Kunigei: Ookuni Daigaku Geijutsu Gakubu Eiga Gakka (Kunigei: Okuni University Art Department Film Program) is the new title offered by the Manga Plus platform. In this powerful story we meet our protagonist Daisuke Kagami, a lover of the seventh art who enters to study in a school focused on this world in order to fulfill his long-awaited dream: to become a film director.
Color page of Kunigei the recent addition to Manga Plus
On May 25, 2024, through the official Manga Plus Twitter/X account, it was announced that the platform would add a new manga to its extensive catalog, available in multiple countries around the world. Kunigei is managed by Yosuke Takano, who is in charge of both writing the story and bringing the plot to life through the illustrations, found in the manga, which invite us to empathize with this exciting work.
Yosuke Takano has already worked on other projects during his career as a mangaka, including “Too Young, Too Adult” and “Namagomi”. However, “Kunigei” is his first series, currently published in the magazine “Shounen Jump +” and available for reading in Manga Plus, being important to note that the work is currently only translated into English.
The first chapter of Kunigei consists of 56 pages, including two color pages at the beginning of the work. The translation is in charge of Andrew Tyrrell, while Chris N. is in charge of the edition and Pero Cunha of the typographical design. According to the information provided on the same page where the series is being published, the next chapter will be available on June 8, and each new chapter will be issued every two weeks.
Throughout this first chapter, the author introduces us to Daisuke Kagami, a protagonist with a predilection for cinema, who enrolls in an art school in order to become a future film director. When his teacher presents all his students with the task of making a short film, Daisuke puts all his efforts into doing the best possible job, however, he is then confronted with reality: the harsh comments of the judges showed him that he still has a lot to learn.
In contrast to him, we are introduced to Kado Osawa, his classmate, who unlike our protagonist has an innate talent for the seventh art, generating different emotions in the short film presented. This contributes to Daisuke’s breakdown, which makes him question the type of films he consumes, the art in cinema, the emotions that a film can generate to the viewer, initiating his search for what he really wants to express.
The first chapter has had a solid reception from readers who expressed their feelings about the work with comments on the same platform. Some of them are: “Emotional Damage: The Manga”, “Solid first chapter”, “The premise reminds me of Tenmaku Cinema, I miss that manga”, “Oh wow, this manga really gets it. I’m so excited to see where it goes, by the way the director on page 42 is Takeshi Kitano and the movie is Sonatine!”, among others, so this story will have a lot to offer with the next installments.
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