Elsewhere: Shonen Flop ep.72 – Metallica Metalluca

I’m one of a pair of researchers for the quite splendid podcast Shonen Flop, and will be highlighting the full episodes on this blog each time one releases, as it’s where most of my research comes into play. Read more and find links within this post.

Art by Merliel

This week the boys opted to cover Teruaki Mizuno’s Metallica Metalluca with their guest Lia from the Three Weebs podcast, and let me tell you, this is my favourite sort of series to research for them.

For one, it’s Weekly Shonen Jump. I’m not always in love with the magazine, but I know enough about the magazine and all its series off the top of my head that I can already sort out half the information without even trying. For another, it was published during my time reading Jump, so I was there for the weekly experience, the ups and downs (mostly downs), so it’s nostalgic. But more than any of that, it’s the sort of series by someone who’s not shy about crediting his assistants! The sheer joy of reading through all three volumes (thankfully available on Bookwalker) and seeing a nice chunky staff list. No trawling through twitter and the rare interview to find out who’s worked with who here!

Teruaki Mizuno is the sort of author I’ve accidentally followed his whole career without even meaning to. I like to keep tabs on failed Shonen Jump authors, because that’s my Mastermind specialist subject, but the man does not stop popping up all over the place. Saikyo Jump launches? Of course he’s there with the Gyrozetter manga. Marvel are trying to push into Japan with Future Avengers? Why not have him be the author. A Pokémon movie gets a manga tie-in published by Viz Media? SOMEHOW IT IS ONCE AGAIN MIZUNO. I still got a couple of surprises, like his tie-in manga to the Poop-sensei kanji drill books, or the completely bizarre but oddly captivating Chain Rencer franchise having its manga be by him, but somehow even with those I’m never that far from stumbling upon Mizuno again.

Especially as Black Clover is one of the only manga I still get in print and THERE HE IS, IN THE ASSISTANT PAGES IN THE BACK. I WILL NEVER BE FREE.

If you’d like to see my research notes, they’re available on the Shonen Flop patreon to all members on the £5 a month tier, and I think combined with the rest of their bonus content and co-researcher Tucker’s notes it makes for a fantastic package at that tier level. I’ll try to think of something unique I can add to proceedings when linking to these shows, but for the most part these posts are about pointing you towards anything I help work on in any capacity.