Shounen Enigma by Sakaki Kenji

[masgrande]

Spoiler

I didn't think the first person to lose would end up being eaten by Cannibal. I kind of feel sorry for Mao that really is a suckish fate for being a annoying highschool kid and I'm also really starting to get scare for Matsurigi, there are too many ominous hints.

 

[WilliamK]

Spoiler

So it's unknown if Mao had an ability, right? Anyway, it was pretty expected she would act like that considering how she was acting on the chapter before, but I'm sure I would've began to like her if she had more screen time, so I really hope she isn't written off as nothing after the Train part.

Anyway, I do agree FanOfManyAnime that Sumio's father could very well be the Disguised Man. At the least, maybe related in some way to Sumio's father- like his friend?

I personally didn't find it likely for Matsurigi to be Cannibal, but now it's seeming more likely.

Anyway, Cannibal's ability, from what he done to Mao, seems to be turning their bones into a waffle and consuming that said waffle to obtain their appearance, memories, talents and such. This would explain how Matsurigi remembered Moto and Kurisu's names. I'm sure Akame is next, but I really hope Enigma's rankings pick up, or I'll cry. Well, the rankings for the new arc haven't been shown yet, so all I can do is pray.

 

[Hamy]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but... Enigma has been steadily been the second to the last during the voting polls, only alternated by Magico, now that Ikkyu has been cancelled which had been consecutively been last place for many weeks. Lets just say things are rather worrisome now.

 

[Zeltrax]

Caught up with engima sometime ago.
I enjoy it, its fairly interesting with how the entire thing works.
Can't really say the same for the e-test tho. I didn't really like how most of the times "the circumstances were set up for their powers".
But anyway, I like how this new arc seems like another e-test, just set up differently.

 

[WilliamK]

I saw the bad news on Enigma's rankings too. Magico and Enigma are both dropping a lot. Fortunately, I don't think Enigma will get canceled this time. The volume sales are good and it's rather unique when compared to the other series in both genre and story. The train part of Act 2 doesn't seem like it'll last even close to the e-test and I'm sure rankings will rise when Kirio appears and the finale of this arc (Chapter 39, where everyone is supporting Sumio). Since there's a 7-12 chapter gap, I don't think that's enough to wrap up Act 2 of Enigma, although I think it's enough to give Magico a proper ending. I personally like Magico, but Enigma is one that has just made me thrilled when reading it... Anyway, if per say, Magico does get cancelled, Sakaki will have another 7-12 chapters. So almost 24 chapters, which will hopefully raise Enigma's popularity (as Medaka Box was once in a pretty bad situation, but has made it through). Either way, I hope Enigma fans realize in how bad of a situation it is currently in...

Spoiler

As for who is Cannibal, I think the chances of it being Matsurigi are just too high with Chapter 46. When Mao gets on the train, she cheers to the other two men, but a particular thing she does is leave the door open (page 13, third last panel). Her bones are turned into the waffle-looking things and then an unknown time passes where Sumio arrives. It's more than likely a short time, but the lights come back on and the door is closed. Matsurigi should've investigated with the lights randomly turning off alone, but he didn't. And the door was closed, suggesting someone exited the train. With the Disguised Man and Akame inside, I would think Matsurigi was the one who is Cannibal. Now that raises an interesting part on how/where did Cannibal get the chance to seize Matsurigi? Was it during the 4 days where nothing happened to the city?

 

[Galactic Tomahawk]

Enigma's only been consistently in the bottom for about a month though, if it was a completely new series it'd be worrisome but Enigma's gotten like 30 chapters worth of hype already and it's volume sales are still increasing. That usually means Jump will at least give it some time to see if it picks up again.

It's always possible it could get cancelled but I don't really think a few weeks in the bottom means it's time to pack everything in either.

 

[WilliamK]

Okay, so the results for chapter #39 are up. Enigma is dead last. I'm still going to have hope, as it truly is Enigma's first time being the very last position (whilst Ikkyu was straight last for five weeks in a row), but it is definitely worrying. I still pray that Enigma will succeed and all, but I hope the appearance of Kirio and the new act will bring up the rankings or else I'll be so annoyed. So come on Enigma!

 

[Hamy]

Okay, so the results for chapter #39 are up. Enigma is dead last. I'm still going to have hope, as it truly is Enigma's first time being the very last position (whilst Ikkyu was straight last for five weeks in a row), but it is definitely worrying. I still pray that Enigma will succeed and all, but I hope the appearance of Kirio and the new act will bring up the rankings or else I'll be so annoyed. So come on Enigma!

You do realize that is because Ikkyu had been the one dead last for some time what is worrisome is as I said its been second to the last for some time, meaning its never really recovered much. Hence, I'm rather worried about the fate of this series :______: Its really quite good and has potential I'd love to see the author grow more but really cutting it off now is just such a waste. Then again must be why the arc is already focusing on destroying the skull... For worst case scenario. Guess its Psyren scenario all over again.

 

[Jaymie]

Enigma has to depend on other series, now. Magico has been tagging behind Enigma for a while. If Enigma gets a little boost in votes, Magico will end up below it. Then Enigma will have at least another five or so weeks to regain votes before Magico gets canceled. And that's just one hypothetical situation.

The readers may be downvoting it because of arc fatigue. Coincidentally, the e-test arc has just ended. The denouement of the e-test should be ranked starting next week. I hope the readers like exposition... They definitely didn't like Sumio running after Kijima for five weeks.

ST&RS is being ranked now, so it may flop in a few weeks (its first chapter did pretty well). Harisugawa is ranked next week, and I personally thought it was awful, so it may flop as well. The new series has eight weeks to go until it's ranked, and Enigma may be able to squeeze eight more weeks in.

If the worst case scenario happens, at least Enigma is in a position to end naturally, albeit rushed like Psyren. It would be strange for it to have a one-volume arc after a five-volume one, but what can you do? If only Sakaki could get ToC Immunity like her husband. :P

 

[fizban]

Yeah, this arc is set up so it can end the series naturally if the editorial staff cuts it, but I can also see how they could extend the series indefinitely if the rankings pick back up. The wish to destroy the skull isn't an immediate thing, so Sumio could be burdened with it for a much longer period than he was hoping.

Which person are we leaning towards for Cannibal? We're being led to believe it is one of the other two guys on the train, but I would love a horrible twist of it being the president. Except I guess it'd be weird for him to attack the girl inside the subway car and then run in to find out what happened to her. He'd have to book it back outside to join Sumio and avoid suspicion. Sumio is still connected to him, but hasn't attempted to link up to his mind yet this arc. Maybe Cannibal knows about Sumio's ability and isn't closing himself off just to keep him from suspecting anything.

 

[FanOfAniManga]

Yeah, this arc is set up so it can end the series naturally if the editorial staff cuts it, but I can also see how they could extend the series indefinitely if the rankings pick back up. The wish to destroy the skull isn't an immediate thing, so Sumio could be burdened with it for a much longer period than he was hoping.

That's what's so great about the series; it's so flexible it can handle both cases.

Which person are we leaning towards for Cannibal? We're being led to believe it is one of the other two guys on the train, but I would love a horrible twist of it being the president. Except I guess it'd be weird for him to attack the girl inside the subway car and then run in to find out what happened to her. He'd have to book it back outside to join Sumio and avoid suspicion. Sumio is still connected to him, but hasn't attempted to link up to his mind yet this arc. Maybe Cannibal knows about Sumio's ability and isn't closing himself off just to keep him from suspecting anything.

I'm definitely leaning for Matsurigi to be Cannibal. In chapter 46, the way we couldn't see Matsurigi when the train started going dark and the way he was smiling at Sumio when he returned to the train really convinces me.

 

[Hangedman]

chapter 47 chinese scan Here

 

[FanOfAniManga]

chapter 47 chinese scan Here

Well for once, a Chinese scan came out before the Japanese raw.

All I knew before that was the chapter's title,

Spoiler

Coin.

I don't know a lot of Chinese, but I do know that what happened at the end of the chapter is a huge twist. Here's what happened:

Spoiler

Again, another blackout in the station after Matsurigi and Safe Head do a coin toss or something. Safe Head is the next person caught by Cannibal. With Sumio around this time, he shines his cell phone light at Cannibal, but it's already too late as Cannibal had extracted Safe Head already and eats the doll. We only get to see part of Cannibal's face, the rest of which is covered by hair.

It should be noted that:

Spoiler

Again, as the blackout came, Matsurigi disappears again.

 

[Divinenega]

Well after looking at those raws the pacing has me worried about the series's future. Well it;s first year anniversary is coming up soon, if it gets some sort of acknowledgement for it then it's probably not on the chopping block.

 

[masgrande]

Spoiler

Well with chapter 47 Matsurigi is the most likely suspect to be Cannibal, which is really sad because that probably means the real one was in the bag they found. It was really surprising that the one to get "eaten" in this chapter was Safe Head Guy and not the kidnapper, didn't think the kidnapper would last this much but right now he is probably going to be Sumio's number one suspect.

 

[FanOfAniManga]

Spoiler

Well with chapter 47 Matsurigi is the most likely suspect to be Cannibal, which is really sad because that probably means the real one was in the bag they found. It was really surprising that the one to get "eaten" in this chapter was Safe Head Guy and not the kidnapper, didn't think the kidnapper would last this much but right now he is probably going to be Sumio's number one suspect.

Well, this chapter completely threw off my initial predictions with the results of this train test. Now I have to start anew. More importantly, however,

Spoiler

If Safe Head really is Sumio's father and Cannibal really disguised herself as Matsurigi, that means his father and Matsurigi are both dead. How will the story carry on if even one of them had died before we've even found out for sure?

 

[Jaymie]

Crazy pacing is crazy. You can tell Sakaki's writing is being affected by the results now. I'm just glad that she didn't turn her manga into a battle manga *cough*like her former boss*cough*. She's still sticking to her original formula, which is incredibly brave for a newbie to do.

It's too bad Enigma wasn't in Young Jump. It would probably be a lot better received there.

 

[Newkerzy]

Well, Sakaki seemed to set the series up from the start so that it would be easy to cancel it with a good ending. That's what Sakaki's scenario is, IMO.

 

[WilliamK]

I personally don't think the pacing is that fast. One person is going down each time (the loser of the trial), although I guess it might be too soon to confront Cannibal and find out who he is. Rather, I think Sakaki is doing it so we're learning a little bit about each character (Mao is an ordinary girl and also a manipulative brat and the Disguised Man is a gambler who has knowledge of Cannibal and Sumio/Matsurigi's ability). In its situation, I guess it's fine, especially when she can just discuss things afterwards. Either way, the rankings generally come out tomorrow, so hopefully Kirio's meeting will fair well.

Anyway, Akame displayed no knowledge on talents either, so I guess him and Mao don't have any abilities. On the other hand, it doesn't look like Cannibal's abilities have ever been shown to kill someone, so I'm sure Disguised and Matsurigi will be fine and their bones (talent and other stuff) are returned to them, especially if there's going to be an Act 3.

 

[ErosVp]

Everyone is assuming Cannibal can utilize the form of anyone he eats plus their ability... But if he ate someone who can change form and just transformed in president.