One of Shonen Jump‘s latest releases, Ippon Takegushi and Santa Mitarashi’s Shinobi Undercover, began serializing in September and, so far, has been met with praise from fans of Shueisha’s biggest imprint. The series was released in Weekly Shonen Jump issue #42 and currently has 13 chapters available to read online. The manga follows Yodaka, a young ninja who used to live in the shadows until he was tasked with protecting a high school girl named Aoi. Now, he’s forced to come out of his shell and integrate into living life as a normal teenager while keeping up with his shinobi responsibilities.
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To celebrate the series’ early success, Weekly Shonen Jump has released a set of three animated promotional shorts featuring artwork from the manga to help promote the series. The creators of Shinobi Undercover previously worked on another manga that was very briefly serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine titled Candy Flurry – an action-oriented series that ran from April 19, 2021, to September 13, 2021. The series was compiled into three volumes and received a physical release from Shueisha and Viz Media in the West.
Shinobi Undercover has far surpassed the duo’s previous serialized work in terms of popularity but is still getting its footing in Weekly Shonen Jump‘s extremely competitive landscape. The additional promotional materials are a good sign that the series has a bright future.
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Ippon and Santa Have Grown Significantly as a Creative Duo, and Shinobi Undercover Proves It
The creative duo’s first series, Candy Flurry, showed much promise despite its criminally short run. The series described itself as a “sweets battle-comedy” and received positive reviews when launched. It, of course, ended up suffering the infamous Shonen Jump curse for a new series, but clearly showed that the up-and-coming creative duo could pull off a classic battle shonen by incorporating new and inventive approaches to the formula. The series followed Tsumugi, a “sweets-user” who fought using a giant lollipop thanks to a mysterious object called “Toy Toy Candy,” which gave her special powers. However, due to a catastrophic event wherein a candy-user destroyed much of Tokyo in the past, she’s had to keep her powers a secret.
The series clearly took a lot of inspiration from stories following heroes who must conceal their identities, similar to the duo’s new series, Shinobi Undercover, where the protagonist must keep his job a secret due to social stigma. Shinobi Undercover has done an excellent job adapting this trope and expanding on it in a way that is, admittedly, far more interesting than what Candy Flurry had going for it. The artist has developed their style quite a bit following the ending of Candy Flurry, boasting gorgeous paneling and unique character expressions that were missing in the original work. It will be interesting – and exciting – to see where the duo plans to take their second shot at a Weekly Shonen Jump series.
