Mag Talk Weekly Shonen Jump [2021] - Discussion and ToC Talk

[revo68]

Spoiler: 8 TOC & 9 Preview

8 TOC
Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi by Matsui Yuusei (Cover/LCP/New Series/52p)
My Hero Academia
Dr. STONE
Jujutsu Kaisen
Black Clover
MASHLE (CP)
Hakaishin Magu-chan
SAKAMOTO DAYS
Me and Roboco
Ayakashi Triangle
Tsukumogiri Life (Oneshot/CP/47p) by Kawae Kouta
Mission: Yozakura Family (CP)
Undead Unluck
BUILD KING
Shakunetsu no Niraikanai
Phantom Seer
Our Blood Oath (END)
High School Family (2 Chapters)

9 Preview
Cover & LCP: Ai Terushii (New Series/54p) by Inaoka Kazusa
CP: Jujutsu Kaisen; Me and Roboco (19p); Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi (2nd Chapter/25p); BLACK MILK (Oneshot/47p) by Matsui Rin

 

[Minsel]

Reprints - 1/13

Straight to bookstores

2/18 - Kimetsu no Yaiba 1~12
2/19 - Kimetsu no Yaiba 13~23

Bookstores and warehouses

2/2 Kimetsu no Yaiba TV Anime Character Book 1, 2, 3

well get ready for another 4-5 months of KNY in top 50

 

[yadayada]

I really don't know why JJK is being used as an example to support this when even if it was 1 cour only and the anime stopped here it would still handily smash MHA's boost across all of its seasons combined.
MHA got a primetime slot on a fantastic time (getting the Conan boost) and a top tier studio adapting it yet somehow it was "mismanaged".

Playing what ifs is completely pointless and a waste of time that could be done the other way around too.

Let's assume they go your route and wait.
MHA's momentum slowed down tremendously after volume 3 despite its great start, After volume 5 its sales had completely flatlined and even started decreasing before the anime released.

What if waiting another year like you wanted them to kills off the hype for it and causes the anime to do worse than it did as its sales keep dropping in the meantime?

And note that this isn't me saying that it would've certainly gone this way, it's me saying to stop arguing in a fantasy parallel reality where things play out exactly as you wish them to and no other factor exists, and simply accept that MHA, while still being an extremely successful series among the best sellers of its generation, didn't quite cater to the japanese audiences the way other series have and failed to reach their heights. There is absolutely no shame in that.

This isn't to say MHA is bad. But its setting, themes and so on are certainly more catered to the western audience than to Japan's tastes. Just remember that Avengers IW and Endgame, movies that took #1 in pretty much every country they released on...lost to Conan movies in Japan.

tl;dr stop arguing what ifs that can neither be proved nor disproved just based on your wishes. It doesn't lead anywhere.

 

[ItsSamu]

But speaking about JJK... Can I ask here what everyone overall thoughts on it? I am only watching anime and thinks its good but I can not shake the feeling that it strongly lacks... something

Jujutsu Kaisen reads a lot like Bleach to me, except if Kubo never grew as an artist and polished his style like he did. It's like if Bleach was forever drawn in the style of the Substitute Shinigami arc. Most of the time it is fantastically drawn, especially the action which always has a sense of impact, and there's a good few characters that are great fun to read. It's very rarely boring.

On the other hand, the art can often feel chaotic to the point of incomprehension. I'd say it's also very poorly panelled. I can go from one panel to the next and the flow feels jarring or the dialogue doesn't read correctly, or the expressions of characters or the change of scene doesn't feel right or smooth. It also has a habit of starting inner monologues before we know who is even speaking, revealing it too late to register the impact of what's being said. It has issues I don't have with any other WSJ series except for Our Blood Oath and other similar early cancelled series by new mangaka still honing their craft. I'd also say it's badly paced, jumping from scenes and even arcs without a hint of transition. One particular flashback started randomly in a chapter after something completely unrelated ended in the previous and for about three chapters I was throughly lost and didn't understand why it was happening.

I also don't really understand the power system and find the abilities vastly different in a way that feels confusing rather than part of the world (unlike, say, the range of One Piece's devil fruits). It often feels like a lot of dialogue or exposition on blank panels to over-explain some flashy cool technique. I just want to see its fights (which are maybe the best to read in the current Jump roster), not read the convoluted footnotes of a characters' bizarre powers.

I can be quite harsh on it week-by-week sometimes when it strays from pure-action chapters, but it'd say it's somewhere around the middle of the magazine for me in terms of preference. I wish I loved it because I love Bleach and it gives the same energy and vibe in a lot of ways but I agree with you that something just feels missing and it has too many elements that make it often difficult to read. I'm not following the anime but I expected that might tighten it up and deliver something more polished.

All that being said I'm happy for Gege and all the fans who get to relish its boom in real-time!

 

[Mankichi Togawa]

I think My Hero Academia is very succesful tbh. Yes, it has became somehow a second door to see how strong a manga rises (the first door is Black Clover, and One Piece is starting to become the third door), but still:

-Is stable
-Yes, it was 8th last year in Oricon. With +6 million copies sold (I think it was its second best year ever)
-Is the biggest Jump manga in West (I recall it was the most sold manga in Spain in 2019 or 2020 according to Selecta Vision), and probably the biggest manga overall in USA (where it has numbers similar or even bigger than Naruto during its run)

I see My Hero Academia as the main Jump pillar in West, while Jujutsu Kaisen (and Kimetsu no Yaiba) is becoming the main pillar in Japan (of course in both cases, together with One Piece).

 

[CuriousReborn]

I am afraid its deeper. One thing I probably dont like is how Gege practically just took team 7 premise without really changing it. Is it really okay so obviously making your spin on well known characters?

Huh? A team of 3 doesn't mean its the same as Naruto without changing it.

 

[Thehoennhippo]

Read Sand Storm Boarders. I enjoyed it.

 

[Ice King]

Reprints - 1/13

Straight to bookstores

2/18 - Kimetsu no Yaiba 1~12
2/19 - Kimetsu no Yaiba 13~23

Bookstores and warehouses

2/2 Kimetsu no Yaiba TV Anime Character Book 1, 2, 3

Another month full with Kimetsu in the ranking

 

[Griff]

KNY is slowing down :O

 

[Aipom626]

KNY is slowing down :O

Either that or they're just printing much bigger batches every time they reprint lol. Such a large percentage of Japanese households already own the entire series.

 

[pamuchi]

TLDR; it's just a matter of right place, right time

This sums up tomino's interview about KnY

Yoshiyuki Tomino Praises Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, But Describes Its Cultural Success as a 'Coincidence'

'It's strange [for anime to gather staff] that align so perfectly.'

www.animenewsnetwork.com

 

[Brizzi]

This sums up tomino's interview about KnY

Yoshiyuki Tomino Praises Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, But Describes Its Cultural Success as a 'Coincidence'

'It's strange [for anime to gather staff] that align so perfectly.'

www.animenewsnetwork.com

I'm really bothered when people talk about KNY being a product of coincidence or just being at the right place at the right time because, for me, it undermines all the fenomenal work Gotouge has put into the series. The anime team could be the best possible, but if the raw material was not good, it would just be a waste of a good team.

I know the anime had a great impact but I hate when KNY's success is justified only by the good adaptation with the "perfect" team. It bothers me just as much it's bothering me now people saying JJK's success is partially because of KNY's. Maybe KNY and JJK are successful because people think they're good?

 

[Reading Somethin']

But speaking about JJK... Can I ask here what everyone overall thoughts on it? I am only watching anime and thinks its good but I can not shake the feeling that it strongly lacks... something

I am afraid its deeper. One thing I probably dont like is how Gege practically just took team 7 premise without really changing it. Is it really okay so obviously making your spin on well known characters?

It lacks huge emotional beats on the scale of most other shonen and transitions differently. The appeal for me is generally dynamic and the mechanics, what specifically got me interested was that most, if not, all villains are underdogs that do real damage.
The series does several homages to naruto, like the team 7 structure and Gojo's blindfold, but what gives the "Naruto clone" impression is that it takes from the same series Naruto took from, Yuyu Hakusho and HxH, JJK uses the nekketsu template, most battle manga use it, Naruto used it, I don't think it can dictate the identity or quality of a series.

 

[Archaon]

I don't think MHA could have explode like KnY. The subject matter of MHA give it a very niche appeal and limited pool of audiences. It's a series that cater to Western comic book but those was never really popular in Japan. It's theme and main motivations is less appealing and universal than one in KnY.

 

[Tamil]

I would love to see Jigokuraku benefit from Kimetsu's success with it's eventual anime adaptation in the same way that JJK is (if that is the case)

But speaking about JJK... Can I ask here what everyone overall thoughts on it? I am only watching anime and thinks its good but I can not shake the feeling that it strongly lacks... something

It's great and the adaptation made me like the series even more. It improved upon the manga's weird pacing it had and with the manga sometimes I feel like Akutami is overly ambitious with his paneling. Other than that, I don't have much criticisms towards it and definitely don't think it strongly lacks something (?)

Also on the topic of WSJ animes, One Piece's recent episode was phenomenal. That's how you adapt manga & incredible work Ishitani.

 

[ginsenjou]

I'm really bothered when people talk about KNY being a product of coincidence or just being at the right place at the right time because, for me, it undermines all the fenomenal work Gotouge has put into the series. The anime team could be the best possible, but if the raw material was not good, it would just be a waste of a good team.

I know the anime had a great impact but I hate when KNY's success is justified only by the good adaptation with the "perfect" team. It bothers me just as much it's bothering me now people saying JJK's success is partially because of KNY's. Maybe KNY and JJK are successful because people think they're good?

I see your point but there are tons of well-written manga that never become successful and a lot of badly written manga that become successful so I do believe luck is the most important thing. No one undermines the writer when they say a story's success happened because it was at the right place at the right time because imo I find it to be true all the time.

 

[Midak]

I'm really bothered when people talk about KNY being a product of coincidence or just being at the right place at the right time because, for me, it undermines all the fenomenal work Gotouge has put into the series. The anime team could be the best possible, but if the raw material was not good, it would just be a waste of a good team.

I know the anime had a great impact but I hate when KNY's success is justified only by the good adaptation with the "perfect" team. It bothers me just as much it's bothering me now people saying JJK's success is partially because of KNY's. Maybe KNY and JJK are successful because people think they're good?

Aside from blind fanboys/fangirls from each side, I think the point about KNY has always been about the scale of its success rather than it being a good series.

Personally, I believe it is a good series which combines a lot of elements which Japanese readers like very much. The anime and it being a series near the end helped in my opinion.
As a comic, it has pros and cons.
Not in my personal top 10 though. The art improves as the series goes on, while the writing I feel could have been better, especially for the final part.

Can't say much about JJK. Honestly, mainly because of the initial art, I could not get into it.

 

[Halloween]

No untranslated text posts, everyone. Also, the ToC that was posted wasn’t confirmed.

 

[El Jacco]

 

[El Jacco]

ToC #7

Dr. Stone (Cover & LCP)
One Piece
Jujutsu Kaisen
Mashle
Black Clover (CP)
My Hero Academia
Sakamoto Days
Me and Roboco
Mission: Yozakura Family
Kemono Jihen (SP/CP/32p) by Aimoto Shou
Vati Lipepe (Oneshot/CP/47p) by Takahata Yuu
Ayakashi Triangle
Build King
Hard-boiled Cop & Dolphin
Undead Unluck
Magu-chan (CP)
High School Family
Phantom Seer
Moriking (END)
Our Blood Oath

Preview Issue #8:
Cover & LCP: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi by Yusei Matsui (NEW SERIES)
CP: Yoza, Mashle, Oneshot
Absent: One Piece

New Series Schedule
Issue #8: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi by Yusei Matsui (Supernatural Detective Nougami Neuro; Assassination Classroom)
Issue #9: Ai Terushii by Kazusa Inaoka
Issue #10: Witch WATCH by Kenta Shinohara (Sket Dance; Astra - Lost in Space)
Issue #11: Cron's (or Kowloon's) Ball Parade by Kamata Yuuki (Story) & Fukui Ashibe (Art)

Spoiler

 

[Halloween]

ToC is confirmed and stickied.