Summary
Due to the hiatus that Detective Trap took, a lot of the new popularity gained for the series was lost, with other detective titles becoming popular in Shounen Jack. At the same time, Crow’s popularity is boosted with an anime series, with Otters 11 being slated to do the same. At the next serialization meeting, it turns out that both Hideout Door and Detective Trap have been cancelled.
Impression
…Ugh, what a depressing episode. While I knew that Trap’s popularity would have taken a hit after Mashiro’s hiatus, I didn’t think it was so bad to the point that it dropped to 15th in the rankings, with only Hideout Door beneath them. Obviously the warning given to both series didn’t work too well, as Aoki didn’t want to twist her plot any more than it already was, and Ashirogi Muto weren’t willing to add battle scenes. However Aoki was perfectly happy with going back to shoujo stuff, while for Mashiro and Takagi, it must be really hard on them to have their series suddenly cancelled – and Mashiro must be feeling loads of guilt right now.
What both cancelled series have in common is that they’re both manga in Shounen Jack, that’re arguably without shounen elements – battles being one of them. While shounen titles like SKET Dance have a lack of battles too, the fact is that following mainstream stuff when you’re first starting out as a new mangaka is probably the best way to get people reading your manga. Trap did have a shounen feel to it, but it was the hiatus coupled with strong rivals that brought it down. Oh, and maybe recycled mysteries with no development, though I can’t guarantee that.
One thing I felt was particularly harsh was Niizuma’s reaction to Fukuda calling him. I distinctly remember back in the first season, when all the aspiring serializations had a meeting together to try and help out each other’s series for improvement. Fukuda was willing to help out Ashirogi Muto, but I was really surprised how Niizuma refused completely, reasoning it to being survival of the fittest. Well, I guess it would be to his advantage if other popular series were cancelled, since some of that readership would go to him.
Other series maintained their popularity, especially Crow, which got an anime! Seriously, they should make some of these real, I’d love to watch them as proper series instead of as an anime within an anime. Titles like that new detective series and the one made by Mashiro’s assistant are definitely future rivals to watch out for, as are Nakai’s future works, with or without Aoki.
Count on Azuki to cheer Mashiro up, right at the very end! They’ll be trying out a different genre now if I’m not mistaken, a gag manga perhaps?