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AlongsideMy Hero AcademiaandJujutsu Kaisen, another notable Shonen Jump title published its last chapter.Undead Unluckwas an amazing entry alongside these titans of modern Jump, achieving its own notable heights as well. Meanwhile, it accomplished all of this while managing to stand out in one of the most interesting lineups in Jump and the wider Shonen market in recent history.
Undead Unluckdefied a lot of expectations for how a shonen title should be handled, carving out its own lane in the genre while still maintaining the spirit of Jump. With its main character and themes especially,Undead Unluckshould go down as one of the most unique titles in Jump history.
Warning: Spoiler for Undead Unluck Manga and Anime Ahead.
Shonen Still Carries Stigma with How it Handles its Female Characters
While there are many more shonen titles today thatfeature female main charactersor at least female characters as prominent parts of the cast, there is still a lot of discussion around how they are treated in and by their stories. With Fuuko,Undead Unluckoffers another point of discussion and sets a trend that can hopefully be maintained in shonen moving forward.
Fuuko remains front and center on the magazine covers, color pages, merchandising, trailers and much more when representing the image ofUndead Unluck. While other series can often downplay their female characters or make them less visible,Undead Unluckmakes sure that you understand that Fuuko is the MC, and the heart of the series. For some, this can be a very low bar to pass, but hopefullyUndead Unluckcan inspire other Shonen Jump titles that follow. Another important part of Fuuko’s inclusion in the story is how she reacts and responds to a key theme in the story; Love.
Some Consider Romance to be Unnecessary in Shonen
Romance is another topic of discussion that causes a lot of debate when mentioning shonen. While fans may demand more or less of the theme in their favorite series, some authors claim that romance does not have much of a place in shonen at all. When it is included, it’s not often the focus, at least for the most popular shonen titles. That being said,Undead Unluckyet again defies a lot of the expectations of what a shonen should do, by leaning heavily into the aspect ofLove and Romance.
While there are some rom-coms or “romance” stories in shonen at large (Nisekoi,Komi Can’t Communicate,The Quintessential Quintuplets) the most popular shonen stories are often criticized for how they include romance (Attack on Titan,Naruto).Undead Unluckis interesting in how it doesn’t shy away from the topic and instead makes it an essential part of the narrative.
Now, does that mean thatUndead Unluckis a romance or rom-com story? Most people would probably still classify it as a battle shonen, but an argument could be made that it is a romance as much asSword Art OnlineorInuyashais. Regardless of how you classify it, it is also notable that it includes romance as a core theme, alongside a female MC.
Oftentimes in shonen, when authors want to make their female characters stand out, they make it a point to show that they are more emotionally hardened or aren’t concerned with love. And while this may sometimes be a façade or an issue to be addressed later (like Ochako inMy Hero Academia) withUndead Unluck, Fuuko is unapologetically a romantic. The manga begins with her reading a “parody” version ofKimi ni Todoke, lamenting the fact that she will most likely not receive a romance much like it. And by the manga’s end, it is through the love that she found and built throughout the course of the story that allows her and her friends to overcome their greatest challenges.
It is hard to talk about a shonen ending without talking about shonen “endings”. While the genre is perhaps the most popular in anime and manga, it is also notorious for having poorly received endings. While there isn’t an objective measure for the validity of an ending, series likeAttack on Titan,My Hero Academia,andJujutsu Kaisen(to name a few) all caused a lot of polarizing responses with their conclusions. It’s possible that this is just a result of apopular series with legions of followerswith different wants from the series seeing it come to an end, but a common complaint is that the endings leave too many questions unanswered, or too many questions unasked.
Undead Unlucksparked some discussion around whether it’s ending came too soon, but after that, the reception was not like the series mentioned previously. It seems like those who experienced the manga in its 5-year run are generally happy with how things came to an end. Fuuko sheds the “curse” of Unluck, and is able to achieve happiness and a true romance with Andy. The Master Rules, an imposing enemy of Negator’s and the entirety of Humanity for millennia, have been resigned to a passive force, no longer interfering with events on Earth moving forward.
There aren’t many questions that the ending doesn’t settle. There aren’t many new ones that it proposes either. All-in-all, for a fan who read week to week, or even those who binged after the anime was released, the ending felt like a fitting finale to an incredible journey.
With a sequelanime planned for Winter 2025(November or December of this year),Undead Unluckshould still find fans long after it’s run in Shonen Jump has ended. And when looking back on the entirety of its run, it should be seen as an incredibly unique and hopefully influential series in the history of Jump.
Undead Unluck is available to stream on Hulu. You can also read the Undead Unluck Manga on VIZ’s Shonen Jump app and website.
