Yuto Yotsuba, the writer known for the hit series Ya Boy Kongming!, and Yoshie Katō, the artist behind the Assassins Pride manga adaptation, have teamed up to launch a new manga titled Tōkyō Kinoko ~Sekai Ranking 1-i no Komyuryoku Saijaku JK~ (Tokyo Kinoko ~The High School Girl Ranked #1 in Weakest Social Skills World Leaderboard~) on Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump website. The new series debuted last Friday.
A Fusion of Fantasy and Modernity
The newly launched manga, Tōkyō Kinoko, is set in a modern world where elements of a fantasy realm have begun to infiltrate for the past 25 years. This encroachment has led to the emergence of global rankings that measure various individual strengths.
The Protagonist: Kinoko Kino
The story centers on Kinoko Kino, a high school girl from Gunma who has recently moved to Tokyo. Kinoko’s primary goal is to overcome her severe lack of social skills and forge friendships. Unbeknownst to her, she holds the top spot globally in an as-yet-unrevealed category.
Creators’ Previous Works
Both Yotsuba and Katō bring notable experience from their previous successful projects.
Yuto Yotsuba’s Ya Boy Kongming!
Yuto Yotsuba is the writer of the popular manga series Ya Boy Kongming! (also known as Paripi Kōmei). This series, illustrated by Ryō Ogawa, began serialization on Kodansha’s Comic Days website in December 2019 before transferring to Weekly Young Magazine in November 2021. Ya Boy Kongming! is a unique “fish out of water” story about Zhuge Kongming, a famous military strategist from ancient China’s Three Kingdoms period, who is reborn in modern-day Tokyo. He uses his strategic prowess to help an aspiring singer named Eiko Tsukimi achieve stardom in the music industry. The manga inspired a television anime adaptation in April 2022, which was streamed by HIDIVE and later received an English dub. A live-action drama series also premiered in September 2023, and a live-action film opened in Japan in April 2024.
Yoshie Katō’s Assassins Pride
Yoshie Katō is the manga artist responsible for the adaptation of Kei Amagi’s Assassins Pride light novel series. Katō’s manga ran in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump magazine from May 2017 until its conclusion in August 2022. Assassins Pride is a fantasy series set in a world where only nobles possess mana, a sacred power used to combat creatures of darkness. The story follows Kufa Vampir, an assassin tasked with assessing a young noble girl named Merida Angel, who seemingly lacks mana, and eliminating her if she shows no potential. The light novel series also inspired an anime television series that aired from October to December 2019.
