Kagurabachi Is Big, But Not as Big as the Internet Wants You to Think

This week Shonen Jump launched one of its most anticipated new series of the season: Takeru Hokazono’s contemporary Yakuza/Fantasy swordsman series Kagurabachi. But while it’s already making big waves after just one chapter, the manga has become an altogether stranger hit online.

One of three titles selected by the legendary manga magazine as part of its “Jump Nextwave” initiative—manga chosen by the magazine as winners of its Tezuka Award, with the chance to headline its latest wave of main manga serials—Kagurabachi follows a young man named Chihiro. The self-serious apprentice of his legendary swordsmith father, Chihiro finds himself wielding one of his father’s magical katana seeking justice and revenge against the Korogumi, a Yakuza family with ties to a mysterious sorcerer at the heart of Chiriro’s quest.

Read more

• Is Star Wars trying to ditch its most hilariously inappropriate name?

• Neil deGrasse Tyson has a new favorite sci-fi movie to complain about

• Mel Tucker reportedly caught in multiple contradictions during sexual harassment investigation

• Starfield Player Followed Across The Galaxy By An Entire City

• That 42-6 trouncing should’ve been an eye-opener for Colorado

But while that facet of Kagurabachi glazing might just seem like typical social media braggadocio and fandom overhype, where the memery has gone truly wild is the establishment of a faux-franchise universe for the series. People are making covers for Kagurabachi video game adaptations, mocking up fake screenshots from an anime adaptation and imagining moments from the story that don’t even exist yet. Kagurabachi has become, in some ways, the manga equivalent of Goncharov (1973) last year—a shared fiction meets shitposting meme that is so far wilder and sillier than what the actual manga itself has presented in its debut.

It’s hard to say whether or not Kagurabachi will live up to the buzz yet—artificially inflated or otherwise—given we have so little of the story Hokazono has planned actually in front of us yet. But its peculiar, memetic face of the anime and manga fall season in spite of that at least has people interested in seeing what the actual fuss is about.

Kagurabachi’s first chapter is available to read for free digitally through the Shonen Jump Weekly app and online at Viz Media.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

More from Gizmodo

• Spider-Man 2's Peter Parker Was 'All In' On Face Change, Says Fans Need To 'Get Over It’

• Upcoming Star Wars Game Has No Game Over, 'Anyone Can Die'

• Tears Of The Kingdom Player Beats The Game Without Touching The Surface

• Every Change In Baldur's Gate 3's Third Giant Update

• Leaked Xbox Boss Email Perfectly Explains Why Game Publishers Are Eating Themselves Alive

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.