I've been really busy lately. I'm a fulltime engineer juggling five projects, doing referee work for a local wrestling scene, joined a book club and now I'm running an artist circle with a few mates (It means I'm back in drawing baybee). So there hasn't been time for me to write my usual rambling longposts as I usually do. And if there is time, I'd rather go to bed or play games. Ura had a good chapter so I felt driven to write, the only thing blocking my way is Graykeith which I hadn't actually given a fair shake because I personally don't vibe with it. But it's unfair to just chuck it aside without a fair shake, I even gave frickin' Nice Prison it's limelight. So before I could write a piece, I had to sit down and read it like a good little reader boy and at least give my two cents on it.
Graykeith: Translator Daemonica does not appeal to me in any way. There's no nice women to activate my monkey brain neurons, it's a mentor-mentee setup which I am frankly sick of (How many of these have crashed and burned these past two years) and the art is nice but doesn't wow me. Definitely would've slotted nicely in a file next to Cannon Master in the, "Nice art rookie, but maybe you'll get a hit on the next one."
So you better trust me when I say I absolutely vouch for Graykeith. It's good. I had to force myself through the first two chapters, but the rest of it was like sliding down a hill. Felt like a good flow. I also completely believe in my next statement: This manga does not belong in Shonen Jump and should not have taken shape in the form of a manga.
Graykeith is written more like a novel, a detective novel specifically. You see the pieces, yeah? Graykeith the detective wizard translator, Kisaragi acting the part of the Watson so people can explain all the concepts. They're even solving cases right now. There are none of the usual hooks you expect out of a Jump series. No tragic backstory, no hook, no longterm endgame, no romantic beat, no money shot action scenes. Lacking these would be a death sentence for a manga, and frankly, it is. Graykeith instead intends to draw the reader in via intrigue. In its lore, in its world. This type of writing is more characterisitc of a novel, so I hope you get what I mean.
It's a damn good thing I got lazy to read it, because the worldbuilding would've been lost to me if I had to take a small bite every week. While the story has been one shot after one shot, every piece of information builds upon the world, and the importance of a translator in a world where different cultures rapidly intermingle. This might be an allegory for something, but I'm not sure what (Hehe). And the intrigue into the pieces that make up Graykeith's world is genuinely interesting. The relationships between daemons and humans who have no way of understanding each other, the sanctity of preserving and understanding the intended meaning of written words. I'm heavily drawn into Graykeith's goal of tracking down House Of Veiled Night, despite him having absolutely zero reasons of wanting to translate it besides the fact that he wants to. It's because it preys on my curiosity with every line that was built up in this world. It's the piece that connected the lines between the worlds, and there's nothing known about it besides its name. What kind of book is it? How is it that in a world full of mysterious daemonic creatures, the one thing blurred in the biggest fog is a product of human hands? I just can't help but feel drawn by such a mystery. I don't need any reason to symphatize with Graykeith to find it interesting, the book itself already seems interesting enough.
Drawing eyes toward a mystery Macguffin that the strange world seems to be built around, and dropping all sorts of trivia about the world and the people who live in it, while keeping minimal focus on the stories that make up the leads. This format is characteristic of a novel, and it's a horrible shame that it was turned into a manga instead, because now its existence hinges on a gamble. For sure, I would never greenlight Graykeith, it's just not a concept that suits Shonen Jump at all. It lacks the hooks it needs for the intended audience. But it's excellent for people who like to read text on a page, and it would've hit 12 volumes without effort if published this way.
But I love a good gamble, so I'm putting my chips in for Graykeith to get a color page after Ura. It's got nothing but the quality of its world and intrigue to work for it, but I have faith that these aspects can breach into a demographic that doesn't normally engage with it.
The Ura Files has been fantastic. Art has been homerun after homerun. Everyone's been waiting for my man Kuroki to return from taking his paycheck from Fantia, he just needed the right story. Shun Numa's the potential man of Jump. Always scoring a piece with a solid following, but never breaching into a level that would get him into the big leagues. Ura's that work for both of them to get to where they belong. I'm sure of it now more than I ever have been.
It's a simple setup. Boy meets girl, they do stuff and blush around each other. Give it 200 chapters and they'll date and then we run out of material, so we'll end the manga in 50 more chapters and have their married life for an epilogue. Most hit romcoms have taken on this formula, and it's proven effective. So effective it murdered the harem genre and told it to go hide in the isekai lands.
I don't hate cliches. Dress it up as a gyaru with two big titties and I'll forgive everything. But I think there's a touch more to it here, with Shun Numa finally tapping into that little spice that he never had that makes these stories stand out. And that essence is immaturity. Yeah, we find it in Samon and Chojo who are both grown ass little boys, but Kibitsu's immature in a way that's very different from them. And it lies in his lack of self-assurance. He's always telling himself things that line him toward his mission, but always ends up contradicting it on a whim to do what's right. Self-contradiction, rebelling against authority, learning to see and judge from his own eyes rather than what is expected of him. These are traits that are best attributed toward growing young men, and while most would probably have went awooga at the gyaru oni, what glues them to the ground is the lens of which they view said oni, with thoughts and words that they can feel themselves resonating with.
This chapter's especially good at blending all the great Shun Numa humor with this newfound genuity, putting a spin on well-known kitsune tropes that help expand the worldbuilding. The bit of tragedy at knowing Inari is quietly dying due to modernization eroding faith (something that is very real today) and Kibitsu thoughtlessly doing the 100 rounds is some good stuff, good stuff. The kind of deed that any young man would want to do if it keeps their girl from crying for even one day. With Chojo, he's tried to build these types of emotional cores, but I never resonated with it. For Ura, he's cut back drastically on absurdist humor in favor of a youthful flair, and I'm afraid that he has finally found a winning recipe.
Also Ura's really cute. Yeah. Oni. Gyaru. Boobs. The kitsune's really hot too. Great stuff.
Real winners this batch. We've had the singular shittiest year, so it's nice to finally hit a batch that feels confident in the stories they are telling.
Roku's House of Oddities has become a popcorn manga for me that I either read or don't read depending on who it's about. Oh it's a Johan chapter? This one's for the fujos, I'll skip. Sachiko chapter? Feed me. Altra chapter? Is Sachiko there? Yes? Feed. Dog chapter? Nah. I liked those exorcist guys, they were funny. Masked dude? Nnnnnn-- Whoops, I'm afraid this week is peak Kabaneji content. Like I'm sorry, but this is genuinely a great chapter of adults getting together despite being at low points. It's just good to feel like they've got something even if they're at the bottom rung of society. I'm seeing these guys develop their own circles outside of their family of 6, and I'm kind of surprised at how interesting it is to watch these characters just, get their own lives separate from one another. Roku is weirdly expansive with its cast, and not incestual with its character relationships, where everyone just sorta knows everyone. I would never have taken a gamble for a manga like this, but it seems to be paying off. I thought Roku just got lucky that fujos latched onto Johan and simps simped for Sachiko, but I'm starting to see the webs forming their own little network from a bigger network. Fun. But here comes its first major story arc, and now I'll fully engage. Cause I wanna know if it's all good fortune, or some real talent.
Animal Signal seems to be poised for a Pokemon endgame, gotta catch em all. Em, as in, the signals. From the anima. Who have animal-like traits and abilities. Their Signal. The Animal Signal. I get it. It's been doing absurdist humor for the past few weeks and I dig it, it's hilarious to me. The genderbending idol chapter absolutely broke me into tears. This chapter's really funny too with the inexpressive woman who's absolutely in love with the MC. I still have my chips put into it, but I can't help but feel that it's faltering in its search for a core audience. Kinda had a male focus for a few weeks, now it's breaking out the harem tropes the artist is known for. Almost like it's wavering in its search for some kind of trajectory. Still dig it, still dig it.
Hal Formula is doing a jobber arc where the MC beats on some guys who don't stand a chance. Good. At some point, sports manga should learn that if your comparison point for a lead is Michael Schumacher, he can no longer be an underdog and should be treated as "the one to beat". Sports manga shouldn't always be about the little guy hitting upwards, there's plenty of space to watch a monster trounce their lessers.
Ichi The Witch let Kumugi do things! And now they're letting Ichi do magic! How did it take this long for it to get there?
I feel an unconscious pressure from an ItsSamu simply because y'know, things happened in Akanebanashi. Major things. Crazy things. Like if I had to describe it to someone who has never read Akanebanashi, you know that time when Captain America went, "Hail Hydra" and it made the internet go crazy? This is that time. I cannot believe it. I cannot believe Akane is learning Shibahama from the man who expelled her dad from rakugo, the very foundation that made up this revenge story. It's insane, it's insane. I actually threw my phone (at a soft pillow) when I had to read those words come out of her. She's falling into the dark side. But it's not like Issho's like, evil rakugo or something, he's just got a very specific view about the art, and the only way to perfect her daddy's version of Shibahama that got him expelled is to learn the shortcomings of it from someone who saw nothing but flaws in it. Issho's rakugo is the exact opposite of her daddy's rakugo. And what a performance it was! There was no audience shot! The reader is in the audience too! You just watch the guy do his damn thing! And Time Soba is beginner shit, just to prove what a badass Issho is to take something on that level and elevate it to fine art. Issho is undesirable, but he is absolutely undeniable. Now we have an Akane who is so very obviously hurtling facefirst into becoming Issho's masterpiece disciple, like going full rakugo Sith and you're telling me the Shiguma (Jedi) school is starting again? After we just got a slight tease of those 4 guys, but never anything more than that? Oh, let's just show off Guriko? Do you guys have any idea how hard I've been biting my hand waiting for this loser to show up?! He was in chapter 2, acted as a mentor to the beginner Akane, got absolutely overshadowed by more experienced mentor, then got overshadowed by Akane herself, decided to fly off to Osaka and leave us with nothing but a few panels of whatever he's doing there. And not a single time from chapter 2 till now did the authors let him perform rakugo! I'm serious! There was a little piece of him after a performance where he realized he sucks, but he never got to show off what his shtick was about! Or maybe he didn't have one because he was a jobber! But now he's not! And now he looks like the kind of guy that shows up in NTR milf doujins that take place in a beach and he's got ItsSamu saying some gay things about him, and I don't care! Finally back from Osaka? Don't say another word, get up on that stage and do some goddamn rakugo! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! It's been 200 chapters! Enough time has passed!
As for my votes this week...
1) The Ura Files
2) Akanebanashi
3) Roku's House Of Oddities
4) Graykeith: Translator Daemonica
5) Animal Signal
