So I have been hugely hopeful for Roku's House of Oddities, and I feel of the 6 most recent manga it's definitely one of the ones with the most potential. But these last 2 chapters have really convinced me it could go the distance. The simple reason is that these last 2 chapters showed how the author has grown past 2 of his weaknesses.

Well, okay, that's not totally fair. Agravity Boys was never trying to take romance seriously, so saying that chapter 4 and it's excellent introduction to what seems to be a romantic subplot is 'fixing a weakness' is uncharitable to Agravity Boys. But it is definitely a new strength that this manga is exhibiting - doing something cute and comfy like that while maintaining heart and comedy takes more chops than it looks, and while this isn't at Someone-Hertz level (few things are), it's definitely a really solid hook for romance in what isn't even a romance series.

But most importantly, chapter 5 showed how much BETTER the author is at drawing action.

https://preview.redd.it/gxatzqtl1c0h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b21075cdd97bae459cd0f045d42b369f7cc8f7b

https://preview.redd.it/39dbm0mm1c0h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=b36ac25d233ccd476da54bc8b64ecb3eb39ea84c

https://preview.redd.it/1et54fan1c0h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=967f6c803e5ebd81a5a7547ede176721aff4111a

https://preview.redd.it/qrqsw20o1c0h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=781119f3515adda9b3444dd940979816f83f04b8

https://preview.redd.it/e0ue3ajo1c0h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b86f40b909f1cf18010cdd3abe0081a6ab99bd3

I wanna call this "Low Res Sakamoto Days" but that sounds like too much of an insult. Seriously, action in Agravity Boys looked like this:

https://preview.redd.it/4q7hefi12c0h1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=c8807a226b9f8036179cc89b9c70c8f55fc5fa97

https://preview.redd.it/o976cs422c0h1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=fae4ccea9259dbfc22599039884ef92bbefc4952

https://preview.redd.it/odrscun22c0h1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd5dd4c52c40f6258724f3c30e50633581dff501

The action is so much less dynamic - it honestly takes effort to even follow what's happening, and it moreso exists around the dialogue than having a life of its own. In Roku's House of Oddities, the action-art itself is not only funny enough to stand on its own as visual humor, but feels dynamic, impactful, and it flows.

This is an INSANE skill for this comedy author to add to his repertoire. To be clear, Agravity Boys became fairly beloved purely on the strength of its gags and its lovable cast, both things Roku has. But Roku is then adding onto that more complex emotional dynamics and action that seems to be better than in a lot of action manga.

Now obviously pointing out a mangaka has skills is not the same thing as saying he'll make a good end product. But like, I've been loving every chapter so far, and this is a ton of growth he's shown. I'm very optimistic.

Is it true that kinato is getting the axe? 😩😭 I mean is not the best, but still pretty entertaining

Most characters just have super strength (i know Luffy punches things) and or a sword.

Final volume 2 will be released August 4th

Okay os the title is cautious for a reason. Far more separates the magic systems than some simple trinary classification, but I do feel like all the battle manga in shounen jump right now can be largely classified by what kind of narrative conflict the magic system is most geared towards facilitating: internal, external, or interpersonal. Now, all magic systems do all three of these things, but some clearly do one or two more than others.

Type 1: magic system as power scaling enabler

A magic system in a story, ESPECIALLY in shounen anime and manga from what I’ve seen, is often used as a way of defining relative strength between characters. Some artifacts or hereditary powers may be of note due to how strong they make someone. Alternatively, these powers may be a form of skill expression, allowing “smarter fighters” to distinguish themselves. This enables personal conflicts of internal growth and development. “I want to be the Hokage” feels tangible in part because of how that maps onto a very visceral audience understanding of where Naruto is now vs where the adults are, strength wise.

This is what I’d say is the primary purpose of the magic system in stories like Naruto and JJK, and for the modern magazine I’d say it’s the primary purpose behind the magic systems of Kagurabachi, Kiyoshi, and Nue’s Exorcist.

Type 2: magic system as fantasy worldbuilding

Sometimes, magic in a story is used to give a more pronounced sense of adventure to a world. You go to a place, and it’s full of stuff that would be impossible in a world without magic. This lends itself to external conflicts, insofar as it allows the characters to clash against much larger systems, from natural disasters to systems of fantasy racism to whatever else. Entire locals come with baked in problems to solve, which also lends to a very odyssey-style of storytelling, as well as to chapters where the story stops to smell the strange magical roses.

I’d say that in the magazine, this is the primary purpose of magic in One Piece, Ichi the Witch, and Kinato’s Magic

Type 3: magic system as hyperreality

Hyper realism is, broadly, about creating a fake normal far more extravagant than actual normal life. Here, I use it to refer to when a story treats the fantastic as mundane. What this does, narratively, is allowing more mundane interpersonal stories to coexist with wild off the wall fight scenes. Issues of interpersonal drama, romance, and slice of life mundanity are elevated to occur at absolute insane scales. Mission Yozakura Family is the best example I could think of. The issue of 2 characters not knowing who to give a slice of dessert to or wanting to go shopping for a gift can turn into some wild fantasy adventure - basically, a magic system being used to tell a mundane story with extravagant framing. It even takes the very serious issue of parental abuse and frames it in terms of an epic fantasy battle.

I feel that this is the primary purpose in Shinobi Undercover, Sakamoto Days, Witch Watch, Under Doctor, and Class-2B Hero Destroyerz.

In conclusion

Okay clearly this is just one axis on which these things diverge, and it applies to more than just shounen, and also clearly it’s not a clean boundary. Clearly, Ichi the Witch still has interpersonal conflict and hyperrealism.

My main point is that, to me at least, it can at times feel like this is a really tangible splitting point. I mean, for the most part, the 3 groups I just described could be called “classic battle shounen”, “fantasy adventure”, and “action comedy”, and I feel like most people would feel those are vaguely sensible categories. Clearly, all the type 1 manga I mentioned are much more inspired by each other/share inspirations than they do with the manga from the other types. Clearly a lot of things in type 3 exist in part because of spy x family.

Obviously the lines are blurred, but I feel like there are several different “lineages” in battle shounen. And idk I think that is cool. I personally wish we had more type 1’s, but that’s something I’ve said before.

otr of the flame is probably one of my favorite manga that i have read, i was really looking forward to more of it!! and then it gets axed and the ending was rushed.. to oblivion..
Now Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi is probably one of the laughably stupid manga i have ever seen.. it’s genuinely just so badly written it makes me laugh every time i read it.
Now Otr of the flame had some pacing issues, i understand that. but it’s nothing compared to the absolute loop of fights where the villain always has another power up and then the hero gets another one too that is ultimate exorcist kiyoshi, i do not understand how these two are even remotely comparable because one is genuinely so much better than the other

#Weekly Shonen Jump

Rank	Title	Week 1	Week 2	Total
1	JJK Modulo 3	134,102	143,127	277,229
3	Kagurabachi 11	65,138	62,072	127,210
4	Blue Box 25	35,687	51,464	87,151
5	Sakamoto Days 27	37,662	48,825	86,487
6	Ichi the Witch 8	37,199	42,145	79,344
14	Someone Hertz 3	22,255	20,995	43,250
17	The Elusive Samurai 25	14,956	19,529	34,485
71	Hima-ten! 9	6,688	6,291	12,979
96	Me and Roboco 26	4,244	4,316	8,560
102	Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi 8	4,725	3,967	8,692

#Shonen Jump+

Rank	Title	Week 1	Week 2	Total
231	MAD 7	2,050	2,148	4,198
N/A	Aliens, Baseball, and Civilization 4	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Delinquent Gacha 2	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Eren the Southpaw 25	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Gunze Arabaki 2	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Hope You're Happy, Lemon 10	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Kurumizawa's Folly 2	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Money Forest 2	<1,100	<1,100	N/A

#Jump SQ

Rank	Title	Week 1	Week 2	Total
7	Blue Exorcist 34	23,453	36,496	59,949
26	Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign 36	10,405	15,274	25,679
N/A	Ao no Kai 1	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	The Wanwans 2	<1,100	<1,100	N/A

#Saikyo Jump

Rank	Title	Week 1	Week 2	Total
127	Sakamoto Holidays 3	3,678	3,554	7,232
N/A	Akuryou Kazoku 1	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Daimonji to Mondaiji 6	<1,100	<1,100	N/A
N/A	Fire Emblem Engage 7	<1,100	<1,100	N/A

#V Jump

Rank	Title	Week 1	Week 2	Total
19	Dragon Quest: Avan and the Demon King of Hellfire 15	12,124	18,505	30,629

Hey guys!

Always loved anime, and bc of this I've been trying to find a good entry point to start reading manga too.

Ngl, I really like the "hype", so I'm looking for some very popular stuff

Is there anything in WSJ (there is already out or will launch this year) with the same anticipation as BNH or JJK?

I've read BNH, but since it ended, it looks like that WSJ is struggling to find another big hit for the mainstream, and this is why I'm asking you guys that are ppbly more into it than myself.

Thx!