Creative Staff
Story: Kenji Ichima
Art: Tsunehiro Date
Translation: Stephen Paul
Lettering: Snir Aharon
What They Say:
On a cold and stormy night, I decided to give up on my dream. But lightning strikes! And now I have an issue of Shonen Jump from the future! Teppei Sasaki is a passionate rookie manga artist who dreams of getting a series in Weekly Shonen Jump. One day, he gets a copy of Jump from ten years in the future. Is it all a coincidence, or is it fate? Whatever the case, destiny is about to change…. Time Warps! Destinies intersected! For a tomorrow that was never meant to be.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Teppei is being introduced to the four assistants that will be working with him. The first assistant is Genki Akaishi. He is young, a loudmouth, and the most hyperactive out of the crowd. The second assistant is Jiro Yamane. He is the oldest of the bunch and has experience working as an assistant. The third assistant is Hajime Igarashi. He is a bit serious but is also a rookie manga artist who has similarly won some awards to Teppei. The fourth assistant is such a pleasant surprise. Itsuki Aino has decided to join Teppei as the fourth assistant. I do find it a bit weird that Itsuki would join with Teppei after her declaration of war last issue. But having her appear as an assistant is a wonderful development. There are fated wacky situations in the horizons with Teppei and Itsuki working together. The two eternal rivals are bound to continue facing each other off in the pursuit of creating better manga.
Itsuki has instantly become rivals with Genki Akaishi. They fight over trivial matters such as the White Knight manga, how to show respect, and what the best summer ice cream flavor is. This is the birth of a blossoming friendship. But I wonder how much time will be devoted to showcasing their rivalry-friendship.
Teppei is finally starting to take White Knight seriously. He acquired a manga that is beyond his level. But it’s his manga now and he has to do uphold the value it had in the future. He has to do it justice for Itsuki’s sake as well. He still has the future issues of Weekly Shonen Jump and is imitating it exactly as it appears. But he can’t draw it at the level of future Itsuku Anno. I wanted him to take White Knight and make it his version. But there are baby steps that Teppei has to take and the first is to copy it exactly as it appears.
Teppei struggles are well documented as he reaches his deadline to turn in his first chapter. On pages 11-12, two panels close up on Teppei’s hand. His hand has been wrapped up, there are various bruises in his hand and fingers due to overdrawing. He had finished a 54-page version that was ready to be turned in. He didn’t like the way that it turned and threw it away. He takes a couple of days to do a new version with the help of his assistants. The assistants praise the new version and how much it changed from the first version. But he doesn’t like it and rips it in front of their faces. From his perspective, it’s understandable why he ripped it. It doesn’t meet the standards from Itsuki’s future manga. But from the eyes of the assistant, he just stomps on their hard work and feelings. He also presented himself with an impossible challenge: he has nine days to draw 54 pages. Various mangakas push themselves to the limit doing 20-21 pages in seven days. It’s going to be fascinating seeing Teppei only have nine days to 54 pages.
In Summary:
Teppei is developing more into a likable protagonist. He finally realizes the true weight of the White Knight that he acquired. He is making amends for taking another person’s ideas. This was the right time to introduce new characters but I don’t feel they got fleshed out as much as they could have been. These characters could be future rivals to Teppei. It could take time to see them as more than one-word descriptions. Only one character, Genki, got some moments with Itsuki that set him apart from the rest of the other assistants.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump
Release Date: June 7, 2020
