Let's talk about Jump GIGA
Jump GIGA covers, 2016-2024. Volumes are published (left to right per row) as Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn releases, with 2018 and 2019 briefly breaking the pattern by having three Winter and three Summer volumes each. 2023 has an Early Spring volume in addition to the standard four.
So, people have pointed out that the 2024 Spring cover is, uh, not like other covers.
But I've only seen comparisons to other MHA GIGA covers and MHA Weekly Shonen Jump covers. Out of curiosity for what GIGA's typical marketing aesthetics might be, I put together a comparison between all of Jump GIGA's covers to date.
And, um. Some things stand out, to say the least.
First, let me clarify what Jump GIGA even is: it is a seasonal magazine from Shonen Jump, published separate from Weekly Shonen Jump. SJ is an absolutely massive brand and they have a number of magazines serialized outside of the most well-known weekly magazine.
The content of Jump GIGA is primarily made up of one-shots and spin-offs. From the beginning, a lot of the appeal has been the cool cover illustrations which showcase special merchandise that comes with the purchase of GIGA. Usually the cover also promotes big things going on related to the WSJ series, like movie events, new games, or special figurines for sale.
The marketing aesthetic has been clear from the start: the cover consists of one core illustration and a number of ads surrounding it. Most often you get a cover illustration of a protagonist, and then ads and merch for other series, e.g. Food Wars protagonist cover with One Piece film promotion and Haikyuu!! merch.
The purpose of this marketing direction is pretty obvious. Spin-offs and one-shots are not likely to generate a ton of interest consistently, so they lure people in with the cool covers and tempting limited edition merchandise of the series they already know and love. In this way, highlighting one series with the cover and different series with the merch makes sense, because maybe somebody doesn't care about Food Wars, but they definitely want those Haikyuu!! stickers, stuff like that.
Starting from 2020's Autumn volume, you can see a shift. For the first time, basically all of the merchandise is for the cover series. The Demon Slayer manga had already ended five months earlier in May, but a two-chapter spin-off was scheduled for release in WSJ during October. This GIGA was released exactly one day before the second chapter was published and it capitalizes on the hype.
After this point, only MHA and Jujutsu Kaisen dominate the cover and the merch in quite this way, with Black Clover getting attention last volume as a way to highlight the fact that it actually switched syndication from WSJ to GIGA.
Anyway, most commonly the cover illustration is a solo shot of a core cast member (usually but not always the protagonist), and if it's not a solo, it's a big cast illustration.
Only a few covers focus on two characters, and usually it's a crossover as opposed to characters from same series sharing the limelight.
Here we've got Food Wars' protagonist with the main characters from Dr. Stone and Act-Age.
The two covers most similar to the Izuku & Kacchan cover are 2022 Winter and 2023 Autumn.
Winter depicts the main trio of Blue Box in a seasonally-appropriate aesthetic. Not gonna lie, this one kinda makes me laugh--Blue Box is a romance and sports manga, and even though Christmas has a romantic air to it in Japan, instead of depicting any sort of like, hesitant but hopeful romantic energy between the heterosexual couple that actually get together later in the series, they focus primarily on the two girls being cute with the guy is a wee footnote? I mean, all right.
Meanwhile, Autumn depicts one of the protagonists with the series antagonist with a typical cool action style. I'm not very familiar with JJK, but I hear these two have got Some Drama going on, so, there's that.
The merch itself has also evolved over the years. Stickers and posters were present early on, but they have since expanded to decorative folders and now acrylic stands and coasters. 2021 Summer sees the first time the cover illustration is marketed as merch, with the Jujutsu Kaisen cover included as a decorative folder.
Right after that, the Kacchan cover of 2021 Autumn is included as a poster alongside earlier covers featuring Todoroki and Izuku.
2023 Summer's cover is a huge, wrap-around MHA cast illustration and it was published three days after chapter 396 came out, strategically timed to highlight the big shift in the final battle as Ochako vs Toga ends and All Might vs. AFO begins. Merch includes a decorative folder of the wrap-around cover and character motif stickers.
And then we get this!?
A duo cover illustration where the cover art itself has been merchandised to hell and back!?!?
Acrylic stand and pin set!?
Double-sided coaster showing bkdk greatest hits!? With volume 29's river scene cover!?
There's also a double-sided poster featuring the Spring cover with the ninth popularity poll art and a decorative bag with the anniversary art. The cover art itself is plastered all over the volume, front, back, and spine, apparently a total of 19 times.
I honestly don't know what to say about this. It feels wild that this is actually what the cover is. Obviously it is a huge marketing push in anticipation of season 7, and Izuku and Katsuki are the most popular characters, but. it just feels... unique.
In the course of Jump GIGA's publication, this direction is kind of unprecedented. Genuinely no one could have expected this. This seems to be the first time there's been this much merch for a cover. And it was a solid fucking move, marketing-wise--it's sold out basically everywhere, everyone is talking about it. And even people who don't follow the series or ship these two can't help but comment on how strikingly romantic it looks!?
I don't know how much say Horikoshi had in what the cover was, but damn it sure feels like he drew this with immense affection. I kind of wonder if he personally pushed for it to be these two, rather than the typical solo shot, cast shot, or even a protagonist vs. antagonist shot.
I'm KO'd, man. idek if this post is useful to anybody I'm just on my hands and knees here.
Everybody knows what we're all here for, and it's these cute boys finally getting their happy ending.
400 notes
·
View notes
Imagine being Nagi’s crush and Reo getting jealous, unsure whether it's because you're taking Nagi's attention or because he also likes you
seishiro nagi × fem!reader × reo mikage
- nagi is the primary love interest while reo has a one-sided crush on you (mostly from his pov too)
- includes a smidge of angst I'd say, (well actually not just a smidge teehee)
When Nagi was developing a crush on you, Reo was the first to notice. You were classmates, and you caught Nagi’s attention by playing the same mobile video game he did.
As Nagi was walking through the school yard with Reo, his ears perked up when he heard the familiar sounds of attacking noises and fanfare from his beloved game. Following the source of the sound, he found you, sitting on the bench and indeed playing the same video game that he did. You seemed so happy in your own little world that he didn't want to bother you. Instead, he would often peek behind your shoulder at a distance to see your progress. Your gaming tactics interested him.
Reo found the whole thing amusing at first. He elbowed Nagi lightly, "Why not just approach her and ask her about it instead of watching her like a creep?" Reo wouldn’t have encouraged him if he knew how this would eventually play out.
Nagi took his advice and approached you during those rare moments when you were having difficulty defeating a boss. You were incredibly concentrated on your phone screen, with your brows furrowed and teeth subtly biting your lower lip. It was an unusual sight to see that he finally felt the need to step in.
"Use that spell and use that attack at the same time, he'll be much easier to defeat", he says, earning a startled reaction from you as the silver-haired boy seemed to appear out of nowhere. Yet, you do as he says and end up finishing off the boss with ease.
You say your thanks, introduce yourselves, and segway into talking more about the game (and also exchange player ID's). The two of you began talking to each other more often.
This would be the beginning of Reo's 'dislike' for you.
Reo's irritation would increase when Nagi noticeably had you on his mind constantly.
Even with Reo next to him, Nagi's mind would still wander off to you. “I wonder if she’s online…”, he'd mutter and frequently check his phone, hoping that your active status would be green. The fact that Nagi would check nearly every 2 minutes particularly pissed him off.
In class, Nagi would come over to your desk, pull up a chair, whip his phone out, and you two would play the video game together. Poor Reo would be off to the side, sulking while his eyes were drilling holes into you. He'd be muttering to himself.
So what if you liked the same game as Nagi? What made you so special? Was it the way you'd sweetly smile at him whenever you saw him coming? Or was it the way your eyes lit up whenever he gave you a helpful tip to win? And that soft laugh whenever you thought he was being a bit silly. How annoying… Your blatant 'flirting' was irritating the hell out of him.
Reo was cut off from his thoughts when you suddenly called his name, beckoning him to come over with that same sweet smile of yours. And for a reason he couldn't comprehend, it made his heart beat a little bit quicker. What did you possibly want from him? He swallowed thickly as he approached you two. Turns out you wanted to learn how he and Nagi got into soccer as you noticed them practicing on the field after school.
'Is this your attempt to be nice? How dare you try to act so considerate when you're the root of the problem. I don't need your pity', Reo would think. Yet, he found himself answering all of your questions so willingly. Your eyes, brimming with genuine curiosity, were getting to him as he spoke that he ended up inviting you to watch their practice without thinking. Of course, you said yes.
Before he could come up with something to change your mind, the teacher came in and began class. He mentally punched himself. What was he doing? You were the enemy and he invited you to spend more time with them. But those eyes– It was those bright eyes that gazed at him while he spoke of his passions that got him carried away. He wanted more of it. You found his weak spot and he hated it.
And so you'd show up to their practices to watch them play. The moment both boys saw your figure waving at them, they'd instinctively try to show off. For Nagi, he hadn't realized it himself until he thought it odd that he wanted to put in a little more effort that day. (but that was just the effect you had on him). And for Reo, well, he just reasoned that if anyone at all was watching him, there's no doubt he'd want to look great.
But halfway through practice, he questioned himself. What was the use? You were looking at Nagi most of the time and not him anyway.
You had gained more of their affection when you brought them their favorite drinks and snacks once practice was over. Nagi would definitely eat most of the snacks you brought while you and Reo had to scold him to not eat either of yours. A muffled, "Thanks for the snacks, y/n" would come out of Nagi's mouth, now full of chips, and Reo would mutter a small "...thanks" (If you tell him to speak up or that you couldn't hear him, you'd get a rise out of him for sure, hehe)
And this would sorta be your routine with them. You would watch and wait for them to be done with practice and you three would hang out together afterwards.
Rather, in Reo's pov, it was more like you and Nagi hanging out while he was basically just third-wheeling, no matter how much you attempted to include him in your conversations with Nagi.
The interactions you two had were just different. The looks, smiles, and light touches that you'd give to Nagi weren’t the same ones you'd give to him. It was frustrating that what he wanted was right there but he could never have it.
And so maybe he could finally admit to himself that he's just jealous– Jealous that you were stealing both his best friend and his heart.
676 notes
·
View notes
deranged post-canon farleigh speculation
so. archie madekwe said something that makes me question a lot of the other post-canon speculation (often quickstart dynamic post-canon fics, speculation, etc.). Basically, he was talking about how tired Farleigh was getting, in the point in time that the movie is set. This is depicted through his confrontation with Felix, which Archie confirmed was the first conversation Farleigh has had with the cattons about the issue of bias.
a review by hilton als briefly touched on farleigh's possible future, as well. it was a very negative and... honestly understandable idea of what farleigh would grow up to become. aka, someone who exploited and tokenized their race for "brownie points," pun not intended. i see a lot of people crafting stories of farleigh finding different ways to rejoin the ultra-rich class. and i kinda wanna say that i... don't like that. here's an anecdote: my cousin and i had a conversation about his experience moving from a white-dominated, suburban environment. he argues that although racism is still prevalent where he now lives, the racism he experienced in his hometown was so painfully, covertly delivered. it's this sort of "could you just call me a slur or something" mentality.
although farleigh is terrified of change, although farleigh is terrified of losing what he believes is an accommodation for his marginalization (it isn't; you can't buy your way out of racism), although farleigh learned to be materialistic through the ways in which he was raised, although farleigh is constantly running away from something--i think he was reaching a point of genuine hatred for the ways in which racism is delivered to him in this environment. i would also go insane. so freakishly insane. i think his conversation with felix made him understand that maybe the cattons will never even try to change. that the cattons couldn't even acknowledge the problem in the first place. that you can't really win, with people like the cattons. it's always a game of when, and never if. when will they finally, politely discard me?
this leaves a couple options. the first, farleigh learns to be financially independent and very much successful. he would never rely on other people again, especially not white people. this leaves room for hilton als' interpretation, but the fact that farleigh was cognizant of and willing to mention racial bias to felix is evidence for me to assume that farleigh is beyond belittling himself like that. farleigh already experienced so much shame from catering towards the cattons and their whiteness... i don't think he'd keep going with that. not with the way it ended. not after he had the horrible wake-up call that was both his cousins dying. so, maybe farleigh does find his way back to wealth. maybe through fashion, through modeling like his mother, through another form of art, through business, whatever.
the other option is that farleigh just... doesn't acquire that level or even close to that level of wealth again. i kinda like this idea. i kinda like imagining farleigh in a city flat or smaller suburban house, finding a significant other and probably never ever having kids. that, of course, still leaves room for farleigh to go and brutalize oliver out of saltburn. but i'd like to think he wouldn't take saltburn back. as i've said before, farleigh was never greedy. he never wanted to replace or succeed the cattons, nor did he want any form of dominance over them. to be their equal, yes. to be seen and heard and given attention, yes. but never did he play his games to knock felix or venetia down. i feel like farleigh would be the "eat the rich" that saltburn didn't have. not in the corny way, because farleigh is no robin hood, nor is he an innocent and selfless person.
my ideal "sequel" type situation would be farleigh returning to saltburn after living comfortably and humbly for the last 20 years. he's not here out of moral obligation. he's not here to steal back the catton wealth. he's here selfishly, and out of burning hatred. he's here because oliver stole any sense of closure farleigh could've ever had. he's here because oliver never gave farleigh the opportunity to forgive his family, nor to mourn them, nor to visit those memories, nor to make new ones. farleigh is here to wreck oliver's shit. it's not healthy, it's not pretty, it's not clean. i'd imagine 40-year-old farleigh, having matured, returning to saltburn and regressing to the same games he always used to play. lying, people pleasing, pretending, sex, drugs, sass, etc. ahhh. my ideal sequel. a man who found peace without closure and finds closure through a significant lack of peace. and, also, oliver dead as hell.
104 notes
·
View notes
10 BL Boys That I Want "Carnally"
Thank you @my-rose-tinted-glasses for tagging me but actually I don't really want anyone carnally lmao
How about 10 bl boys that make me feel some kind of way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sunshine (Atom Nathaphop) - 7 Days Before Valentine (this is probably the worst possible gif to choose for this lmao).
Namo (Bank Chanwut) - Beyond the Star.
Mac (Non Ratchanon) - Love Syndrome.
Him (Dew Nitikorn) - For Him.
Chalothon (Heng Asavarid) - The Sign.
Pan (Seng Wichai) - War of Y.
Nine (Big Thanakorn) - Big Dragon (or generally just Big whenever he pops up in anything).
Black (Gun Atthaphan) - Not Me.
Nont (Dech Narongdet) - Playboyy.
Bhu & Da (Boss Thawatchanin & Gap Jakarin) - Norrasing.
... and this very specific gif of angry Mick Monthon in Every You, Every Me.
I'm not really sure who to tag but if you haven't done this yet and want to share gifs/pics of pretty BL actors then go for it. I'm tagging you specifically!
29 notes
·
View notes