Shonen Jump 061222 Columns 

This Week in Shonen Jump: Week of 6/12/22

By | June 15th, 2022
Posted in Columns | % Comments

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, Brian checks in with “RuriDragon.” If you have thoughts on this or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!

RuriDragon Chapter 1
Written and illustrated by Masaoki Shindo
Translated by Caleb Cook
Lettered by Sara Linsley
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore

There is aloof coolness to all of “Ruridragon” that feels very unique for a shonen manga. Instead of the exclamation points and extreme close ups full of movement lines, this manga has the tone of an Aubrey Plaza late-night talk show appearance. Insane things are uttered, but no one so much as raises their voice or shoots an exasperated look at the camera. Sure, Ruri has horns now. Sure, she’s half-dragon. Sure, she can now breathe fire. No big deal.

While I think this is an overstating of the general attitude of most people, it is nice to see a story unfold in a way that seems natural to ‘real’ life. If my kid grew horns, I would react a little differently than Ruri’s mom, obviously, but there’s a certain reality to the idea of just rolling with the punches. “OK, you can breathe fire now, but I need to make dinner, so figure out what you want.” That’s one of the most honest bits of dialogue put in a parents’ mouth in the history of fiction. We’re all just trying to get dinner on the table without too much hassle.

Masaoki Shindo does admirable work of mixing the banalities of high school and the morning routine with truly bizarre/magical occurrences. The horns certainly look out of place, but Shindo draws them in a way that lets them both stand out and look like they’re not so out of place. Yes, they’re odd, but the way that Ruri and her mother discuss them, you can easily forget they’re stranger than the coffee cups or breakfast nook. If the horns – and later, the fire breathing – were handled a little more subtly, the story would lose some of its absurdity. Conversely, if they were more over the top, it would lose some of its comedic juxtaposition. It’s funny because it is absurd, but not too absurd. It’s a fine line to walk.

The extreme normalcy of the setting and the non-Ruri characters will eventually get upended when Ruri’s father inevitably makes his appearance, but as of now, this has the tone of a deadpan comedy sketch or a children’s book about accepting others for exactly who they are, even if those mediums don’t seem to be simpatico. But they are! Both expect the viewer/reader to take something unusual at face value, and simultaneously explore the absurdity and then disregard it for the character at the heart of it. While this could also fall into one-note territory, it seems like Shindo has a solid architecture upon which to build the world of the story. If it can keep the balance of absurdity and banality, it has a chance to be one of the more unique offerings from Shonen Jump in some time.

Final Verdict: 7.3 – A strong start that tries very hard to pretend it isn’t anything special.


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Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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