Yo boy, and welcome to my read-through of Chapter 164: Decision and Joy in which WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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Decision and Joy Summary

Barely Concealed

Kaya cleans the studio and notices the weird quiet. Both boys are thinking about their previous meeting and vow not to say anything. She asks if Hattori came by yesterday.

Sh then asks why they have such a goofy look on their faces.

These goobers.

They chalk up their silly sweet looks to Kaya’s presence. Saiko included. She immediately gets creeped out and calls bullshit. They both call her cute; yeah, super cute.

Which is true, but it also freaks her out even more.

Meanwhile, Yujiro explains the situation with Eiji and Reversi: after hearing they’d get an anime, he’d rather see Zombie-Gun get animated. Aida, peeved as all get out, reminds him that there is only one anime slot and that it’s still too early for Zombie-Gun to get animated. Yujiro had the same thought, but Eiji changed his mind.

Hattori already told Ashirogi, and fucking MIURA of all people, chews him out for letting the boys know. They’re probably dancing for joy as we speak.

Hattori let’s him know that he didn’t say it was decided, Aida’s about down with everyone, at this point.

Aida then drills Yujiro for more details about Eiji’s change of heart. Yujiro thinks it’s because of Nizuma’s desire to make Zombie-Gun the most popular series in Jump.

Eiji’s Idea

Flashing back to the previous chapter, Yujiro wonders why Eiji isn’t happier to hear about Ashirogi getting their first anime. He is happy, but he won’t be happy if they beat him in graphic novel sales. Yujiro starts to think.

Zombie-Gun is far outstripping Reversi in sales numbers, but Reversi is slowly catching up. He then sees what Eiji sees: they’re close in the surveys, so an anime will put them ahead in book sales as well and might overtake Zombie-Gun.

Yujiro thinks there is nothing to do about it at this point. But Eiji asks anyway: what happens if he says he wants an anime? Yujiro reminds him they don’t have the content for this yet.

Eiji comes to a conclusion: write a bunch of anime-only original episodes. Yujiro points out it’s better for the animation staff to faithfully adapt the manga rather than create original content.

Also very true.

Eiji counters, though: if they can enhance the story to fit an anime context, it will be even better than the manga. And he can create loads of stories like that.

Of course he can.

Yujiro freaks: Eiji’s going to take over writing those episodes instead of the scriptwriters?

Eiji’s answer is simple: why not? The staff can revise afterward.

Eiji starts whipping out storyboard after storyboard, which, to Yujiro’s shock, look like actual Anime storyboards. He wants the work to become the true signature piece in Jump

Okay, now I’m calling bullshit.

And the Storyboards are…

Back in the present, Yujiro’s only objection to making Zombie-Gun an anime was the lack of content. But Eiji has provided a solution to that issue. He even thinks the anime will exceed the manga if they go with these storyboards. Eiji is mindful of the differences between anime and manga. Aida points out that it’s not an issue of quality. It’s the slot thing.

Hattori decides to read them.

He thinks they’re good. Drawn in such a way that they will translate easily to motion.

Calling megggaaa bullshit on this one.

Miura thinks he’s an absolute genius, as does Aida.

Yujiro gives his answer: if the editor-in-chief was gauging interest, the answer is yes. Aida’s annoyed: the mangaka have both been informed, and they have to figure out how to resolve it.

Miura makes the suggestion that they break the slot into two fifteen-minute episodes. Aida thinks it’s an absurd joke.

Oh, Aida, my friend, MIura ain’t joking.

Miura, for once being almost okay does think it’s unfair to gauge both the boys and Eiji’s interest if there is only one slot available. Aida agrees and thinks it’s ultimately in his hands, regardless. Miura thinks Zombie-Gun is a shoo-in with all the storyboards. And given it’s replacing Crow, it makes sense that it’s an Eiji Nizuma work.

Hattori, sadly, is also confident that that is the likely outcome.

Rivals, Rivals, Rivals

Heishi is in a pickle with these new developments and chastises Aida and Not-Nakano: he told them to get the editor’s – not the mangaka’s – opinions on the matter. They apologize

Heishi also admits he expected Zombie-Gun to be a no, but it was a mistake to make that assumption. Aida agrees it’s a headache but both Ashirogi and Nizuma want it now.

Heishi wants to know if both want it to be in the summer: they’ll still definitely get anime even if it’s not this session.

Hattori remains adamant: Revresi must get adapted now. Yujiro demands the same for Zombiegun; if Reversi gets an anime, it’ll dominate Zombie-Gun in sales and rankings.

This anime will decide the true signature piece of Jump. Heishi does some mental math and tells the two, and announces that he will make the final decision about which series will be animated by the end of the month. Regardless of which one gets chosen, don’t take it personally.

Heishi then presses his glasses to his face in a very cool gesture.

The Wait

On January 10th, a Wednesday, at the studio, Hattori approves the storyboards, good as always. The boys are steaming with eagerness: what did the bosses have to say?

Hattori explains the situation with Eiji, and the boys are, understandably, deflated. Hattori reminds them he didn’t guarantee anything. Shujin thinks if Eiji made the storyboards then Eiji Zombie-Gun has the advantage here.

Hattori explains that it’s up to Heishi which series gets made, but they shouldn’t keep their hopes high, so if things go badly, they won’t be too disappointed.

That’s not very cash money Shonen of you, Hattori

Shujin’s disappointed and resentful: Zombie-Gun is going to run for years, and there’s no reason to make it an anime at this point. Hattori’s answer is simple: Eiji don’t want to lose to Reversi. Shujin also notes that if they inform them of their plans to end things early, it will only further harm their chances at getting an anime.

The boys do not see an out and fall into despair. Hattori tries to cheer them up. As Saiko said, a good series will be turned into an anime one day. They just have to believe in themselves.

Depression

The next day, Kaya cleans the studio, and Shujin and Saiko are ruminating on their almost certain loss. She asks about Hattori’s visit yesterday and notes the boys look so depressed

They haven’t noticed.

10/10 gag. No notes.

They think it’s weird, since the super-cute Kaya is there to liven up the mood. Kaya plays along this time: weirdly, Cute Cute Kaya is not helping them out.

They agree: it is strange, even with cute Kaya around.

At the same moment, they get a visitor. They don’t remember if they had a meeting. The depressed boy asks if Kaya could answer in for them. She does so, grudgingly.

The boys are confused: is there something they have to talk about?

Hattori thought he’d come directly to give them news about the anime.

Even though it’s going to push the bounds of what constitutes fair use, I’m sharing this double spread:

Reversi will get an anime starting on September 4th, a Tuesday.

Gentlemen, ladies, we have achieved anime.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

INDESCRIBABLE JOY AND STARTING POINT

The boys scream uncontrollably. Kaya drops to the floor, shouting. Crying. They’re all happy. Apoplectic with joy (that’s definitely not the right use of that word and I don’t care). It’s a beautiful sight to behold. SHujin, weeping openly, tells Kaya she doesn’t have to cry. Kaya calls out her bullshit. They’re manly tears, right saiko?

Saiko falls onto the floor, passing out from the overwhelming joy. He didn’t think this level of happiness was possible; his heart stopped.

Awww.

Kaya reminds him that if he’s going to marry Miho, he has to be alive. He responds that this is only the beginning. Hattori watches fondly and congratulates them. They thank him for everything.

Hattori finally realizes just how much of a dream this was. All manga artists are happy to see their work animated, but you don’t get this kind of joy regularly. Shujin apologizes; they couldn’t help it.

Hattori is fine with them celebrating today but he wants them to think why they got the slot rather than Zombie-Gun—the meaning.

Hattori explains: the editor chose Reversi because he sees it as the future of Jump. Do they understand? The boys realize Heishi wants them to support the future of Jump.

They must become a Jump signature now, for sure.

Eiji receives the news

At Eiji Co., Ltd., Eiji receives the phone call from Heishi. He knows Eiji heard from Yurjio, but Heishi lets Eiji know personally that he chose Reversi for the anime adaptation.

Hieshi explains his reasoning: he thinks Ashirogi has not yet become Nizuma’s equal. If they made Zombie-Gun now, it would surely overwhelm Reversi and the battle would conclude.

Eiji thanks him for that.

But that’s why Heishi made that choice, so that Reversi will finally equal Eiji as manga artists. He wants them to continue their competition and grow. That is the future of Jump that Heihsi dreams of.

Eiji is drawing under a blanket.

Heishi apologizes to Eiji for misleading him with his initial frame due to his poor judgment. Eiji thinks he has nothing to apologize for. This rocks.

The passion inside Eiji is even stronger now. Eiji is officially unstoppable.

On that note, the chapter concludes.

Decision and Joy Reaction

Let’s get it out of the way now.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

FUCK YEAH.

FUCKIN HELL YEAH.

FUCKING FUCK YEAH.

WE FUCKING GOT HERE!

Five lines of ooo feels appropriate here, and the general celebration. I’m not going to lie, seeing Saiko on the floor, just overcome joy, moved me to smile a real human smile that in the invisibility of these read-throughs you will never see.

But the weight of it really fell on me. And that’s partially because of how long I’ve waited for this moment. Remember, I can only read chapters as I get to them, so for 6 years I’ve been reading, waiting for this moment.

Which is also one of the unique appeals of long-running manga, even though this is most definitely not that, I just got mad sidetracked.

But I have been longing for this moment for so long, now. So, to finally see it happen, well, it’s really a massive emotional moment for me.

And, like, even though the art sold it this chapter—there were a lot of great panels, including the front cover page we got of Miho. There was this massive sense of catharsis that we got.

Because I feel like if you’ve never truly won something, or you’ve gotten your own big victories, but not THE big victory. That thing you’ve waited so long for, you’ve forgotten that it’s even possible. When you finally get that thing. That one powerful thing that unlocks your future. After waiting ages for it.

It’s powerful.

I still haven’t gotten it. I’ve only gotten back into my recent shonen groove, where I’m hopeful. But I could feel that vicarious happiness for Saiko as he finally realizes: it’s happening, he’s going to marry Miho. He doesn’t have to exist in that horrible tension of maybe failing and Miho moving on like Taro.

That’s huge.

And then seeing Cute Cute kaya (which shall be her official nickname henceforth), a sobbing puddle, and Shujin shedding many tears. That payoff is huge. And I don’t even care how unnecessary it was.

It was beautiful. And it’s a moment of true celebration. And it almost feels more intense because we’ve seen a lot of other people get that same level before the boys, including Eiji, and Fukuda.

Not Takahama or Aoki, but Hiramaru, too.

And those ones have all been excited about getting an anime. But you can tell that it didn’t have that same level of raw primal meaning this moment does for the boys especially since they haven’t been working towards it their whole career.

So we’re here, and I have to say, I feel great about it.

Besides that.

I was basically right, and this chapter was mostly great

Granted, I was hedging my bets hard last chapter, but I did call it, technically. You’ll give me a point for that, right? I mean, I did predict it.

But yeah. This chapter worked for me on several levels but didn’t work on others.

The gag of the boys being happy and depressed was pitch perfect as a use of repetition. Especially because they didn’t change their opinion of Cute Cute Kaya either way, that’s what made that bit work.

I also love the celebration on the news. And the fact that the series acknowledges basically everything I said in the last chapter about being a popular series and getting an anime eventually. I don’t even think a short run would ultimately deter them from making the anime (more on that in a bit).

I also liked the not-so-often-seen, but just as vibrant, dynamic between Yujiro and Hattori as rivals. It’s cute to see how intense they get for their boys, respectively.

Heishi is proving interesting as an editor-in-chief because it’s clear there are some growing pains. He lacks some of the gravitas/fixture-like nature of Sasaki’s reign narratively. But as the next hokage, he’s demonstrating considerable wisdom.

Honestly, though, the fact that Heishi did the ‘eenie, meenie, moe’ trick with two manga was real dumb. And also just a pretty shameless way to keep the story going for a bit longer.

That was a great misstep.

Briefly:

Eenie Meenie Minie Moe

When I was on a date once, and I didn’t know what to pick, the girl told me to do eenie meenie minie moe on the two options I was eyeing; if I felt disappointed by the answer I got, then the other choice was the option I actually wanted.

That relationship did not work out, although it ended amicably, but that is such a banging lesson for anyone: if you have to choose between two things, flip a coin, and if you don’t like the result, go with the other choice.

It saves you a lot of time and frustration.

But yeah, Heishi was basically doing that but with the naivete that Eiji would actually say no because it was the logical thing to do. He wants Reversi to be an anime, and in hindsight, I think it’s obvious that Heishi was always going to choose Reversi. Although I have to stress, Hindsight here is the key.

The chapter was also not subtle about its narrative placement of the storyboards from the previous chapter at the beginning. They set up the all hope is lost moment early so that the chapter could end on an upswing. Which is something we’ve talked about.

So this was basically a completely avoidable issue if Heishi had stuck to his guns. I do like that it took Yujiro and Hattori arguing over being the future of Jump to outline one of the central themes of the story, and the setup for the next few chapters, at least:

Rivalry is the Future of Jump

So, obviously, by the time the anime airs, Reversi is going to be dead, or they’re going to be forced to extend it to 100 chapters per the editorial office, and Heishi doesn’t know that yet. He’s operating on the assumption that Reversi will also run for a while.

But the basic point still remains: the idea of a true signature series for Jump is not just one series, but a bunch of series competing to be the best. This has been a pretty consistent theme, especially in the back half of the story. When the artists are fighting each other tooth and nail for supremacy, there is an overall bump in quality.

Heishi is smart enough to call it out directly and inspire Eiji to go even farther with his gambit. And that’s actually why I’m more okay with Heishi’s decision to animate Reversi rather than Zombie-Gun.

It also aligns with Japanese Collectivism and the ideas of Friendship, Hardwork, and Victory. It’s probably the most jump setup that you could’ve made.

I do find it interesting, however, that Heishi openly admits that Ashirogi has some growing to do. They’re at the top of their craft, but the series still has just enough juice to make them need to grow just the slightest bit more. But how?

The fact that we still have 12 chapters tells me my prediction that getting an anime isn’t the end is accurate. There are still things that need to be accomplished in the production of the anime.

The biggest ones are these:

Is Reversi Suitable as An Anime?

That is going to be the final push, I predict, to make the series hit the top and finally beat Eiji. And I haven’t mentioned yet how much I hate the storyboard twist early in this chapter for a bunch of reasons. But this seems like the most logical conclusion.

This is similar to the screentone revelation when PCP got started in the 90s: I imagine Shujin and Saiko have not yet mastered the adaptability component of making Reversi anime suitable.

Because, as this chapter was sure to highlight with Eiji’s work: good anime storyboards are not good manga storyboards like I said last chapter.

And frankly, Bakuman is only partially a good anime-style manga. But not supremely.

That’s because of all the fucking dialogue. Anime can be good if it’s mostly static talking-head sequences—it’s undoubtedly cheaper—but if youare telling a dramatic action story, motion is part of the joy of anime.

And some stories are more conducive to good anime adaptation.

Earlier this year, there was a fracas surrounding the adaptation of Sakamoto Days because its animation was merely adequate. A fact I fell for because I’ve read that manga and the manga’s paneling is so innately cinematic it felt awful that the best animation wasn’t used to animate it.

But a lot of series that are good manga do not necessarily become great adaptations. Whether because the character designs are too intricate – a significant problem for Reversi – or because the story doesn’t lend itself to being animated very well.

So I can see that being one of the major issues as the story progresses. The other is going to tie directly into the promise because

Mihoko has to be available to do Reversi. We don’t know if Miho/s female counterpart is in Revresi yet. I imagine she is, although Misa wasn’t introduced until halfway through the opening of Death Note. So who knows.

But if she can’t be cast as the heroine – either due to instant 12, azu-kyun, or maybe even ririka – then the story has to go on until she is cast as the heroine.

Which means my pet theory of PCP getting animated is not entirely dead.

*weeps to myself* It’s a good theory. It is. Damn it.

So we have those issues.

But I also want to call bullshit on Eiji this chapter:

He is now officially broken

So yeah. I can basically get behind the dude writing literal whole series while working on two series at a time and I can get behind him being a mange maven and genius.

But I absolutely refuse to accept that he is a gifted anime E-Conte maker.

E-Conte is not manga. Like. I don’t know how to articulate how silly this whole idea is. I’ve studied anime production because, as you might imagine, I have fantasized about making anime at one point.

Shocking. I know.

But E-Conte serves a very different purpose in filmmaking than a manga storyboard. A manga storyboard is meant to lay out the panels, staging, and all that important stuff.

E-Conte is much more a process of defining the key frames of the shots. Then the animated stuff will be done as in-between, douga, and genga. Anime production is actually fascinating. You should look it up.

But E-Conte takes ages to master, and making manga will give you a leg up, but you don’t just become a master by being good at manga. And I’m going to cite Hayao Miyazaki here.

He did start as a mangaka, but he also worked on inbetweens, set design, color, and other small tasks at Toei before he began doing his own E-conte for his films. He didn’t start directing until he was 40, and Nausicaa – his manga – was only halfway through production.

So what I’m saying is that Eiji can do this. But it does strain credulity so much that I hate it anyway.

There’s also the parallel issue of coming up with original storylines for the anime.

As we discussed in the previous chapter, there is a graveyard of unsuccessful manga adaptations that diverged from the source material too much and fell apart. One of those was Fullmetal Alchemist.

The story wasn’t done as it was wrapping up, so they made up an entirely different story to fill in the gaps. And it was…uh, not bad, but not great for damn sure.

And then Brotherhood was made. But even stuff like My Hero Academia with its 5th season – which radically altered the order, pacing, and timing of two very important arcs – ruined the reputation of the anime. These changes have direct impacts on the fandom. Some are necessary – adaptation is not a linear thing – but you don’t have to make more problems for yourself by coming up with an original story.

Because it’s going to be called filler, no matter what. Even when it is literally in the damn manga.

So, regardless, I think Eiji’s decision is premature and as likely to cause more problems than it solves.

Where are we headed?

But that brings us to the last bit: what is Eiji’s plan? How does this fight go higher than it already has? They’re already both at the peak of their craft.

And we now have a deadline for the story: September 4th, 2018. The anime is going to air then, so I assume most of the story is going to take place in the intervening months before the anime is made.

I also assume we’ll get some camoes from team Fukuda, maybe Aoki’s wedding, Nakai’s weight loss, and other odds and ends to wrap everything up.

But I feel like, aside from the adaptability thing, I don’t know where the boys can go to beat Eiji. And I don’t know where eIEji can go to beat them.

I guess that’s for the next chapter.

I’m excited.

I hope you are too.

We’re almost there, guys, let’s finish strong

Until next time,

Peace