Line #6 Manga/ActAge


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/act_age_1.jpg]]
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3	->'''Sumiji:''' What do you think "acting" is, exactly?\
4	'''Kei:''' Reminiscing?
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6	''act-age''[[note]]pronounced in French like "garage"[[/note]] is a manga written by Tatsuya Matsuki and drawn by Shiro Usazaki, published in ''Weekly Magazine/ShonenJump'' -- [[CoversAlwaysLie despite what the cover and premise might make you think]] -- from 2018 to 2020.
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8	It follows Kei Yonagi, a high school girl [[PromotionToParent who's all alone to raise her twin siblings, Rui and Rei]], ever since their mother died and their father left home. To top it, she's also just been fired from her part-time job. But that doesn't stop her from trying to get by by using her greatest talent: acting. Problem is, her very immersive approach to acting, based on her own intimate memories, leads her to often get LostInCharacter and blur the line between fiction and reality, which scares the producer during her first audition.
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10	However, that doesn't scare Sumiji Kuroyama, an eccentric film director who sees her potential and is determined to polish this diamond in the rough. This is the start of a bumpy but fruitful collaboration, where Kei will dive more deeply into the world of acting.
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12	The series has a pilot/prequel titled ''Asagaya Geijutsu Koukou Eizouka e Youkoso'', published in Jump the previous year, about the meeting between Sumiji and his assistant Yuki. An official fanbook confirmed that it is canon to the series.
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14	For an older (albeit still running) series about the world of acting, compare ''Manga/SkipBeat''; and for a ''much'' older series (also still running), ''Manga/GlassMask''. Also compare ''Manga/SmileDownTheRunway'', another unconventional work published in ''Magazine/ShonenMagazine'' centered on the world of fashion and modeling. For a newer (and still running) series about the world of acting and the entertainment industry in general, compare ''Manga/OshiNoKo''.
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16	In early August 2020, [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor Matsuki was arrested]] for groping two middle school-aged girls. Usazaki and Shueisha then decided to end the serialization with the manga's 123rd chapter (and the official English translation leaves out the last), and later [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes new printings and digital sales were suspended worldwide]]. A stageplay adaptation that was in the works was also subsequently cancelled. Usazaki has since removed all mentions of the series from her social media.
17	----
18	!!Tropes found in ''act-age''
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20	* ArtEvolution: As Usazaki was a newcomer to the professional manga industry at the time ''Act-Age'' began serialization (being 19 years old in 2018), the first chapter has a distinct lack of backgrounds and the characters themselves aren't drawn really well. Later chapters (starting in the Death Island arc) started to include detailed backgrounds and the characters themselves are drawn with more care.
21	* {{Bifauxnen}}: Yonagi dons this getup when playing Campanella in ''Galactic Railroad''.
22	* BittersweetEnding: The Galactic Railroad Arc, [[spoiler: while the first day of show have the actors completing the show to warm audience reception, their director Iwao passed away without even being able to watch]].
23	%% * Double Cast Arc, [[spoiler: despite the setbacks (destroyed reputations and innocence), both teams eventually play their part to conclusion and both Yonagi & Chikoyo learn from the experience. Meanwhile, Sumiji is able to obtain favors from Arise & increase his reputation while Hanako decides to quit making art.]]
24	* BlandNameProduct: Gheena chocolate is a stand-in for Ghana chocolate.
25	* BreatherEpisode: The rather long and heavy Galactic Railroad arc [[spoiler:which ended with the death of director Iwao]] is followed by a brief arc where Kei has to go back to her ordinary high-school life and make non-actor friends, as a condition set by Sumiji before she can take on any other acting jobs. The arc's stakes are lower, but it also serves to develop Kei's character in a different way.
26	* CastOfSnowflakes: As far as weekly shonen series go at least, the faces and body types are quite diverse − especially for a non-fantasy series −, with characters often having distinctive traits like a beauty mark, freckles, ExhaustedEyebags or peculiar eye shapes, plus a wide variety of heights.
27	* CutShort: Because of the author's arrest, the manga was cancelled with only one more chapter (already shipped) being released in the middle of a story arc.
28	* DarkestHour: The only act that didn't have one was the BreatherEpisode mentioned above.
29	** "Death Island": When the typhoon hits and sets production back, to the point of almost cancelling a climactic scene Yonagi was to take part in. Downplayed compared to the other examples due to the lack of any particular human anguish.
30	** "Galactic Railroad": When Iwao is hospitalized before the show's opening night. The Tenkyuu company almost tears itself apart at the seams, with Kametarou proposing that they cancel the show to visit him, Nanao starting to go through the stages of grief and Araya founds himself in grief at the climax.
31	** "Double Cast" : [[spoiler:When Yonagi realizes she's gotten carried away by her emotions and decides to just go through the motions midway through the final scene.]]
32	* DramaticIrony: All over the place in the Galactic Railroad arc.
33	** Iwao's impending retirement looms over and informs much of the arc: He plans to retire after the play ends because of his terminal cancer. The Tenkyuu players, however, want to put on a show so phenomenal that he will decide against retirement, since they don't know of said cancer. In the end, [[spoiler:[[{{Retirony}} he doesn't even get to formally retire]], dying before night one finishes.]]
34	** Akira, who is at that point considered the least-talented cast member, ends up giving Yonagi, one of the most-talented, a EurekaMoment on how to display her emotions through body language.
35	* EnvironmentalSymbolism: In the Team A performance of Ratsesunyo arc, Hanako creates the set for their performance. The first is a painting of flames to describes the Princess Iron Fan's anger towards her husband. The second is a wood sculpture of flames to depict the the movement of flames after the Monkey King misuses the fan and describes the how the anger of Princess Iron Fan spirals out from her encounter with the Monkey King.
36	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Averted with the Death Island's post production: even though it was the first major production Kei starred in and the filming is long over, Death Island only start filming during the later periods of the Double Cast arc. For the record, in that time period Yonagi has starred in two stage plays, a viral video & even had some time to focus on school. Incidentally, [[BunnyEarsLawyer Amachi]] made a point of advertising both the ''Princess Iron Fan'' play and ''Death Island'' simultaneously to make Kei & Chiyoko more marketable; narratively it also serves to tie the two arcs together and make the former even more relevant.
37	* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the Galactic Railroad Arc, Kei & Chiyoko went on a date in Shibuya and Chiyoko ended up commenting that Kei sucks at being a normal high school student. Come to the next arc, Kei is barred from acting for a while in order to train herself to become a normal high school student.
38	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: After the first 2 arcs dealing with nationally acclaimed productions, the next arc utterly drops down the scale by bringing Kei back to high school. This is justified in-universe by the need to have her live a normal high school life and make non-actor friends so her job doesn't completely eat her up.
39	* HomoeroticSubtext: Between Kei and Chiyoko after the Death Island arc, especially on Chiyoko's part. She'll often refer to her time with Kei as "dates", tell Akira that they're in a "burning love" [[note]](a joke on the expression used by the media when Akira and Kei are rumored to be in a relationship)[[/note]] and several chapter covers feature them in intimate poses. Chiyoko even carries a white lily (which symbolizes female romance) on one of them. Even Kei won't stop gushing on how "beautiful" Chiyoko is. Also, the chapter 38 cover shows Kei counting sheep in her dreams. [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1TqRdxeP4ow/W-20QRRBj2I/AAAAAAAAydY/Sqh6I3lBKPcAgU6J5yAldxlQw_GK1OhoACLcBGAs/s0/FA_AA_38_05.png Cute sheep with Chiyoko's face.]]
40	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: The stage play arc introduces Kame and Nanao, who hang around Kei during her training. Kame towers over everyone, while Nanao is a full head shorter − she's even much shorter than Kei despite being an adult. It both emphasizes [[VitriolicBestBuds the relationship between the two]] and gives her occasional sarcasm a little more edge.
41	* MasterActor: Several characters, but particularly...
42	** Kei herself is a self-trained method actor with raw talent, capable of completely immersing herself in whatever role she's given. The series' core focus (so far) is on her learning to refine her talent through training with various teachers, primarily Sumiji and Iwao.
43	** Hoshi Arisa is a retired one. Sumiji and Iwao both compare Kei to her pre-story career. Unfortunately, her time as an actress was cut short after being cast in one of Iwao's productions, and she actively defies this trope by discouraging other characters (including her own son) from being actors and running a StrictlyFormula talent agency.
44	** Araya, like Kei, is of the method variety, and is shown several times to be a very vivid and powerful actor on Iwao's stage.
45	* MotherlySidePlait: Played with in the pilot oneshot, with Yuki's mother. She sports the typical haircut despite being quite neglectful of her daughter − she asks her to stay holed up in her room whenever she brings a man home, fearing that potential partners would be scared off if they learned she has a child. But when Yuki and her have a talk, it turns out that she genuinely cares about her daughter and apologizes for hurting her feelings, thus playing the trope more straight.
46	* NoEnding: Cancellation does tend to lead to this trope, and ''Act-Age'' was no exception. Unlike most unsuccessful manga series that at least get a few chapters to wrap things up, this one happened literally overnight, in the middle of an arc.
47	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Ryuugo, a fellow actor on the ''Death Island'' set, keeps calling Kei "vomit girl" after the VomitDiscretionShot incident, even way after everyone has gotten over it.
48	* ThePowerOfHate: Invoked in the "Double Cast" arc, where the main character Princess Iron Fan is driven by [[WomanScorned an unbridled rage toward her unfaithful husband.]] Both Kei and Chiyoko have to find a source of hatred strong enough to inhabit the role. Chiyoko uses [[spoiler:her own rival Kei, whom she's desperate to not lose against]] while Kei uses [[spoiler:the memory of her family-ditching father.]]
49	* RandomPowerRanking: After Kei gets the instructions to improve her expression during the Stage Play Arc, Sumiji presents her (and the readers) an understandable guide between emotion and expression. According to him,
50	** Normal: Actors who usually only delve a short depth before expressing, which only show as much as how deep their emotions went.
51	** Emotive: Actors who delve really deep into their emotions, but lack the capability to express emotions outwardly. Sumiji also implies that they are the strongest when the script is all about bold, impulsive action. Kei is the prime example before she undergoes training from Iwao.
52	** Expressive: Actors who don't delve into their emotions at all, but knew how to use their inherent charms to make people think they are beautiful from all sides. Chiyoko is the prime example.
53	** All-rounder: Actors who are able to both delve deep into their emotions, but also able to express said emotions, enabling them to act a wide range of characters. Araya is the prime example.
54	* RealitySubtext: In universe, ''Literature/NightOnTheGalacticRailroad'' is featured as Iwao's final directorial effort-- a more than fitting piece considering [[spoiler:he has cancer and is on his last legs]], and his troupe is well aware of this fact during the performance. Iwao is compared to Campanella too many times to count.
55	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: At the second arc Kei was surprised that she simply becomes the main lead of Iwao's play just because of Sumiji personally recommending her to Iwao.
56	* ShesNotMyGirlfriend: At the start of the Galactic Railroad Arc, Akira and Kei have to fend off media rumors of them being a couple created by Kei clinging to Akira because of Araya's seemingly hitting on her. This leads to a RunningGag where people (including Kei) will casually talk about their "passionate love", or lack thereof, much to the more professional Akira's chargin.
57	* TheShowMustGoOn: In every arc, some aspect of production goes haywire, be it uncooperative weather (Death Island), shaky backstage drama (Galactic Railroad and Double Cast), or just plain amateur inexperience (the school arc). Every single time (so far), however, Yonagi and everyone she works with still manage to pull through.
58	* SlobsVersusSnobs: During the Death Island arc, despite acting as classmates there is a clear divide between the recruits and Stars, they eat separately and the recruits found themselves overshadowed & overwhelmed by Stars. When the filming ends some of the Stars have to quickly leave before the ending party for their next jobs.
59	* SurpriseDifficulty: In-Universe for the ''Death Island'' production crew, used to filming shows that emphasize on practicality, is exasperated when they had to film [[spoiler: the climax starring Yonagi & Chiyoko during a typhoon, which ended up putting Yonagi sick for days after they had finished filming the scene]].
60	* TakeThat: Kuroyama's got nothing good to say about [[Website/{{Youtube}} YouTubers]], finding their content lacking for the amount of cash a typical successful one rakes in and calling their equipment "toy cameras". He also shows a disdain for superhero movies, as he doesn't want to give in to public demand and sell out directing one.
61	* TemptingFate: The Galactic Railroad arc starts with Kei & Akira briefly discussing about the differences between film & theater acting, with Kei concludes she would stick with film acting since there are no second chances if she messes up in theater, especially when she might puke. Come to Sumiji, next job for her, she has to do theater acting, as a lead.
62	* TinyGuyHugeGirl: On the opposite side of the Nanao/Kame example above, the high school arc has Kei make friends with a boy named Yoshioka. She's quite tall for a Japanese girl (168 cm) while Yoshioka has a very short stature, meaning she's a full head taller than him despite being a year ''younger''. It highlights their relationship as a pro actress and an amateur cameraman.
63	* UnderestimatingBadassery:
64	** During the Death Island arc, the recruits realize the Stars actors aren't just pretty faces and can overshadow their skills. The reason why it didn't turn it into a full SlobsVersusSnobs scenario is because Kei herself is too occupied with her acting and Chiyoko to care about that aspect.
65	** The entertainment industry itself (the staff, the actors and the directors) are this towards Kei, before being amazed by Kei's talent, they see her as another aspiring artist that has a disruptive streak.
66	* VitriolicBestBuds: Kame and Nanao in the stage play arc, spend their time bickering and snarking at each other, but are pretty much always seen hanging out together.
67	* WhamLine: From the end of chapter 82, just before the first Team A performance of Princess Iron Fan:
68	-->'''Hanako''': I have a confession to make. [[spoiler:I was seeing your father. I was with him on the night of your mother's funeral. I want you to show that emotion on stage.]]
69	* WhamShot: After Hanako [[spoiler:reveals that she was seeing Yonaga's father]], we are treated to Yonagi [[spoiler: slapping Hanako and giving her a look that's halfway between a DeathGlare and a NightmareFace.]]

Context Manga / ActAge