Sometimes, manga publishers will blunder something in just the right way in marketing that ends up being humorous for fans. Shonen Jump’s latest mistake with Kagurabachi isn’t really too offensive in the grand scheme of things, but it is hilarious in how it relates to a recurring gag from the Monsters, Inc. universe. Monsters, Inc. focuses on a world filled with monsters whose job is to become boogie men so they can harness kids’ screams as energy. One of the leads of the films is the short, one-eyed monster named Mike Wazowski, and a running gag throughout the movies is how Mike’s image gets covered by logos or barcodes.
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The recurring joke has become so widespread that any unintentional cover-up of a character in a promo image is called getting Mike Wazowski. Shonen Jump shared a collage image on its social media accounts to promote its simulpub chapters for the new year. The promo image stars the biggest protagonists in their library, with Monkey D. Luffy front and center. It became quickly apparent that Chihiro from Kagurabachi was nowhere to be seen, and that’s because his image in the promo was being blocked by the jacket of Taro Sakamoto from Sakamoto Days. Shonen Jump quickly realized its mistake, deleted the original post, released a new image with Chihiro clearly visible, and apologized to the Kagurabachi fans. While the original post has been deleted, the original image where Chihiro gets Mike Wazowski’d is saved and preserved for all fans to view.
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Chihiro from Kagurabachi is Now the New Mike Wazowski
What makes Shonen Jump’s blunder extra humorous is how polar opposite Monsters, Inc. is to Kagurabachi. Monsters, Inc. is a children’s comedy centered on wacky monsters, whereas Kagurabachi is a serious action series that focuses on revenge while eventually revealing its lighter side. Mike Wazowski is a comedy-relief character voiced by Billy Crystal, while Chihiro is a stoic hero who wears all-black. The two franchises couldn’t be more different, but now they are linked because of one small mistake Shonen Jump made.
In fairness to VIZ Media, they fixed the mistake quickly and owned up to it. Even though some fans took a small offensive over Chihiro’s lack of focus in the promo, more people found the situation funnier than insulting. Mike Wazowski never seems to mind being covered up in every official promotion he appears in; he’s just happy to be included at all. Rather than feel disrespected, Kagurabachi fans should just be happy that Chihiro is in the promo and that they have a funny story to tell.
H/T: Shonen Jump
