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 “Doron Dororon!.” If you have thoughts on this or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
Doron Dororon, Chapter 1
Written and illustrated by Gen Oosuka
Translated by Camellia Nieh
Lettered by Phil Christie
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore
With a quick paragraph of introductory text, “Doron Dororon” hits the ground running with a story that is deceptively simple in the broad strokes: there are monsters called mononoke that are hunted by people known as samurais. But unlike the warriors of old, there are tests to become a samurai that have to do with your ‘supernatural energy level,’ which is really just a code word for midiclorians as to not get sued by Lucasfilm.
So of course, our hero has no supernatural energy, but has something better: the love of a devoted, now dead, mother. Dora’s willpower and childhood memories of being called the ‘leek samurai’ by his mom are powering his quest, and when he meets a non-evil mononoke, they team up to take down a big sucker. It’s a match made in storytelling heaven: a good monster and a regular Joe. Together, they more than equal a samurai.
Gen Oosuka’s artwork is a bit extreme, in that everyone seems to be either screaming or sneering all the time. This can be used for good and fun, but it doesn’t appear to be a choice but rather just how Oosuka draws. I don’t think we’re supposed to infer that Dora’s mom is shouting her encouragement at her son, three feet in front of her.
This does work win the battle sequences nicely, where the intensity is apparent not just by the setting and action, but by the eyes and tone of every character in the scenes. As off as the balance is when the story isn’t supposed to be calm, it is perfectly suited for the more slobberknocker elements of the tale.
Ultimately, if you can buy into the heart at the center of the story enough to dismiss the cliches that weigh it down, this can be a really enjoyable story. The ‘good’ mononoke is cute and intriguing, while Dora’s plight is pure and just. It’s easy to root for characters like this, even if the framework that’s holding their story together isn’t exactly the next innovation in manga.
Final Verdict: 6.3 – A fun, if slight, first chapter in the “Doron Dororon” tale. If the story can grow some interesting tendrils or find another way to differentiate itself, the bones of a memorable manga are here.
