Was honestly expecting Gapacho to remain The Unseen. Disappointed that Tairazuma didn't get confirmation and that we didn't get time with them as a couple like with the other pairings.
All right, new week, new ToC:
- After taking half a break last week, Kagurabachi returns in full force taking the cover spot, fittingly considering how things are currently going in the story.
- Undead Unluck is doing well on it's final stretch, and apparently is having a collaboration with Street Fighter 6, which is fun and I just wanted to mention it.
- Keeping track of the new series, while ichi is a bit lower, the positions are still what you could expect, so nothing to worry about for fans of that series or Shinobi.
- I will use this spot to mention the sales from both Kiyoshi and Hima-Ten, since both have decent numbers that are close to each other, that while not amazing, give an slightly positive outlook for their future. In particular, Hima-Ten is in a better position, since romance series have lower expectations saleswise, in comparison with action ones (and gag manga have even lower ones, which explains how Roboco is a success despite selling "low numbers").
Syd Craft: What fucking detective hops onto a train without expecting a mystery, and what fucking police hun brings a captured criminal to a train?? Well, I guess it's ok given the pseudo-Victorian setting, but still...
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi: Center Color, and a fun one! Right, the start of the Black Parade arc, and ... oooh hot springs!
Negai no Astro: That Mankintan was wicked, that and Kinpa to Hibaru with air! Next issue, center color!
Shinobigoto: Turns out Aoi's driver Usami is ALSO a ninja: Mimizuku! Also, Tsubame out of nowhere, Umineko getting his legs broken (how convenient), and Yodaka filling in for Umineko in the three-legged race!
Nue no Onmyouji: And the shippers go wild!!
Choujou-Senpai: This time, it's Choujou's attempt to be Conan after Robo-kun was found suddenly on the floor like a victim of murder ... except no, it's just Robo-kun going through a system update...
Kill Blue: The second day: the scramble for Youichirou's booster! First, a word fight, which the Home Ec Club won in a pretty harsh battle! Second, an FPS batter, which the Maid & Butler club won but by a hair (mad respect by the end too)! Last is an eating contest, which Noren decided to go on the info that the food was ramen, but the food actually turned out to be TSUKEMEN (OOOOOF), which happens to be the RISA's favorite... What luck!
HAKUTAKU: And after a while, Seo ends up joining our game-making duo! Yey!
Drama Queen is in kind of a Schrödinger's Cat situation where it can either be a Bonnie and Clyde type story about some unhinged villain protagonists or actually just straight-up racist propaganda.
![]()
Some people pointed out that aliens are probably not an allusion on migrants but on another country having an influence and so allowing its citizens more than locals. Which sounds more logical concidering the author is Japanese. It is not US or Western Europe, they do not have that many migrants, but they have US military bases which some people are frustrated with. Still sounds pretty xenofobic but the angle is different.
![]()
It might also be frustration with foreign streamers causing chaos in Japan lately since around 2018 (Logan Paul, Johnny Somali and others)
Misanthropy is pretty common with far right ideologies. “Fuck you got mine” is a phrase about these kinds of peoples mentality for a reason.
And similarly they’re willing to do things they accuse others of doing as well, like loving porn or hentai while condemning it in the same breath, doesn’t matter whether the people they accuse also view it as degenerate or evil. Which is why I’m only betting 50% on it based on what the next chapters are like.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Dec 2nd 2024 at 5:02:31 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.It intending to be anti-colonialism doesn't prevent it from also being racist/xenophobic.
What really unsettled me with Drama Queen was the beach scene, between the guy just flat-out going conspiracy theorist over the aliens' motives (it will not surprise me if he turns out to be correct) and the two bonding over...how much they hate those shitbag aliens and how much they love venting about how much those aliens suck. And then we get to the main premise of "let's just eat the foreigners aliens, they taste like chicken squid" and I can't help but feel something significantly more vile under the surface. Tokyo Shinobi Squad ultimately boiled down to the author just venting about all the kinds of people he hates, this feels significantly more targeted, and it's hard for me to see where it pivots elsewhere.
And if the idea is that these are supposed to be unsympathetic Villain Protagonists then good Lord does it do it badly, to the point where that would honestly come off as a Parody Retcon to me.
Maybe it's too early to say, but as I've given the manga more time to digest I'm definitely leaning towards the main characters being outright Villain Protagonists. The story is told from their perspective and so the narrative almost makes them come off as justified, but if you look at what they're actually doing, they're just straight up serial killers. What do we actually see the aliens do that warrants them being murdered and cannibalized? Some of them are rude I guess and there was an isolated instance of one accidentally killing people in a drunk driving accident. And while there's obviously a discussion to be had about rich expats coming in and not respecting the local culture, the male lead is literally an unhinged conspiracy theorist who beats an alien to death over a minor argument and cannibalizes his corpse with his coworker.
The manga is called "Drama Queen," because the protagonists are being, well, drama queens murdering people over minor annoyances. Maybe I'm giving the manga too much credit here, but I can definitely see it being a Falling Down type black comedy where you're following some psychos going through a downward spiral.
The protagonists are awful enough people that I can see the story ultimately condemning them... but it's so close to IRL xenophobic talking points that I wouldn't be surprised if they end up vindicated, either. I'm surprised Jump decided to publish this. And that it then got translated
Edited by Hylarn on Dec 2nd 2024 at 8:53:45 AM
My bet is that Drama Queen is just trying to be as edgy as possible by making everyone an asshole. It's funny that you could interpret it as "literally eat the rich" extreme anti-colonialism and as a super-racist right-wing shitshow. But I wouldn't be surprised by the author going "What? I was just trying to be as shocking as possible".
Edited by Cozzer on Dec 2nd 2024 at 4:49:05 PM
It's kinda funny how the newest Centuria chapter was exactly what I was asking for lmao. The previous chapter had questionable pacing imo with how sudden Lacrima showing up felt (I remember a lot of people being worried that it was getting axed). But then the newest chapter was mostly devoted to showing the context that lead up to Lacrima's appearance. I also appreciated how we got some additional characterization showing Lacrima to be a lot more sympathetic than she initially seemed.
Also I love how much of a total bitch Elstri is. I think in almost any other story someone with her motives would be a sympathetic Anti-Villain, but she is just such an asshole for no reason that I Love to Hate her.
I bring you a new ToC:
- Roboco takes the cover to bring some news for the movie, namely t's release date on April 18th. I have no idea how or when I will be able to watch the movie, but I hope it's good.
- The HunterxHunter alert is back, with the sad news that after this chapter (410), the series will be in a hiatus for an uncertain amount of time. Togashi has shown that he has worked in some chpters later down the line, so this hiatus will likely be shorter than the previous ones.
- Nue and Astro seem to be selling well this month, so despite being commonly on the lower parts of the magazine, they probably have some more staying power than others. Both series having color pages between this and next week seems like a further indicator of this, since the magazine is promoting them a little.
- Shinobi is going down in the rankings while Kiyoshi is rising, so there is some clear movement in the lower part of the magazine, making it hard to predict likly cuts, except for Hakutaku.
* Also, Ichi in the cover next week. Amazing.

As said above, You and I Are Polar Opposites has ended as of this week, and while in the one hand the anime announcement is very cool and exciting (even if we will have to wait for 2026); in the other hand, the ending chapter is weird because while giving some perspective from Tani's point of view is nice, it means that the final arc of the series (Tairax Azuma) is left hanging without a concrete conclusion. That, as well as no Gapacho reveal is kinda unbelievable, to be honest. Maybe the final volume could expand on those things (hopefully)?
I read somewhere that the author was experiencing health issues and that affected the ending, but I don't know for certain, and I would really appreciate if anyone has more concrete info about it.