Another shonen manga has been deemed worthy to become an anime—but this one’s different from the rest.
During its Emerald City Comic-Con panel, Viz Media announced an adaptation of Tsuyoshi Takaki’s 2016 shonen Black Torch from 100studio and director Kei Umabiki (Quality Assurance in Another World). The series stars Jiro Azuma, a teen ninja that can talk to animals. After rescuing a cat that’s actually an evil spirit (or mononoke) named Rago of the Black Star of Doom, Jiro is killed by Rago’s attackers, prompting the cat to save him by fusing their souls together. Before they can fully come to terms with their new situation, the pair are conscripted by the Bureau of Espionage to go out and kill even more mononoke emerging throughout the city.
Sounds cool, right? The interesting part is that Black Torch ended back in 2018 with 19 chapters spread across five collected volumes. That’s not usually how Viz and the shonen anime scene really operate—over the past decade, whateever’s popular right that moment (or comes from a big name creator) jumps to the small screen. It’s a curious shakeup to the adaptation formula, but not unwelcome. The anime will likely help get more eyes on Black Torch, and opens the door for other short-lived stories to get a day in the sun, even if only for a little while.
The Black Torch doesn’t have a release date yet, but Takaki did draw Jiro and Rago together to celebrate the announcement, which you can see below.
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