The Best Manga in Young Magazine—U.S. Edition – This Week in Anime

Chris

In terms of both distribution method and sheer size, Young‘s move here is impressive by sheer novelty. Getting this much physical manga for free for attending Anime NYC was a pretty sweet deal, especially with a spread that includes as many quality creators as this one. U.S. manga anthologies like Raijin or even the long-running English edition of Shonen Jump have been hit or miss in their attempts to take off over here.

Not that the format is unwelcome—Heavy Metal is a thing, for one. But manga magazines definitely seem to go more than they come in the U.S. Kudos to Kodansha for bringing it back with Young, if only as a one-off (for now) gimmick.

Still, it’s an enticing incentive to bring Western readers in on the magazine format, compared to past attempts. I read Yen Press‘s Yen Plus magazine as it was coming out way back in 2008, and I’d have taken a smattering of brand-new votable series from manga-ka bonafides over comics based on James Patterson novels.

Well, that and a pack-in book jacket to give Yen’s Spice & Wolf novel release a cover that didn’t suck, but Young‘s sukajan there is obviously the more impressive jacket.

IN TRANSITION‘s definitely got a leg up on appealing to Young King U.S. voters compared to its compatriots, being a direct sequel to a proven, popular series. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the main reason many readers went out of their way to check out the magazine in the first place; it’s a continuation that makes a pretty clear selling point.

It is also a continuation that I ashamedly don’t have context for, since I haven’t gotten around to Boys Run the Riot myself! I know, I know, but by its reputation, I appreciate how well IN TRANSITION brings readers old and new up to speed while telling its own frank, focused story. It’s an engaging depiction of the realities of aging out of being a teenager and into the independence of being a young adult, and the decisions that brings for young trans people, the opinions of their family, coworkers, and peers be damned.

Part of me expects this one to be a lock for getting the votes to continue, but on the off chance it doesn’t, I respect it for closing thematically well as a one-shot (this will be an important qualification for some of the other entries, hint-hint!)

That’s a sentiment I can get behind, and it seems to be one shared by the team running this project. “Works depicting state of identity such as LGBTQ…” was one of the originally solicited elements, and Boys Run the Riot‘s Gaku wasn’t the only one who obliged. Kami Nishio brings the wholesome gay romance of Still You, while Hikari Azuma contributes the absolutely adorable exploration that is Is My Love Strange?.

Ultimately, the manga that gets voted in for serialization will do so on the K MANGA app, but if this experiment is successful, I can see Kodansha going in on additional U.S. editions of Young Magazine to court this kind of material. Having multiple entries on the subject (along with the depth afforded by the specific seinen demographic focus) lets them create a nicely varied spread of queer stories. Still You is a pretty straightforward queer-realization romance, with the interesting wrinkle that one character’s ex-girlfriend will purportedly keep figuring into the full version of the story if it gets to continue. And I’ll always be down for LGBTQ+ stories that actually remember what the “B” stands for.

Compare that to Is My Love Strange, which is a delightfully imaginative story that could be read as any amount of allegory, but is primarily about accepting the unconventional loves of others and ourselves. Look, sometimes a girl’s personal revelation is that she’s into plushie fursuiters. We could all embrace that level of self-discovery.

I’m right there with you in that I was yelling “PREGANANANT?!” to myself repeatedly after seeing the title. Probably the most good-natured fun I could have with this entry, given so much of it is predicated on pure shock-value horror.

I’m not even exaggerating, the editor’s note on this one specifically says the main point is “Freak out some Westerners.”

It’s also one of the submissions I alluded to that transparently ends on a cliffhanger (and not even the only one that ends on a gunshot-based cliffhanger!). That’s even more of a hustle, in my opinion, since finding out the answers to mysteries that might not even have been fully conceived in a one-shot like this shouldn’t be the only motivating factor to vote it into continuation. At least Keita Nishijima‘s art is visceral enough, in what service it can be to the consciously trashy “demon-posessed-fetus” premise.

I feel like Tsuru may not have really understood the assignment with Protocol Ryugu. It’s not just that there’s no closure, but the story is bursting at the confines of the one-shot format with multiple lengthy footnotes explaining parts of the setting that couldn’t be laid out organically in the page count. Those come alongside dialogue that dumps even more exposition. You can feel the plot straining against the length in its desire to be this serialized, ongoing epic.

At least it let me chuckle at the term “Homo Abyss” though. I’ll take what I can get.

Protocol Ryugu also isn’t the only of these entries that call to mind other series or creators. I’m halfway through an outstanding second season of Call of the Night, so Robico‘s To Dusk and Twilight is going to remind me of Kotoyama‘s ballad of disaffected dudes and vampires. It does have its own twists, including yet another instance of Surprise Gunshots, but the shorter nature doesn’t really let it get past that familiar starting setup.

KIKIKAIKAI‘s absolutely the most shonen standard in this seinen selection. It’s a little surreal to see Yamada trying to capture the appeal of a setup that’s already being successfully done by so many others elsewhere. But then again, “appeal to Westerners” was a requirement of this contest, so I don’t know that I can blame them for going with a story of a secret-powers boy getting sucked into a shonen battle setup.

Also: Balls. DAN DA DAN had balls and people liked that one, right? Throw some balls in there!

It is only a little appropriately funny to come to this one after our TWIA compatriots had their own Frieren springboard earlier this week. But I agree that I was generally entertained by Journey of a Dark Elf. It’s got real nice art carrying it, for one, and the focus on the mundane technicality of doing stuff in its fantasy world makes it almost as much of a Dungeon Meshi-like as it is a Frieren-like.

I don’t know if I need it to be an ongoing, but I can see Itabashi coming back to it now and again and having some fun with it.
Along those lines, KIKIKAIKAI isn’t the only entry about yokai in this collection, but while GOUMA The Blade that Slaughters Gods is similarly straightforward, it really knows how to get the most out of that simplicity. The plot is there in the title: these folks have some blades and they’re gonna slaughter some gods real good. But the short-form showcase format is perfect for showing off in that space, and Hiroki Ishizawa‘s art is gorgeous on these pages. Calls to mind my man Shin’ichi Sakamoto, which, if you know me, you know is one hell of a compliment.

“Skeleton Armor!” Keeping it simple, stupid, has never been more lavishly presented.

Now we’re getting into some of the more fun stuff! The Graveyard Shift is one of those with a high concept that just plain works. And it packs in a surprising amount of swerves, which might overload it as a one-shot a la Protocol Ryugu, but the irreverent style smoothed it over and made it all work.

It hits that sweet spot of working perfectly as a one-shot, while making clear what places it could go were it to get expanded upon. Additionally, I happen to know people who are equally fond of talking skeletons and robot girls, so this taps into that well of potential voters.
Some other entries aren’t as comedic as The Graveyard Shift, but still thread that particular needle. Fasciation is a supernatural parable that functionally feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end, but also could work as just the start of a longer journey. And packs in its own appeal for fans of badass plant-women and effed-up Annihilation bears.

Into the Dark definitely felt like Anri Morikuma just blasting supernatural artistic excess onto the pages to see what might stick if its shamelessly open-ended introduction gets to continue. Part of me does respect how much more detailed the otherworldly horrors are drawn compared to the scrungly main characters.

Godmother, meanwhile, I enjoyed a little more, just because it had more consistent art and some strong moments showcasing horror fundamentals. Its plot setup almost wholly works as a one-shot, broader story, though it is setting up.

A feature of this amount of material is that it’s not all going to be for everyone, but casting a wide net means each entry has a chance to find some audience who might pull through to vote for it. That likely even goes for something like The Knight of Blasphemy, which I personally found to be the most resounding snooze-fest in the set.

You can definitely tell that “treasured child” Tatsumi Hitomoji and Spriggan author Hiroshi Takashige are being particularly favored by the magazine, given how they get the color pages.

I do like the mecha a fair bit, and as far as the “obvious full-run setup” entries go, I can see it having legs. It’s also the only comic in the magazine that features a cameo by the Nintendo ULTRA 64, so it gets a bonus point for that.

Exactly. Something like The Graveyard Shift will always stand as a funny little one-off if it doesn’t get continued, while THE LAST TERRAN will feel like an odd artifact akin to so many unsold secondhand copies of U.S. manga anthology magazines. It’s much the same for Yukito Iwai’s Project Metallia: Cool robots (and cyborgs), very nice art, cliffhanger that might never get followed up on.

I will say that, as frustrated as I could be by the structural choices some of these entries make, as we’ve said, a lot of them are still going to hit with some audiences. And there’s a robust amount of polish and quality on them that keeps them gassed up; these aren’t amateurs vying for a chance to make it big, they’re established, experienced creators trying new stuff out.

Speaking of established, this issue also features entries by some certifiable legends in the manga sphere, including Shūzō Oshimi and Masaaki Nakayama. They aren’t even here competing for votes; they’re just here to up the value proposition!

Not exactly Flowers of Evil, but that’s the appeal of watching creators get to indulge other avenues like this.
I’ll also mention here that Shūichi Shigeno‘s contribution was one that I actually saw multiple people discussing on wider weeb social media, if only to jokingly comment on the Initial D creator’s continued clear drift in drawing vehicles compared to people.

I don’t need to stress myself out over these sorts of worries. I’ve still got to drown my sorrows to erase the mental image of that jacket you cursed me with several paragraphs ago.