Weekly Shonen Jump snubbing Ken Wakui before Tokyo Revengers makes Astro Royale's success hilarious

Tokyo Revengers and Astro Royale manga author Ken Wakui seems to be the topic of discussion among fans ever since his latest work was released. The manga author shot to fame when Tokyo Revengers received an anime adaptation, becoming quite successful after the first season was released. However, the popularity of the manga as well as people’s perception of the series deteriorated as the story progressed.

The manga author now seems to have a new opportunity to shine, with his latest manga series - Astro Royale. The previous manga title was published by Kodansha, but his latest work is currently being published by Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump.

Interestingly, Ken Wakui’s comments in a recent interview with HYDE highlighted his past experience with Shueisha, which the fanbase found to be quite hilarious.

Tokyo Revengers’ manga author was snubbed by Weekly Shonen Jump prior to Astro Royale, as per the interview with HYDE

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Even before Ken Wakui started working on what is now considered his magnum opus, he was working on various other projects and even reportedly sent them to Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump. However, he was rejected by the manga publication because they weren’t particularly happy with the art style and also asked him to pick a subject and setting that was close to the line of work he was in.

This information was revealed by Ken Wakui during his interview with HYDE. In the interview, the manga author went on to explain about his early life in great detail.

At the time, Ken Wakui was working in the nightlife industry. He was a scout, which meant that he was a young man who recruited women to work in the adult industry.

Following Shueisha's advice, he decided to draw something that he could relate to, while working on his art style as well. Thus, Shinjuku Swan was born. While many might not know about this manga series, it was this title that got the ball rolling for him.

The main character of Ken Wakui's latest work that is being published by Shueisha (Image via Shueisha)

Kodansha, the popular manga publication company, took note of his work and decided to publish it. This put Ken Wakui on the map and members of the animanga community began to take note of his works. In light of this, it is interesting how Ken Wakui has experienced somewhat of a full circle moment, now that Astro Royale is being published by Shueisha, the same company that initially rejected Wakui for his art style.

However, this is quite ironic given the sheer difference in the quality of art style seen in Shinjuku Swan and his latest work.

While the two manga titles have very different art styles, Shinjuku Swan was quite interesting since his rendering skills were far better. Meanwhile, Astro Royale looks exactly like the Tokyo Revengers series, and it certainly isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing shonen manga title at the moment.

However, Wakui's latest manga series’ success is astronomical. It is currently ranking higher than the likes of Kagurabachi.

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It certainly is an interesting trend that we’re looking at, because Ken Wakui’s works prior to the Tokyo Revengers series genuinely seemed better, at least as far as art style is concerned. Despite that, Shueisha is publishing his current work, where the art style isn’t even as pleasing as his older works, which the publication house had rejected back in the day.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2024 progresses.

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