New Serialisation Round

 

A new serialisation round is starting in WSC and it is really the first real round under the new editor in chief Matsuyama.  There have been new series before this one namely the V tuber collab project called 'Shiranai Kenykuubu' or Shiraken for short and 'They want to Fill in the Holes' that began in issue 6 and 13 respectively, with the former seeing what seems to be a good levels of sales whilst the latter has not had a volume released yet.

Shiraken was likely planned before the editorial shakeup at the end of last year, so the first series of this new editorial makeup most likely was the romance comedy title 'They Want to Fill in the Holes.' The series seems quite to lean heavily on ecchi that seems a bit out of touch with what romcom audiences seem to favour at the moment, and even thought the art especially coloured does have a nice touch to it in my eyes, the series overall is quite bland.

Moving on to the actual topic of discussion, we have the upcoming new series round and the first one under the new editorial department. 

The first one is 'Mamori Kyoudai no Sahanji' by Kuranto Yukiaki and Itonoko already started and it is based on a oneshot of the same name that was published only a few months ago in issue 16. The fast turnaround to serialisation likely means it was a popular one-shot with readers. It is a comedy series focusing on three brothers with a focus on the youngest brother that is an ordinary high schooler whilst his older brothers, one is a popular comedian and the other a super idol. It does feel like it a series aimed at a female audience, in a way it reminds me of Tanaka is Always Listless. I expect this series to be successful due to the one-shot success. 

The second 'Davul no Oukan' by Todoroki Akira begins in Issue 31 and it is not based on any previously published one-shot. The description seems to suggest it is focused on the life of the strongest former assassin and it will be an violent action series. From the author side not much can be drawn from either, Todoroki Akira is not someone that has published before in the magazine before or won any rookie awards but the possibility exists that they could have changed their penname. Overall, its a wait and see.

The third series is 'Kimi wa Yotsuba no Clover by Koushi' and it begins in Issue 33. Koushi is an author that has already published series previously including for Akita Shoten in Manga Cross (now Champion Cross) named Isekai Saikyou, Nihon de JK to Konkatsu suru' that ended with three volumes last year. They had another series in 2022 that ended with three volumes with only digital release. The things to take from the previous titles they published was that they were both isekai stories largely focused on comedy with a romantic edge. In this new series the motif is the four leaf clover, and the description talks about fortune and destiny and dubs the series a 'love suspense'. It would be move away from their previous works that were comedy focused series. 

The last series is Mogaku by Gumi and Maru and it begins in issue 34. Gumi and Maru is now an artist and author separate but they won the 16th Next Champion Award as Gumimaru under one name as a duo. The one-shot that won the award 'Sekitoba' that was published in issue 10 this year. The fact the series is inspired by a one-shot, suggest it was quite popular. In fact its the first Next Champion winning one-shot to become a series. Going back to the authors, the two are actually childhood friends who wanted to become manga author, well they got published... not it is whether it succeeds.

The series is a track cycling racing (Keirin) series where the main character is betting his life for his family. In the one-shot the main character's father was a cyclist but he passed away and because it seems he was the main earner, it left the family on hard times and it becomes even worse after his mother has an accident. So as the eldest brother, he has to take up the burden of breadwinner and through Keirin to be able to support his family. It is an interesting setting, economic difficulties is not an usual motivation in sports manga nowadays, but it can act as a real rather than a bland motivator that underpins the main character personality. 

Well that is the round.. 

Predictions for Weekly Champion in 2021

2021 is starting in a few days but for Weekly Shonen Champion and other magazines it has already begun but its never too late to do predictions for how the coming year will unveil. There are a few things already confirmed for 2021 and those are the second season for Mairumashita! Iruma-kun and the anime adaptation of the Vampire Dies in No Time. For the former, we know it will be airing in spring and for the latter we have yet to receive any indication of when it air in 2021. 

How will these anime play out for Champion?

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun will pick of straight from where it ended last this year where it ended with a tease of the start of the new arc.  I do not expect the series to receive another boost in sales but it might be possible since it will cover the content of the manga that really took the series to a wider audience. It is some of the most comedy and slice of life content of the series by development Iruma-kun relationship with other characters but also at same time it gives hints of various future developments. I believe the content covered in this second season is more interesting than the first season and it would be great to see it do well again, in order for it to receive more seasons in the future. 

The Vampire Dies in No Time by Bonnoki Itaru

The Vampire Dies in No Time anime adaptation comes late as the series will probably be by then six years old thought its better late than never. I have already made a post referring to what I think about the studio and the main staff including some of the cast. I also included it as one of the top comedy series to look forward to in a list in my anime blog. Perhaps that gives away quite a bit of how I believe this series will perform.

I think The Vampire Dies in No Time is a not only a rather good comedy series but I also believe anime adaptations of series like it have not been exactly prominent. There are many comedy series, do not get me wrong but not many gag centric series especially in its style, perhaps the closest being Osomatsu-san in recent times. I do not want to rehash why I think this is a series to look out for in 2021, so I will talk about my expectations for the waves it will cause. 

The Vampire Dies in No Time has a strong loyal following even if its sales do not seem too impressive at the moment, it has many goods and it was absurdly quick to meet its funding goal in the 50th anniversary crowdfunding project. The fact it was chosen to receive a project like that alongside Yowamushi Pedal and Baki already say a lot about the series, but the fact it achieved its goal within hours and it managed to double its goal by the end vastly outdoing the other two massively popular series. This illustrates how loyal and perhaps even fanatic some of its fanbase is and the great aspect that I think will be the pillar of its success will be its appeal to hardcore audiences such as fujoshi. The series, I would say already has a fujoshi audience since its fanbase seems to be largely female. The anime can be a way to expand this audience whilst netting other audiences as well which could mean a decent boost for the series. Whether this happens, we will see but it will be interesting to see how this develops in 2021 either way. 

In regards to new series -

Now for the first time we delve into unknown territory for the first time. Firstly, we know Itagaki Paru is returning with BEAST COMPLEX in the first issue to go on sale in 2021. It is a short series, however, so it probably will only be around for a a couple of issues in order to gather enough chapters for another volume release. Perhaps the question here is whether this will be a door for her return for a full series within 2021. I am not confident this will happen since she also is starting a short series in Manga Goraku and she could easily start a series there instead. In the end of the day, Itagaki Paru probably will not sit out for long but whether she will return to champion is a toss up, it might possibly depend on what she can draw about.

Referring more generally about new series is much harder since not many series are based of previously published one-shot most of the time at least. In regards to me some one-shot stood out, one of these was the Seishun Shout which returned as Heartbeat Shoot, the latest short series that ended in the latest issue. It obviously did not become an official series but I am confident it has the potential to in the near future. 

Kingmaker by Noda

Another one-shot that came a bit later than Seishun Shout is Kingmaker by Noda. Seishun Shout focused on Javelin throwing whilst King Maker is focused on Speed Skating, both unconventional sports.  Kingmaker also like Shout comes from one of Champion manga awards but it does not come from Next Champion but from Monthly Fresh, an overall lower scale award that has not produced many one-shots for the magazine in recent times. Kingmaker stands out in this regard and it was quite polished and the story somewhat refreshing since t focused on two main characters one of which is the Kingmaker, who therefore has a supportive role and of course the king. It is an interesting idea and the overall polish in terms of art and story is why I think this or another work by the author will probably be serialised in this coming year. 

The other one-shot that stood out for me was Madoromi by Hamayan, the grand prize winner of the 9th edition of Next Champion. It was a rather peculiar but incredibly special one-shot, the main character of the story is a about a bullied boy within his dream a creature shows up and it trains him on how to use telepathic powers, with his newly gained powers he seeks to fight against his bully. I will not spoil further since it actually is not as predicable as this set up might suggest. However, what i really liked about the story is its peculiar art style and panelling which gave it a certain unique feel which I value a lot in an artist. I can see this story serving as a serialised version but I am not sure it would have the same impact, so I am not as confident in it being serialised in 2021 but I can see the author returning with something more fit for a serialisation.  All together these are three series that I can see being serialised in this coming year. 

Madoromi by Hamayan

Series that will be ending -

Rokudou no Onnatachi is definitely a series that is lined up to end in 2021. It has reached a climatic point in its story and whilst it could go on for much longer it seems to be treading towards a conclusion instead. It should end late next year to be more specific and it will be a rather disappointing end to a series that the editorial department probably feels like could have achieved a lot more. On the other hand, Nakamura will be free to explore other ideas for series and I am sure he has many just going by his past one-shots. 

Anime predictions - 

Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyuubu by Masahiro Anbe

I do not actually have a lot of hopes for anime announcement but I want to relish at the possibility of two series receiving anime adaptations. One of these is Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyubu, a series that is reasonably popular and Masahiro Anbe previous work Squid Girl received an anime which was reasonably popular. Atsumare! is not really like Squid Girl but it is a comedy ecchi series with romance and harem sub-tones and it generally feels like a stable series for anime since it is a common anime genre. I am sure it is the series most apt for an anime in the current lineup of Champion. 

'Ippon' Again by Muraoka Yuu

The other is 'Ippon' Again which is a pipe dream of mine to be honest. It is a series that would work well as an anime by in sense appealing to the crowd that enjoys slice of life series with girls which are a large audience. The series however is not popular enough but it has continued its run in Champion against all odds and to my happiness. It is a great sport series that breaks the mold of other shounen sports that are usually about winning and growing stronger, 'Ippon' Again is about friendship and enjoying doing judo together not really about rivalries and beating everyone to be the best. In a sense it touches a different side of sport that involves leisure instead of the usual competitive aspect that invovles beating down rivals to get stronger, this does not mean it is not about getting stronger, because it is actually but in comparison to oneself whilst enjoying it. I am not the first to draw this comparison but it resembles series like Yawara and Judobu Monogatari both seinen sports series that similarly to 'Ippon' Again do not necessarily focus solely on the competitive aspect of the sport. They instead relish on exploring the actual daily routine of the group members practicing not necessarily because they are ambitious at being the best but because they enjoy it. In sense this shows to the reader how much the author loves Judo. I would love to see an anime of this gem. 

What will definitely get an anime announcement - 

The Dangers in My Heart by Sakurai Norio

The Dangers in My Heart by Sakurai Norio will definitely have an anime announced in 2021. It has continued to grow and for the happiness of many readers it has become a bi weekly series cutting by half the wait between chapters. I am not here just to remind why this manga is an enjoyable read but its rapid rise in popularity and its shift in schedule to pump out chapters and subsequently volumes with more frequency which resulted even in the end of Rororro! her other work is probably a sign. It might be a bit too much to see in these events a push for the series to get content out more quickly for a anime adaptation to be possibly but it seems exactly like that even the volume releases are becoming more frequent. For these reasons alongside how popular this series is and how much eyes it has on it at the moment, an anime is almost inevitable at this point. It is not technically a series from Champion but it began it did begin in the magazine and it broke off to become the pillar of Manga Cross. 

Series that might take off in 2021 -

Yankee JK Kuzuhana-chan by Toshinori Sogabe

Yankee JK Kuzuhana-chan is my biggest bet to grow and become an important series for the magazine. It is a stable harem romance series and whilst that might be a genre that people look down upon it is one that attract many readers and usually have good sales as a result. Kuzuhana-chan has found this through its good sales so far, and reprints are a good sign for the future since it is actively growing in popularity.  This is a promising title for champion because just like I mentioned with Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyuubu harem ecchi series like this are a common feature for the anime market so naturally it continues growing into an anime is a decent possibility. It is a potential star for the future if it can keep growing. 

A long post but if you have reached this point congratulations and happy holidays. 

 

MANGA CROSS and Other Digital Platforms

Manga Cross is Akita Shoten's new platform and I wanted to talk to it in more detail in its own separate post after the last post. I also want to explore other more successful digital platforms by bigger publishers to expand this post into a wider exploration of the rise of manga published in digital platforms.

 The rise of digital platforms started relatively recently with Jump +, Magazine Pocket and publishers have put more effort into pushing them by publishing more and more series but also creating a great platform for reading in mobile and other platforms.

Manga Cross is obviously a lot newer, it's only now nearing its second anniversary and I do think it has found a great amount of success for the fact its from a smaller publisher. In addition, digital platforms do not seem to be as attractive to the big authors and new authors as being published in magazines possibly because of pay? I imagine digital offers a lower base pay rate and so it relies more on physical tankoubon sales for money. And of course being serialised usually means you will get a certain level of visibility targeted towards a certain demographic already whilst in digital a good series might be lost in the midst of other series. However, digital gives a more flexible schedule for release and debatably more creative freedom.

What I seek to lead this to was the fact that Manga Cross and these platforms usually tend to be filled with newbies or veteran authors that want a more flexible schedule. In Manga Cross's case, it has a couple of veteran but also newbies alongside authors that first started off publishing their works on social media and the likes.

The Dangers in My Heart

The Dangers in My Heart Cover 3 - Akita Shoten, Sakurai Norio.

One of the few series in Manga Cross by a notable author and one that has had a past struggle with health issues during Mitsudomoe serialisation. Boku Yaba did start in WSC and was planned to moved to Manga Cross after its first five chapters whilst Rororro! continued there, Boku Yaba would be a monthly series with around eight to 10 pages. This allowed her to write this series alongside Rororro! and eventually when Rororro! it ended it became a biweekly series.

Boku Yaba is definitely the pillar of Manga Cross, it has been the most accessed series for the last few months and I believe its success shows a great deal of how digital platforms are more accessible because of the lack of a paywall to read. In addition, the lack of cost means it's usually more accessible for mobile users to just drop in to read a chapter or two. In addition these platforms can have significantly more series than a normal magazine as well as a bigger variation in genre, demographic and the likes. So digital platforms not only link naturally to social media and new forms of reading manga on mobiles and the likes and I believe these platforms will only expand more in the future and will become more attractive for new authors and veterans.

Creature Girl: A Hand's on Field Journal in Another World

Volume 3 Cover (Published by Seven Seas)

Part of this attraction will be because of how they will no doubt provide more chances for authors to write many different series. I touched this before when I talked about variety but here I seek to highlight and showcase this.

Monster Diary is an adult series with sex scenes between the main character and different monster girls. In addition, it also features blood and gore content. In short its the complete opposite to the sort of series Boku Yaba, a cute romcom between two innocent middle schoolers. In clear demographic terms Monster Girl would be in a seinen but one that would feature most likely in more ero leaning magazines like Young Champion and Young Magazine for example. In contrast Boku Yaba would feature in a shonen or possibly a seinen magazine with an older audience but one that favours more fluff series like Comic Alive and so on. However, digital platforms allow these vastly different series to be serialised in the same place and appeal to audiences with vastly different tastes.

This is something magazines can simply not replicate, and to highlight that even more i want to showcase a different series.

My New Boss is Goofy

Volume 2 Cover

My Boss is weird is a very popular series that was serialised on Manga Cross after seeing success on twitter. Its sales are close to Boku Yaba and it matches as one of the most successful series on the platform. However, in contrast to them it is a series for a female audience. In fact, Manga Cross categorises series for Otona (adult), shoujo and shounen so these platforms can catch more audiences then any single magazine could ever do as they can appeal to various different tastes. It can have any genre and even appeal to a niche.

This is where I want to compare it to Webtoon, the Korean platform  and ACQQ, U17 and other Chinese platforms. These platforms like i previously mentioned monetise their series and physical releases are not a regular thing. However, what i want to continue to highlight is how diverse these platforms are. This ability to be more diverse and because of the free to read for limited time business model which naturally lends well into getting people to buy the volume in case they miss chapters. But most importantly, this low barrier of entry is naturally well fit for mobile phone readers and it also gets people directly to what they want to read instead of buying a magazine with another number of series one might not be interested in at all.

In other words, I believe Akita  Shoten and other publishers should invest more in their digital platforms by boosting the amount of series and variety which will obviously mean an expansion in budget for servers and editors. WSC and other manga magazines have definitely seen an increasing decline in sales and even digital seems not to compensate for it as their price has risen substantially. In just recent years WSC, WSS and WSM and even WSJ have had price hikes. WSC specifically went from 280yen to 300yen to the current 320 with a space of three years. Tankoubons have likewise seen price hikes going from 440 to 499 in the same time frame. This is a bigger issue with shonen magazines since seinen magazines have not seen such drops and they are also pricier and not only the magazine but also the volumes.

I imagine this hike in price is a way in which profit can still be made from these magazines as they probably have a rather low profit margin for each magazine. However, the decrease in circulation makes it so the price of the magazine has to follow for a profit margin to even exist. It probably is the same for volumes. Investing in digital platforms will not solve this but it will provide an alternative platform that is bigger and more diverse, so it therefore could appeal to a bigger group of people than Weekly Shonen Champion could ever dream of. In fact, this is probably already the case in the current Manga Cross that has in two years given more hits for Akita Shoten than Weekly Shonen Champion. It is a tricky bet but publishers will have to adapt to a new age and there is no better time than now for Akita Shoten to divert its resources to continue building Manga Cross in a good platform for manga readers of all ages and tastes.

With the latest announcement of 4 new series for this July, three of which are weekly, Manga Cross will finally have an original series updating every weekday. Original series were previously only updated on Tuesday and Thursday. This is a big move because it should expand the number of original series running on platform by a lot. These new series are the only ones releasing on Monday, Wednesday or Friday,  yet, so there is still a lot of new series coming in the future to boast these new days it wants to have original series releasing. It is a show of intent that Manga Cross will be a bigger focus and the names of the authors appearing also show that the platform is more attractive to authors. 

DIssecting the Magazine - Mairimashita! Iruma - The Star has arrived.

Mairimashita Iruma-kun began in Issue 14 in 2017 of Champion. Its has had a bumpy ride to its current position as the one of the best selling series in Shonen Champion. Its debut in march in 2017 came as a surprise perhaps because it was a fantasy school life manga, genres that have not traditionally made significant success in Champion.

Start and Limbo

However, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun found an audience and its first few volumes sold relatively well according to data from shoseki. Its placements in the magazine somewhat contrasted this as whilst it initially received a opening colour page for its volume 1 release, it after this initial push by the editorial department it was left often in low placements. It seemed like the series had fallen to back seat and was possibly in even danger of cancellation as it often drifted towards the bottom of the table of contents. It came to end of its first year of existence in this limbo state. It did not seem like it had a significant future in the magazine even if its sales were not poor.

2018 and Reprints -

2018 was a year that led to a completely different scenario for the series, it started in the same trend as 2017 in the bottom of the magazine more often than not and with a complete lack of colour pages. However,  volume 6 release marked a different scenario when all volumes of the series were finally reprinted for the first time. Moving onwards from this it started to find it itself more often in middle of the magazine throughout most of the remainder of 2018 eventually receiving an opening colour page to celebrate the release of volume 7. This did not mean a complete change as it still often featured in the middle and sometimes in the bottom part of the magazine however whilst it did not receive significant attention or promotion yet it continued receiving reprints and growing in sales from volume to volume. 2018 was by all means the year in which Iruma turned its fortune as it started as a cancellation candidate and ended it as a established middle tier series in the magazine. However, 2019 would bring even more surprises for this series.

Becoming an Idol in 2019

The year started hot coming directly of the rise sales of the previous year and the series expanding popularity. It quickly received a opening lead colour page in the first December double issue and it was soon followed by the volume release in February with the anime announcement in another opening colour page. This trend of colour pages would continue throughout the year. In addition to this Iruma-kun placement soon started to be on the higher end spectrum, it still sometimes had middling position but it was now rarely ever in the bottom part.

After the anime announcement came its participation in the masterpiece revival project and a interview with Osamu Nishi in the magazine, both things that highlighted the series had a growing star power in the magazine. In addition to this its first popularity poll had started.

Part of this highlight in the magazine came from its growing sales showcased by the rise of circulation numbers which were at 900k at volume 11 and by volume 13 had reached 1.2m before the anime had aired. This continued by the time of the release of the anime it had reached 1.5 million copies in print, an incredible milestone for a manga that had been previously in limbo in the magazine.

The anime started airing in October and not only had did it air in NHK-E and had a prime time slot at 17:35 something a champion series had not had since Gaki Deka in 1980s. It found significant success and gave a major sales boost to the series.

Achieving the status of a major player in Champion.

The year started with increasing sales with circulation numbers increasing rapidly reaching 2.5m by the end of January. it was given a renewed boost in popularity after reruns in the holidays in the start of the year. Alongside this boost in popularity came its first cover in Champion and another popularity poll and the milestone of 3 million copies in print by the end of the anime, which announced a second season for the following year. A few months after we not only close to the release of volume 17 and the results of the 2nd popularity poll another cover its second in a few months but it also revealed the series reached the 4m copies in circulation milestone, an incredible achievement.

This success made it one of the biggest series in the magazine and it has received a spin off currently running together with the main series in Champion with another one planned for the future. Its was a somewhat arduous path that Iruma since it started off well but dropped off but eventually found it strides from 2018 onwards until this current peak in 2020 which might not be a peak at all yet.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi - Introduction, TV Anime Details and Expectations.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi - Kousaka Yasuyuki
Serialised in Young Champion Retsu
Genre - Slice of Life

Setting and Synopsis -
Houkago Teibou Nisshi starts off with the main character, Tsurigi Hina, who favours indoors activities, she has a love for knitting. Hina and her family move to the small beach town of Ashiya-machi in Fukuoka, Kyushu. She and her family had previously lived in Ashiya-machi as it happens to be the home town of her father. After a meeting with a member of the Teibou club, she gets pressured into joining the club and involved in outdoor activities like fishing.

Story and Comment

There is no story as such in Houkago, after all its a series about a girl coming out of her shell and discovering new things and various different ways to have fun that might have otherwise been difficult if not impossible in Kanto. I do believe there is both a fulfilment and a role in the development of the person in trying different things such as fishing and other activities of leisure but i do feel perhaps a bit irked is that it might be subtly saying indoor activities are not as fun and fulfilling as outdoors. Indoor activities like knitting, playing board games like chess and the likes can not only help with the development of motor skills but also help in the development and maintenance of the brain.  This might perhaps not be the intention of the author at all but It was just something that I felt like highlighting.

In addition, the plot device of that leads to the Hina joining the club seems to me like bullying, it is especially highlighted by the unwillingness of Hina at first to go to the club. Her enjoyment of the activities does eventually mean it is forgotten but it leaves a bitter taste of a poor plot device that is commonly used.

In other aspects like the technical side of fishing, the series seem to be well researched. So it can be something that could get people interested in fishing, in a similar way that Yuru Camp got many people into camping.

TV Anime Staff -

The series will be animated by the studio Doga Kobo. A studio that has a lot of experience with similar series to Hougkago Teibou Nisshi like Yuru Yuri and other series which are primarily slice of life and have no overarching plot.

Ookuma Takaharu will be the director, it will be his first time directing a series. He has previous worked as animation director, assistant director in various series like Sabage-bu, Mitsudomoe and Yuru Yuri. Similarly to the studio, he has vast experience in slice of life series.

In a similar vein comes Shimo Fumihiko with the series composition, she has also worked before in various slice of life series like Stella no Mahou, New Game, Anima Yell and many others.

Next is Kumagai Katsuhiro with the character designs which from visuals seem to replicate the original work's art style perfectly. His backlog of works is thin when compared to the others, but the visuals do look good so far.

It is in safe hands but what can it achieve?

Houkago is in a genre that is kind of a stable nowadays, series with a similar mood are present in almost every anime season with hits like Non Non Biyori, Yuru Camp and Gochuumon Usagi desu ka?  in recent years. Thus it might be a question of whether Hougako Teibou Nisshi provides something that slice of life series that were not too successful did not. It is the fishing element that for me makes Houkago stand out, fishing is not typically the topic of a lot of anime, specifically casual fishing. Houkago represents it as exciting activity in itself but it also shows the aftermath by showing different fishes and ways to prepare, cook and eat them. Fishing is after all a fun activity that can be practiced leisurely and competitively in addition it can be done socially in groups or alone. It is this that can be the standout feature of Houkago Teibou Nisshi, so i do believe it can be successful anime.

Darwin's Game TV Anime Details and Expectations.

Darwin's Game

Darwin's Game TV anime will start airing in Tokyo MX in January 2020. It began serialisation in 2013 and has been one of the biggest hits in the relatively new manga magazine : Bessatsu Shonen Champion. It currently has 3.6 million copies in print with 19 volumes out at the moment. In addition to this it is the first anime adaption of a series in Bessatsu Shonen Champion.

The studio in charge of the series is Nexus, a relatively new studio with few works under their name. like Granblue Fantasy. However, they have collaborated in a numbers of series before such as SHIROBAKO.

The staff is as following

Director - Yokumoto Yoshinobu
Series Composition - Shu Miyama (FLIPFLOPS MEMBER)
Music - Kenichirou Suehiro
Character Design - Kazuya Nakanishi

A relatively unexperienced director in charge of the series, his only previous work directing was Comics Girls another series by Nexus. He has ,however, a lot of experience as episode directors of various series. In this case, there is not a lot to expect but it is an upcoming director with significant experience in direction episodes and his only previous directorship over a series was a slice of life, comedy series, a rather different genre from Darwin's Game.

Series composition will be done by one of the members of the original author of the series so there is not much that could go wrong in that aspect. After all, the author himself should have a greater understand of his work than anyone else in distinguishing the right pace of the series.

Music is rather important for me and the person in charge seems to have a lot of experience working in series with a similar vibe, so this should not be an area of concern.

Character design is from the visuals rather similar to the original work and perhaps that is for the best. The person in charge does not seem to have a lot of experience character design but the visuals do not show any problems.

Darwin's Game story wise is reasonably far into its story, a recent announcement said it will soon enter its last arc. Its sales have not shown any particular upwards trend in volumes sales and it has been that way for the past few volumes at least when it comes to oricon and shoseki, depending on how seriously one takes them for. This has in fact make me hold a particular negative view of the potential of the anime in bringing about a surge in popularity of the series.

The death game genre is a trend that has gone down in recent times, it was a highly saturated  genre in animation a few years ago, with various series like Ousama Game, Killer bites and many others. Many of these series were not really popular. Darwin's Game at the beginning seems very much like a death game but it gradually develops into a battle series involving factions and various scenarios in which life and death are not always at stake. Whether this is something different enough for it to stand out is questionable. It is also not for me to decide this but for the Japanese audience.

In terms of content without going into spoilers, it seems like the series will be relatively fast paced to cover the first major arc and whether this can be made by Shu Miyama to feel natural will be a something hard to achieve.

The PVs do not show too much and judging from that the quality of the animation can be very misleading as it is usually packed for obvious reasons with the 'better' animated parts.

Dissecting the Magazine - Harigane Service - High Expectations?

Information on the series

Harigane Service was a volleyball series written and drawn by Ara Tatsuya. It was his first serialised work and it was based on his previously published one-shot named Pinch Server. Harigane Service began in the 26th issue in 2014 in late May, around one year after the Pinch Server was published. It has since received a direct continuation named Harigane Service Ace.

2014 and The Beginning - Burnt Start?

The series by all means started off well and was popular within the readers of the magazine. It was placed high by the editorial department in the table of contents and also received a Lead CP at chapter 12. This highlights the early popularity but also the support from the editorial department which wanted to capitalise on this early popularity. Eventually, it stabilised in the middle of the magazine through out 2014 and some of the steam it seemed it had slowly disappeared.

This continued in 2015 with placements in the beginning of the year being within the middle tier and at moments it even in rather low placements within the bottom tier of the magazine. Things would change as it neared its 50 chapters with two Lead CPs coming in issue 19th and 25th respectively and it placements rose to top tier again. This increase in popularity in the magazine was highlighted in increasing volume sales and the editorial department probably wanted to capitalise on this moment to market the series. Of course, this moment was also tied to the content of the series which was reaching a match and climatic point with the MC finally playing in a match.

The rest of 2015 continued in the same trend with the series becoming a common feature in the top tier of the magazine in regards to the table of contents. It obviously held editorial support and readership support as its sales continued to grow. It eventually made it to the cover of the magazine in issue 34 and this was the clear sign of the series rising status in the magazine. One was not enough and it was again the cover of the magazine in issue 44, only 10 issues after the last one. The series had exploded and rightfully so as content wise it was at a heated match which volume sales wise marked the series best moment so far at least according to oricon and shoseki. From the rather possibly disappointment to a great rising star, 2016 promised a lot for the series future but did it deliver?

2016 - New face of the Magazine? Optimism and Future.

The year started in the same vibe the last one had finished in. It was highly placed and received Lead CPs and Covers including two in a row in issue 14 and 15, the second one was shared with Yowamushi Pedal, the pilalr of the magazine. At the same time, Harigane Service managed to for the first time appear in the top 50 oricon best selling manga of the week. With all of this came character popularity contest which was started in Issue 8 and its results were revelled in issue 14 with a cover and a Lead CP with it having a Lead CP for the following two issues as well.

*17,648 (6)　Harigane Service Vol.9

*16,138 (5)　Harigane Service Vol.10

*19,834 (7)　Harigane Service Vol.11

Source - Oricon

This was by all means the best moment for Harigane Service in the magazine. Its sales were great and on the rise, within the magazine its treatment was by all means of a star series together with the likes of Baki Dou and Yowamushi Pedal. However, editorial support slowly drifted to new promising series like Rokudou no Onnatachi, and this was clearly expressed by a decrease in the Lead CP and CPs Harigane was given in comparison to the start of the year.

2017 - Current - From Star to Supporting Character.

2016 had already ended in a lower note. This at the start did not mean much as new series with potential had begun and needed to be pushed and favoured by the editorial department. However, whilst it still received high placements through the first half of the year, the drain of editorial push was starting to show with lower placements becoming more recurrent and Lead CPs and CPs coming with less frequency.

In reference to volume sales, they had shown stagnation firstly and gradually a slow decline without oricon sales, as it did appear in the top 50 best sold volumes in release week, these are in reference to shoseki numbers. This decline reflected within the magazine as well where its placements dropped to low level by the end of the year. This was no longer simply because editorial push was drained towards Beastars, Rokudou no Onnatachi and other new series but a signal of the loss or stagnation in popularity.

If 2017 ended at the series lowest point so far, in 2008 it reached a new low. It became throughout the year a common feature in the bottom of the magazine. There were occasional CPs and a Lead CP for the commemoration of its 200th chapter but this did not raise its placements. All evidence expressed the loss of the star status it held briefly for a moment from 2015-16. It all started with the rise of of new promising series taking editorial support but also its sales and popularity degraded in the magazine. In the end, this all culminated in the end of the series in Issue 46.

In issue 50, it reappeared in the magazine as Harigane Service Ace. The series is a direct continuation. Since its return things have not shown much difference from before in that it still lingers at the bottom middle tier of the table of contents. It sales seem to be stable at the moment but it obviously has taken a step back from other big series like Beastars, Iruma-kun that have taken the limelight of the magazine at the moment. In essence, Harigane has degraded from a former star of the magazine to a mid tier important supporting character after all it is participating in the 50th anniversary select manifesto and the charity auction. However, in comparison to other series that are relatively new some of which have anime adaptations coming, it definitely has fallen down the pecking order. It has become a bench warmer a bit too early and the new series that have the limelight have the time to shine which Harigane Service had but lasted for only a short period of time. Sadly, Harigane Service was probably meant to be so much more but in the end it did not meet those high expectations but it is still without a doubt a successful series.

One thing that has impressed in the latest years has been the growth of the series since the sequel started. Its circulation has jumped from 1.5 million when the first series ended to around 4.5 million at the moment. This growth could be explained by its popularity in Piccoma and others online manga reading services where it is available to read. In part this explains the series still rather middling position in the table of contents and the lack of editorial push. However, it also show that the series still has life in it and possibly with a push for a media project it could potentially become the hit it was expected to be.

Thoughts on Mairimashita! Iruma-kun Anime

There has been news about Iruma-kun's anime. In a incredibly shock, it will actually air in NHK-E. NHK-E is sister channel of NHK General TV and obviously both are operated by public company NHK - E which stands for education. It is a channel aimed at the younger audience. A key point of NHK-E is that it is a nation wide open terrestrial channel for everyone since its a public TV station but of course the viewer has to have paid the TV license fee. Other channel do not necessarily have the same broad reach NHK has, so obviously this will provide Iruma with nation wide exposure.

Iruma-kun will be the first Weekly Shonen Champion to air in NHK-E. It will also be only the first tv series by champion to air in daytime since Black Jack and prior to that was Gaki Deka.

NHK-E, or E tele, has a long past of airing animated works not only Japanese but also foreign works.  Recent anime adaptation that aired in the last few years were Log Horizon, Kyokai no Rinne, Classicaloid, Major 2nd, Radiant all these within the Saturday 17:35 TV Slot.

Baby Steps anime aired in 2014 April. It aired in 17:30 on Sunday. Currently, this slot is occupied by Thomas and Friends. There is a possibility of Iruma-kun airing in this time slot, since  the current and latest season Thomas and Friends, will end around September. However,  the chances are low simply because they might simply rebroadcast Thomas in that time slot until the following season has been completed in Britain.

Baby Steps Volume sales -
│*36238 (3)│*67517│------│------│------┃*67,517 (*10)┃2013/02｜ベイビーステップ 25
│*37882 (3)│*67225│------│------│------┃*67,225 (*10)┃2013/05｜ベイビーステップ 26
│*33584 (3)│------│------│------│------┃*33,584 (**3)┃2013/08｜ベイビーステップ 27
│*36225 (3)│*66443│------│------│------┃*66,443 (*10)┃2013/11｜ベイビーステップ 28
│*36507 (3)│*67856│------│------│------┃*67,856 (*10)┃2014/01｜ベイビーステップ 29
│*57463 (7)│------│------│------│------┃*57,463 (**7)┃2014/03｜ベイビーステップ 30
│*72973 (6)│*94711│------│------│------┃*94,711 (*13)┃2014/06｜ベイビーステップ 31
│*28424 (2)│*86105│------│------│------┃*86,105 (**9)┃2014/08｜ベイビーステップ 32
│*86953 (7)│109537│------│------│------┃109,537 (*14)┃2014/11｜ベイビーステップ 33
│*95096 (6)│------│------│------│------┃*95,096 (**6)┃2015/03｜ベイビーステップ 34
│*54626 (3)│104457│123009│------│------┃123,009 (*17)┃2015/05｜ベイビーステップ 35
│111117 (7)│138013│------│------│------┃138,013 (*14)┃2015/08｜ベイビーステップ 36
│*65174 (3)│122267│141377│------│------┃141,377 (*17)┃2015/10｜ベイビーステップ 37

I will not delve on aspects of the series as I have previously done already in previous posts.

Now lets look at the staff, of excellent quality I must add.

Director: Makoto Moriwaki (Pripara.Tantei Opera Milky Holmes)
Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Pripara, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka?, Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken)

Firstly, we have Makoto Moriwaki, a experienced director which has handled a lot of long series, popular series in the past. She and Kazuyuki Fudeyasu have worked together in the past. So they have experience and synergy which is very important between director and series compositor. the fact they have in worked together extensively in the past is uplifting for Iruma-kun.

Works like Pripara in which they collaborated were very successful, obviously it was based on a popular arcade game. it was an anime that was aimed at kids, it aired in the afternoon, but it was popular with people in other age groups as well. Iruma is rather different content wise from pripara and obviously its relatively obscure but previous experience by the key staff in handling family/children orientated series is great news.

The strength of Moriwaki lies in the fact her deep experience with popular anime geared at children which is what Iruma-kun will be trying to emulate. Fudeyasu on the other hand, has worked in many anime of different genres and audiences. He has vast experience and for me personally he has worked in many series, I have watched and enjoyed. As the series compositor, he will be handling the pacing amongst other important aspects so he will obviously play a big role on the quality of the series.

Character Design: Toshihiko Sano (Fairy Tail, Heybot)

Toshihiko Sano does not many works under his name, Fairy Tail and Heybot are the only previous character design work he has done. In Heybot he was one of the key staff handling many important tasks. Heybot was artistically pleasing, at least to me, it  had array of character designs. In addition the character designs in key visual look good and more polished but clearly resembled the manga's artwork.

Music: Akimitsu Honma (Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii, Kyokai no Rinne)

Akimitsu Honma is again not someone with a wide list of works under his name, in anime at least. In the music production business he has an wide list of works, it seems to be his main job. There is not much I can say about him but he seems experienced in the music field so he should be able to do a good job.

Studio: Bandai Namco Pictures

Because the main staff are mostly composed of freelancers  there is not much to comment on the studio itself. BN Pictures is the studio tied to Bandai Namco. It was created when they decide to transfer all IP aimed at children and family orientated away from Sunrise. Some works under its name are Aikatsu, Gintama and the previously mentioned Heybot.

Whatever the end product ends up looking like the staff for me personally seems capable of delivering a good product. This is obviously a manga that NHK and other producers see potential in
 in pushing forward. It is a happy fun series that will be aiming directly at younger audiences so if it catches popularity it  could be a big win for Champion but we shall wait till Fall to see what happens.

Sales and speculation on success of anime.

Anime or any other media project are gradually becoming more important nowadays for manga publisher in Japan. Not only can they provide increased exposure within the domestic market, but also to the international market. So as a result the media department is becoming more important in any publisher. To relate to how this means anything to Shonen Magazines and specifically Champion, I will look at previous series in WSC that received anime in recent times and how these fared. Following, this I will take the chance to compare them to the Champion series that had anime announced recently. I make reference here to anime only because it is the most popular media project for manga, there are live dramas, movies, games and the likes too of course.

Yowamushi Pedal was placed in 10th in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi list in 2010. However, this alone did not boost its growth. Its sales had been gradually growing from volume to volume until it reached an apparent peak prior to the anime. It sales increased significantly throughout the first season of the anime which was very popular.

**│*23,586(7)│ -----│ -----│------┃*23,586(7)┃2010/06｜Yowamushi Pedal 10
**│*19,755(4)│------│ -----│------┃*19,755 (4)┃2010/09｜Yowamushi Pedal 11
**│*25,674(6)│------│ -----│------┃*25,674 (6)┃2011/02｜Yowamushi Pedal 12
**│*17,913(3)│*31,135│ -----│------┃*31,135 (10)┃2010/06｜Yowamushi Pedal 13
**│*21,789(3)│------│ -----│------┃*21,789 (3)┃2010/09｜Yowamushi Pedal 14
**│*32,691(5)│------│ -----│------┃*32,691 (5)┃2011/02｜Yowamushi Pedal 15

Pre TV anime

**│*35,504(3)│------│ -----│------┃*35,504 (3)┃2013/03｜Yowamushi Pedal 27

**│*41,272(5)│------│ -----│------┃*41,272 (5)┃2013/05｜Yowamushi Pedal 28

Anime Airing

**│*43,731(3)│*76,804│ -----│------┃*76,804 (10)┃2013/12｜Yowamushi Pedal 31

**│*70,706(5)│*96,824│ -----│------┃*96,824 (12)┃2014/01｜Yowamushi Pedal 32
**│*111,432(6)│*135,902│ -----│------┃*135,902 (13)┃2014/04｜Yowamushi Pedal 33
**│*89,559(3)│*146,799│ -----│------┃*146,799 (10)┃2014/06｜Yowamushi Pedal 34

Source - Oricon

Yowamushi Pedal V19 - 3M
Yowamushi Pedal V29 - 4M - Mid 2013
Yowamushi Pedal V30 - 5M - October 2013 - Start of the anime.
Yowamushi Pedal V35 - 10M - September 2014

Mitsudomoe was a strong seller prior to its anime announcement in late 2009. The TV anime aired in July 2010 during the summer season, a bit after the release of the 9th volume at which point it had 1M copies in print. The boost it received was decent but not astounding possibly due to the anime poor performance. It was received a second season which aired in Winter 2011. Mitsudomoe soon after went into a long hiatus that ended when it was moved to Bessatsu Shonen Champion.

**│*22,101(7)│ -----│ -----│------┃*22,101(7)┃2010/06｜Mitsudomoe 6
**│*24,883(5)│------│ -----│------┃*24883 (*7)┃2010/09｜Mitsudomoe 7
**│*11,851(3)│*29,536│ -----│------┃*29536 (*10)┃2011/02｜Mitsudomoe 8
**│*23,771(6)│ -----│ -----│------┃*23771 (6)┃2010/06｜Mitsudomoe 9
**│*34,985(5)│------│ -----│------┃*34,985 (*5)┃2010/09｜Mitsudomoe 10
**│*45,896(6)│------│ -----│------┃*45,896 (*6)┃2011/02｜Mitsudomoe 11

Source - Oricon

Shinryaku! Ika Musume at the time of its anime announcement had 7 volumes released, with 450k copies in print in total. The sales had been steadily growing and the anime enhanced this growth and gave it a notable boost. It also received a second season as the anime itself was reasonably popular unlike Mitsudomoe anime which gave a boost but was a failure.  

**│*9,669(4)│ -----│ -----│------┃*9,669 (4)┃201/｜Shinryaku! Ika Musume 5
**│*11,484(4)│ -----│ -----│------┃*11,484 (4)┃201/｜Shinryaku! Ika Musume 6
**│*24,097(5)│------│ -----│------┃*24,097 (*5)┃201｜Shinryaku! Ika Musume 8
**│*13,813(3)│------│ -----│------┃*35,419 (*10)┃201｜Shinryaku! Ika Musume 10

Source - Oricon

These are the three WSC series that received anime a while ago and I had access to sales and print data thanks to 5ch for the most part. I excluded Jitsu wa Watashi wa because the anime failed to give any notable growth to series, largely due to the big failure of the anime. The series's sales were stagnated, prior to the airing of the anime it had 1.5M copies in print. Its last update in numbers of copies in print showed 2.5M copies in print with 21 volumes. Another series, I excluded, is Magical Girl Site the series was in decline and the anime might have simply slowed that down but it was still a failure. As for Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau anime, I excluded because I do not hold enough data to display.

Beastars had a decent sales even prior to winning the awards and gaining significant exposure. its print numbers tripled during 2018. It became a massive success and is still growing albeit at a slower pace.

Beastars V6 - 600K - Prior to winning awards
Beastars V7 - 1.1M
Beastars V8 - 1.3M
Beastars V10 - 1.8M

Source - Heiji


**│*12823(5)│------│ -----│------┃*12823 (*5)┃2017/11｜BEASTARS 7 
**│*29494(6)│------│ -----│------┃*29494 (*6)┃2018/05｜BEASTARS 8 
**│*20522(3)│*43185│ -----│------┃*43185 (10)┃2018/07｜BEASTARS 9 
**│*23223(3)│*46482│ -----│------┃*46482 (10)┃2018/09｜BEASTARS 10 
**│*30531(4)│*50822│ -----│------┃*50822 (11)┃2018/11｜BEASTARS 11 
**│*29228(3)│*56657│ -----│------┃*56657 (10)┃2017/11｜BEASTARS 12 


Source - Oricon.


The Oricon sales did highlight to some degree the increase in sales when compared to the increase in print numbers. This increase was made possible largely due to the publicity coming from awards mainly the Cartoon Prize Award and but less the 2nd place in Kono Manga ga Sugoi rankings. Beastars, however, did not just bag these awards it received others, some of lower publicity value but of higher critical value.

Darwin's Game sales seem to have reached a peak at the moment. It grew significantly from the first few volumes and it gradually reached a peak within the last few volumes at least in regards to its sales shown in Oricon. There is still nothing new on the anime. The worries about this anime is the tire of death game series with recent anime series in this genre performing quite badly, though this was not because of the genre alone, obviously there were others factors involved. 

Darwin's Game V16 - 2M
Darwin's Game V16 - 2.2M

Source - Heiji

**│*24716(3)│*51635│ -----│------┃*51635 (10)┃2018/07｜Darwins's Game 13 
**│*30160(4)│*50684│ -----│------┃*50684 (11)┃2018/09｜Darwin's Game 14
**│*28708(5)│*47576│ -----│------┃*47576 (12)┃2018/11｜Darwin's Game 15 
**│*24700(4)│*42489│ -----│------┃*42489 (11)┃2017/11｜Darwin's Game 16 

Source - Oricon

If there is anything to take from this is the obvious that the boost the manga receives is usually directly correlated with the popularity/reception of the adaption. However, there is something else. Manga that are already popular are likely to get bigger boosts. Yowamushi Pedal was very popular within the magazine and sold very well for a Champion series, in others words it sold well within a restricted environment since Champion is a minor magazine, before going into an anime. The anime was successful and exposed the series to a wider readerbase that previously might not have seen or heard of the manga because it was within this restricted environment with in the Champion readerbase. Obviously, social media and words of mouth online can spread like fire and a manga can become really popular even if its in a minor magazine, a restricted environment. There are other variables that have to been taken into account such as the publisher and their economic status, a bigger publisher will have more money to promote their products.

Weekly Champion 50th Anniversary

WSC 2019/1 Cover

For the full summary of events for the 50th anniversary click here.