Shuukan Shounen Hachi (from the author of Jitsu wa)

Yeah, realistically, that is 100% not gonna work. There's no way to get that much done without either rushing yourself horribly or exhausting yourself to the point that the work suffers.

Hell, 17 pages in 3 days is pretty much what Masuda has to do himself every week. And he has seven assistants.

We also get to see one of Inohara's flaws: she's so used to have stupid ideas herself that she's not to stopping other people's stupid ideas.

On a different note, Masuda's mastery of the Page-Turn Surprise never ceases to amaze me. He's like the Itō Junji of comedy. What was Mikeya doing there of all places though?

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 20th 2018 at 11:04:36 AM

I wonder if Hachi will ever be sane enough to ask that question.

Right now at least, I doubt it. But at least that gave me a kickass new avatar.

Speaking of Mikeya, I wonder if he works alone himself… If he does, that whole "come at me with all you've got" speech is a bit rich coming from him.

Chapter 37 out!

…Huh, I guess there was that option too. Good thing Hachi is a Magnetic Hero, because he would have been screwed otherwise. But damn, that last scene could almost have been in Jitsu wa…

Inohara seems to have no intention of changing out of that outfit. And I'm strangely fine with that.

Huh. Does this count as a Deus Ex Machina since it wasn't hinted at or does the fact that these are established characters eliminate that option? I do kind of wish this hadn't happened though. Dude kind of deserves to fail after his actions in chapter 36.

I think it initially started out as a logical progression, but I think that having literally every one of his friends show up does edge a bit into Ass Pull territory. Might've seemed a little more realistic if they had stopped after the first two showed up rather than bringing in like a dozen people. Although at the same time it was worth it for the character bits at the end there.

Also, Handa having different masks for different situations confirmed.

That said, this setup means that Hachi might take a hit to his ego either way. If he wins, it's because he had help, and if he loses, it means that even with that much help he still can't hit Mikeya's level.

Edited by JapaneseTeeth on Oct 24th 2018 at 9:59:46 AM

Yeah, having so many people coming is a bit much, especially on a Saturday… but whichever the case, Hachi will learn from the experience. The fact he's getting so much help (which obviously won't always be the case) just shows how long a way he still has to go. This arc is meant to give him the right "mindset" to be a pro. I hope he doesn't beat Mikeya though, it would feel way too early in the story.

The only thing that really grates me in all this is still the feeling that Hachi's getting a special treatment. I really hope we get an arc focused on another character's manga after this one. Hell, an arc from Mikeya's point of view would be nice.

—-

Chap 38's raw is out◊ by the way.◊ A chapter where you could almost replace the manga-drawing action by… something else.

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 25th 2018 at 11:11:37 AM

Honestly, my guess at this point for who wins would be... neither of them. The competition was open to other people, so it wouldn't be at all impossible for somebody else to have gotten the better of both of them. It would give Hachi a reality check, but also make Mikeya seem like more of an actual person. He might be a prodigy, but that doesn't mean everything he churns out is going to be perfect either.

Seems like the most plausible option, yeah. Mikeya said early on that his first published oneshot didn't have good reader polls, so he's no Niizuma Eiji yet.

While the next chapter is cooking, we've released the volume 3 omake (chapter 24.5). Where Handa shows that she already knows the truth: she doesn't stand a chance against Mikeya.

Seriously, though, I'd almost want to see MikeHachi become canon. That'll never happen in a shonen magazine, but hey. It's Masuda's fault there.

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 28th 2018 at 9:31:41 AM

The burning hot chapter 38 is out. Seriously, I felt as exhausted as the characters at the end, that tells you something (it was less the case after rereading it 4 times, obviously, but still).

Outside of the heated long-distance confrontation, we also have confirmation that Myaako is A-rank, and that she wasn't the only one who found Mikeya's mangas lacking.

Also, that last page was pretty sweet. Now we wait for the inevitable outcome: both Mikeya and Hachi lose to some nobody.

PS: I think Handa will have a lifetime of yaoi material with this chap.

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 30th 2018 at 10:15:06 AM

Man, I got tired just reading that.

It's definitely interesting to find out that Mikeya does have his critics, even if it's not nearly as harsh as Hachi got stuck with.

What's amazing is that I can imagine Masuda in the exact same state as Mike and Hachi while drawing the chap. It really feels like his team was running on full cylinders there.

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 30th 2018 at 11:19:26 AM

I'd be down with this

But seriously though, it strikes me that Mikeya and Hachi both have the thing the other is missing- Mikeya has astounding artistic skill, but his writing is apparently missing that little spark of life that really draws people in... meanwhile while Hachi's skills are at least starting to develop, that spark of life is what he's had going for him from the beginning. I can easily see a plot where they team up, or where Mikeya becomes envious of what Hachi has that he doesn't even if Hachi's measurable skills haven't caught up to him yet. and then they kiss

I'm mainly curious to find out what state they'll be in afterwards. It's all well and good to get in the groove and knock out a project, but whenever you finish something like that, there's always a weird sort of "okay now what?" feeling that follows it. Given how he second-guessed himself when he was writing it, I wonder how he'll look back on the final product.

Indeed, and that seems to be a recurring theme in this series − we kinda had a similar dynamic with Hachi and Ran in the E-rank arc ("see what the other can't see", etc). The idea that you need to learn from other people who have a different experience and point of view to truly improve beyond just your natural skils.

Especially when they still have their D-rank homework to keep up with… That's probably where Creepy-sensei will come in to drag them back to earth.

Chapter 39 out.

Well, that's an… unexpected development, and yes I feel like I'm saying that every other week. Well, not so much unexpected as surprisingly early. It wasn't that long since Hachi started seeing Handa as a girl.

This chap reminds me a bit of Jitsu wa chapter 91, but more subdued… which is a good thing in this case. Also Alice treating Hachi like her beloved son was too damn sweet.

It's still weirdly creepy seeing someone who looks so much like Akane being genuinely supportive and encouraging. I keep waiting to see the Lord of Terror descending in the background. Inohara has the trolling covered though.

I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that the whole Hachi/Handa thing is in full swing. On one hand, it could be kinda rushed, but on the other, it would be a breath of fresh air to formally kick off the romance early on rather than dragging it out. Having an actual relationship as a subplot would be way more interesting than just having them do the Will They or Won't They? thing for dozens of chapters. And after his previous series, he could probably handle writing something like that. In general I just think it would be cool for a series to actually have the protagonist get a girlfriend early on and just have her be part of the story.

And having Hachi accidentally blurt it out in front of everyone while trying to say that he won't do exactly that is golden.

Eh. I'm more onboard the Inohara ship but I'm interested in seeing where this goes if it really does become canon.

Should it become canon, I'd rather it being done quickly rather than derailing the story for ages. And quick and clear seems to be what Masuda's going for here, so we'll see.

After all, he's spent several chapters hammering in that you won't go anywhere if you're all alone, so that would be fitting.

Alice is pretty much Karen in Akane's body at this point.

By the way, does salmon juice actually exist…?

Edited by Lyendith on Nov 7th 2018 at 12:32:04 PM

Nah, Karen would never trick underclassmen into being her assistants. Also, I don't think Alice is quite dumb enough.

True… She's a cinammon roll, but slightly less clueless.

Preview time! So many◊ cameos◊ in this chap… As well as this.◊

And now I'm getting confused about the Masudaverse's timeline. There are hints that this series happens both at the same time and after Jitsu wa… and there are Sakura Discord cameos too… Or maybe there's no timeline and Masuda's just messing with us.

Edited by Lyendith on Nov 8th 2018 at 4:33:27 PM

Well that escalated quickly.

Also, yeah, no clue what the timeline is. I'd assume after Jitsu Wa; I mean, it's not like Youko and Aizawa would look very different.

And now I want to see a joke where Hachi sees Aizawa and thinks that it's Mikeya in drag or something.

Edited by JapaneseTeeth on Nov 8th 2018 at 9:42:09 AM

Just binged this manga today and, well... Handa is pretty much ideal option. No other girl (maybe with exception of Alice) did as much for Hachi as her. I still like Alice more, but I will live.

I don't think Inoara who has practicaly no concept of stable commitment would work. Not to mention heroines like her often get undeserved special tratment from author.

Edited by Tenzen12 on Nov 9th 2018 at 12:06:58 PM