Shonen Jump tackles the harsh realities of bullying in brutal new comic
"The Death of the Ichinose House" has nothing to do with bullying, but its graphic depiction draws attention to its presence and influence in Japanese youth culture.
Warning: This contains SPOILERS for The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins
While the new Shonen Jump manga series The Fatal Sins of the Ichinose Family is ostensibly about uncovering the secret lives of family members after horrific accidents, so far the story has focused on addressing the unfortunate common problems of teenage school life, namely Bullying.
"The Death of the Ichinose House" by Taizen5 didn't start out in the way of a traditional manga. The story opens with Ichinose recovering in the hospital after their vehicle is thrown off the road in a horrific car accident. On the one hand, the family members feel lucky that their bodies were only slightly injured. However, by some strange coincidence, all members including grandparents, parents and children have completely lost their memory, not only forgetting the cause of the accident, but more importantly, their individual and collective identities. Back home, it's revealed that despite their good natures, each has a secret that they're not the best of people. The debut mystery makes for an interesting "hook" to keep readers interested in figuring out who Ichinose is and what they did.
Although subsequent chapters begin to unravel the Ichinoses, especially the story of his son Tsubasa, is also clear that Taizen5 intends his story to be more than just another manga series out of touch with reality. By focusing on exposing Tsubasa's "capital sin" and the reason why he plastered the Chinese character "死" on the walls of his room, Taizen5 introduces a topic in the story that most of its target audience, teenage boys and young men, can relate to . While it's no surprise that comics feature bullying as a theme, this series takes things a little differently. It forms a key element of Tsubasa's relationship with his sworn enemy Nakajima, and as such may well be at the heart of his personal mystery.
In Combating Bullying, Knowing Is Half the Battle
The Ichinose Family is not just another plot point, but explores theme quite extensively. The bullying included Tsubasa having food, trash and rotten milk thrown at him by Nakajima, as well as him wearing clothes that indicated he was an idiot, and engaging in various humiliating acts, all without the teacher noticing going on, despite the fact that most of what happened was posted online. It's brutal treatment that breaks the heart of even the hardiest of people, let alone teenagers. the details Describing bullying shows that it's not just part of the story. In fact, it's the main story in four chapters.
There are a number of reasons why Taizen5 might want to focus on bullying in Shonen Jump's The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins. He probably wanted to draw attention to it as a problem in Japanese youth culture. He might also want to call attention to the variety of ways it behaves. The bullying described rarely takes the form of more traditional notions of bullying involving physical violence. Another possible cause of concern could be mental health. Both Tsubasa and Nakajima have resorted to bullying due to stress in their lives. Even though there's no specific reason for the story to include bullying, readers and fans can't help but notice it. This exposure will at least help others understand how bullying affects both victims and perpetrators. In The Death of the Ichinose House, Teenage Jump reveals the common ways bullying hurts and how friendship can help overcome it.
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