Undead Unluck

Reading this, as of now, quite short and not extremely popular manga feels like watching Lebron as a rookie.

This series is a complete breathe of fresh air. Do not judge by mediocre first chapter(s), it evolves from a mediocre gag manga with an interesting premise to qutie possibly the second (behing one piece of course...) best series in Jump. It evolves into a manga with an immensely interesting setting, incredibly unique and fresh ideas. It has the brains of Hunter x Hunter, with the cool designs of Bleach, and the unthinkably high stakes of a JRPG. And thats not even mentioning the fantastic MC duo/relationship of Andy/Fuuko, one of the freshest, most interesting, and cutest relationship in jump. Nothing in the manga is flat- but it does this without becoming too heady and uninteresting. Reading this- especially considering its lack of extreme popularity- feels like reading a modern classic in the making, one that is as of now going ludicrously unappreciated. If you make it past the nonplussing first few chapters and enjoy shonen even a little bit, this series has virtually anything for anybody. I cant reccomend this series enough, and with full confidence think by its end it will be spoken of amongst the likes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Hunter x Hunter, and Jojo (i shy away to compare it to One Piece, an untouchable piece of fiction by anything not named Game of Thrones, and Naruto, due to its sheer difference from Undead) as the greatest shonen of the 21st century.... This is all considering it maintains its current upwards trend in quality and doesent fizzle into nothingness like Demon Slayer or toilet dive like Food Wars or The Promised Neverland. (The art, while cartoony and stylized, is also great, and we are blessed with frequent spreadpages)

As someone who dislikes ecchi, I wasn't sure if I was gonna stick with UU or not. However, I was pleasantly surprised. After 50+ chapters, I’m here to say Undead Unluck has consistently been one of the best JUMP manga I’ve read in a while. DO NOT drop this manga if you’ve just read the first few chapters. While the first handful of chapters are rough, UU quickly drops the vast majority of the ecchi nonsense. After about 8-10 ch in, you get the start of a manga that has an incredibly well done power system, some actual good romance in a shonen, a very unique, unpredictable story with plenty of foreshadowing, extremely well done worldbuilding, good art that makes use well of double page spreads, and great character development.

--STORY 9/10—
I’m not gonna give a synopsis for the story since other reviews here have done that, but what I will say is that I can only describe it as a crossover of SCP, HxH, and maybe a bit of DBZ even character design wise. UU’s story is one that will take you through all sorts of unexpected arcs. While it might seem like a generic “kill God” story, it’s so much more than that. The way the mangaka uses the concepts of “Uma’s & Negators” is just brilliant, and heavily ties into the characters and how they act. UU can actually be a rather tragic tale at time, and characters you maybe didn’t care about at first could end up as faves.

The world itself basically runs on its own set of rules. Concepts like there being more than 1 language, stars in the sky, a way to tell time, even death itself may be absent at certain points in the story. The foreshadowing and worldbuilding is genuinely so amazingly done, rereading the manga can be surreal just seeing how events in the first ch can relate back to current events in the manga. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but I will say it is very good so far.

--CHARACTERS 8.5/10—
I was actually quite surprised at how UU handles its characters. It may take some time but most characters get some great character development at some point in the story with both characters on the protag and antag side getting it. The main duo of Fuuko and Andy in particular are just so well done. What starts off as a rather unorthodox pair turns into a surprisingly natural romance story. Fuuko is a great female protag, and her development from a timid, suicidal girl to a strong, passionate young lady in love wanting to save the world and others has been great so far. Andy too has had great development, tho it’s a bit more subtle and spoilerly. I will say he becomes a lot more considerate of both Fuuko and other people’s feelings over time. Both him and Fuuko have a very natural romance, and while it starts off kinda grossly as your usual ecchi gag, I assure you it becomes a heartwarming story of romance.
As for the side cast, well a lot of them have well-done backstory and development as well. There would be too many to list here, but some faves so far are Rip, “Anno Un”, and Juiz. Not ALL of them oc have development mind you, but I figure there’s def the possibility for those who don’t to get development in the future.

--ART 8.5/10—
UU is one of those rare manga that really makes use of double page spreads well. The battles in UU are very creative, and unique to look at. Using the excellent power system, the art is able to show some just amazing action moments. Character expressions are also on point too whether it’s for comedy or serious moments. Backgrounds look good for the most part, there’s a lot of variety in the areas travelled to as well. The character and creature designs are on point, and they usually relate back to each character’s power as well. There are better drawn weekly JUMP manga certainly, but it works very well here.

--ENJOYMENT 9/10—
UU is one of those manga I actually look forward to weekly. I never know where I’m going to go with this manga, but it’s consistently been very smart, interesting, and above else just pure fun. I’m not sure what else to say here other than I guess I hope you enjoy it. It’s not for everyone sure, but I’d say give it a try. I will say though if you’re about 10-12 ch. in and still don’t like it, it’s probs not for you.

Incredibly creative and unique. I believe it can be the new pillar of Jump.

Powers are really cool and super unique MCs have powers that haven't really been explored in many series and they are creative in how they're used. Battles are strategic/realistic and not just a generic "I put more effort in this punch" The strategy is similar to fights like JJK or HXH.

World is vast with a cool power system. Similar to OP and MHA. Art is incredible as well.

Like hunter x hunter meets One Piece or MHA would be how I describe it.

Story takes a couple chapters to start up so give it a chance.

Moderate Spoilers up to Ch 17 ahead

I had high hopes for this one. I found the premise and the potential character dynamic between Fuuko and Andy to be very interesting. However, as I kept reading, I kept becoming more and more disappointed. I quickly realized that this story was not going to be about Fuuko overcoming her weakness and using her Unluck to her advantage. Rather, it was about Andy, which isn't good considering that Andy is an extremely bland and uninteresting character.

Andy is my main problem with this story. Not much about him is interesting or appealing. His main power (Undead) is simple enough, but the attacks which he performs using that power (like the finger guns) are poorly explained and honestly make no sense (feels like most of his attacks are just asspulls). His personality isn't appealing either. He has a very bland "idiot badass" thing going on with a very strong tinge of rape. He's also got the "demon inside" trope, which is one of my least favorites. There are barely any stakes when fighting Uma since he could just power himself up and tear everything to shreds. Very boring, very overdone.

Fuuko, however, is a much better character. Much more bearable, and I wanted to follow her story much more than Andy's. The problem, however, is that Andy takes much too much time being le epic badass man, leaving Fuuko in the dust. Doesn't feel much like a duo. My main problem with Fuuko isn't herself, but the way she's treated in the story and by Andy. From the very start, she's not presented as a full character, but rather an object Andy can rub his hands on to gain a power boost. I'm no stranger to women being objectified in anime either, it's just that in this case, that's her only purpose. That's it. Andy needs some power? He can go rub his face in Fuuko's chest.

From the start, this feels like Andy's story, not Fuuko & Andy's story. Andy's journey to grope Fuuko until she eventually falls in love with him and he can die already. The actual concrete story isn't very good either. Why are they joining the organization that only serves to hurt the Negators of the world? Even if that organization helps destroy the Uma, they could just do that themselves. There's no reason to force themselves into that organization. At the start, the story presented itself as a "fight the establishment!" story quickly devolved into "go on quests to kill the Uma and gain cool loot!" and I did not like it.

However, the art is nice enough and the supporting characters aren't too bad either. We've only really met a couple side characters, but Shen and the one girl that they fought with the big lake (forgot her name, sorry) were compelling enough, and had interesting personalities and powers. The battle system also has a decent bit of depth. Rather than throwing yourself at the enemy, you must figure out how exactly their negation works. By figuring out what exactly they negate, you can then find their weakness and exploit it. It's not the best, but it's more than I was expecting coming into it.

I'm really sad that it turned out this way. I don't read or watch much up-and-coming manga or anime, so this is a bit of a turn off from doing that again. I had really high hopes from what this could have been. What was an interesting premise just devolved into a story filled with tropes and gropes.

I had high hopes for this one. I found the premise and the potential character dynamic between Fuuko and Andy to be very interesting. However, as I kept reading, I kept becoming more and more disappointed. I quickly realized that this story was not going to be about Fuuko overcoming her weakness and using her Unluck to her advantage. Rather, it was about Andy, which isn't good considering that Andy is an extremely bland and uninteresting character.

Andy is my main problem with this story. Not much about him is interesting or appealing. His main power (Undead) is simple enough, but the attacks which he performs using that power (like the finger guns) are poorly explained and honestly make no sense (feels like most of his attacks are just asspulls). His personality isn't appealing either. He has a very bland "idiot badass" thing going on with a very strong tinge of rape. He's also got the "demon inside" trope, which is one of my least favorites. There are barely any stakes when fighting Uma since he could just power himself up and tear everything to shreds. Very boring, very overdone.

Fuuko, however, is a much better character. Much more bearable, and I wanted to follow her story much more than Andy's. The problem, however, is that Andy takes much too much time being le epic badass man, leaving Fuuko in the dust. Doesn't feel much like a duo. My main problem with Fuuko isn't herself, but the way she's treated in the story and by Andy. From the very start, she's not presented as a full character, but rather an object Andy can rub his hands on to gain a power boost. I'm no stranger to women being objectified in anime either, it's just that in this case, that's her only purpose. That's it. Andy needs some power? He can go rub his face in Fuuko's chest.

From the start, this feels like Andy's story, not Fuuko & Andy's story. Andy's journey to grope Fuuko until she eventually falls in love with him and he can die already. The actual concrete story isn't very good either. Why are they joining the organization that only serves to hurt the Negators of the world? Even if that organization helps destroy the Uma, they could just do that themselves. There's no reason to force themselves into that organization. At the start, the story presented itself as a "fight the establishment!" story quickly devolved into "go on quests to kill the Uma and gain cool loot!" and I did not like it.

However, the art is nice enough and the supporting characters aren't too bad either. We've only really met a couple side characters, but Shen and the one girl that they fought with the big lake (forgot her name, sorry) were compelling enough, and had interesting personalities and powers. The battle system also has a decent bit of depth. Rather than throwing yourself at the enemy, you must figure out how exactly their negation works. By figuring out what exactly they negate, you can then find their weakness and exploit it. It's not the best, but it's more than I was expecting coming into it.

I'm really sad that it turned out this way. I don't read or watch much up-and-coming manga or anime, so this is a bit of a turn off from doing that again. I had really high hopes from what this could have been. What was an interesting premise just devolved into a story filled with tropes and gropes.

In comparison to other popular manga this has a different setting. Its not set in a world of super heroes even though the people there also have super powers, nor is it in the dark ages with fantasy elements. The story plays in the present and revolves around life and death which are also linked to the powers of the duo Fuuko and Andy. Most heroes have the goal to be the strongest but thats not their wish. They have rather very personal goals that only benefit themselves and sound rather bizarre but this wacky style is what drives the series.
The art is fantastic and draws parallels to Hunter X Hunter´s Phantom Troupe Phinks for Andy at least. This really rough looking face. Fuuko is meant to display a tomboyish girl and has an interesting fresh look with her jacket and cap without showing too much skin like other shows.
The characters are really the backbone of this manga. Especially Andy has such a good and edgy humour and sometimes says whats been on the minds of the readers and you think, did he just really said that?. Fuuko, the girl, also is a relatable person with the problems of many teenagers and her ability gives this dynamic between them both an original spin and incredible chemistry. The enemies are also not all one dimensional and go through some development even in this early stage.

Overall a surprising execution of a premise that first sounded to be not long lasting but proved me wrong with the world building and combat that has more depth to it than expected.

(Review up to ch. 39, score subject to change)

I've fallen a bit out of touch with what's new in manga and anime over the past couple of years, so I decided to cop a subscription to the Weekly Shonen Jump app to get an overview of up-and-coming series. I already have a few ongoing series on my radar, but I started with Unluck x Undead at the suggestion of a friend. Sure, it's another shonen joint about eccentric, superpowered demigods, but I was intrigued by its central concept of Negation. The abilities of UxU's protagonists subvert the laws of universe, which can be a help or a hinderance depending on their user's creativity.

My first impression of the series was the frenetic pacing of its first few chapters, which rarely lets up. There's very little in the way of exposition and world-building, which means by the time you've reached the fifth chapter, you'll get the gist of the story, the cast, and the stakes. It's a welcome alternative to a cookie-cutter backstory and one-by-one introduction to characters, and the dynamic between protagonists Fuuko and Andy is original enough to create interest off the bat. As the pair are adults, we're spared your typical high school setting and puerile antics for a more complex relationship with romantic tension that's directly linked to their powers.

Unfortunately, because UxU never really lets off of its plot-driven gas, Fuuko and Andy feel wooden as individuals. The latter's design is generic, and his overconfident veneer is only occasionally removed via an artificial plot device. Fuuko's the more interesting protagonist on paper, though as other reviewers have suggested, we could spend more time getting to know her better. Shonen jump already has a dearth of multi-dimensional female protagonists, and having Fuuko play sidekick is a wasted opportunity. She's also the butt of some ecchi gags leave a bad taste in my mouth. Luckily, UxU gets significantly less horny as the story progresses: it's better for it.

Where the series succeeds is in its willingness to take wild risks and flirt with meta-referential humor. The central conflict between the union of Negators and God itself leads to an onslaught of ridiculous plot twists (including the earth expanding into an entire galaxy, each country occupying a different planet), and the weirdness of it all is a running joke in the story. Where I've left off in the series, our heroes are in pursuit of a mangaka whose writing has predicted the events of the story thus far — which may explain some of the existential confusion that I've experienced while reading. It's not as successful a deconstruction of shonen tropes as, say, Mob Psycho 100, but I've found UxU to be pretty promising. I forsee it continuing to improve as it goes on.