New Shonen Jump Manga is Threatening to Overtake Two Classic Series

The Shonen Jump series RuriDragon is attracting the attention of manga fandom for all the right reasons, as despite its "newness" it already is challenging some of the manga world's most famous titles like Dragon Ball Super and Jujutsu Kaisen in popularity.

The new manga, which was created by first-time manga series author/illustrator Masaoki Shindou, tells the story of Ruri Aoki, a normal Japanese junior high student whose world is turned upside down one morning when she wakes up to find two horns have sprouted from her head. She subsequently learns from her mom that she's half human, half fire-breathing dragon on her dad's side. The series plays on the classic coming of age story where, in addition to dealing with all the social, familial, and biological changes teenagers experience, Ruri has the additional burden of dealing with her newly discovered dragon abilities, as well as the fact that everyone in the family seemed to know her dad was a dragon but somehow never told her.

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The series has only published five chapters, but it has quickly risen to become a legitimate hit among current Shonen Jump titles. According to the MANGA Plus, a new website by Shonen Jump's publisher Shueisha, RuriDragon is currently its eighth hottest title, behind the manga stalwart Dragon Ball Super and perhaps the hottest manga of the last six months, Jujutsu Kaisen. It is well ahead of recent manga hits Dandadan, and Kaiju No.8. Shueisha knew early on that it might have a hit on its hands. After just two chapters, the series already surpassed more than one million views on the website.

Further evidence of its popularity came last week with the announcement that the sixth chapter, which was expected to be published in Shonen Jump #33, did not show up on the scheduled publication list for the issue. This led to so much fan reaction that Masaoki Shindou uploaded a hand-written note to Twitter telling fans that he was taking some time off due to illness and that the series' publication would begin again with Shonen Jump #34. To fans' relief, Shindou stated that the manga was just beginning, and fans should prepare for a long run RuriDragon run.

The story and premise might not strike readers as the sort of subject matter that can challenge Super Saiyans battling overpowered celestial threats, or ancient sorcerers attempting to bring about the next step in the evolution of humanity, but RuriDragon is incredibly engaging. It touches on a number of timely subjects such as multiculturalism in an interesting and intelligent manner. Moreover, at present, there are so many ways Masaoki can take the story including the traditional awkward teenager who develops into the savior of humanity model. In any event, the fact that it has nearly reached the same heights of popularity as Dragon Ball Super and Jujutsu Kaisen shows that there is much for Shonen Jump to like about the manga. Only time will tell whether the publisher gives RuriDragon the room it needs to develop.

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Source: MANGA Plus

RuriDragon is available now on Viz Media's Shonen Jump App!