After a recent wave of increasingly rare titles on the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, it stands to reason that the magazine is starting to get serious about it. In the same issue in which the incredibly popular manga Kimetsu no Yaiba came to an end, he also started a new play titled Time Paradox Ghostwriter. And readers of the iconic magazine couldn't ask for something better to change the airs from the standard series of battles to a new series that focuses on the trials and tribulations of facing the editor of your magazine.
In its opening chapter, Time Paradox Ghostwriter features aspiring mangaka Sasaki Teppei defending his idea to Jump editor Kikuse over and over again. After attending art school for years and winning a finalist award in a magazine rookie contest, all that remains for Sasaki to make the move to professional mangaka and premiere his debut work is editor's approval. Kikuse. Unfortunately, his work doesn't seem to impress him. The editor's main criticism is that his ideas are too "normal." He advises the young artist to look within himself and get "something that only he can draw."
Sasaki then spends a full night after this meeting to prepare a new storyboard that meets the publisher's requirements. But again, Kikuse is not satisfied. "The story is completely empty. There is nothing here". After analyzing his lack of personal perspective to create characters that are interesting beyond the superficial details, Kikuse destroys Sasaki's security. In the small apartment he can barely afford, Sasaki screams his intention to heaven to give up his dream forever ... and heaven responds.
In the very style of Frankestein and Back to the Future, a lightning bolt strikes his microwave and causes it to merge with a small toy robot next to it; what would change his life forever. At the sound of the microwave bell ("ding!"), Sasaki reaches out and pulls out a copy of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine ... from 2030.
After the book disappears, Sasaki, having slept for nothing in the past few days, assumes that it was all a hallucination, but can still reproduce a copy of the "masterpiece" he read on the pages of that quirky future magazine. Going forward, Sasaki will be well received by its publisher, presenting one of the best stories ever written, ten years before it was originally published.
Unlike all of Sasaki's previous attempts, Time Paradox Ghostwriter has a timely hook and a long way to go. Meta-science fiction is all the rage right now thanks to shows like Rick & Morty. Could this be a new series that actually feels fresh in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine? We just have to wait for the next chapter.
© Kenji Ichima • Tsunehiro Date / Shueisha
