Act-age

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Japanese: アクタージュ act-age

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 12

Chapters: 123

Status: Discontinued

Published: Jan 22, 2018 to Aug 11, 2020

Genre: Drama

Themes: Performing Arts, Showbiz

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Matsuki, Tatsuya (Story), Usazaki, Shiro (Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.23¹ (scored by 15,301 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #394²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #322

Members: 49,950

Favorites: 1,712

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Wikipedia

8.23

Ranked #394Popularity #322Members 49,950

MangaShounen Jump (Weekly)Matsuki, Tatsuya (Story), Usazaki, Shiro (Art)

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Volumes: /12

Chapters: /123

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Synopsis

Ever since she was a child, Kei Yonagi has been attracted to the idea of acting, as she has always attentively watched how actions and emotions differ depending on the type of character portrayed. Now a teenager, she is broke, and is the only one able to financially support her young siblings. She starts auditioning for any role possible, without much success.

Her luck begins to change when Sumiji Kuroyama, a renowned director, sees Yonagi's performance and is amazed by her ability to immerse herself in the role—the so-called method acting. Although she is a diamond in the rough, if she keeps using the same technique over and over, it could lead to her being severely damaged. So, he makes the decision to help polish her, giving Yonagi the opportunity she needs. However, the road ahead of her is far from easy, and she will need to adapt to overcome the various challenges that come her way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

As a part of the JUMP START initiative, the first three chapters of Act-age were published in English in VIZ Media's digital Weekly Shonen Jump on the same day as the Japanese release.

The series was discontinued after the arrest of storywriter Tatsuya Matsuki on August 8, 2020.

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Related Manga

Prequel:

Asagaya Geijutsu Koukou Eizou-ka e Youkoso

More characters
Characters

Yonagi, Kei

Main

Kuroyama, Sumiji

Main

Momoshiro, Chiyoko

Supporting

Myoujin, Araya

Supporting

Hoshi, Akira

Supporting

Sanzaka, Nanao

Supporting

Yamanoue, Hanako

Supporting

Oogami, Riku

Supporting

Karasuyama, Takemitsu

Supporting

Iwao, Yuujirou

Supporting

Reviews

Aug 10, 2020

moozooh

Recommended

Act-age was one of the most promising series in Weekly Shonen Jump throughout 2019 and 2020, and one of my personal favorites alongside One Piece and Chainsaw Man.

It really was a head-turner in many ways: a colorful, female-heavy cast, unconventional topic, plenty of quality character drama, unusual art, no forced romance or any sort of physical fights as a means to move the plot forward—and at the same time it dutifully adhered to the basic shonen sensibilities, such as rivalry and continuous progress on the path towards fulfilling a grand ambition. It was, to use a term coined in Bakuman, an excellent example of a ...

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Aug 14, 2020

Xenosaiyan

Recommended

Lets get this straight from the beginning. This story is NOT a masterpiece, nor will I EVER call it a masterpiece.

Act-Age is something much more than a masterpiece.

Act-Age is... unique. Something I never would have guessed I'd call a manga.

This is not a manga to be read casually. In fact, if you enjoy reading manga casually, then do NOT read this manga. That's my warning. This is something that WILL change you, no matter how much you try to prevent it from doing so.

The characters shine brightly, in ways I've never seen before. This is such a complex build up and breakdown of a character, ...

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Jan 2, 2020

deadoptimist

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (20/123 eps)

After multiple recommendations I expected so much more. Now, a level of immaturity is ok and it can even be endearing in shounen, but in characters, not in the plot. And that’s what is reversed here – the main character is shown as unrealistically proficient, and the narrative is annoyingly juvenile in tone.

The idea is great – by god, I want more more shounen not about hitting people in the face and shounen with female leads. The world of a budding actress seems to be an exciting setting for a manga. Talent agencies, auditions, TV, cinema, theater, musicals, their energy, color, variety, beauty, and the ... many different people working, living, visiting there - such a wealth of situations to explore! There’s also the underlying idea that diving too much in other personalities may be damaging for the unprepared, but others may be eager to exploit the burning unsafe talent, which is an enticing conflict.

Too bad that this particular manga is set in a different universe, where method acting is a rare arcane knowledge and acting standards are low, so our heroine who’s stumbled on the mystery of “you can call forth your emotional memory to act better” is a messiah. Despite having no training or any, even amateur acting experience. No respect for the ol’Stanislavski. The way acting mastery is treated here seriously reeks of super-powers. Later it improves with the appearance of mentors, but she is a gem from the start, which they just reverently slightly polish.

Too bad that this manga is hell bent on ridiculous aggrandizing of the heroine. At one point about 10 pages are dedicated to people on the streets discussing how gorgeous, balanced and fast she is when she runs past them. People praising her in their heads comprises roughly 25% of the text in this manga. Her only fault is being too focused on acting and maybe leaning on her past experience too much, so they teach her to be more expressive and fake. The rest of the cast is rather one-note, and while it seems to change a bit later, Act-age is still by far not a battle of personalities. Plus most of stronger personalities come in the form of quirky teenage misunderstood world-class geniuses, which our heroine cracks open.

Too bad that the situations depicted are unrealistic. The protagonist rears two small siblings on her own, with not much on-screen work dedicated to it aside from “the adorable family she fights for”. All kinds of barriers are broken by others for her sake – she gets a metric gigaton of special attention. At one point in the beginning she gets “kidnapped” for the comedic effect, brought to a filming studio and when asked to act she agrees. (As I’ve mentioned the best way to somehow connect to this manga is treating it as happening in a separate universe, where human trafficking for porn doesn’t happen.)

There’s just way too many false notes in Act-age for enjoyment. It’s not like it’s THAT unique – there is Kasane, Skip Beat!, idol drama manhwa.

Two things I am willing to give to this manga’s writing though are the fact that our heroine is not made to act stereotypically girly, her gender, refreshingly, doesn’t come up much at all, and that the quirkiness in her and other characters is shown to be ok – they are not judged for being passionately weird. Actually, there isn’t many bad people in the cast, they are simply different, which is also fresh.

The art is decent – the linework is clean, readable and pretty. The art is very character focused, most frames contain faces with screentones, later on backgrounds start to be more elaborate, but they never develop personalities. I’d call it very nice, pleasant and well-made, but not unique or outstanding.

That’s what the whole manga is actually – Act-age isn’t a breakthrough, like it was advertised to me, sadly. The relatively fresh main topic falls flat because of the superficial writing, especially glaring in the context of many great dramatic works set in the world of cinema/theater/showbusiness. When you think about a raising actress you expect rivals, high stakes, painful growth, sacrifices, dealing with public image, complicated relationships. Almost none of this is shown here properly – the heroine just breaks through everything, everyone gets amazed and eager to help her. It’s irritating to read through, and Act-age offers nothing for counterbalance – no special characters, no special art, no special narrative tricks. As such, I commend Act-age for what it has tried to do and concur that some readers may enjoy it, but I am disappointed in it and won’t advise it to people.

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Recent News

Weekly Shounen Jump Cancels 'Act-age' Serialization

The editorial department of Weekly Shounen Jump announced on Monday that the serialization of Act-age has been cancelled. The chapter appearing in the combined 36th ...read more

Aug 10, 2020 3:24 AM by Vindstot | Discuss (114 comments)

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Jul 7, 2020 3:39 PM by ImperfectBlue | Discuss (0 comments)

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Recent Forum Discussion

Fanmade epilogue ending of Act-age johnknight649 - Nov 22, 2023	8 replies	by Haigen »» Feb 22, 5:53 PM
It's been two years... zkl_ - Aug 10, 2022	14 replies	by kfmc »» Aug 16, 2023 11:51 PM
Poll: Act-age Chapter 123 Discussion Kuma - Aug 11, 2020	35 replies	by TheFalconZ21 »» Jul 20, 2023 11:59 AM
Poll: Act-age Chapter 40 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 29, 2018	4 replies	by TheFalconZ21 »» Jul 19, 2023 2:42 PM
Do you think this manga can be revived/continued? Shafwan_Dito - May 28, 2023	4 replies	by Swagernator »» Jun 20, 2023 8:40 AM

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