News:Kōji Kumeta Launches New Manga Shibuya Near Family

There is one thing, on this earth, that won’t stop amazing me. That thing is humanity’s imagination and creativity. It is with such creativity that the amazing gag manga-k; Koji Kumeta launches his new manga named: Shibuya Near Family. This manga follows immediately after Kakushigoto: My Dad’s secret ambition ended. To all familiar with Kumeta’s works, we are clearly ready for a roller-coaster of laughter and touching scenes. That said, let’s dive into what awaits us in Koji Kumeta’s new manga.

Who is Koji Kumeta?

Koji Kumeta is known for his surrealistic gag manga. Not only does he excel in funny settings, but he also packs in much lively emotions. This was much seen in Kakushigoto, where we follow a dad trying to hide from his only daughter that he is an artist. We follow a father-daughter love tale (really smooth, not extravagant, but just wholesome).

The heartwarming Kakushigoto

Kakushigoto actually has a double mean. It could mean a secret or also a work of drawing. Koji Kumeta exploited this double meaning as a champ. The main character Kakushi Gotou (in short Gotou sensei) is a man who makes a living by creating ecchi manga. He tries by all possible means to keep that a secret from his daughter since she is still a child. As Kumeta is true to himself, Kakushi is presented as a jolly and humorous guy. As we all know, in most cases, parenting a child as a single parent is never funny. Most of the time we are shown it in a dark and moody manner. But Kakushigoto is lively, funny, heartwarming, and very light hearted (the trademarks of Koji Kumeta).

The manga Kakushigoto was published in 2015 and an anime inspired by the manga aired in 2020. If you want to read the manga but don’t know where you can check these free websites. If you want to watch anime, these are some free websites too. 

Koji Kumeta’s New Manga

So, after Kakushigoto, the artist, Koji Kumeta presents us with his recent work known as Shibuya Near family. A really simple idea of showing off one of the most renowned tourist spots in the world. He uses 3rd-grade school kids to make every reader get the “Shibuya feel”. The main character is Toka Itsuko, a little girl, who with her classmates and unorthodox teacher shall make each reader discover what makes Shibuya, Shibuya. Of course, the discovery shall clearly be full of very funny moments. A new super short serialization that serves as an introduction was published on October 20th.

Shibuya Near Family

Just peeping into the super short serialization of the new manga already tells you how things will be and what mood to expect. Not only will you visit Shibuya with some kids, additionally, but there are also a lot of things to learn. We get to learn how the Japanese economy functions, and how Japan’s economic explosion led the country to transition from a feudal society to a major industrial power.

We also get to know how Shibuya actively contributes to Japan’s economy, its average population, congestion hours etc. All this adventurous tour of Shibuya through a bunch of kids. Generally, we would expect a little bit of seriousness when presenting such an area. But nope, with Koji Kumeta laughter is 24/24hrs. We sometimes say that learning without playing makes Jack a dull boy, this new manga is seriously putting that into practice. 

Shibuya Near Family announced in this year’s 48th issue of Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine that the only thing one can say is we are hyped to feel the ‘Shibuya feel’. 

Another way of visiting Shibuya

But seriously speaking, if you want to make a serious topic look very serious but yet funny, forward the issue to Koji Kumeta. How can someone do a manga on Shibuya and still succeeds in rendering it funny (with a lot of knowledge in it by the way)? So, one could take a topic like global warming or famine and send it to the guy and he will lay us a very funny manga on it (Just kidding though)

That hits the spot concerning Koji Kumeta’s new manga. This manga aims at giving us a fun way of discovering the surroundings of Shibuya. How the citizens interact, their daily spices and quirks. This shall be another childish but yet lively adventure. . . So, to all my comedy manga lovers, get your hopes very high for you will not face disappointment. One thing that is certain is that the feeling around it is just too Shibuya. 

Discovering Shibuya is great, but for tourism, you could also check 10+ Amazing Places To Visit In Tokyo 2021