Magu-chan: God of Destruction | |
破壊神マグちゃん (Hakaishin Magu-chan) | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy [1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Kei Kamiki |
Published by | Shueisha |
English publisher | |
Imprint | Jump Comics |
Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | June 22, 2020 – February 7, 2022 |
Volumes | 9 |
Magu-chan: God of Destruction ( Japanese: 破壊神マグちゃん, Hepburn: Hakaishin Magu -chan) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kei Kamiki. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from June 2020 to February 2022, with its chapters collected into nine tankōbon volumes. Viz Media has licensed the series for English release in North America.
About 600 years ago, the God of Destruction Mag Menuek, one of the Gods of Chaos (混沌の邪神), was summoned to Earth by the Cult of Chaos (混沌教), but was sealed away in a crystal by the Holy Knights (聖騎士). In a remote beachside town in the present day, middle school student Ruru Miyanagi finds and accidentally releases Magu from the sealing crystal. Although Magu tells her of his Godly status, Ruru is unimpressed and the two form an unlikely relationship; the lonely Ruru looks at him as a friend of equal status, while Magu considers her his lowly human disciple. Having sensed Magu, the God of Madness Naputaaku breaks out of his sealing crystal and the two continue their rivalry to rule humans, although both have lost most of their power. After learning that they both hate Magu, Naputaaku and Ruru's friend Ren Fujisawa form an alliance. The young Holy Knight Izuma Kisaragi makes occasional appearances in the town trying to stop Magu from taking it over. Izuma is often accompanied by Uneras, the God of Providence who betrayed her fellow Gods of Chaos and sided with the Holy Knights, leading to their sealing 600 years earlier.
External videos | |
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Promotional video for the series. |
Magu-chan: God of Destruction is Kei Kamiki's (上木敬) first serialized work. After having drawn a bunch of one-shots for special issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump, but no success getting published in the main magazine, Kamiki's editor Monji suggested he choose a genre he likes for a new work. [2] [3] A fan of series like Pokémon, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, Medabots and Gotcha Force, the author decided to draw something about a small creature companion. [2] The one-shot version of Magu-chan: God of Destruction was rejected by Weekly Shōnen Jump but published in Jump Giga 2019 Summer Vol. 3. [2] [4] Kamiki was credited by the name Keiji Kinoshita (木下敬次) for the one-shot.
His editor suggested he rework the manga, draw three chapters and try to get it serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump one more time. Kamiki made Magu rounder and said the BFF book was his editor's idea. Magu-chan: God of Destruction was picked up for serialization. [2] The author said he came up with a pen name to use when he got serialized in Jump, but his editor rejected it. [5] After working with Monji for over eight years, Kamiki's editor changed during the making of volume two. [2] His second editor, Ishikawa, left around September 2021. [6]
Kamiki acknowledged that the series has elements of "a certain fictional mythos" but said it is really "a mishmash of all sorts of things" and he wants readers to treat it as an "entirely separate" work. [7] He described Magu as something like "what you get when you mix rabbit ears, a pancake devilfish, and the disposition of a cat into one creature." [7] He said that Naputaaku holds the record for the character he can draw the fastest, at about 30 seconds. [8] Kamiki revealed that the character Uneras is based on a lot of things, but became a clione "because of Crypto's drones," [9] which is presumably a reference to Apex Legends. He also explained that the spells in the series do not actually mean anything, but are "just stuff that sounds like spells." [10]
Written and illustrated by Kei Kamiki, Magu-chan: God of Destruction began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on June 22, 2020, [11] [12] and ended on February 7, 2022. [13] A 41-page additional chapter was published in the Spring 2022 issue of Jump Giga on May 2, 2022. [13] [14] Publisher Shueisha collected the individual chapters into nine tankōbon volumes between November 4, 2020, and June 3, 2022. [1] Both Shueisha and Viz Media began releasing the series in English the same day it began in Japan, the former on its Manga Plus website and application. [15] Viz Media has also licensed the collected volumes for digital-only release, with the first volume released on September 28, 2021. [16]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | November 4, 2020 [17] | 978-4-08-882512-0 | September 28, 2021 [18] | 978-1-9747-2230-3 | ||
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2 | January 4, 2021 [19] | 978-4-08-882531-1 | December 28, 2021 [20] | 978-1-9747-3094-0 | ||
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3 | March 4, 2021 [21] | 978-4-08-882578-6 | March 22, 2022 [22] | 978-1-9747-3175-6 | ||
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4 | June 4, 2021 [23] | 978-4-08-882686-8 | June 28, 2022 [24] | 978-1-9747-3319-4 | ||
| ||||||
5 | August 4, 2021 [25] | 978-4-08-882733-9 | September 27, 2022 [26] | 978-1-9747-3514-3 | ||
| ||||||
6 | October 4, 2021 [27] | 978-4-08-882791-9 | December 27, 2022 [28] | 978-1-9747-3594-5 | ||
| ||||||
7 | January 4, 2022 [29] | 978-4-08-882880-0 | March 28, 2023 [30] | 978-1-9747-3819-9 | ||
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8 | March 4, 2022 [31] | 978-4-08-883033-9 | June 27, 2023 [32] | 978-1-9747-3969-1 | ||
| ||||||
9 | June 3, 2022 [33] | 978-4-08-883095-7 | — | — | ||
|
The first three chapters of Magu-chan: God of Destruction received a motion comic adaptation, where voice actors, music and sound effects are heard as the manga images appear on screen. The episodes were uploaded to Jump Comic's official YouTube channel, with the first chapter uploaded in two parts on November 18, 2020, and November 19, 2020, and the second and third chapters uploaded on January 6, 2021, and January 7, 2021, respectively. [34]
The first newly created merchandise for the series were mini plushies of Magu-chan, which were released on July 19, 2021, and sold out immediately. [35] [36]
Magu-chan: God of Destruction was nominated for Best Print Manga at the 2021 Next Manga Awards, where it placed 15th out of 50 nominees. [37] [38] The series came in fourth place in AnimeJapan's 2022 poll of manga series people want to see receive an anime adaptation. [39] [40]
Reiichi Narima of Real Sound described the series as a gag comedy set in real life that draws from the Cthulhu Mythos, and compared it to Fujiko Fujio's Little Ghost Q-Taro. He said that while this might seem like a surprising combination, it works in the same way other Japanese series have yōkai and other monsters happily interacting with children. Narima called the scenery of the rural seaside town where the manga takes place "fresh" and a "hidden highlight." He called Magu-chan: God of Destruction an "oasis for the mind" after reading its tense Weekly Shōnen Jump battle manga counterparts Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, and expressed his wish that it will continue for a long time. [41] Comic Book Resources' Hannah Collins also compared Magu to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu. [4]
Reviewing the early chapters, The Fandom Post's Antonio Mireles wrote that Kamiki chose a weird mixture for a comedy, but this "mixture of various tropes of dark comedy, with hints of tragedy, romance, and battle manga" works wonders. [42] He praised the cast and their enjoyable interactions; [43] the relationship between Ruru and Magu, [42] [44] and Ren for providing an outsider's view of their uncanny relationship. [43] Mireles cited the art as the manga's greatest challenge: "There are instances where Kei Kamiki can draw charming images or frightful terrifying images that will shake you to your core. And then there are many moments where it feels like its a rough sketch that should have been worked on a bit more." [45] However, in a review of chapter nine, he stated that the art saw a massive upgrade. [46]
Magu-chan: God of Destruction | |
破壊神マグちゃん (Hakaishin Magu-chan) | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy [1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Kei Kamiki |
Published by | Shueisha |
English publisher | |
Imprint | Jump Comics |
Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | June 22, 2020 – February 7, 2022 |
Volumes | 9 |
Magu-chan: God of Destruction ( Japanese: 破壊神マグちゃん, Hepburn: Hakaishin Magu -chan) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kei Kamiki. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from June 2020 to February 2022, with its chapters collected into nine tankōbon volumes. Viz Media has licensed the series for English release in North America.
About 600 years ago, the God of Destruction Mag Menuek, one of the Gods of Chaos (混沌の邪神), was summoned to Earth by the Cult of Chaos (混沌教), but was sealed away in a crystal by the Holy Knights (聖騎士). In a remote beachside town in the present day, middle school student Ruru Miyanagi finds and accidentally releases Magu from the sealing crystal. Although Magu tells her of his Godly status, Ruru is unimpressed and the two form an unlikely relationship; the lonely Ruru looks at him as a friend of equal status, while Magu considers her his lowly human disciple. Having sensed Magu, the God of Madness Naputaaku breaks out of his sealing crystal and the two continue their rivalry to rule humans, although both have lost most of their power. After learning that they both hate Magu, Naputaaku and Ruru's friend Ren Fujisawa form an alliance. The young Holy Knight Izuma Kisaragi makes occasional appearances in the town trying to stop Magu from taking it over. Izuma is often accompanied by Uneras, the God of Providence who betrayed her fellow Gods of Chaos and sided with the Holy Knights, leading to their sealing 600 years earlier.
External videos | |
---|---|
Promotional video for the series. |
Magu-chan: God of Destruction is Kei Kamiki's (上木敬) first serialized work. After having drawn a bunch of one-shots for special issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump, but no success getting published in the main magazine, Kamiki's editor Monji suggested he choose a genre he likes for a new work. [2] [3] A fan of series like Pokémon, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, Medabots and Gotcha Force, the author decided to draw something about a small creature companion. [2] The one-shot version of Magu-chan: God of Destruction was rejected by Weekly Shōnen Jump but published in Jump Giga 2019 Summer Vol. 3. [2] [4] Kamiki was credited by the name Keiji Kinoshita (木下敬次) for the one-shot.
His editor suggested he rework the manga, draw three chapters and try to get it serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump one more time. Kamiki made Magu rounder and said the BFF book was his editor's idea. Magu-chan: God of Destruction was picked up for serialization. [2] The author said he came up with a pen name to use when he got serialized in Jump, but his editor rejected it. [5] After working with Monji for over eight years, Kamiki's editor changed during the making of volume two. [2] His second editor, Ishikawa, left around September 2021. [6]
Kamiki acknowledged that the series has elements of "a certain fictional mythos" but said it is really "a mishmash of all sorts of things" and he wants readers to treat it as an "entirely separate" work. [7] He described Magu as something like "what you get when you mix rabbit ears, a pancake devilfish, and the disposition of a cat into one creature." [7] He said that Naputaaku holds the record for the character he can draw the fastest, at about 30 seconds. [8] Kamiki revealed that the character Uneras is based on a lot of things, but became a clione "because of Crypto's drones," [9] which is presumably a reference to Apex Legends. He also explained that the spells in the series do not actually mean anything, but are "just stuff that sounds like spells." [10]
Written and illustrated by Kei Kamiki, Magu-chan: God of Destruction began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on June 22, 2020, [11] [12] and ended on February 7, 2022. [13] A 41-page additional chapter was published in the Spring 2022 issue of Jump Giga on May 2, 2022. [13] [14] Publisher Shueisha collected the individual chapters into nine tankōbon volumes between November 4, 2020, and June 3, 2022. [1] Both Shueisha and Viz Media began releasing the series in English the same day it began in Japan, the former on its Manga Plus website and application. [15] Viz Media has also licensed the collected volumes for digital-only release, with the first volume released on September 28, 2021. [16]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | November 4, 2020 [17] | 978-4-08-882512-0 | September 28, 2021 [18] | 978-1-9747-2230-3 | ||
| ||||||
2 | January 4, 2021 [19] | 978-4-08-882531-1 | December 28, 2021 [20] | 978-1-9747-3094-0 | ||
| ||||||
3 | March 4, 2021 [21] | 978-4-08-882578-6 | March 22, 2022 [22] | 978-1-9747-3175-6 | ||
| ||||||
4 | June 4, 2021 [23] | 978-4-08-882686-8 | June 28, 2022 [24] | 978-1-9747-3319-4 | ||
| ||||||
5 | August 4, 2021 [25] | 978-4-08-882733-9 | September 27, 2022 [26] | 978-1-9747-3514-3 | ||
| ||||||
6 | October 4, 2021 [27] | 978-4-08-882791-9 | December 27, 2022 [28] | 978-1-9747-3594-5 | ||
| ||||||
7 | January 4, 2022 [29] | 978-4-08-882880-0 | March 28, 2023 [30] | 978-1-9747-3819-9 | ||
| ||||||
8 | March 4, 2022 [31] | 978-4-08-883033-9 | June 27, 2023 [32] | 978-1-9747-3969-1 | ||
| ||||||
9 | June 3, 2022 [33] | 978-4-08-883095-7 | — | — | ||
|
The first three chapters of Magu-chan: God of Destruction received a motion comic adaptation, where voice actors, music and sound effects are heard as the manga images appear on screen. The episodes were uploaded to Jump Comic's official YouTube channel, with the first chapter uploaded in two parts on November 18, 2020, and November 19, 2020, and the second and third chapters uploaded on January 6, 2021, and January 7, 2021, respectively. [34]
The first newly created merchandise for the series were mini plushies of Magu-chan, which were released on July 19, 2021, and sold out immediately. [35] [36]
Magu-chan: God of Destruction was nominated for Best Print Manga at the 2021 Next Manga Awards, where it placed 15th out of 50 nominees. [37] [38] The series came in fourth place in AnimeJapan's 2022 poll of manga series people want to see receive an anime adaptation. [39] [40]
Reiichi Narima of Real Sound described the series as a gag comedy set in real life that draws from the Cthulhu Mythos, and compared it to Fujiko Fujio's Little Ghost Q-Taro. He said that while this might seem like a surprising combination, it works in the same way other Japanese series have yōkai and other monsters happily interacting with children. Narima called the scenery of the rural seaside town where the manga takes place "fresh" and a "hidden highlight." He called Magu-chan: God of Destruction an "oasis for the mind" after reading its tense Weekly Shōnen Jump battle manga counterparts Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, and expressed his wish that it will continue for a long time. [41] Comic Book Resources' Hannah Collins also compared Magu to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu. [4]
Reviewing the early chapters, The Fandom Post's Antonio Mireles wrote that Kamiki chose a weird mixture for a comedy, but this "mixture of various tropes of dark comedy, with hints of tragedy, romance, and battle manga" works wonders. [42] He praised the cast and their enjoyable interactions; [43] the relationship between Ruru and Magu, [42] [44] and Ren for providing an outsider's view of their uncanny relationship. [43] Mireles cited the art as the manga's greatest challenge: "There are instances where Kei Kamiki can draw charming images or frightful terrifying images that will shake you to your core. And then there are many moments where it feels like its a rough sketch that should have been worked on a bit more." [45] However, in a review of chapter nine, he stated that the art saw a massive upgrade. [46]