Gyakushuu Inferno - First Impressions

The series started in Issue 2018 - 7 of Weekly Shonen Champion. It is the first series of many that should come this year.

It had been put out as a Hell survival series. From seeing the author's name and knowing Shigemoto Hajime's past works which were all in a battle special power genre, I came into this manga with certain expectations. Weekly Shonen Champion doesn't really have anything in this genre right now apart from possibly Prisoner Riku which is heading towards a conclusion in the next few weeks so it shouldn't have any competition apart from itself obviously.

The manga's art has a strong shonen feel. The artstyle is quite old fashioned which some people might pick on as a weakness but it should not be a significant issue in Weekly Shonen Champion.
Overall the art throughout the first chapter is generally good an improvement from his previous work.
The key panels looked were ascetically pleasing. There are some area in a couple of panels in the background which have weaker art but this is common in manga. Chapter 1 in this aspect did not do anything wrong, of course this could be reworded to it did everything right.

Composition, when talking about the chapters overall is acceptable as the chapter flows reasonably well. Gyakushuu Inferno's story is rather hard to judge from just from the first chapter. The chapter is  used as a set up chapter to introduce the characters and relationships and end with what is meant to hook the readers into continue reading. There is no excessive exposition or introductions ,which in turn allows for a light read, this however might be left to succeeding chapters.

If I were to give a rating to the first chapter. It would be good, therefore it is 6/10

New Series - A look into the Authors

In the issue 7 and 9 Weekly Shonen Champion will be having two new series. The first series will be called Gyakushuu Inferno and will be penned by Shigemoto Hajime followed by a new series by Eiji Masuda titled Shuukan Shonen Hachi.

Profile - Shigemoto Hajime

His works in Weekly Shonen Champion have all been battle orientated. His art is resembling of 90s shonen manga especially manga such as Dragon ball, One Piece. Shigemoto's latest work Uten Kekkou had a creative setting using weather, a rather ordinary thing as a main focus. The MC power  is the ability to make it rain and use that in battle against his enemies. It was eventually cancelled but had all volumes released in print.

He first turned Professional in 2004 when he published a 3 part one-shot in Young Magazine Uppers called Mojya.

Winner of a Good Piece Award in the 73rd Weekly Shonen Champion Newbie Award in 2009.

In 2011 He published a one-shot in Weekly Shonen Champion called Kagami no Kuni Ani.

He published a short series called Oni-san Kochira which concluded in 10 chapters in 2012.

Image of Oni-san Kochira

Following that he finally started a new series in Weekly Shonen Champion in 2013, called Uten Kekkou which ended with 42 chapters and 5 volumes.

Image of Uten Kekkou

After Uten Kekkou ended he design the characters for the Game Corner Page in Weekly Shonen Champion during 2014 and 2015. 

Picture from Uten Kekkou

Profile - Eiji Masuda 

He won a Encouragement Award in 2006 in the 67th Weekly Shonen Champion Newbie Award.

Turned professional when he published a short series in Weekly Shonen Champion called Shiookami Rabbit in 2007 which ran for 3 chapters.

In 2008 He published another short series in Weekly Shonen Champion called Toumei Ningen no Tsukurikata which eneded with a total of 8 chapters. It was bundled into a volume in 2014.

He started a series called Sakura Discord in 2011 which ended with 44 chapters and 5 volumes.

Sakura Discord 5 Cover

In 2013 He started a new series called Jitsu wa Watashi wa. It ran for 4 years and received an anime adaption in 2015 and a stage play in 2016. Jitsu wa Watashi wa ended with a total of 22 volumes and 196 chapters.

Jitsu wa Watashi wa 1 Cover

I do not claim ownership of any of the images used. Credit for the images goes to their respectful owners Akita Shoten, Shigemoto Hajime & Eiji Masuda.