Yo. Gonna preface this entry: I try not to be biased when I write these entries, but in this case it's impossible. Tsubasa Fukuchi is my favorite mangaka of all time, and in all honesty? The reason this blog and myself as a translator exists. To have this opportunity to speak about him and his works is --well, it's cliché, but a dream come true. I don't know if Fukuchi-sensei will ever read this, but I'll strive to make it an entry he'd be proud of. Let's get in there.
The Author
Tsubasa Fukuchi
Some of the world of Tsubasa Fukuchi!
Fukuchi is the rare mangaka in that he's for the most part an open book. He has a twitter that he posts regularly to, has spoken about his background as a mangaka on occasion, and even revealed some bits of the publishing process at Weekly Shonen Sunday. For one thing, his unusual name (Tsubasa means “wing”) isn't a pen name, but his actual name. He was born February 7th, 1980 in Tochigi Japan, and won his first award at 18 years old for the oneshot Koderi. Though, his start as an artist came much earlier when he entered a Dragon Quest themed art contest for children when he was around ten. Said contest was annual for a while but ended, which later lead him to the crossroads of choosing between Shueisha's Shonen Jump, Kodansha's Shonen Magazine and of course Weekly Shonen Sunday. Due to Sunday's rookie deadline coming soonest, he went with Shogakukan and the rest as they say is history. While many mangaka have major reasons for selecting the publisher they make their home in, Fukuchi's was because he wanted to leap right into drawing without waiting. Which, shows through his work ethic and body of work. (The guy's been in Sunday for 24 years, and yet we still don't have an art book, for shame.)
From Koderi. Fukuchi-sensei illustrated this when he was 18.
According to Fukuchi-sensei himself, the title Koderi comes from a portmeau of “Koukan (Exchange) and Delivery” In it the protagonist has the ability to change properties with whatever he touches. Here he touches some coffee and avoids a fatal blow by liquifying himself. Right away, his unique take on abilities shines --and still does even today. Fukuchi's specialty is strange abilities used in even stranger battles. I've described his later work Saike Matashitemo as a cute Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (and it helps that Fukuchi was watching the anime adaption of the series at the time he illustrated Saike), but even before he went bizarre he was, well, bizarre. For example, his first serialization The Law of Ueki featured a protagonist that could turn trash into trees.
The Law of Ueki began in 2001 and was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday until 2004. An anime adaptation aired on TV Tokyo from April 2005 to March 2006. Unlike many series we talk about here, both the anime and manga are completely available in English from Viz and Discotek respectively. (Though the anime was originally licensed by the now defunct Geneon media.) I fell into Ueki by way of fansub, and immediately had to know what would happen next. I taught myself Japanese through buying the Japanese volumes. (True story!) I didn't realize how popular the series was until recently, as it is the definition of underrated, however in Japan it had forward momentum as it got a sequel: The Law of Ueki Plus which started in 2005 and ended in 2007.
Unfortunately, Ueki Plus would run into a lengthy hiatus that consumed a good chunk of it's run, and it would come only to wrap up it's run. So although it ran for two years it only has five volumes. Sadly this would only be the first instance of this happening as a later Fukuchi series would also start strong, have it's wings clipped by a near year hiatus and wrap up (with the same amount of volumes ironically enough) later. Ueki Plus saw Ueki go to another world to recover the stolen memories of his friends and the rest of the planet. This time around he trades his trusty trash into tree abilities for the mighty power of a mop. It's really the kind of thing you have to see to believe. Sadly Ueki's legacy ends on a whimper since it's clear the series was only brought back to Sunday to be cancelled, but it did make a one shot appearance in WSS earlier this year to celebrate the magazine's 65th anniversary.
Law of Ueki Exhibition ran in issue #1 of Weekly Shonen Sunday (2025)
After that, Fukuchi took a quick jaunt away from Weekly Sunday to the monthly pages of Sunday Super with the rom-com sports comedy Takkoku! Modified from a oneshot that ran in Sunday with the same title, this followed Gaku, a boy in love with his classmate Kako --but a mandate by a table tennis crazed prime minister makes it so one cannot date their crushes without defeating them in a match first. (This is all to develop talent in Japan to beat the world class table top tennis champions in China.) unfortunately, Kako is a table tennis savant that Gaku doesn't stand a chance against, and she doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint." Throw in some aliens, robots and good old weird abilities and you've got another Fukuchi classic. This ran from April 2009 to February 2011.
The sixth and final volume of Takkoku.
Missing home, Fukuchi returned to Weekly Shonen Sunday for his best (imho) series that was woefully cut short again by his health: Anagle Mole. This series represented an evolution in Fukuchi's artwork and storytelling --up until now his series had been fun little jaunts of super powered hijinks that one could rightfully argue are akin to snacks --fun while partaking but lacking in a sense of nutrition that leaves an impression after they're out of the wrapper. (I say this not to belittle these series but as a fair critique of them.) Anagle Mole however saw Fukuchi attempt to tell a story about fitting, found family and the power of bonds all while still keeping with his silly core concepts. To sum it up, it's a series about a mole "man", Lutile, who comes from the depths of the earth to subjugate mankind --all while bearing the misunderstanding that humans are freakishly strong when it is in fact the mole people who with their strange abilities and super strength could very easily wreck humanity. Like Ueki Plus however, Fukuchi's health deteriorated and, the series went on break for a year. Upon it's return it quickly concluded on a huge cliffhanger that still hurts me. Fukuchi mentioned at one point he'd like to return to the series one day ---and he sort of does later.
The fifth and final volume of Anagle Mole
Fukuchi's illustration thanking readers for reading Anagle Mole
I'm still in pain over this series ending. There was so much more story to tell, and where the series left off before its untimely hiatus felt like it was only ramping up, but alas. Though Fukuchi's desire to tell a more mature story persisted in his next series, Saike Matashitemo or "Saike once again."
Saike ran in WSS again, but spearheaded a new serialization method --Fukuchi would draw a volume's worth of material, which would be serialized in the magazine and then go on a break (usually no more than a month or two) then return. Toward the end of the series the manga would pick up it's pacing and serialize two to three volumes at a time until it's fifteenth and final one in 2018. (I wrote a bit about the finale here, if you're interested!) Kai-Hen Wizards is also using this schedule in its serialization so, I'm glad to see this method which worked well for Fukuchi is still in use for other artists. The series follows the titular Saike Kuzushiro who suddenly wakes up to realize if he drowns himself in a body of water that he can repeat the day before. He at first uses this ability to save his friend Mikan from a premature death, but later discovers other people have awakened strange abilities and not all of them use their powers for noble reasons. Like Anagle Mole before it, this story uses Fukuchi's strange abilities as a framing device --Saike starts off the story a moody teenager who's wasting his life, but upon discovering his ability decides to become a "hero" to the point that he overdoes it. (Keep in mind he has to actually drown for his ability to take effect --it's dark for a Fukuchi work) but it's through taking that step forward that he meets other people and becomes a well-rounded person.
Top: Ponkotsu-chan Kenshochuu, bottom: Golden Spiral.
Saike's ending brings us to 2019 with Fukuchi's second rom-com series Ponkotsu-chan Kenshochuu (or Lil' Clumsy under investigation) which is followed up by the grand adventure Golden Spiral in 2022. These series ended in 2021 and 2023 respectively and couldn't be any further from each other in scope and narrative. Fukuchi still interjects his penchant for peak powers into both series --Ponkotsu is about Yumesaki, a girl who's granted a new power every day to stave off an upcoming apocalypse, meanwhile in Golden Spiral, a fallen prince searches for the means to save his doomed kingdom and his savor comes in the form of an amnesiac boy from the heavens named Galo. Galo can turn his arms into spring-like spirals. What stands between them are horrible lovecraftian creatures known as "angels".
BE NOT AFRAID
Ponkotsu-chan kenshouchu might have ended where it meant to (it's hard to tell since there was a timeline in the series built in Yumesaki and her crush Mito had a year to find the power that would save the world while also figuring out their feelings for one another) Golden Spiral on the other hand moved from Shonen Sunday to the online periodical Sunday Webry probably because it wasn't polling well in the main magazine. I mentioned above that Fukuchi seemingly revisited Anagle Mole in Golden Spiral with the fantasy narrative and the character framing devices of being otherworldly beings, but Golden Spiral unfortunately was half-baked, taking a lot of time on a exam arc before losing itself in it's storytelling ambition and floundering to a mediocre ending. I was happy to see Fukuchi take on a more story driven work, but I came away disappointed. It's clear he had a great idea, but no idea how to follow it up. That said, if this admittedly long write up has proven anything, it's that his artwork just continues to evolve and impress throughout --. His confidence and ambition only grows with each new serial, which brings us to his new work:
The Serial
Parashoppers
Weekly Shonen Sunday issue #8 (2025)
Starting in Issue #8 of 2025 of Weekly Shonen Sunday is Tsubasa Fukuchi's 8th(!) serial: Parashoppers. The series is described as a "Selling and buying battle manga."
The Premise:
Once again the folks at Viz Media have brought us an English simulpub of the series --though this one took a few weeks after it began unlike Kai-Hen Wizards to the point that I thought maybe they'd skip over the series. Though it fits the same profile as Kekkaishi before it where they released the entirety of the artist's first serial. Regardless of it's timing, the series is now up on the Viz vault all for the reading. That relieves me of translation duties, so let's dig into what makes Parashoppers tick.
As a whole, the series feels closer to Ueki in execution and narrative but with a contemporary framing --I don't think Ueki would know the first thing about using a smartphone, hah. But strange abilities? Check. Battles? Check. Odd but charming sense of humor? Check. It's all here. I think after Golden Spiral Fukuchi made the decision to go back to the drawing board and stick with what he knows. Courage isn't just exploring the unknown, it's also knowing your strengths and fostering them.
The protagonist, Mitsusada is an optimistic fellow who finds the best in everyone and everything he encounters. In that way he's much different than Fukuchi's other protagonists in that he's different but an immediately likeable sort of different. In the hands of another author, this unique characteristic might make for a difficult to follow lead, but Fukuchi executes this with just the right amount of affability that Mitsusada comes off as the kind of guy you'd want as a friend instead. He finds a strange app named "Parashoppers" on his phone and inadvertently ends up using it and is very quickly entered in a battle royale.
The power he purchased is the ability to move a single piece of straw. That's it. From trash to trees, to drill arms, to the ability to manipulate time...Fukuchi's found ways to work weird powers into his series but this by far has to be the most mundane and almost disappointing of them all. Though if you've read this far, this power like any Fukuchi bestows upon his protagonists has unlimited potential. You'll have to read the chapter yourself to see how he does it, but Mitsusada does beat his first opponent, just to learn that he has to meet a particular point value to stay alive. See, his initial purchase of the app and purhase of his straw power deducted points from his total, and he'll need 5,000 to stay in the game, and as the saying goes if you die in the game you die in real life.
Mitsusada obviously doesn't want a premature game over, but he's the gregarious sort who'd rather find other means to get his points than taking down other players. Ultimately he gets only pittances from running errands and using his powers in non-violent ways, and is brought back to the battlefield by a huge old lady from Harajuku who uses blowing fireballs out of her nose as her ability.
Speaking of ladies, Fukuchi's quick to introduce Rio Onizuka who ostensibly acts as the heroine for this work. She is a livin anachronism as a skeban (female gang leader).
She's got a bread obsession (it's the basis of her power too) and has a straightforward personality --it's refreshing how both she and Mitsusada just kind of take this game in stride despite it's deadly implications. Also: a shout-out to the team on this series --John Werry on translation and Snir Aharon lettering. The translation has kept the spirit of Fukuchi's original script and the lettering has been top tier stuff. (I kind of like Gang boss, er, Girl Boss!) Rio's quest to take down two of her fellow gang members who gained powers and let them go to their heads takes up a few chapters of the series, and it's fairly silly, ending with the group making up and eating Rio's bread powers as a peace offering. She then ingratiates herself with Mitsusada, and a unlikely team begins to form. It feels like a rebirth of Ueki, Mori, Sano, Rinko and Hideyoshi from the days of Ueki and I'm all for it. Though unlike his first serial, the mystery of Parashoppers looms large over the characters actions. Mitsusada is trying to figure out the depths of the game, which after the first part converts into something akin of a team mission.
What is this game, what is its purpose, and what do players of it gain? The last question is sort of answered by the most recent chapter, though one of those completion rewards is not like the others --an email address? Is there someone running this game from the shadows, and to what end? The series is moving at a quick pace, as if it wants to obfuscate the truth and keep people from asking questions. Yet it may be Mitsusada looking for the best in things that has him probing into the mechanics of Parashoppers. I find it most interesting that while Fukuchi's series have always been about the strange abilities, this is the first series where the abilities themselves take the center of attention as the more one wins, the more valuable their ability becomes and can be "sold" for more points --points that as of right now we don't know the purpose of (aside from one round of staying alive.)
The Japanese connection
So far the reaction to Parashoppers has been positive except for the one element of it being a death game (at least at first.) People who commented on the series on Sunday Webry essentially said they were intrigued by the early chapters but felt like it was cheap of Fukuchi to rely on that trope to keep the series moving. Which to some extent I can agree with --I was put off a bit by the ante being amped up so soon, but Fukuchi quickly moved on to this team mission that noticeibly has no time limit or punishment for failing, a better fit for his sense of humor and the worldview. Discussion between Japanese readers range from the rules of the Parashoppers to happens to people that lose and the implication that someone is watching the game from somewhere. So overall beside the death game revelation, the series reception has a positive trend.
The Verdict
Whereas Syun Matsuena has decided to challenge himself and go off his beaten path, Parashoppers is Fukuchi taking what he's best at, snapping a picture of it with a smartphone and adding just the right filter to it --a filter that shows it's best qualities but doesn't obscure what it is. Those who love The Law of Ueki will find plenty to like in Parashoppers. However, don't expect a retread of Ueki from this as from Fukuchi's art to the narrative framing device of a smartphone app that provides powerful but weird abilities promises that there's more than enough here to keep veteran and new fans entertained. Even moreso now that Viz is providing simulpub of the series. In a world that's constantly changing, seeking out "newness" for the sake of it, I feel that Fukuchi embracing his origin and remixing it to fit modern tastes shows that he didn't become a Sunday veteran by mere happenstance. He's developed a brand and has stuck with it, becoming a staple of the magazine that can still surprise readers even two decades later. Parashoppers is still early on it's run, and I'm biased (sorry not sorry) but Fukuchi has constantly proven both in and out of his series --it's not the ability you're given, but how you use it that's important.
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