Howdy Neighborino, and welcome to my read-through of Chapter 154: Weekly and Monthly, in which unexpected sore losers bum me out, and we talk about leadership a bit.

If you’re not caught up, please use this index here to do so. There are no spoilers past the current chapter.

I was busy doing editing stuff last week, and that may occur in the next few weeks, but we’re currently on schedule. Don’t you worry.

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Weekly and Monthly Summary

Reversi’s The Superior Series

Resuming directly from the previous chapter, Nizuma announces that, definitively, his competition isn’t the world, it’s Ashirogi. Zombie Gun is the sworn rival of Reversi.

Yujiro’s baffled: Reversi is running in Hissho Jump. Doesn’t matter, Reversi is “obviously” better than PCP. Yujiro’s even more shocked: Obviously? That’s a little on-the-nose. He remembers that Reversi did beat Zombie Gun with its one-shot. He meditates on this idea more.

Meanwhile, Saiko and Shujin discuss their commitment to getting Reversi serialized: they were going to take every opportunity to make it happen. Even though they were open to two weekly series, they’re quite happy to have a monthly serialization like Hissho. They both think it’s the best of all possible worlds.

Hattori looks on content, but a little resigned. He explains that he’ll be bringing over Nakano soon, as he’ll be their editor in Hissho Jump.

Wooops, that other guy was not Nakano in the last chapter. Woopsie doodle.

The boys remember that, given they are working for another imprint, they’ll get a second editor. They hadn’t thought of that. Hattori laughs it off: he’s still their editor for PCP.

Hattori looks sad, though: Reversi is better than PCP, and he would have loved to be their editor for it. Shouganai, ne. Can’t be helped.

Awww, man.

The boys are confused by the look on his face, and Hattori plays it off: Nakano is a veteran and he’s made series that have gotten anime in the past, including Demon Detective Neuro Nogami, Beelzebub, and Toriko. All of those were animated. He’s also the deputy editor-in-chief. The boys are surprised that they’re getting someone so high up in the new magazine.

But Hattori points out the obvious: it’s a new magazine, so there aren’t a ton of editors to work on their series just yet.

The boys are happy, but also a little nervous. They ask Hattori about which issue they’ll be starting with. He assumes June at the earliest. They also ask about the page count: 45 pages a month, right? Yep.

Called it.

Shujin thinks they can salvage the storyboard for chapter 1 and combine chapters 2 and 3. Hattori stops him: This is a discussion for them and Nakano. He’s only PCP’s editor.

Oh god, give Hattori a hug, the poor guy.

Shujin apologizes, but Hattori deflects back to the fact that they have two series now, so things are going to get tougher no matter what: just make sure not to have their new workload affect the quality of PCP.

An Editor’s Wishes

The boys give it the old ganbatte and promise to keep up PCP’s quality. Hattori’s content with that. A little later, he decides to leave. Saiko notices, however, that Hattori seemed a little sad.

Saiko thinks Hattori wanted to be the editor for Reversi. Shujin ponders and agrees with the assessment. Saiko recognizes that no one knows them better than Hattori, and they’ve worked together the longest. Shujin also wants Hattori to work on Reversi with them, but they can’t have everything they want exactly.

D’awww.

Saiko reminisces on their switch to Miura (oy) and how great it was when they got Hattori back.

Subtle, but the most effective burn you could make.

Before they get too down in the dumps, Saiko focuses on the fact that they’re getting it published at all and that they need to be grateful. Shujin agrees: Hattori works for Jump, it’s out of their hands.

In The Cups

Yujiro returns to Shueisha late at night, still stuck on Eiji’s declaration of Reversi’s superiority to PCP. Yujiro wonders if it could somehow be given to JUMP, but thinks the workload would be too strenuous for the boys, not to mention taking up four slots.

Yujiro catches Miura having dinner and asks where Hattori is; out getting drinks by himself. Yujiro’s surprised to hear Hattori’s drinking alone.

At Rose bar, Yujiro finds Hattori pounding liquor and well and truly in his cups. That is to say, absolutely plastered. Yujiro confronts his drunken ass and explains he came to grab a drink, and walks away, but Hattori ushers him to sit together.

Yujiro asks what’s got Hattori so down in the dumps.

Hattori, shotgunning another drink, explains that he knows it’s important not to get attached to manga artists or their works, but he really wanted to edit Reversi. He’s totally confident in how amazing it’s going to be, and it’s got flagship potential for the magazine. Having worked so long with Ahsirogi, he knows how far they can take it.

Awwwwwww, poor Hattori. *pat pat* there there.

Yujiro explains Eiji’s desire to beat Reversi and not PCP; he claims it’s the superior series. Hattori immediately and drunkenly agrees: right? They’ve created something that will rise higher than even PCP has.

However, they are corporate employees, and they have no autonomy. Hattori understands, but he can’t change his feelings about this manga. He wanted to work on Reversi.

The next morning, an astonishingly not hungover Hattori greets the team. Yujiro promises not to discuss what they talked about the previous night. But Hattori doesn’t remember the conversation at all. Yujiro – and I – are shocked that he was blacked out drunk, but Yujiro’s okay with him forgetting. Hattori gets nervous, but Yujiro, smiling to himself, tells Hattori to get to work. Hattori needs to get on setting up a meeting with Nakano.

Meeting with Nakano

Hattori goes up to Nakano to discuss meeting Ashirogi with him. Nakano explains he’s short on staff and time: he has four other artists to meet with. Hattori asks about that as well, but with a serialization meeting the next day, Hattori will be busy, right?

No, he’s not submitting anything. Nakano isn’t sure about his availability and reviews his calendar, but Hattori gets a call from the boys asking for more assistants since they’ll need more for their new series. He mentions to them arranging a meeting with Nakano. They ask when they can meet, but Nakano is currently tied up.

Saiko offers to come to Shueisha instead; they have some free time and it’d be good ot thank Sasaki for going out on a limb for them.

Hattori asks whether Nakano is cool with it; Nakano feels guilty but thinks it’d be best since it’s just an introduction. No time wasting. That being the case, he’s happy to meet them tomorrow.

They all agree to meet at 2 o’clock the next day; Hattori insists they get there before the serialization meeting since they’ll be too busy after that otherwise.

The next day, everyone gets acquainted. The boys are grateful for the chance to work together. Still, nakano is thankful for a potential flagship title to get the new magazine started: the talent pool is currently pretty thin.

The Serialization Meeting?

This feels like a plot hole.

But anyway, in Room 208, everyone notices that they only have one new series starting: Zombie Gun is the only serviceable piece of work in the bunch. No one wants to start something that will get axed quickly.

Aida’s not satisfied with only one and questions whether they should just wait for the next potential serialization meeting. Not nakano, but another editor whose name I forgot thinks they need to get Zombie Gun up and running stat.

Yujiro suggests Reversi.

Everyone is shocked by the suggestion. Aida chews into him: they’re concerned about Ashirogi’s ability to handle two series, which is why they put it in Hissho to begin with. Yujiro has a different suggestion.

Put Reversi in Jump and move PCP to HISSHO.

OH SHIT.

The editors are even more flabbergasted.

Aida has a conniption, but Yoshida sees the potential. There is an active interest among the editors for Reversi, and given that the monthly magazine skews older (though not seinen), Ashirogi would have more flexibility with PCP; they also get two series this round. A win-win.

Not-Nakano (officially his name for the foreseeable future) thinks it’s shortsighted to inflate their new publications and throw everything into chaos. But that’s not Yujiro’s angle: Reversi beat Zombie Gun as a one-shot. He doesn’t think it has to be confined to Hissho. Plus, Eiji is more excited about Reversi than PCP. Yujiro wants Eiji to be given the opportunity to compete with it. Plus, Hattori wants to be in charge of Reversi more than PCP.

Hattori has faith that Reversi has flagship title potential.

Heishi – who has silently observed – calls bullshit on Hattori admitting something so personal. Yujiro doesn’t let slip how he knows other than he can see it in poor Hattori’s eyes; plus, Yujiro is his captain. He knows these things.

Yujiro privately thinks about how drunk words are true thoughts and advocates on Hattori’s behalf. Heishi should talk to Hattori and the boys themselves.

Heishi agrees: he didn’t consider their wishes when making this decision. With that, he asks for the boys and Hattori to be called into the meeting.

WHATTTT

A Question of Reversi

While the boys meet with Nakano, Hattori gets a call from Yujiro requesting his presence at the serialization meeting. Heishi asked him to come specifically. Hattori explains his editorial meeting with Ashirogi; great, have them come too.

Even Yujiro is surprised that Heishi would do that.

Hattori asks the boys to join them, much to their shock. Sasaki tells them to get going. The boys agree, and we get this all-timer panel:

The boys are paralyzed with fear as they sit in on the serialization meeting.

Heishi bluntly asks Hattori’s feelings on Reversi being published in Hissho jump with another editor. Hattori defaults to a political answer: he’s happy the manga is being given a chance. Heishi directs the question to the boys next: how do they feel?

They’re also…honored.

Yujiro cuts through the bullshit: which magazine would they prefer Reversi be published in?

Hattori and the Boys are even more shocked. Yujiro tells them to be honest. A pregnant moment of silence.

Shujin notes that it would be selfish to move PCP to Hissho Jump. But Hattori, looking fierce, has a different opinion. Yujiro demands that he tell the truth.

Hattori requests that he be allowed to work on Reversi in Weekly Shonen Jump. Shujin’s shocked, and Saiko agrees, then doubles down: he asks Reversi to be a weekly series.

The editorial team holds their breath, then Heishi fixes his glasses and gives them the go-ahead: Reversi will be in Weekly Shonen Jump and PCP will be in Hissho Jump.

The boys and Hattori are dumbfounded, as the chapter concludes.

Weekly and Monthly Reaction

My disappointment feels prophetic

So I like to joke about my inability to predict future plot developments – and I won’t say I *predicted* anything in my previous chapter – but damn it feels good to be a gangster gigantic fucking manga nerd.

Like, it’s truly hilarious just how many of my concerns and frustrations were borne out in this chapter in almost all the ways I articulated. That is some The Police levels of Synchronicity.

But it also speaks to the fact that I am a.) a huge manga nerd and b.) these are completely logical questions to ask in the context of this question of the series.

But while I was speculating on all the complications of a monthly magazine vs a weekly magazine, I’m glad to see my intuition was nudging me in the right direction the whole time. Which is to say, neener neener, I fucking called it.

I did get a number of things wrong: I didn’t think they were going to resolve the issue of Reversi‘s publication within a single chapter. Still, we’re on the cusp of the Nizuma/Ashirogi final throwdown for the ages and this series has never precisely been a slow burn, so I guess it makes sense to just take care of it now.

Although I am thoroughly baffled by the serialization meeting we had exactly one chapter ago. That’s just a straight plot hole as far as I can tell unless that was for Hissho jump, which wouldn’t make sense since it was the editors at Jump making the decision.

It could just be a general meeting of figuring out what to do with the Reversi issue, as well. An all-hands-on-deck type situation where they try to unfuck themselves after committing to something without thinking it through. I could totally see that happening, as well.

But let’s get to some of the things that make the most sense about this turn of events:

The Second Editor

So my last read-through is much funnier due to the fact that I got the name of the square-headed editor wrong. He’s not Nakano, but I guess Nakano was on my mind because of the Hissho jump switch and due to the fact that he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine IRL.

But talk about a hilarious coincidence especially since he’s now their editor. Good job, me. You were both wrong and right at the same time: you are Schrodinger’s reactor, or some dumb shit like that.

….anyway

So yeah, they’re going to get a new editor and….I don’t see him pulling a Miura, but I also don’t have the greatest feeling about his introduction,

Sidenote: the fact that Saiko couldn’t say a single good thing about getting Miura as an editor other than the fact that they got Hattori afterwards made me feel peppermint petty in how much pleasure I took from it.

Obligatory: Miura sucks and he needs to get fired. Given Takahama and +Natural, he won’t. But goddamn it’d be nice.

But unlike Miura, Nakano is an established high-level editor, which leads me to believe that he will not present a huge issue narratively as far as actively giving notes to the boys. But this introduction is ringing some bells because he’s got a lot on his plate.

Which means that one of the issues I can foresee happening with PCP (more on that development in a moment) is that Nakano’s sheer unavailability while he’s wrangling new editors for Hissho will mean that the editorializing for PCP will get much sloppier, and the popularity will end up tanking as a result.

It may not happen, and I also get the feeling that PCP’s continued existence is meant more as a thorn in the boys’ side than anything else, but the transition to a monthly magazine is probably going to fuck up its popularity regardless.

On that note:

PCP’s move makes way more sense than Reversi

I don’t remember if I mentioned it in the previous read-through, but he fact that Hissho is new means it needs hits in its magazines, so Reversi being a flagship dropped into their lap is a huge plus for them as a magazine just starting.

But PCP is also not bad as a top line manga to join the ranks. It might even get more popular than the other monthly series as it gets adjusted to the new magazine because the competition is honestly, going to b ea little weaker.

PCP has a built-in audience and it’s still at peak popularity, so it can afford to be put in the magazine rather than a slate of new monthly manga that will have to build up their reputation. Net win.

But also, and more importantly, as I mentioned in the last chapter, the transition from weekly to monthly manga is a well-worn transition that a lot of successful manga have done.

The most recent example, for better or worse, is the transition of Black Clover from Weekly Shonen Jump to Jump Giga. This was not due to Tabata-sensei doing multiple series, but purely because of his physical and mental health, which is actually a common reason why manga make this transition.

If you are in the community, it also usually reads as a death-sentence for getting an ending because it often is precipitated by the author’s ill-health and the narrative changes that a monthly series requires.

I don’t know how close D. Gray Man is to concluding, but as a monthly series, it will inevitably take longer than a weekly series, almost without fail. Less ground gets covered over a longer time. It’s just the nature of the beast.

And this is where I can see some new conflicts for the boys propping up: editorial neglect, but also having to churn out 45 pages a month in addition to the 19 pages a week they’re doing for Jump, that’s almost half of a tankobon of manga every single month. That’s an insane pace for anyone. Even if it’s a step down from 8 chapters a month (approximately when not accounting for breaks).

But more than that, I think Shujin is going to encounter issues with pacing a monthly manga, mainly when he’s used to running a weekly magazine. Regardless of his ability to write stories for it, there are significant mechanical differences in executing a monthly manga.

So I don’t think PCP’s goose is necessarily cooked – and despite the presence of Reversi, I still think it will get an anime, fuck you fight me – but it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for the boys.

But this is all speculation for the next few chapters, we haven’t even touched the most touching element of this chapter.

Hattori’s Desires

I think of my favorite trope-y relationships, I always get the most fucked up out of the surrogate parent/child relationship that comes from a good mentorship, and it speaks to the strength of the storytelling that I really felt bad for Hattori this whole chapter until the end.

Because it was obvious that Reversi was going to be the series he actually wanted to work on and that he genuinely cares for the boys, it’s so cute, and the emotional connection makes sense.

Despite being a bit of a cheap shot, I will also accept that he got so fucked up about not getting to work on their best series that he got absolutely blacked out drunk, which was both amusing and endearing given his usual composure, because he’s so sad about it.

It’s largely adorable. Which is a weird adjective to describe a grown ass man getting shitfaced over writing manga. But the emotional core is still there: he’s protective of the boys and their work, and he’s watched them grow up into adults in real time. While I don’t think this series is ever going to get so sentimental about this relationship in that way, I think it’s worth underlining.

They’ve built a real relationship based on mutual care and, to some degree, love. So, it makes sense that Hattori’s hands being tied would affect him so deeply.

Especially since he knows – just as we know – that Reversi is going to be it. It’s going to be the series that finally catapults the boys to the stratosphere without question. The series is making no bones about this fact, nor does it need to. We can tell, we’ve been building up to this for the whole series.

I would be deeply upset if I saw something coming a mile away, was getting ready for it, only to have a technicality preventing me from working on it

But even though I’m hammering the emotional component, let’s not neglect this as a reflection of why Hattori remains the best editor of the bunch who is not a captain or higher: he loves manga.

I know in the real world this kind of idealism is not the most useful, or can actively be harmful. And to some extent it is here, since he knows that a certain measure of professionalism is necessary to keep the gears of industry moving.

But damn it, wanting to be in on the blossoming of talent you’ve helped cultivate specifically for 8 years because the MANGA itself is a banger is such a pure intentioned thing. Hattori is one of the editors who deserves it because his specific team-work is going to bring it to its most excellent height.

And I want that for him, as well as for the boys who were also a little down in the dumps, but they’re also heading into a massive change in their lives professionally.

And then there’s

Yujiro and Eiji

I think these two serve as a nice parallel to the special kind of relationship Hattori and the boys have, the fact that he’s the other Hattori is just icing on the cake.

But it was really nice to see Yujiro’s about-face on Reversi. Or, you could say, his reversal eyyyyy look what I did there. It wasn’t because he wants to compete with it; if anything, he just wants Eiji to get a pure win because he has admired and cultivated Eiji all this time.

But let’s be real: he wouldn’t care about Reversi were it not for the fact that Eiji sees its potential. That detail is essential in crafting this specific parallel.

Yujiro is necessarily more hands-off with Eiji than Hattori is with the boys because he doesn’t need to do much, but he does care about and listen to his ward. That was evident after Crow, but it’s even more apparent here as Eiji declares Ashirogi his true rival. A rivalry borne of failure, which is a nice little twist.

He knows that Eiji has his sixth sense for manga, which is why he is actually willing to take his change of heart. Obviously, seeing Hattori’s passion moved the needle, but really, it’s the fact that Eiji wants to compete with the boys that has Yujiro willing to take the risk, which he can now take as a captain.

And it’s also worth noting that this chapter rubs up against Japanese society’s tendency towards politeness and indirectness way more…directly than previous chapters.

All of the emotional undertones of these two relationships are intentionally undertones because, well, it’s kind of inappropriate for professionals to develop a closer relationship outside of work. But also because there is an unspoken rule that you need to maintain that distance from everyone who isn’t specifically a personal intimate.

So the series frames these two men’s care for their wards as a professional matter rather than an emotional one. And that could make it easy to read their questioning of the series move in purely professional terms

But they are influenced by their youngsters just as the youngsters learn from them. So it makes sense that even though they’re never going to come right out and say it – or they might, I don’t know, we’ve got 20 chapters left – they really care about the success of the magazine and their mangaka. It just can’t be out in the open like this.

Which also makes Yujiro’s reaction to Hattori’s conduct outside of work make more sense. I think if you’re from the west, it might be harder to couch that Yujiro in gently scolding Hattori for sharing inappropriate thoughts is kind of being a dick; but that’s how Japan treats work culture; hierarchy matters intensely, and you keep personal things personal.

But that also makes that final declaration by Hatori and Saiko hit. This is an admission of care, in a professional context.

Anyway, let’s talk about one last thing:

Heishi and the serialization meeting

So I will admit that I was surprised that Heishi allowed both the boys to come into the editorial meeting – genuinely wild – and that he’s willing to make these last-minute changes.

Now, this isn’t to say that he won’t become a thorn in their side down the road: the only plot point we haven’t explored yet from Ohba and Obata’s run with Death Note was the fact that they were forced to keep it running past its natural expiration. We’ve had references to it in other chapters, but we’re not at the point where it’s a problem for the boys.

And I suspect it might be part of the final arc. Because everyone knows Reversi is going to be big. And the narrative has done an excellent job setting it up. It’s more of a feeling than anything else.

And it’s the feeling when you read something truly remarkable, that je ne sais quoi. And in teh real world, it can have monstrous consequences. Popularity is a double-edged sword for those who experience it.

But right now, Heishi is a much more flexible editor-in-chief than I expected. Maybe because he has a bit of a tsundere vibe going for him with the glasses and the dour demeanor – although not in front of his wife (so cute) – but he’s demonstrating a kind of flexibility that is admirable.

I will say, speaking of breaking protocol, seeing the boys in the serialization and shitting their pants was hilarious.

But the narrative has also done an absolutely excellent job of explaining how significant these meetings are, and how the chain of command operates. Plus, the boys have been doing this for almost a decade, so they have a very specific understanding of the serialization meeting. To actually take part in it when their series is on the block, and having to advocate for themselves must be absolutely terrifying.

But it is, again, a representation of how far we’ve come. We still have ways to go, yes, we do, but we’ve come so far.

Let’s see how that translates next week,

Until next time,

Peace

Stray Thoughts:

–I didn’t think about it, but they’re getting more assists. I guess we can look forward to some new character designs, and characters, but also, Jesus, the cost of running these two series might outstrip the amount they get in return. I wonder how this is going to affect their salary? Will they get a pay cut? Who knows.

–The boys were, again, relegated to a more reactionary role in this chapter, but their discussion of Hattori was a highlights. I don’t know how active they’re going to be in the final arc, but we’ll just have to wait and see

–Damn, Hattori is superhuman if he’s downing glass after glass of liquor and coming into work on time without a hangover. Teach me your ways, sensei.

Jk, I don’t drink before going to work.