Legendary Jump Manga Revived: 69-Year-Old Artist Reveals Comeback Secrets

Have you killed some people?

In the 1980s, Weekly Shonen Jump featured masterpieces like DRAGON BALL, Hokuto no Ken, and Captain Tsubasa. Among them, one series stood out for its hard world-building and gained popularity.

In this story, enemy characters never turn into allies, and even the protagonists are mercilessly killed. The protagonist hunts down villains who stop at nothing with extreme evil—Black Angels. The author, Shinji Hiramatsu, made his debut with Doberman Deka. Black Angels became a massive hit with a total of 8 million copies sold, and many works that continued its world were created.

Now, Black Angels are being revived in the present day!? A reporter who caught wind of this visited Hiramatsu’s home.

“I’ve killed a few people, right? That’s the image everyone has when they come to see me. But I’m not black at all, actually (laughs). I don’t gamble, I don’t drink alcohol. If I cheated, my wife would divorce me immediately, so I have no problems with women, and I don’t associate with bad people either.”

The veteran manga artist, who turned 70 in August, smiled as he said this. His home and workspace are piled high with past works.

“I was actually asked to create a Reiwa version of Black Angels as a vertical scroll manga, and I’m supervising it. What would happen if we combined the crimes evolved through digital technology with Black Angels? I’m looking forward to it myself.”

The story is written by scriptwriter Midori Sato, with art by J-MANGA CREATE Studio. J-MANGA CREATE, founded in 2022 by gal manga artist Britney Hamada and others, is planning to create various projects with other manga artists, according to Hamada.

Hiramatsu, who is supervising the project, focuses on not saying unnecessary things. However, there were parts he couldn’t compromise on.