undoubtedly his comedy writing about stupid stuff and makes it funny. Even toilet humor (while it can be the lowest and probably disgusting type of humor, while somewhat not my favorite), made it hilarious with the visual comedy and careful choice of writing that made it funny. I was having a discussion outside of here talking about and comparing Roku with its “dog to big,” joke and how it can risk running into being repetitive, with the wording and delivery. However unlike Roku, I think Sorachi has a knack where he does the joke repeatedly but changes it enough every time that it’s still funny and never gets old.

Now with that said, I will go into some of my thoughts and concerns regarding Class 2-B. Overall, very fresh to have a somewhat reverse isekai series that also has action and comedy in it. But since this is Sorachi and how he did a similar type of action comedy in GinTama, he had practically 2 decades of experience where he understood his own craft and humor that he is a master of it. I’m still getting used to the characters, but I like the idea of the demon king is a girl as it highly contrasts from how GinTama started with Gintoki and Shinpachi, but a part of me wonders if Sorachi will plan a love connection between the two leads in the future. Now the idea of the Demon Lord focus as well as the idea of evil making a comeback and that the hero is the villain is interesting, but I don’t know how people would feel about that idea of the roles being reversed. But maybe there could be a change for the demon king becoming good in the same way as Megamind from the movie Megamind. The second criticism I have is how lengthy the text can get. It comes with the territory due to it being Sorachi and how he did it as well with GinTama, but it gets a pass and the text really isn’t a problem. The main problem I have with when it comes to manga or anything with text, the main thing comes from what is being written and is it engaging? I would have been concerned if Sorachi would not, but I was wrong and it was a blessing that the writing was funny and didn’t feel stalled otherwise it would feel like a chore, and that is the last thing you want your reader to feel. Having said that, the main concern is who’s going to be the target audience? It could be for older readers because it is Sorachi, but they will quickly compare it to GinTama, which is always a risk. Now if it is say for teens, it is a question of it connecting to the modern audience who could be 2 decades removed and times could have changed in its humor. I want this to succeed, but I’m weighing in on chapter two to see if it can keep up its momentum.

-Drawn to the Fire: I did enjoy chapter two, and we got to see the leads girl, I like her and hope we can go back and forth to see her progression and games. Now with our main lead and new partner and team, I was glad as some of the early progress, but then it got to a point where I felt things were a little rushed and convenient where the growth and problems were solved very quickly. I’m glad it did go over some positions in Basketball, but it needed some time to bake so it can help explain those spots on the team so our lead can grow and trust his team as well as everyone else’s importance. I don’t know how well received it is in Japan, but this series has a massive hurdle in the sports curse as well as where it has some good characters, pacing and the games and other teams are just as important to be invested in.

-Roku’s House of Oddities: I really enjoyed this as it had a good focus and humor along with exceptional character work with Seiroku, Johan, and the grandma. I think Nakamura’s approach for these 3 chapters was the correct one as his approach is to focus on character work and building a bond with Roku and the curses so we as readers will feel invested in them coming together as a family. It was funny with the hospital gags and situations with Johan, but it was well balanced and made it more endearing to feel satisfactory. I want this to stay, but my worry is that it won’t be loud enough to capture more readers when the magazine is stacked enough with other stories, and with ones that are in the height of major turning points and story arcs that are more gripping this issue than the build up to them. I mean think about it, One Piece had an amazing villain reveal and decent on Elbaf, Akane is setting the tone with her God of Death, Ichi is introducing a new villain, and Blue Box is finally getting into a badminton match between brothers that was built up over two years ago and (publication time). So with that said, Nakamura and Roku itself are facing both a very stacked roster and is in a batch where it is facing a heavy hitter in Class 2-B where it is penned by Sorachi. If it can get the audience for Slice of Life fans that is akin like RuriDragon, then I think Roku has a shot at staying.

Those are all three of my thoughts, and hope to have much bigger discussions regarding their place in the magazine. Overall, this is my assessment and opinion about all 3 series this week and possible concerns going forward.

 

[nemu asahi]

For kill blue, I'm not sure they see it as incompetence, quite the contrary: they're getting more money (more sells) without having to spend more (continuing the manga).

The sells are a good bonus but are not extraordinary (for now), which doesn't justify more money invested in the title.

If the anime makes the manga a big hit (manga and goods sell), then that could be discussed.

And I'm sure they'll try to desaxe it. IF it's a hit.

How much a hit is the question. I would say 1 to 10, as 1 yen invested leads to 10 yens of profit.

 

[BelTL]

it's harder for KB to be in shoseki as not many stores would have axed manga ready in stock I guess

 

[WyldViolet]

Only way Saito will bring back Kill Blue is if it gets retitled Kill Red.

 

[BelTL]

Maybe Kill Blue wasnt axed because of its performance, but because it was too uh, Blue

 

[Stivie]

Maybe Kill Blue wasnt axes because of its performance, but because it was too uh, Blue

It should have had more "Kill".

The beginning of Kill Blue is boring.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 21, 2026, Original Post Date: Apr 21, 2026 ---

Maybe Kill Blue wasnt axes because of its performance, but because it was too uh, Blue

Kill Blue had a closed ending; the author concluded everything in the story. How could there be a sequel?

 

[Ricool]

now imagine if kill blue got the same promo as akane with a cover etc.

loving this

Akane's anime came veryyy late which obviously affected its boost potential, give Akane an anime a year earlier and it would probably have done way better

Both manga got screwed by their respective circumstances, so I don't think it's wise to fanfare like this

 

[Stivie]

For kill blue, I'm not sure they see it as incompetence, quite the contrary: they're getting more money (more sells) without having to spend more (continuing the manga).

The sells are a good bonus but are not extraordinary (for now), which doesn't justify more money invested in the title.

If the anime makes the manga a big hit (manga and goods sell), then that could be discussed.

And I'm sure they'll try to desaxe it. IF it's a hit.

How much a hit is the question. I would say 1 to 10, as 1 yen invested leads to 10 yens of profit.

For them to even consider bringing back Kill Blue, as many here want, several manga that debuted after Kill Blue ended would have to be failures. Which is not the case with Someone Hertz and jujutsu kaisen módulo.

 

[Aqyurs]

For them to even consider bringing back Kill Blue, as many here want, several manga that debuted after Kill Blue ended would have to be failures. Which is not the case with Someone Hertz and jujutsu kaisen módulo.

1) Most people don't actually want Kill Blue to be brought back, what's done is done. I criticize the decision to end it and think it was wrong and shortsighted, but they did it already. Even if it came back, it wouldn't be the same for fans because the ending is Ogami going to a new school. So it'd be an entirely different cast and most of the old one would be relegated to cameos. The best they can do now is accept the egg on their face and not do this with another series (and maybe not force, but suggest Fujimaki to come back quicker than usual with a new series if Kill Blue actually gets a major popularity increase)
2) I made a whole list of every series that started since Kill Blue ended that showed almost everything was a massive failure. Two successes (one of which wasn't even a permanent spot in the lineup) and 5 probably 6 failures that could easily be axed at any time but only survive because Jump's too afraid to end complete flops at 10-12 chapters now, not to mention the 4 series that started before Kill Blue ended that also were complete failures. This also doesn't even include the fact that Kill Blue still did better sales wise than Kiyoshi and Roboco do right now. They're literally running 19 series and have to do a one shot showcase as a slot filler right now. There was plenty of room to just keep Kill Blue without cutting something else that had potential. There still is right now.

If they wanted to (and before you try saying I want them to, I do not want them to. I'll reiterate again that I hate Kill Blue), they could easily bring back Kill Blue just fine.

 

[Stivie]

1) Most people don't actually want Kill Blue to be brought back, what's done is done. I criticize the decision to end it and think it was wrong and shortsighted, but they did it already. Even if it came back, it wouldn't be the same for fans because the ending is Ogami going to a new school. So it'd be an entirely different cast and most of the old one would be relegated to cameos. The best they can do now is accept the egg on their face and not do this with another series (and maybe not force, but suggest Fujimaki to come back quicker than usual with a new series if Kill Blue actually gets a major popularity increase)
2) I made a whole list of every series that started since Kill Blue ended that showed almost everything was a massive failure. Two successes (one of which wasn't even a permanent spot in the lineup) and 5 probably 6 failures that could easily be axed at any time but only survive because Jump's too afraid to end complete flops at 10-12 chapters now, not to mention the 4 series that started before Kill Blue ended that also were complete failures. This also doesn't even include the fact that Kill Blue still did better sales wise than Kiyoshi and Roboco do right now. They're literally running 19 series and have to do a one shot showcase as a slot filler right now. There was plenty of room to just keep Kill Blue without cutting something else that had potential. There still is right now.

If they wanted to (and before you try saying I want them to, I do not want them to. I'll reiterate again that I hate Kill Blue), they could easily bring back Kill Blue just fine.

I see that nobody can accept that Fujimaki might have finished Kill Blue willingly.
There have been many manga that were finished before the anime went into production.

And Kill Blue was never the most popular manga in Jump, so it's not like its ending had the same impact as the ending of My Hero Academia, for example.

 

[BelTL]

It should have had more "Kill".

The beginning of Kill Blue is boring.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 21, 2026, Original Post Date: Apr 21, 2026 ---

Kill Blue had a closed ending; the author concluded everything in the story. How could there be a sequel?

Chill, I was joking there

 

[DKong]

The Kitano Report Incoming!



Ah Kitano’s Magic, you’ve gone from being my fave of the batch to one I am slightly dreading every week along with UNDERDOCTOR. The progression has been really frustrating to put it lightly and I want to assess and analyse my problems with the series and why I'm not all too sure about its future.

Kitano is a Shonen ,of course it is its published in WSJ and was advertised as such but the problem is that Kitano itself doesn't seems to think it is, not right now. The main problem to me in this manga is it seems to be trying to retroactively add and implement more "Shonen-y" elements and scenes where it just isn't in the place to do so. These elements come in so quick and unexpectedly that as a reader I'm like “whoa we’re here already?” and it feels super jarring it's like it's trying to do a chapter 20-30 moment at chapter 10.

Whether we admit it or not as Shonen fans we are creatures of habit(i am atleast), the concept and worldbuilding may differ but what we're really here for is that progression, someone going from 0-100 and trying their best, and many great stories can be wrung from that simple set up ,tropes and stereotypes exist because they work, but because of this if you try a big impactful scene in the wrong spot we can notice it and it stands out like a game breaking glitch. It’s immersion breaking, it looks like these elements are put in cynically to try to cheat emotions out of the audience.

Kitano is trying to pull off a big scene where the hero really struggles for the first time and the villains get away but it doesn't work because this is Kitano's first real solo fight ,so no one really expects him to win and we don't know what this villain even wants, it’s against just some guy and they've exchanged maybe 2 lines of actual banter so were not really invested in seeing this Noise fella ever again ,and it's all happening with characters we all just met.The benefit of these big moments is pulling on the investment from readers you've built up over your run, you've seen the hero try,fight and win ,but what’s this? He's trying harder than ever and still loses to this charismatic foe “pick yourself up Kitano you'll beat him next time" right, and the other characters who understand the hero's challenges and setbacks are there to feel empathy and inspire him to succeed in the future, but in Kitano Amemiya is pulling from a pool that's just far too shallow. I think fairy tail is a good comparison for this series,by this point in fairy tail, chapter 11-12 we've only just met Erza and Gray and we’re just setting off for this new quest. The cast has basically doubled but you're still invested as a reader and are able to bond with these new characters through Natsu and Lucy .Before this we've had about 2 arcs of just Natsu Lucy and Happy so we now know them, we see how they react and emote ,so now these new guys can bounce off of them as reference points and we’re endeared to them by proxy as Natsu already defined dynamics with both of them and Lucy is our POV so we still get basic character introductions too . This, whatever you want to say about Mashima, is effective pacing and storytelling because now he doesn't need any big backstory or lore drop to have us care atleast a little about Gray and Ezra off rip. My Hero is another example and has been used as a comparison point for Kitano for obvious reasons, by this point Deku has had a big moment but it feels earned and satisfying because 1. The chapters up to this have been him busting his ass for his dream and making it by the skin of his teeth, and 2. It’s an established foe we want him to win against because it's Bakugo and he's been an irredeemable asshole since we've met him so seeing Deku pull one over on him is a return investment, for your time you get a hype moment.

Kitano however cannot pull on investment for these moments for me as he's been ping ponging between groups and we've not gotten the chance to really get attached to any one of them , Jien and Linae the expected party were dropped off in chapter 3 and have only appeared in like 1 cutaway and Jien’s recent big entrance, then we get to the ice lady she's got a knight complex going on and has an attractive design with an possible interesting dynamic with Kitano and Linae, but she fails, not because Amemiya hit her with a Hetero-Hetero beam but because her one bit of being a knight questing for a princess is immediately flipped upon us meeting her so what does she have left now? The quirks she was introduced with are gone and we don't even get to see how this new outlook affects her relationships or personality properly because we pong into a new party. This method could work mind you, travelling between different parties, hell that's what Mashima was going to do before he saw how popular Gray and Ezra were, but it can't work here because Kitano truly isn't interesting enough to carry our investment alone. Like I feel I could imagine his interactions with most any character type ,"sorry for being such a burden. Wow your amazing. Erm that was weird" he isn't as robust as a Natsu or Deku where they have something you can attach to, be it Natsu’s pure dumb guy charm or Deku being an obsessive crybaby fanboy, but there's just not much there for Kitano. He's a nice boy which can work in an ensemble as he can be fleshed out by bouncing off other members but solo, no way.

This could've all worked a little better for me if Linae was still here and went with Kitano on his ping pong journey, we readers know her a little bit and most importantly she knows Kitano and is invested in him winning and succeeding.The other guild members, despite how friendly they are, don't really give a toss whether Kitano gets to shine or not, if he was just cooped up farming heals for them they'd be perfectly fine with it but Linae wouldn't. She convinced him to follow his adventurer dreams and in the recent chapters she revealed he saved her with his magic so she would want to push Kitano to his true potential. It works to characterise them a little, but if Kintano goes " I can't keep relying on others I'm stepping up and using my technique even if it hurts" all alone the other are probably just thinking,but why tho? The villagers are all evacuated right? It’s not like I don't want Kitano to fight at all tho ,this is a battle Shonen afterall and I'd expect nothing less, it's just that this sudden need to fight seems awfully new, like he was fine playing medic up until now and it's not like he was spurred into it realistically, he just got knocked down once at the start of the fight and went into " I gotta break my arms now " mode immediately. I think this moment would be more impactful with Linae as it would be a full display of Kitano using his magic for his dream and others and Amemiya knows this because he puts her in as a cutaway as he knows he has nothing to tie this hype to.

Overall it really feels like the manga is scared that it can’t coast off gags or bit characters so he's retroactively trying to put in the Shonen hype he thinks people want but it fails because we haven't been itching for Kitano to shatter his bones or whatever ,just that he gets more interesting to read and for me atleast more relaxation splash pages lol. It feels like he went into this series with a clear vision but due to editorial, reader feedback or personal reflection on the series decided he wasn't writing the right thing and tried to slot it in now, but progression is the whole point of reading a battle manga so if the series just puts scenes in front of you with nothing to substantiate them they fall flat and readers fall off too.

But this is all just my opinion I'm open to a redemption. Maybe japanese readers are frothing at the gills for more of this. I just think that if it flops I'll know why.



This was very rambly, very opinionated, very long and probably wrong in some way so thanks for reading x

 

[RealityChecker]

Akane's anime came veryyy late which obviously affected its boost potential, give Akane an anime a year earlier and it would probably have done way better

Both manga got screwed by their respective circumstances, so I don't think it's wise to fanfare like this

I fear Akane's problem might not be too simple. I think there are two main reasons why Akane-banashi is getting low to no boost here:

1- Akane-Banashi was already a somewhat niche series. It certainly attained a cultural status due to its recomendations, like the one from Hideaki Anno, and it grew to a stable number number of sales (60K before dropping to 40K), but it never would grow a lot since it doesn’t have that much of appeal to a general audience.

2- The anime adaptation is not good. I mean, there is no problem with the animation, voice cast or anything, but the art direction is not really getting the flow of rakugo presentations and how to edit the anime. When you see the anime, you don't get the same feeling as when you are reading the manga. It is like they are not getting how to translate between both. It is a bit stale. And the rakugo presentations are really the worst part of it. Entire sequences of expressions are cut and other people talk when they are presenting. And the scenes of the rakugo stories themselves are not inovative or whatever. I don't think the studio that got it is bad, but the staff is lacking.
For Akane-Banashi, I fear the omly good choice for it to be really good was it to be Kyoto Animation. That would be the only studio that could deliver it. But only a handful of manga are able to be animated by it, since it is the best studio of Japan.

 

[cameronney618]

LMAAAAAAO!!!!!!!!!!!

Rushed manga guys, congratulation in being f@cking incompetent Saito!

Obs: Above Akane vol 2 too!

Of all the thing to get Shinuki amped up against Saito, it's Kill Blue lmao. A series with no growth past vol 1

#334 / #449 is not even worth wildin over if nue only sells 2k at #191.

 

[tirakai]

Akane-banashi's anime's biggest issue to me is the one I figured would be a problem from the start, which is that it just can't work well as an anime.


The other couple Rakugo anime we've had made it work be centering on comedy or drama, and placing the focus on the stories themselves, but Akane puts the main focus on the individual skill of the performers which Voice Actors do not have the right talents to portray. Episode 2 really shows this problem, the performance is supposed to be incredibly erotic due to the vocal skills but it just wasn't because the voice actor isn't able to perform on that level (which is basically a fantastical, impossible level of skill), which made the scene rather dull.

 

[Stivie]

Of all the thing to get Shinuki amped up against Saito, it's Kill Blue lmao. A series with no growth past vol 1

#334 / #449 is not even worth wildin over if nue only sells 2k at #191.

Kill Blue never managed to surpass the sales of the first volume, but for Shinuki, as long as it's funny, any flaw is forgiven. If Kagurabachi had been canceled when it was at the bottom of the rankings, he and Sharkbait would have said it was canceled because it wasn't "funny."

 

[monstera11]

Maybe Kill Blue wasnt axes because of its performance, but because it was too uh, Blue

Kill Red would have gone hard. Saito's fav color!

Kill Black? Then it gonna gets cancelled by the west lol

 

[defensor_de_boruto]

Kill Blue managed to get its first 2 vols in shoseki after Episode 2 aired:

334 9784088836867 キルアオ　１ 集英社 藤巻忠俊 2023.09.04
419 9784088837376 キルアオ　２ 集英社 藤巻忠俊 2023.11.02

YOU’RE TELLING ME KILL BLUE IS RANKING IN SHOSEKI AGAIN?

F#CK SAITO

 

[nemu asahi]

Akane-banashi's anime's biggest issue to me is the one I figured would be a problem from the start, which is that it just can't work well as an anime.


The other couple Rakugo anime we've had made it work be centering on comedy or drama, and placing the focus on the stories themselves, but Akane puts the main focus on the individual skill of the performers which Voice Actors do not have the right talents to portray. Episode 2 really shows this problem, the performance is supposed to be incredibly erotic due to the vocal skills but it just wasn't because the voice actor isn't able to perform on that level (which is basically a fantastical, impossible level of skill), which made the scene rather dull.

I really loved the showagenroku anime. I even bought the Japanese Blue rays to support the anime (more money to the iinkai, not the studio, I know). There was indeed more drama in this one. Human drama.

But Akane lacks something. The concept, performance, all you said. The rakugo in showagenroku was entertaining. I could listen to it.

Making anime is hard. Being a voice actor too.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 21, 2026, Original Post Date: Apr 21, 2026 ---

I fear Akane's problem might not be too simple. I think there are two main reasons why Akane-banashi is getting low to no boost here:

1- Akane-Banashi was already a somewhat niche series. It certainly attained a cultural status due to its recomendations, like the one from Hideaki Anno, and it grew to a stable number number of sales (60K before dropping to 40K), but it never would grow a lot since it doesn’t have that much of appeal to a general audience.

2- The anime adaptation is not good. I mean, there is no problem with the animation, voice cast or anything, but the art direction is not really getting the flow of rakugo presentations and how to edit the anime. When you see the anime, you don't get the same feeling as when you are reading the manga. It is like they are not getting how to translate between both. It is a bit stale. And the rakugo presentations are really the worst part of it. Entire sequences of expressions are cut and other people talk when they are presenting. And the scenes of the rakugo stories themselves are not inovative or whatever. I don't think the studio that got it is bad, but the staff is lacking.
For Akane-Banashi, I fear the omly good choice for it to be really good was it to be Kyoto Animation. That would be the only studio that could deliver it. But only a handful of manga are able to be animated by it, since it is the best studio of Japan.

This.