Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, our weekly check in on Viz’s various Shonen Jump series. Viz has recently changed their release format, but our format will mostly remain the same. We will still review the newest chapters of one title a week, now with even more options at our disposal. The big change for our readers is that, even without a Shonen Jump subscription, you can read these most recent chapters for free at Viz.com or using their app.
This week, Rowan checks in with “Ayashimon.” If you have thoughts on this or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
Ayashimon Chapter 10
Written and Illustrated by Yuji Kaku
Reviewed by Rowan Grover
The story and supporting characters are really starting to unfold and flourish in chapter ten of “Ayashimon”, a manga that feels like it’s already multiple arcs deep despite having just barely cracked double digits. Urara and Hashihime are the stars here, having been both hunted down by the powerful Doppo for their association with Chairman Kioh. We get some well-worn orphan tropes with Urara, having grown up in the shadow of her father and always being taught to fear and expect his return one day. The x-factor that keeps Urara’s development interesting is Hashihime’s involvement and her constant insistence that Kioh wouldn’t just abandon his daughter and always has been protecting her from afar. To have inspired such dedication in a character adds another layer of depth to Kaku’s writing of Kioh, elevating him beyond crime boss status.
This also gives Urara a chance to claim agency due to the events of the last page and from flashbacks with Hashihime telling her she’s special. Having Urara bring up the compression of time in how demons are reincarnated is interesting worldbuilding, but it also adds a sense of loneliness to her characters. Similarly, It’s hinted that Urara has explosive potential via channeling the power of her blade, but what exactly that will do isn’t super clear here and feels like it’s diluted through everything else we see Hashihime claim. We don’t get to see this potential unleashed in this chapter, which makes it feel like it’s floundering a little just to get to the plot twist at the end, but it does hook the readers into coming back next week to see what decision Urara will make in the wake of this chapter’s events.
In terms of art, this chapter is very character-focused and leans heavily on prior chapters for setting and place. This isn’t a holly bad thing! It means that when we really get to the nitty-gritty of Urara’s tragic backstory, her emotions shine brighter. Her face is a mixture of grief and acceptance at Hashihime telling about Kioh’s work duties coming first, and it works so well because of its stark white backdrop. Kaku does bring backgrounds in occasionally during fights, giving us some welcome urban chaos and debris. However, it’s infrequent enough that it can make the same fight scene feel like two separate locations and feels a little jarring.
The action is fluid and fun throughout the issue, with Kaku getting to play around with the story’s supernatural elements here. The demonic wolf form looks great and traverses terrain with a lot of inky, brush-stroked grace. Hashihime’s giant armoured form also looks spectacular, with Kaku presenting it to us mid-transformation on a splash page as she prepares to beat down on Doppu. I do love these process shots of a power display, it makes the world feel a lot more considered and thought out rather than just have the power appear fully formed. My slight nitpick is that every major movement or action plays out in the same hill-shaped arc, with a character jumping into the air before beating down on something with a thud. It’s a dynamic movement, but it happens three whole times in the space of about ten pages.
Final Score: 7.0 – Still a solid entry into one of my favorite new Shonen ongoings, but it feels a little rushed in some places.
