Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, in which a rotating duo of Multiversity staffers take a look at two stories contained in each installment of Viz Media’s Weekly Shonen Jump. For the uninitiated, Weekly Shonen Jump is an anthology that delivers more than 200 pages of manga of all varieties. We hope that you’ll join us in exploring the world of Weekly Shonen Jump each week. If you are unfamiliar, you can read sample chapters and subscribe at Viz.com.
This week, Ken and Robbie check in with “Alice and Taiyo” and “My Hero Academia.” If you have any thoughts on these titles, or “Dr. Stone,” “We Never Learn,” “The Promised Neverland,” “One Piece,” “Black Clover,” “Food Wars,” or “Seiji Tanaka,” let us know in the comments!
Alice & Taiyo Ch. 1
Written & Illustrated by Takahide Totsuno
Reviewed by Ken Godberson III
I’m going to be perfectly honest: when I was reading this first chapter in a brand new Weekly Shonen Jump series, the first third of this double-sized chapter made me want to write it off as a pretty cliche romantic comedy manga. Our POV character Suzuki Taiyo meeting the new transfer student, Alice Shinohara, fresh back from time in America. Taiyo and Alice have some Wacky Hijinks™ moments (including a panty shot of Alice, because we continue to move further and further away from God’s light). I was honestly beginning to dread finish reading this (as my editor continues to look at me, tapping the table with a rolled up magazine). However, the last two-thirds of “Alice & Taiyo” Chapter 1 take a much delighted turn, that shows potential.
To put it simply, the chapter switched from emphasizing comedy into being about music. Alice is an incredible singer and Taiyo is a very gifted songwriter and pianist, even though he has little faith in his abilities. The moment that really got to me is when we learn that Taiyo had posted one of his songs online momentarily and it was heard by Alice, who at the time was having a struggle while in America with discrimination. It felt like a very real moment; one that showed the difficulties of being in a foreign place and showing that sometimes you and your works can have an impact on people without even realizing it. The chapter concludes with both characters trying to put their best foot forward to try and improve themselves and take risks to better their art together.
Artistically, I wish it could be a little stronger. Besides the aforementioned attention to things that we really shouldn’t be paying attention to, the art could feel a bit stiff at times. Moments focused on Alice or Taiyo showing emotion (that wasn’t cartoonish) could feel off. A lot of the side character designs, such as with Alice’s family, didn’t feel particularly unique even if Totsuno was trying to make them unique. The artwork does pick up towards the end, Totsuno providing the necessary “epic”-ness of the final moments of Alice and Taiyo performing, but that same energy is sporadic through most of the beginning.
“Alice & Taiyo” has potential. It’s first third was pretty drab, only picking up when it got to the meat of the characters and laid off the “comedy.” I can’t give it full marks but what Takahide Totsuno did with this first chapter is do what every first chapter should do: get my attention and get me to check out chapter two. It can mire itself in some overplayed tropes, or it could actually be something worthwhile. Time will tell.
Final Verdict: 6.7- When it isn’t falling into some tired rom-com manga conventions, “Alice & Taiyo” provides the groundwork for a potentially good character-focused series about creating and having confidence.
My Hero Academia chapter 189
Written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
Okay, let’s get the obvious parts out of the way. “My Hero Academia” is still amazing. This chapter is completely action-packed, continuing to showcase the powers of pro heroes, showing the determination of a hero, exploring the effects that All Might’s absence and the lack of a symbol of peace has on the population and, well, I could keep going on and on about all the amazing world building and story moments in this chapter alone.
Continued belowIn addition to telling a great story, Kohei Horikosi’s art is on-point as always. The designs are clean and solid, and the characters all have very unique looks to them that showcases their personalities. The action scenes can occasionally seem cluttered between all the fire, the action lines, and the Nomu’s stretching limbs, but it still looks fantastic.
As with any good climactic moment in a fight, we get to see a hero make a last stand gambit, and showcase the determination and fortitude that a hero must have. At the same time, we get to see more of Hawks in action, including how his powers can be used to assist other heroes, and we get more of a look into Endeavor’s psyche.
All of this is great! It’s excellent action, wonderful character work, and solid progress for the characters and the world. But there is a big fiery elephant in the room that still needs to be addressed.
So, Endeavor… being the current number one hero does not change the fact that he was abusive to his wife and children, emotionally if not physically. The fact that he’s trying to understand what it means to be a symbol of peace won’t remove the trauma he put his family through. And you can let us know that he delivered his wife flowers in the hospital all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s the one who put her there in the first place.
Admittedly, Horikoshi does acknowledge that the scars Endeavor left on his family run deep, as shown every time any of his kids talk about him. But that is set back by his daughter providing faint praise and stating how he never gave up chasing after All Might, right after it was reestablished that in doing so he abandoned most of his kids and broke his wife.
I will also acknowledge that this adds depth to Endeavor’s character. We get to see multiple sides of him, both as a hero looking to improve and stand at the top and as a horrible, abusive father. But the former does not forgive the latter, and it’s hard to root for someone, no matter how awesome the fight may be, when we know what he did to characters we care about.
It’s weird when a mangaka as talented as Kohei Horikoshi pulls this level of character depth and development on someone who has still done such irredeemable things. It plays with classic shonen tropes, no doubt, as well as morality and layers to characters, just in a way that’s a tad uncomfortable. While the writing, action, and character work is all top-notch, we can’t be expected to forgive Endeavor for it.
Final Verdict: 8.1 – Look, “My Hero Academia” is one of the best manga series coming out right now. Whether it’s for the characters, the art, or the creative use of super-powers, it’s a must-read. But Endeavor has absolutely not earned any modicum of forgiveness for what he did to his family, and no amount of awesome heroics is going to change that.
