Jump SQ (2014)
Written by Tsugumi Obha & Illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Summary: Mirai is fed up with life. His graduation from Junior High is an empty husk of an event and he doesn’t wish to return home to his ever-abusive step-family. After attempting suicide he’s saved by the angel Nasse who gives him the opportunity to enter into a contract with her to become the next candidate for God. With Cupid’s Arrows and an angel’s wings bestowed upon Mirai he must now use his powers to become the last candidate standing in a tournament to see who will become the next God.
Review: I know I said last review that I was going to probably stick with this series to the bitter end just because I’m that big of a fan of these two creators. But geez, this series is so bad. I’m officially giving this manga one more chapter to wow me or I’m dropping it.
Chapter 5 sees Mirai go undercover to find out what Metropoliman has in store at the baseball stadium where he’s called for a public meeting between him and all the other God candidates. While most certainly a good number of the candidates have shown up what transpires in this chapter is utter travesty in storytelling.
Two other God candidates who’re best friends and tried to help each other commit suicide have both arrows and wings. They’ve also gotten their hands on armor similar to that of Metropoliman’s making them out to be two other colors from the show that Metropoliman – the fictional character – is from.
They fight Metropoliman – or try to – and get their butts handed to them through trickery on Metropoliman’s part. It would be one thing is the “trickery” was interesting, but it’s really not. Constantly switching himself out with a regular human that he’s placed in another Metropoliman suit in order to attack and defend against the arrows.
I would also find Metropoliman a lot more fascinating if we hadn’t already met him in earlier chapters out of outfit. He’s such a mysterious character to all these other God candidates but we know and we know him to be a rich brat. So when he melodramatically exclaims that he used “MONEY” to bribe another couple of regular humans who eventually get caught up in the mix to bring these two God candidates to “justice” - as part of his elaborate ruse – it just comes out as groan and eye roll worthy.
In fact I think I did just that.
Look, there is no character drama, there is no true suspense, and there is no master plan to this work. The first two are fact, the third is just speculation on my part. Because everything we’re getting so far is just really farfetched and unappealing ways to show off the various uses of the arrows and the wings.
Which this arrows and wings are interesting notions of powers that can be bestowed upon someone by an angel, but I can think of so many other ways to show them off that isn’t… what amounts to a slap fight in a baseball stadium full of thousands of onlookers whom throughout the entire chapter are all literally saying to one another that they’re not aware of what’s going on.
I feel ya onlookers. Right there with ya.
Next chapter boasts an “Act 2” to the master plan of Metropoliman and why he called this farce to order. If that act 2 doesn’t do anything to sway me emotionally – hopefully it will excite me – then chapter 6 may be it guys. We’ll see what happens.
Final Score: 0 Excitement out of 5
Derrick is a born and raised otaku with a love for comics, anime, manga and movies. The full list is pretty long, but that’s just the basics. Stories set in space are his bread and butter.
You can find more of his writing at IndieComix.net
@KazekunForever