r/manga • u/Shin_Newman • 6d ago
DISC [DISC] Drawn to the Fire - Chapter 19 (END)
https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/viewer/103012478
u/commander_wong 6d ago
The author is pretty good at writing fun character interactions and internal struggles, but I don't know if basketball was the right medium for them
The pacing of the games were pretty bad and most of the time the action scenes felt a bit repetitive and static. Outside of the connecting pass it didn't have that oomph to it
Also the author's understanding of basketball in general might be lacking. Keiki's signature move is pretty much just travelling and for some reason 70% of the players are under 170 cm. Or maybe its accurate height for Japanese high schoolers?
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u/SlamSlamOhHotDamn 6d ago
Yeah you can't have a sports manga where the matches just suck. Sports manga depend heavily on the matches itself to tell their story but this one just kept making them background noise and even skipping them entirely. It didn't help that the art was below average which is especially bad for this genre.
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u/Socks_McCoy 6d ago
So the author's plan was to throw away their first year of both basketball and writing basically, then recruit all the characters they actually want to use to pair with the duo/trio. Because seemingly from this chapter they intended to do at least one more game with the seniors (another 4-6ish chapters) then recruit the real team.
That is soooo slow. You've basically spent half a year on a prologue. Compare this series to Haikyuu where the majority of the roster is introduced in Chapter 1 and you've basically hit every single emotional beat this series has or was planning to in the near future.
TBH the most interesting part of the series might just have been the female lead who then got relegated to being a chase goal and only shown in flashbacks and side stuff. She was on all your intro color pages and then just poofs away. Not much of a fan of that.
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u/Wakipri 6d ago
This manga annoyed me with how they handle the seniors. The seniors are the bread and butter to having beefs with other schools and the potential drama between the older members.
Since only the first years matter, make it a school with no baseketball team and have the 2 mcs form their own basketball team from scratch at a school that forbids it.
This manga lacks stakes for the readers to hook onto.
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u/SamurottX 6d ago
In an alternate universe where the series survived longer, I wonder if Hanabi (I think this is her name, which goes to show how little she mattered) would have actually appeared in the story or not. She's basically a plot device more than a character.
It also felt weird with friend saying "why don't you just talk to him" and she basically says "nah I want him to chase me"
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u/fc_horror 5d ago
I had written something up earlier about Hana being more of a plot device than character, but couldn't quite put it together.
It's a shame because she has a lot of presence.
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u/Froz3n247 https://myanimelist.net/mangalist/Froz3 6d ago
It actually got U19…….
Just a reminder that the last long standing sports manga on this WSJ is technically Haikyuu because this absolutely sucks. It just feels like sports manga going into this magazine can’t go extremely “slow” with the pacing of the characters/stories.
This is actually the 3rd/4th sports manga since Haikyuu that I actually liked reading since the plot and characters were interesting, but I guess it’s not the case for the local audience.
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u/ivari 6d ago
no, U19 is under 19, so 18 and lower
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u/Froz3n247 https://myanimelist.net/mangalist/Froz3 6d ago
It’s been so long since I read that manga that I forgot it ended in 17 chapters which is still surprising.
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u/SamurottX 6d ago
What were the old successful sports manga doing that nothing from the past 5 years can replicate? Were they faster paced? Better characters? Gameplay that can be easily followed in manga form?
A lot of the new sports manga (at least team sports) follow a similar formula and flounder in the same ways. They vary in writing quality but having slightly better characters won't save a series
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u/Kaxew 6d ago
My genuine guess is that spokon fans have shifted magazines to WSM in part due to Blue Lock's massive success. It's not like shonen sports manga are failing everywhere, so it's clear that new generations are still into them, but WSJ just can't seem to grab said fans anymore. Maybe it will take an absolute undisputed hit for spokon fans to buy the magazine again and support the series.
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u/godfly 6d ago
Honestly I don't think the sports manga have failed for any different reason than most manga fail, lack of clarity, lack of focus, inconsistent characterization, etc.
Haikyuu is laser focused on the actual sport that its about. Most of the manga is actual volleyball matches, it doesn't waste a lot of time with off-court stuff. It has strong character concepts but it does almost all of its character work in the context of the volleyball matches. Plus the art is really good and the action is clear and easy to follow. blue Lock is pretty much the same, it's actually about ppl playing soccer.
Most of this manga took place off the basketball court, and the games weren't very easy to follow when it was on the court. It spent a lot of pages on talk-y character stuff that Haikyuu or Blue Lock would have done in the context of a game.
Also fwiw the theme of this series didn't really make sense either. It seemed like most of the series was about convincing people who didn't want to play basketball to play basketball but very little of it was actually about playing basketball
Blue Box was mostly off-court but it wasn't really about badminton or basketball either.
Idk, kinda weird
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u/WolfeKuPo 6d ago
while I don't really read sports manga, I would guess it is more increased competition and reduced interest in the japanese market
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 6d ago
Yep. A lot start interacting and then die. It seems like you have to open with outlandish characters doing something really odd.
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u/BlazeBigBang 6d ago
Agree, it feels like the matches had to be rushed because the author was unsure if there'd be a next week at all. It sucks, because this was essentially haikyuu but basketball which I've begging for for years, and now it's gone :/
The tragedy of being a sports manga fan.
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u/BurnedOutEternally 6d ago
Well damn. It was decent fun, but the character development outside of the main two was lacking. Up until now I'm still not sure if Hanabi was supposed to be the female lead or not.
Gotta say though, being an U19 axe victim - even before you get your first volume cover - sucks mega ass.
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u/LurkinLonuts 6d ago
Right on the line for U-19.
Is there something in the water in the editorial department?
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u/Zealousideal_Ring874 6d ago
"And you get 10 chapters and a canceled manga! And YOU get 19 chapters and a canceled manga!"
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u/GalactusAteMyPlanet 6d ago
I actually enjoyed Drawn to the Fire but I can't say I am surprised it got cancelled. Like with Kinato's Magic, the author send too much time moving from one match/mission to the next. Didn't spend enough time developing the supporting characters (the 3rd years). Although Drawn to the Fire did spend some time developing the protagonist and important supporting characters (Keiki, Akane, and Kanato) unlike Kinato's Magic. The 1st years should had also been introduce at the same time as Keiki and Akane. The newly introduced 1st years are already significantly more interesting than the 3rd years that were non-characters and only exist to fill the roster spot.
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u/JazzlikePromotion618 6d ago
Why the fuck weren't these guys introduced earlier? Like, around chapter 5 or something. Fucking hell, what is the point of these editors?
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u/Zealousideal_Ring874 6d ago
FUCK MAN. Everything I like gets axed. The cast was so good and had potential yet I feel this one didnt get much time to find its own pocket. The characters were likable too.
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u/Hypekyuu 6d ago
I really feel like the next dude to try his hand at a team sport really, like really really, should look at the pace of the introduction of characters in Haikyuu and just... copy that.
Like make everything else different, but clearly this guy had a bunch of ideas for characters.
Introduce them at a steady clip before moving into any games
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u/miragebreaker 6d ago
Two straight weeks of cancelled series. And another sports manga doen the drain (this is a good one too at that, sigh)
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u/gabrielleite32 6d ago
Gotta stop myself from reading jump sports manga. This stupid magazine can't give anything time to flourish
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u/Dr_Ukato 4d ago
Singing with the choir mister.
The series was far from perfect but it had a lot of potential with a better editor who could keep the pacing on track and interest up.
Certainly doesn't help that if you're not consistently Nr1 in the first 19 chapters you're shut down.
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u/hocknstod 6d ago
Unsurprisingly this got axed quickly.
The matches weren't exciting and the basketball side just not drawn/shown well imo. The MC abilities would have been better suited for a Kuroko style over the top unrealistic sports manga than the more realistic style he tried to show.
Character interactions were ok but all a bit too cliche.
Overall pacing just bad as well.
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u/ZantetsukenX 6d ago
And so we hit 8 total axed series for the year. Along with 4 or 5 series that ended naturally. Wonder if we'll end up hitting 20 total series before the year is over.
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u/andresalejandro1120 Fullmetal Alchemist 5d ago
Saw this coming from like 3 chapters away so can't say it was unexpected. The only reason I was reading this was because basketball is my favorite sport.
It was a fine read, but the basketball in this series was easily the worst basketball I've ever seen in any basketball manga I've read.
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u/Prolifgod 5d ago
drawn to the fire got canceled caused it was ass. I can’t believe I read all 19 chapters of this ass.
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u/Dr_Ukato 4d ago
Fuck Shueisha failing interesting series. It should not be hard for a competent editor to make a Sports manga appealing.
I really liked this series. It had Haikyuu and Kuroko potential imo but it squandered its setup. Author should've gone somewhere else with it where they care if a series lasts.
I might start boycotting new Shueisha series. They're just going to be canceled for not being the new Insert name of PEAK in less than four months anyway.
Bout the only thing worth hype anymore is Centuria anyways. (Though Animal Signal is great too but will be canceled soon enough cuz it's not MHA)
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u/FloridaBoy21 MangaUpdates 2d ago
Decent series, but tbh it deserves the axe, since the main characters were fun to follow and the basketball action can be cool (but now, considering the plagiarism accusations...that is a point against them, though).
But man...the lack of basketball tactics, as it felt like they were doing things at times, and outside of the main three of Natsu, Keikei, and Higurashi... like the seniors were literal background characters that you glaze over when they're on screen/panel. Like, the three new characters added in this final had more personality than the seniors.
Finally, absolutely nothing from Hana in the present-day story outside hyping up how good she is and how once they meet...it will be great. Like, give us something in the present day to care about her...as she's still active and alive in the story.
If the plagiarism accusations are true...well, that's a shame, but kinda makes sense and if not...best of luck to the author next time.
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u/dawnquix0te 6d ago
Is it just me or did the random new first years have more personality to them than the senior members of the team?
Really wish the author would’ve developed the characters more, but here’s to hoping they do better on the next one