In a shocking industry twist, Tokyo Revengers’ Ken Wakui left Kodansha after almost 20 years to debut a new manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump called Astro Royale. This is another delinquent manga with supernatural elements, but the premise here revolves around multiple people gaining superpowers in a meteor shower that leveled Tokyo, and based on the title, it’s bound to turn into a battle royale story at some point.
Just from the first chapter, Astro Royale is a completely different manga from Tokyo Revengers, and that’s great. Not only does that make it easier for Astro Royale to stand on its own, but it also means that Astro Royale can avoid some of the shortcomings Tokyo Revengers had with its story and characters, some of which the first chapter is already putting in the work to fix.
It’s still unknown how the story will play out, but for fans and detractors of Tokyo Revengers, alike, there’s a lot to look forward to.
The first big difference between Astro Royale and Tokyo Revengers is with their respective protagonists, Hibaru and Takemichi. Unlike most shōnen manga, Takemichi wasn’t much of a fighter and solved conflicts by being the heart of the group who united people through his strength of will and emotional honesty. While the story was always able to make it work, at the same time, it resulted in Tokyo Revengers being criticized for having a weak and unassertive protagonist, and that’s played a big part in its divisive reputation in the West.
Fortunately for any detractors of Tokyo Revengers, Astro Royale’s Hibaru is nothing like Takemichi. While he is also a kindhearted person, Astro Royale’s Hibaru appears to be nowhere near as passive as Tokyo Revengers’ Takemichi, as he’s already taken far more initiative on things than Takemichi ever did and can even get into a fight without any major issues. Right off the bat, Hibaru appears to avoid some of the biggest criticisms people had with Takemichi’s character, so for anyone who saw him as a negative in Tokyo Revengers, Astro Royale is bound to be a much better read.
Another notable difference between Astro Royale and Tokyo Revengers is the supernatural element of each story. Tokyo Revengers kept its supernatural element, time leaping, exclusive to Takemichi, and while that helped narrow the scope of things, it also left it severely underdeveloped, especially when it finally came time to explain things in the final arc. In direct contrast to that, Astro Royale giving everyone superpowers means that it has to properly explain its supernatural elements, and because of that, these are bound to be more developed than in Tokyo Revengers.
That extra development can also work to help Astro Royale establish its own identity. The elements of delinquents and supernatural abilities give Astro Royale a lot of clear overlap with Tokyo Revengers, but with a much larger focus on supernatural elements, Astro Royale can further develop into a different sort of supernatural story than Tokyo Revengers, further adding to its uniqueness in the process. Between the character writing and the basic setup, Astro Royale is already doing a lot to stand out from Tokyo Revengers, and that’s sure to do a lot to help it stand out in Shonen Jump.
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