Ken Wakui is... not arrogant. What I mean is that his approach to the second chapter of
Astro Royale is... how a newbie would approach it. Even though he's a heavyweight going into the mag, already on par with the best sellers, he's still writing as if he could get axed anytime. This is a good thing. The biggest pitfall for a veteran if you ask me is the tendency to believe your name will allow you more leeway to slow down or bore the reader because your fans would expectantly have faith in you. Most of the axed veterans fall under this umbrella to me. I consider that arrogance. Ken Wakui, maybe because he's technically a newbie to Jump, is not letting his previous successes and achievements get to his head, so he's going in like a newbie would. Like a talented newbie who knows what he's doing. Slowly, but surely, he's keeping his pace, extracting whatever information the reader needs to know, while progressing the story and making sure the events maximize the characterizations he set up. And he makes sure something exciting happens so people look forward to next week. These are intelligent steps.
Fusai Naba on the other hand... He's still a tad bit immature. I enjoyed
Kyokotu Necromance for what it is, but when he's debuting next to Ken Wakui, his weaknesses become more pronounced. In terms of art, it's definitely more clean than Aliens Area. His composition still isn't the best though, and this is best exemplified in the slashing spread when the mentor dealt with the monster. If you're going to swordfight, you need to take on Kagurabachi head-to-head. Trying for a fancy repeat paneling over a spread that shows off the sheer speed and brutality sends off an 'effortless' vibe, and it makes it feel less cool than it could be. Art and composition can improve over time, but the biggest detractor may be in the writing. I liked the characters, but the question that I ask when I think of a story that begun is, "Do I want to see more of them?" It's hard to answer with a yes. The biggest issue is that the MC lacks a raison d'etre to carry the weight of the story. Yes, he wants to become a necromancer to protect himself and his grandma, but it's not... enticing. It's not enough to form an arc, let alone an entire story around. If he could build it up with a,
"We're being targeted by certain ghouls who are also the final boss" or with a,
"I want to be the Number One Necromancer!" then there's some meat to drive it. But as it stands, his goal is entirely
passive, and that is unexciting in the long term. Bleach got away with it, but Kubo managed to because he can distract attention from his lack of ethos with extremely strong characterization and chemistry. Fusai Naba isn't a Kubo. I still believe in him, and hope he can impress over the next few chapters.
Also god
damn Kento Amemiya please come back and do some harem manga or whatever that involves girls please please please I'm begging you come on man how were you hiding this incredible skill from everyone for so long what form of cursed universe is this that the best girl artist on Jump was a fudanshi who wanted to draw handsome boys I want out of this timeline guahhhhhhhhhhh
