Controversies are just another way to get another way of drawing attention to a series. Despite the dissatisfaction, it always evokes readers’ curiosity, and before they know it, they will be checking out the series. This is exactly what happened with Kuraku Ichikawa’s manga, Drama Queen, which began serializing in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ magazine in December 2024. Soon after its debut, the series caught a lot of negative attention due to questionable themes. Because of the plot revolving around aliens settling on Earth, the series began getting racist allegations for its alleged anti-immigrant themes.ย
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Even when the controversy was at its peak, the series topped the readership charts on the official platforms. On the same month as its debut, the manga was ranked as the top Newly Serialized Titles of 2024 on Manga Plus. The ranking was shared based on the number of views recorded seven days after the release of the first chapter. It outranked WSJ’s rising star Ichi the Witch, which ranked second on the same list. Now that the manga is all set to release its third volume, Ichikawa confirmed on X that the first two are getting reprints while thanking fans for reading them.
What Is the Plot of Drama Queen?
The story is set in modern Japan, nine years after the aliens moved to Earth. Because they saved the planet from destruction, they are hailed as heroes and live proudly among humans. Society accepted them with open arms and gave him a high status. However, while everyone else worships aliens as their savior, an ordinary factory worker, Nomamoto, is the only one who sees their true selves. Those aliens often act arrogantly and look down on humans. Even her factory owner is an alien, who is overworking her for low wages.
One day, she meets Kitami, a young man whose family was killed by aliens. The two hit it off pretty quickly after learning they share the same hatred for aliens. However, trouble starts brewing in Nomamoto’s life when Kitami arrives at her doorstep with the body of an alien, whom he killed with his own hands. The story takes a dark turn as the duo does the unthinkable.
Apart from the racist allegations, another issue readers noticed was that the first chapter features Nomamoto, the protagonist, having an unpleasant encounter with a couple (an alien and a human).
She vents her frustration when she says she hates aliens, just like women who call their boyfriends their โpartners.โ The translationย sparked another controversy, where readers claimed that the line was potentially harming the sentiments of LGBTIA+ couples who may use a gender-neutral term for their significant others. Shonen Jump even had toย change the controversial line in the official version, which did considerable damage control. The series only continues to rise in popularity with 27 chapters released so far. The third manga volume is scheduled to be released on August 4th, 2025. All chapters are available for free on the official app of Manga Plus.
H/T: Kuraku Ichikawa on X
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