Act-Age Artist Breaks Silence on New Manga, The Blue Night With You
The manga series, Act-Age, was ended by Shonen Jump when news broke regarding creator Tatsuya Matsuki's arrest due to indecent acts with a minor. With the artist of this series, Shiro Usazaki, attempting to put the series in their past, they have worked on one-shot specials for Shone Jump since the cancellation. Now, in an upcoming issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, Usazaki will release a special interactive murder mystery story and has shared some words when it comes to the special titled "The Blue Night With You."
In discussing the incident that saw the creator of the Act-Age manga from Shonen Jump arrested by the Japanese police, Shiro had nothing but sympathy for the victims, "First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt sympathy to the victim and her family. It is truly an act of courage that she spoke up in great shock and fear and didn't let go of the anger at the injury to her dignity."
An Interactive Murder Mystery Manga
Artist Shiro Usazaki shared their thoughts on the upcoming interactive manga special via their official Twitter account, stating the following, "I am in charge of drawing the introductory manga for a mystery game called Murder Mystery, which will be published in Weekly Shonen Jump next week! You can play with 4 players, so please invite your friends and play! We'll get back to you next week! Look forward to it."
来週発売の週刊少年ジャンプに掲載される、マーダーミステリーという推理ゲームの導入漫画の作画を担当しております！プレイ人数4人で遊べます、ぜひお友達を誘って遊んでみてください！来週またお知らせします！お楽しみに〜🥳 pic.twitter.com/VsWLli0y09
— 宇佐崎しろ (@uszksr) March 13, 2023
The special one-shot's story will revolve around a mystery that sees the disappearance of a high-school girl, taking place three weeks after the incident took place. When it comes to the interactive element of this manga, readers will have the ability to use their smartphones, and the Shonen Jump website, to take on the part of one of four students who are attempting to decipher this mystery. Set to run around fifteen pages, it will be interesting to see the reaction that readers have when it comes to introducing interactive elements into a manga story.
The upcoming one-shot doesn't just have Shiro Usazaki at the helm, as the story is developed by Saori Kida, a writer who has real-life experience with creating "escape games". Also joining the writer and artist is creator Kizuki Shinoda, who was responsible for a murder mystery game, Kill-Time Killers, who is lending a hand in the formation of this unique project. While anime franchises have developed escape rooms in Japan, this interactive one-shot has the chance to turn a new page for manga.
