Even though this series isn’t in the United States yet (Tankōbon wise,) I was following it through Manga Plus. Written by Kenji Ichima and illustrated by Tsunehiro Date, Time Paradox Ghostwriter debuted in the May 2020 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, while this series ran for fourteen chapters and compiled two tankōbon volumes, the first was published in August and the other was in October. The series ended in the 39th Issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, while it seems short and upsetting for fans of the series it also gained the attention of Comic Book Resources, who wrote an article discussing the cancellation being “Unsurprising”.
“It was a cold and stormy night, I decided to give up on my dream. But lightning strikes! And now I have an issue of Shonen Jump from the future! Teppei Sasaki is a passionate rookie manga artist who dreams of getting a series in Weekly Shonen Jump. One day, he gets a copy of Jump from ten years in the future. Is it all a coincidence, or is it fate? Whatever the case, destiny is about to change… Time warps! Destinies intersected! For a tomorrow that was never meant to be! The future of Jump is here!“
While the story begins with a young mangaka trying to make it as a Manga Creator and having it published in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, it has a similar feeling of nostalgia involving another series that involved a creator trying to make it in the Weekly Shonen Jump, all of a sudden lightning strikes and suddenly a Shonen Jump magazine from the future pops out from the smoke and debris of what was once his microwave. Teppi Sasaki faced rejection frequently, much to the point that he was going to quit all together until that moment, his worries were over he had thought when discovering the story White Knight created by Itsuki Aino. The beginning of this series shows the inner workings of how Shonen Jump, and other manga publishers, operate behind the scenes, while it also gives the audience a glimpse of what it takes and the challenges that a mangaka takes on to make their dream a reality.
Writer Kenji Ichima does a good job of helping the reader understand what goes on in the Manga Industry, the one nitpick I have about this was that the story in most places including the ending was rushed and ruins the tone of the severity in Teppei’s decision of plagiarizing Itsuki’s work, the possibility of Itsuki’s death, and to make amends for what he had done. Introducing the idea of time travel is something that most people would say for a story like this is an odd fit but since most of the Shōnen Manga and Stories you read today has that element of Science Fiction or Fantasy, it is in the line of Supernatural. It didn’t need larger than life battles, enemies, and heroes that were overpowered; the lesson to this is not to plagiarize or take credit for another Creator’s work or artwork. Since we’ve discussed and praised Kenji’s work, it’s time to go over Tsunehiro Date’s artwork. Tsunehiro’s pencilwork and detail is a perfect fit for this Supernatural tale, it reminds me of their previous work, Tokyo Wonder Boys.
Final Grade:
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