But that doesn't make you an adult. It's the small, everyday things—the hair you find on your pillow in the morning, or the disappearance of your favorite bread from the convenience store—that slowly make you an adult.
"I wanted to create a world where Tsumiki wouldn't have to suffer from unreasonable misfortune. Even if I couldn't create it, at least during my lifetime, within my sight, I wanted to maintain such a fragile life."
"Eating meals cooked out of habit, gazing at laundry drying in the sun, and seeing Tsumiki walking alongside someone like you, Itadori, in the setting sun, and thinking, 'Ah, this is happiness.' But it's fine now."
"Grandpa's illness started with lung cancer, but he refused aggressive treatments with severe side effects at a relatively early stage. I was strong, so things like refusing treatment or talks about euthanasia that I occasionally heard didn't quite resonate with me—it felt distant, like someone else's problem. I thought, 'I could endure it, but it must be hard for them.'"
"But after coming to Jujutsu Tech and experiencing the worst of times, I started to empathize with the choices made by people like Grandpa, who were confronted with inescapable realities."
"So, that's why I can't tell the current Fushiguro to keep living."
From the conversation between Fushiguro and Itadori in 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
'Jujutsu Kaisen' will conclude in just three more chapters. In the merit-based world of 'JUMP,' main characters from each series grace the cover of combined issues. The positioning and size of these characters reflect their popularity and success.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of 'JUMPSHOP,' a limited-time event was held at Sunshine from June 27th to July 27th, featuring everything from 'Dragon Ball' to 'SAKAMOTO DAYS,' drawing fans of various characters from all over Japan.
One character that stood out the most in the 'ita-bags'—transparent bags filled with character badges—was Gojo Satoru from 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
I remember lining up for 1 hour and 10 minutes to exchange points for a bromide of Gojo, which is now a fond memory.
Since 'Haikyuu' ended on July 20, 2020, the two wings supporting the king 'ONE PIECE' have always been 'My Hero Academia' and 'Jujutsu Kaisen.' With the end of 'My Hero Academia' on August 5, 2024, 'Jujutsu Kaisen' will also reach its conclusion.
"I want to live!!!"
I remember being struck by these words from Luffy in 'ONE PIECE' when I was in my second year of high school.
However, about 20 years later, the psychological portrayal of modern front-line works has evolved to the point where they now express, "I can't tell you to live."
About 10 years ago, I described 'Dragon Ball,' which centers on family, as a Showa-era story, and 'ONE PIECE,' which focuses on friendship, as a Heisei-era story.
In the Reiwa era, both 'family' and 'friends' are important but are not always constant companions. Alongside horizontal relationships like 'family' and 'friends,' more vertical relationships with 'teachers,' 'bosses,' and 'mentors' have become prevalent, adding depth to the psychological portrayal in these stories.
I've never been particularly fond of main characters, nor their friends. Instead, I tend to like the enemies or the 'adults' who guide the protagonists.
The hero figures in manga reflect their times. Heroes embody the desires and sincere feelings of people living in those eras.
Luffy and Conan, born in the early Heisei period, are heroes who always face challenges head-on, no matter the difficulty. Their strength and unwavering resolve inherit the traditional hero archetype established in the Showa era.
During the mid-Heisei period, when the 'Harry Potter' craze was sweeping through, fantasy works also began to dominate the manga world.
From Ichigo Kurosaki, the substitute Shinigami full of justice in 'Bleach,' to Edward Elric, who chooses the path of an alchemist shunned by society in 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' to Eren, who fights against the terror and despair of humanity being reduced to titans' food in 'Attack on Titan,' each magazine gave rise to its own unique fantasy hero.
Around this time, monthly magazines started producing explosive hits, thanks to the spread of the internet. It became possible to create popular and successful works without necessarily being serialized in weekly magazines like 'JUMP' or 'Magazine.'
Moreover, stories like 'Attack on Titan' became social phenomena, and characters like Levi inspired people to live for their favorite characters.
As we move into the late Heisei period, the image of heroes becomes even more diverse.
From Deku, who grows through hard work and chance encounters despite his lack of talent in 'My Hero Academia,' to Takemichi, who struggles to survive in a delinquent world with elements of time travel in 'Tokyo Revengers,' to Yuji Itadori, a good-natured guy with unique physical abilities but a weak sense of self in 'Jujutsu Kaisen,' to the pioneers of the isekai reincarnation genre like 'That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime,' and to works like 'Bungo Stray Dogs,' where characters with names similar to literary figures use special powers related to those authors' works to engage in battles, to 'Touken Ranbu,' where swords personified as men fight to prevent history from being altered—stories of various genres and forms of media began to emerge.
At the same time, non-protagonist characters began to garner more support than the main characters.
In 'My Hero Academia,' it was Bakugo; in 'Tokyo Revengers,' it was Mikey; and in 'Jujutsu Kaisen,' it was Gojo Satoru.
In a time when readers began to realize that straight-ahead protagonists couldn't convey everything, they became more emotionally moved by non-protagonist characters who could express feelings of jealousy, regret, despair, resignation, and other complex emotions.
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