“There were so many eyes on me”: Kagurabachi Author was Terrified to Create New Chapters After Overnight Stardom and We Don’t Blame Him
Kagurabachi quickly became the most popular series on Manga Plus by Shueisha within a week of its debut, surpassing even well-known titles with anime adaptations and reaching over 100 million views. Kagurabachi really created history in the manga industry.
Until now, there wasn’t a manga that has got this amount of recognition in its early stage. Kagurabachi barely missed reaching the top position on Manga Plus, which was still impressive. Even the manga’s creator, Hokazono Takeru, was shocked by how quickly his work gained such popularity.
Hokazono Takeru on Early Sucess of Kagurabachi
In an exclusive interview with Asahi Shimbun, Hokazono Takeru celebrated the release of volume 2 and the success of Kagurabachi. When he was asked about how he felt when he saw his manga getting so popular with just one chapter, Takeru responded that he was initially scared.
He felt that there were suddenly so many eyes on him that he was terrified to even create a new chapter each week. However, as the series was being enjoyed by more and more people, he felt happy about it.
“Hokazono: I was scared at first. Suddenly there were so many eyes on me, that I was terrified to even make a new chapter each week. But more and more people are enjoying the series, so I’m happy.” –Interview with Takeru Hokazono on Japanese National newspaper.
Takeru must have felt a lot of pressure because he didn’t want to disappoint his new viewers, and he likely never expected his manga to become so popular so quickly. Getting this amount of success in an early stage of the career is a big thing in the manga industry.
For those who don’t know, Hokazono Takeru was born in Osaka prefecture in 2000. When was 20 years old, he got a runner-up award in the Tezuka Awards in 2020 for his one-shot manga, Enten. Later in September 2023, his new manga, Kagurabachi was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, which received a massive success with just one chapter.
The Reason Behind Kagurabachi’s Popularity
Whenever a new manga gets introduced in the Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine lineup, Shueisha releases the first look of that manga. When they released Kagurabachi’s first look, manga readers got really excited about it.
The excitement took an author route, where people started comparing it with other manga art styles (mainly Boruto) before it was even released. People started creating memes about it, which helped it to get further recognition.
So, when Kagurabachi’s first chapter finally came out, people were eager to see what all the excitement was about. Since the first chapter of the manga was well made, they were impressed by the quality, which led to its growing popularity.
You can read Kagurabachi’s latest three chapters for free on Manga Plus’s website.
