Muto Ashirogi (Moritaka Mashiro & Akito Takagi)

Bridging the gap between the graphic novel and Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha.

Average student Moritaka Mashiro enjoys drawing for fun. When his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he teams up with him to form the manga-creating duo—Muto Ashirogi.

Mashiro and Takagi establish themselves with their gag series Vroom, Tanto Daihatsu. But despite it’s steady rankings in the survey, Muto Ashirogi asks for their series to be canceled so that they can come up with a better one to compete with their rival/friend Eiji Nizuma. Though the Editor in Chief agrees, he tells them that they must create something worthy of challenging Eiji...or else they’ll never work for Weekly Shonen Jump again.

Eiji Nizuma	Editor in Chief Sasaki

Muto Ashirogi’s former editor Akira Hattori is helps their current editor Goro Miura with ideas. Hattori tells them to incorporate all that they’ve learned into a non-mainstream manga with serious humor. With their deadline looming, the duo decides to spy on Hattori. Their hilarious adventure inspires Takagi to make their next series into a crime manga.

The duo, with Hattori as their editor once again, comes up with a name for their new series Perfect Crime Party. The series debuts and gets first place in the rankings by a landslide. Now they believe their dream of finally getting an anime and having Miho Azuki, Mashiro’s love interest, star as the leading heroine is within their grasp. But is their new series really suited to becoming an anime?

Akira Hattori	Goro Miura	Miho Azuki

Perfect Crime Party’s ranking is a notch below +Natural (written by Aiko Iwase, Takagi’s high-school rival, and drawn by Eiji) and Crow. In order for them to continue, they need to be on par with both series by the 25th chapter. Can the duo manage to keep up with their competitors?

Although Mashiro’s contemplating starting a second series, Takagi’s helping their assistant Shun Shiratori put together storyboards. Hattori likes what he sees from Shiratori and wants Takagi to continue writing the story. However, working on two different series is putting a strain on Muto Ashirogi’s relationship...

Mashiro wants to draw faster so that he can try and make a series on his own. Coincidentally, the editorial staff is looking for proven creators to participate in a one-shot event. Most everyone in TEAM FUKUDA—a group of manga creators who are rivals and friends including Shinta Fukuda, Ko Aoki, Muto Ashirogi, and Eiji Nizuma—is participating, so Mashiro wants to enter as well...by himself. Despite his determination, Mashiro’s having a hard time thinking up a story.

Aiko Iwase	Shun Shiratori	Shinta Fukuda	Ko Aoki

Now a year into serialization, PCP is an established and popular series. The duo is asked to judge the next Treasure Award. One of the entries just so happens to be the type of manga they want to do next, a morally ambiguous battle manga, and the creator, Tohru Nanamine, is a big fan of Muto Ashirogi’s early work.

Nanamine causes an uproar when he uploads his entry on his online blog. He then requests to meet Muto Ashirogi since he’s been a big fan. Much to the surprise of Muto Ashirogi, Nanamine reveals the method behind his manga genius, and it’s one that the duo vehemently disapproves. Nanamine soon has a series in Weekly Shonen Jump, but Muto Ashirogi challenges him to a manga duel, declaring that they’ll crush him after only 10 weeks!

Tohru Nanamine

Troubling news surfaces when someone copies the crimes in Perfect Crime Party. Mashiro is okay with all the media exposure, but because of the copycat criminal, Takagi is having a hard time writing anything at all. He resorts to using rejected story ideas and their rankings start to slide. Just when it seems like Takagi’s pulling through his slump, the copycat criminal strikes again. Plus, the pair receives news that Crow is now in first place.

Muto Ashirogi wants to chip away at Crow’s lead. Though Eiji’s editor Yujiro Hattori believes that Eiji forgot about his proclamation from seven years ago to end any manga he chooses should he become number one, it appears that Eiji hasn’t. However, TEAM FUKUDA (including Muto Ashirogi, Fukuda, Shoyo Takahama and others) is surprised when they find out the series that Eiji has in mind. They then challenge Eiji, declaring that if their series can best Crow in the rankings, then Eiji can’t cancel any series. Can they manage to beat the insanely popular Crow?

Yujiro Hattori	Shoyo Takahama

Muto Ashirogi tells Hattori that they want to create a non-mainstream-yet-mainstream battle manga. The next day, Hattori has a meeting with Azuma Mikihiko, a washed-up manga creator who turns in a manuscript that intrigues him. He realizes that this story is the type of story the duo was talking about creating next. After Azuma’s success, older manga artists are turning in new and interesting submissions. Three consecutive one-shots by older artists will appear in the magazine. Also, Azuma’s Panty Flash Fight is now slated for a short serialization. Mashiro is rooting for Azuma because of what he saw happen to his uncle Taro Kawaguchi.

Everyone seems to believe that Azuma both writes and draws Panty Flash Fight, but in fact, it’s Nanamine who is behind this revival of older artists. He’s built a manga factory where workers are paid to think up of manga ideas and to flesh out the story. Nanamine is heartless in his relentless desire to best Muto Ashirogi.

Nanamine decides to stop helping Azuma. He wants his company to focus on creating stories for himself so that he can beat Muto Ashirogi himself. After hearing about Nanamine and Muto Ashirogi’s desire to beat him, the Editor in Chief gives Nanamine one condition he must fulfill: His one-shot must be ranked in the top three.

Thinking of a way they can beat Nanamine, Mashiro suggests that they create the ultimate standalone chapter. Meanwhile, Hattori convinces Azuma to continue drawing manga even though he is no longer receiving stories from Nanamine. Also, Nanamine’s editor Kosugi is trying to help Nanamine with advice, claiming that his one-shot is not a good fit for the magazine, but Nanamine rejects his opinion. Can Nanamine come out on top and finally extract revenge on Muto Ashirogi?

Azuma Mikihiko	Taro Kawaguchi	Kosugi

At the editorial office, the Editor in Chief moves on to head a new magazine. But before he changes jobs, Eiji plans to show him his next series about a cool dark hero. Hearing that Eiji has a new story, Muto Ashirogi also decides to prepare a story for the Editor in Chief to review.  But can they keep up with two series at once? Though their current series is popular, Hattori feels that their new one-shot, Reversi, has the potential to be better.

It’s decided that Perfect Crime Party will continue as a monthly, while REVERSI will be a new series in Weekly Shonen Jump. However, they'll receive stiff competition once again from Eiji with his new series Zombie Gun.

Despite Zombie Gun’s initial popularity, Reversi continues getting first for the next couple of issues. However, Eiji switches up his strategy and Zombie Gun’s popularity rises. With the two series doing well, vying each week for the top spot, Aoki’s series is set to be canceled. On the spur of the moment, Hiramaru asks her out to an amusement park to cheer her up. While there, he plans to propose to her. Hiramaru finally musters up the courage to ask her hand in marriage, but will the shy Aoki accept his hand in marriage?

Kazuya Hiramaru

The battle between Muto Ashirogi and Eiji Nizuma continues in Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha! Become a member today and see whose manga will reign supreme!

Related Links:
Bakuman
Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha
Catch-Up Coverage
Warp into SJ Alpha

by John Bae