Jacka and the cast
Jacka is a young rabbit, who happens to have a beetle horn on his head. With the aid of his friends, Topo and Algernon, he's taken up a superhero persona and assists the citizens of his hometown. However, there may be more to his horn that he doesn't know...The Jackalope (ツノウサギ Tsunousagi) is a manga created by Sho Shibamoto and is part of The 'Verse alongside Pandemonium Wizard Village and Flower Knight Dakini.
This work provides examples of:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Jacka gains control of his horn in the final chapter and uses it to protect the town from the tornado.
- Acme Products: Hiyoko Industries makes products such as blow dryers, flower pots, and power saws, many of which are in in the shape of a baby chicken.
- A Lizard Named "Liz":
- Jacka is a jackalope, while Mustela and Kapiyncho, the bullies, are a weasel and a capybara respectively.
- Topo means mouse in Italian.
- All There in the Manual: Information about the superheroes (Except Riderwan) is revealed in three
blog posts created before the release of the manga. The posts talk about the heroes, their supporting casts, and villains. - Anguished Declaration of Love: When Topo returns to Jacka right when the tornado is about to hit the town, he confesses that he loves her. This, combined with his appreciation for everyone in town is what inspires him to make his final stand and fight the tornado.
- Bittersweet Ending: Jacka dies, but the town is saved from the tornado and any further Straight Thunder incidents, Beatha becomes part of the town again, and Algernon continues to research the Sky Golems with Shinoda.
- Brats with Slingshots: Topo carries one around and puts it to good use a couple of times.
- The Bully: Mustela and Kapiyncho, though the latter mostly stays on the sidelines.
- Cerebus Syndrome: While the early chapters are a slice-of-life with hints of something darker, all pretense is dropped once Beatha tries to attack Jacka.
- Class Representative: Topo and Mick are the class presidents of their respective classes.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Polar Ice, the ice cream shop Jacka visits, sells natto and carrot-flavored ice cream that he loves. In one piece of artwork by Sho, he's also enjoying kombu natto ice cream while Topo isn't as thrilled.
- Double-Meaning Title: Jackalope is Jacka's superhero name. The literal translation of the Japanese title (horn rabbit) applies more to Jacka while the title of 'Jackalope' fits better for Uisce.
- Edible Bludgeon: Jacka's 'weapon' while he's doing his hero duties is a giant carrot.
- Edible Theme Naming: When Uisce and Beatha's names are put together, they form the Irish name for whiskey.
- Foreshadowing: Jacka's parents don't respond when he comes home. This is because they're actually plush dolls he's using to take his mind off their deaths.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Sky Golems.
- Heroic BSoD: Jacka becomes depressed following Mick gifting a scarf to Topo before he could give his own present. While being restrained after he fails to cut his horn off, Beatha declares that the horn is a curse and they should let him cut it off to save him. Jacka then sees Mick comforting Topo and he becomes overwrought. He refuses to come to school and stays home, all the while his horn grows out of control.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When a Straight Thunder-generated tornado threatens to destroy the town, Jacka wills his horn to destroy it, at the cost of his life.
- History Repeats: Jacka and Topo aren't the first horned rabbit variant born to normal parents and mouse to start a friendship that ends in tragedy. That unfortunate honor goes to Uisce and Beatha. Where their stories deviate is that Uisce's horns grow to save Beatha from the Straight Thunders, and Jacka's grow due to his deteriorating mental state. Ultimately though he still dies, Jacka is able to find his strength again and protects everyone from the tornado and any future threats.
- Hot Teacher: Shinoda
- I Am a Monster: Jacka believes this about himself when his horn grows out of control. He even compares himself to the monster Anubis fought in the movie Topo and him watched earlier.
- In Medias Res: The story starts by introducing Jacka and his friends in his daily routine, before showing how they first met, then going back to the present.
- I Will Wait for You: When Topo realizes that Jacka has been living by himself all this time, he tells her that his parents left one day for some important reason and told him to wait for them to return. And so he waited. Jacka then mentions that there was a massive tornado on the day they left, showing that he is aware that they're dead and that they died when the tornado hit his hometown.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Jacka enjoys emulating his favorite superheroes and watching their shows. The only exception is Riderwan, who he doesn't like because of his selfish use of his power and lack of struggle with it.
- Love Triangle: Jacka, Topo, and Mick form one. While Mick and Topo growing closer is part of what leads to Jacka's breakdown and horn growing, Jacka does confess his love for her and she reciprocates shortly before he passes away. The ending does not answer whether or not Mick and Topo end up together.
- Made of Indestructium: The Golem head inside of the mansion is impervious to damage. Even a tornado passing through it can't manage to do anything to it. The same is true of the smaller Golem heads, as Jacka drops a rock on one of them and the rock shatters, but the head stays intact, never breaking anymore than it already was. However, Jacka's horn is able to shatter them during the climax.
- Meaningful Echo: "I will never back down. Even if it destroys me. All for the sake of defending this city." First said by Anubis, later repeated by Jacka during his fight with the dragon tornado.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Jacka is a variant rabbit with a beetle horn. Uisce is also a variant rabbit, but with deer antlers, like a jackalope.
- Mr. Imagination: Jacka frequently has Imagine Spots where he battles villains. In the climax, he imagines fighting a monstrous version of the tornado on top of his horns, but this time, the children and some of the adults can see this happening.
- Narrating the Present: During his battles with imaginary villains, Jacka provides his own narration. He does it one last time when facing the tornado.
- New Transfer Student: The second chapter reveals that another town was hit by a tornado a month prior and the school there was destroyed. All of the students were transferred to the school in the town the story takes place in, however Jacka is the only one we see.
- No Body Left Behind: Jacka's body disappears after he destroys the tornado.
- Posthumous Character: Uisce, a variant rabbit with antlers that Beatha befriended when he was young. When the Straight Thunders hit, her antlers grew similar to Jacka's horn to protect Beatha from a fallen tree. She couldn't move after that and no one could free her before a Straight Thunder-generated tornado killed her.
- Precocious Crush: Mustela has a not-so-subtle one for Shinoda.
- Sexier Alter Ego: According to the drawings Sho has made of her, Foxy Lady's civilian identity is shy college student Sylvia Sherwood. Her Transformation Sequence requires her to be naked, which she blushes throughout up until she replaces her glasses with her mask.
- Shout-Out: One of the main characters is an intelligent mouse named Algernon.
- Show Within a Show: Anubis, Supernyan, Foxy Lady, and Riderwan all have their own shows.
- Super Window Jump: This is how Beatha escapes the custody of the school staff.
- Tanuki/Kitsune Contrast: Two of the teachers, Gyobu and Shinoda, are a tanuki and fox respectively. Both form a Tiny Guy, Huge Girl duo with Gyobu being much shorter than Shinoda, to the point of having a tag on his clothes to clarify that he is in-fact an adult, whereas Shinoda is a tall attractive woman.
- Tears of Joy: Jacka, after getting his hero costume.
- This Is the Final Battle: Spoken by Jacka as he faces the dragon tornado.
- Together in Death: Following the aftermath of battle with the tornado, Jacka dies and reunites with his parents.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mick gifting a scarf to Topo for her birthday before Jacka was able to give his present contributes to Jacka's Heroic BSoD and horns growing out of control.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Despite his creepy appearance and violent outburst, Beatha was trying to save Jacka by cutting off his horn.
- Wham Shot:
- While exploring the abandoned mansion, Jacka and Topo stumble across a seemingly empty photo album. As he's flipping through it, a photo falls out. It's of a variant rabbit girl with antlers.
- Topo entering Jacka's room and seeing him slumped against his bed and his horn grown into a massive tangled mess.
- With Catlike Tread: The moment he reaches the rumored haunted mansion, Jacka can't help himself and climbs in through the window, loudly announcing his 'stealthy entry' and desire to explore. Topo even calls him out on it.
