I can't see Enigma ending this quickly. For one thing, there are WAY too many unanswered questions that still need to be answered. It's like what Bleach is undergoing, except with Enigma, these unanswered questions are more relevant to the main storyline. Secondly, from what I recall, this is the only week so far in which Enigma has reached the bottom 5 in its rankings. It takes many more weeks to stay in the bottom 5 for a series to end (ie Omagadoki, Dois Sol, Hokenshitsu). Don't be alarmed just because Enigma hits rock bottom a few times. Nurarihyon no Mago did and it's doing fine now.
I wasn't talking about cancellation.What i mean is a natural ending.There are still unanswered questions as to why they actually have those powers and what happened to Sumio's father,but they could be answered in the final encounter with Enigma,which would bring the series to a natural end.I personally don't know how the story could go on,so i'm not excluding the possibility of it ending.I'm against stretching a series unnecessarily anyway,so i would even welcome this outcome.
I wasn't talking about cancellation.What i mean is a natural ending.There are still unanswered questions as to why they actually have those powers and what happened to Sumio's father,but they could be answered in the final encounter with Enigma,which would bring the series to a natural end.I personally don't know how the story could go on,so i'm not excluding the possibility of it ending.I'm against stretching a series unnecessarily anyway,so i would even welcome this outcome.
I don't think Enigma will end naturally at this point. It is serializing less than a year and it'll be too short to end at this length, plus Enigma is starting to gain popularities now (like Enigma finally ranked in Oricon). Plus, this is Sakaki's first series, and there is no newbies that want to write short series nor end their series short.
I don't think Enigma will end naturally at this point. It is serializing less than a year and it'll be too short to end at this length, plus Enigma is starting to gain popularities now (like Enigma finally ranked in Oricon). Plus, this is Sakaki's first series, and there is no newbies that want to write short series nor end their series short.
That's true,i didn't consider that.
Still,i wonder how this series will continue.She could make this an election test for a big battle or something or make various E-tests.I don't know.
The thing is, Kijima is not Enigma. The series could have ended in a couple of chapters if she had went with him as the final boss, but the fact that he's not Enigma proves that she's planning on extending the series.
IMO it was always her intention to go beyond the e-test arc. She started off with a long arc so that, if it was canceled, she could end the series with the e-test and it would basically be an entire story. But it didn't get canceled, so she can now expand on elements of the story that she couldn't touch upon in the previous arc.
I'm just worried that she'll turn it into a battle manga. The powers are actually really awesome and would make for an interesting battle manga, but Sakaki obviously has storytelling ability. It would be a waste if she turned Enigma into Reborn.
---------- Post added at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ----------
Chapter 39's raw is out! Another amazing chapter.
They all got out. And there's a cliffhanger involving the real Enigma.
My prediction is that Sumio's father is Enigma! He disappeared around the same time Kurisu taked the first E-test, and it is reaaally suspicious that sumio's mother recognized Enigma when she saw Sumio's drawning....
Whar I think Sumio's father and mother plus kijima and a few more people planned the E-test. For some reason, they had a disagreement and some left (Sumio's mother) while the others continued the plan...
Or Sumio's dad was one of the guys who deserted the plan, tried to stop it and disappeared because he tried to fight the real enigma....
Is it just me, or does Sumio's right hand look a little out of place? Judging by the position of his shoulder, it seems pretty difficult to have his hand on Aru's shoulder. Regardless, the calendar looks great!
Is it just me, or does Sumio's right hand look a little out of place? Judging by the position of his shoulder, it seems pretty difficult to have his hand on Aru's shoulder. Regardless, the calendar looks great!
I think the art style for Enigma looks great honestly, well besides the hands, but those are always considered hard to draw even by professional standards. The backgrounds and shading make up for those mistakes for me though.
Well I guess the existance of the calendar sort of shows the series is gaining an audience. Hopefully it means it being in the bottom 5 this week was just a one-time thing, though I expect it to climb up to the upper half once the current arc is covered anyway.
The characters are rather stiff and lack that vitality for me,but the designs (for example the shadows) make up for it.It's not like it bothers me while reading it,but it's not that good either.But that's just me i guess.
Actually, you're not the only one. I've always felt her art is too stiff. But her story makes up for it. However, the latest chapter showed a bit of improvement. So she's getting there.
I actually really like the art. I agree that the characters seem stiff at times, especially their facial expressions, but when you compare the latest chapter to the first you can really see an improvement. Sakaki's style is continuosly improving (which tends to happen with most mangaka) and the characters look more alive each chapter. Her forte is definitely the backgrounds and tone effects. I love how gritty everything looks!
Sakaki probably has a lot of experience with backgrounds/tones from her Reborn! days. Her character designs are definitely her Achilles' Heel, but they're steadily improving. I'm not too worried.
Well, it is her first series, and she hasn't even been at it for a year. If you look at the first year's worth of chapters for series like One Piece or Zombie Powder (since Bleach was not Kubo's first series), the mangaka's art is vastly different from how it is at present. I think Sakaki has a lot of potential and will only continue to get better from here on out.
I finally read chapters 36-38. They were pretty good and I'm looking forward to seeing how this arc wraps up. As Jaymie has said, had Kijima really been Enigma, this could be the end of Enigma as a series, but since he isn't, there still is much potential to continue the story even after this arc comes to an end. It's rare for Jump series to be this short anyway, sans those that get canceled (not the case here).
MANY MAJOR spoilers for e40, the latest chapter, not to mention the overall series so far, now available raw:
The name of the chapter, in big letters, is appropriately titled
ENIGMA.
How the Passwords Come Together (roughly translated):
"On February 29, flight Q-510, sitting on Ryo Kurisu's original seat A24 is where the HIJACK occurred."
By the way, this is part I still don't get, for reasons explained in spoilers below:
"Sumio Haiba's CLASSMATE is the one. My name is K (Kei?)."
Shigeru's Reward:
By having the participants meet Enigma, Shigeru's newly revealed reward has been satisfied: Reunion.
That's right,
the true identity of Enigma is Kirio Imizuka.
It is also revealed that
Kirio is the one framed behind the hijacking of Queen Airlines Flight 510. He is interned in an isolated cell in the Yuyami Penitentiary for allegedly having committed the worst massacre in Japan's history. The eight participants have been transported there.
On a side note: WHY THE HELL didn't I think of that up
when I read Chapter 35!
A Score System:
Kirio reveals a set of scores for all the participants on their performances. In increasing order:
Sumio: 32 for being the one too tenacious
Moto: 43 for being too nervous
Aru: 48 for his outward appearance appearing too jokey
Hiina: 55 for being too much of a shrew
Takemaru: 61 for being too uncooperative
Matsurigi: 69 for being too inflexible
Shigeru: 88 for being feminine
Matsurigi's Reward:
All the participants recover via his newly revealed reward: Shadow Transformation Recovery, revealing Kirio's true powers as Enigma.
What's to come:
Kirio promises their conversation at the end of the chapter.
I hope kewl can verify what I've translated here, and ASAP.
Overall, I don't think it'd be accurate to say this manga is "No Shit". Rather, I'd say it's "No Bullshit."
Enigma has so much momentum! We've been getting one plot twist after another, and every chapter has been ending with a massive cliffhanger. Sakaki's art is still average, but her storytelling abilities are some of the best in Jump.
