Kagurabachi becomes the “new GOAT of manga” thanks to the power of memes
zactun/SHUEISHAKagurabachi seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular manga in the world with its debut chapter, and a huge part of that popularity has come from fans meme-ing the manga on Twitter and other social media.
Though the market for anime and manga has grown exponentially over the past few decades, standing out as a mangaka is truly a tall order in the modern age.
Even for series good enough to get a trial run in Shonen Jump, their fate is not guaranteed. A spot in the seminal manga magazine doesn’t always come with a long life cycle.
However, it’s rare that a manga’s debut evokes such a strong community response like Kagurabachi’s has. Its popularity soared over most other manga all the way to the number 5 spot on Manga Plus, and it’s mostly due to the power of memes surrounding the series.
Viral manga memes its way to a “Kagurabachillion” readers
As much as it’s fun to try and predict viral trends and what makes things popular on the internet, there are times when it’s absolutely impossible to predict why or how something becomes a hit.
Kagurabachi is one such case. The manga’s debut made it a slam dunk hit and one of the most popular manga in the world based on its first chapter alone, but much of that isn’t because of the quality of the manga itself; rather, people are invested in the memes.
It’s hard to tell whether or not people think the manga is good or not due to just how inflated its ratings have been as a result of the meme movement. The crux of the joke is that it’s the “new GOAT of manga” and that it’s the absolute peak of Shonen despite… well, not being the peak of Shonen. Not to discredit the series, it’s more a matter of Kaguarabachi only being on Chapter 2.
Despite this, the series has really taken off on its way to selling a “Kagurabachillion” copies.
It's about to make kagurabachillion dollars ‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/rQO3HaM4U6
— 🧭Manga Alerts & Restocks #uw7s🌊 (@MangaAlerts) September 18, 2023
Kagurabachi has already been bizarrely Frankenstein-ed in with other meme trends new and old. For instance, the good ol’ “Morbin Time” meme has come back with a vengeance as “It’s Kaguarabachin’ Time!”, with some images showing his face photoshopped on top of Might Guy’s body.
It’s Kagura Bachin Time! pic.twitter.com/ealNMrfGDl
— Victory Reviews (@Vyreviews94) September 23, 2023
Meanwhile, Kagurabachi has had an odd correlation with the Japanese McDonald’s ad that’s been going viral lately where the main character of the manga looks eerily similar to the father in the ad.
And, in just a short week after Kagurabachi’s debut, Aleks Le, the voice actor for Luke in Street Fighter 6 and many other roles in gaming, lent his voice to an animation created by TikTok user zactun. Things have come full circle here to create some really awesome content.
“The new GOAT of manga! With only one chapter,” one Twitter user joked. Or maybe it’s not a joke? It’s hard to say at this point considering how many layers of irony there are here, but one thing’s for sure: Kagurabachi’s unusual debut has made it an overnight hit.
