Undead Unluck

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Rough ecchi beginning to one of the most unique and brilliant stories I've read in shounen. The first 10 chapters are a good introduction to the pacing, world, and power system, but they're a piss-poor guide to how the characters will develop over the course of the story. I genuinely feel sad for anyone who dropped UxU off the intro, but I guess I can't blame them if they don't know better, because it really has some uncomfortable moments. 174 chapters later, though, it's easily one of my favorite stories of all time, and I'm eagerly awaiting the anime adaptation (which I sincerely hope gets ... a partially rewritten beginning).

The pacing is deranged and barely slows down until the later half of the story (which makes sense story-wise, for undisclosed reasons). The characters are all fantastic and, despite appearing to be cardboard cutouts upon introduction, get heavily expanded upon as the story progresses. Fuuko can feel like an objectified side piece to her own story at first (which is generally a major thing I hate in these kinds of things), but without getting into spoilers, she's easily become one of my favorite shounen protagonists by this point in the story, which is an impressive feat. This story will evolve and change in ways that are impossible for you to predict, and has some of the best and most absurd climaxes and arcs I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. As long as you can stomach the rough beginning, I would seriously, seriously recommend checking this one out. If you like ridiculous, over-the-top batshit insane stories that don't take themselves too seriously but can still throw some heavy emotional punches when they want to, don't pass on Undead Unluck.

Incredibly creative and unique. I believe it can be the new pillar of Jump.

Powers are really cool and super unique MCs have powers that haven't really been explored in many series and they are creative in how they're used. Battles are strategic/realistic and not just a generic "I put more effort in this punch" The strategy is similar to fights like JJK or HXH.

World is vast with a cool power system. Similar to OP and MHA. Art is incredible as well.

Like hunter x hunter meets One Piece or MHA would be how I describe it.

Story takes a couple chapters to start up so give it ... a chance.

As someone who dislikes ecchi, I wasn't sure if I was gonna stick with UU or not. However, I was pleasantly surprised. After 50+ chapters, I’m here to say Undead Unluck has consistently been one of the best JUMP manga I’ve read in a while. DO NOT drop this manga if you’ve just read the first few chapters. While the first handful of chapters are rough, UU quickly drops the vast majority of the ecchi nonsense. After about 8-10 ch in, you get the start of a manga that has an incredibly well done power system, some actual good romance in a shonen, a very ... unique, unpredictable story with plenty of foreshadowing, extremely well done worldbuilding, good art that makes use well of double page spreads, and great character development.

--STORY 9/10—
I’m not gonna give a synopsis for the story since other reviews here have done that, but what I will say is that I can only describe it as a crossover of SCP, HxH, and maybe a bit of DBZ even character design wise. UU’s story is one that will take you through all sorts of unexpected arcs. While it might seem like a generic “kill God” story, it’s so much more than that. The way the mangaka uses the concepts of “Uma’s & Negators” is just brilliant, and heavily ties into the characters and how they act. UU can actually be a rather tragic tale at time, and characters you maybe didn’t care about at first could end up as faves.

The world itself basically runs on its own set of rules. Concepts like there being more than 1 language, stars in the sky, a way to tell time, even death itself may be absent at certain points in the story. The foreshadowing and worldbuilding is genuinely so amazingly done, rereading the manga can be surreal just seeing how events in the first ch can relate back to current events in the manga. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but I will say it is very good so far.

--CHARACTERS 8.5/10—
I was actually quite surprised at how UU handles its characters. It may take some time but most characters get some great character development at some point in the story with both characters on the protag and antag side getting it. The main duo of Fuuko and Andy in particular are just so well done. What starts off as a rather unorthodox pair turns into a surprisingly natural romance story. Fuuko is a great female protag, and her development from a timid, suicidal girl to a strong, passionate young lady in love wanting to save the world and others has been great so far. Andy too has had great development, tho it’s a bit more subtle and spoilerly. I will say he becomes a lot more considerate of both Fuuko and other people’s feelings over time. Both him and Fuuko have a very natural romance, and while it starts off kinda grossly as your usual ecchi gag, I assure you it becomes a heartwarming story of romance.
As for the side cast, well a lot of them have well-done backstory and development as well. There would be too many to list here, but some faves so far are Rip, “Anno Un”, and Juiz. Not ALL of them oc have development mind you, but I figure there’s def the possibility for those who don’t to get development in the future.

--ART 8.5/10—
UU is one of those rare manga that really makes use of double page spreads well. The battles in UU are very creative, and unique to look at. Using the excellent power system, the art is able to show some just amazing action moments. Character expressions are also on point too whether it’s for comedy or serious moments. Backgrounds look good for the most part, there’s a lot of variety in the areas travelled to as well. The character and creature designs are on point, and they usually relate back to each character’s power as well. There are better drawn weekly JUMP manga certainly, but it works very well here.

--ENJOYMENT 9/10—
UU is one of those manga I actually look forward to weekly. I never know where I’m going to go with this manga, but it’s consistently been very smart, interesting, and above else just pure fun. I’m not sure what else to say here other than I guess I hope you enjoy it. It’s not for everyone sure, but I’d say give it a try. I will say though if you’re about 10-12 ch. in and still don’t like it, it’s probs not for you.

For anyone on the fence or on the verge of dropping this series this is my plea to reconsider.
Undead Unluck has cemented itself as one of the most creative and thought out series in Jump in a long time. Usually I’m not one for stories that follow a certain plot device that is utilised in this series (not going to say much more to avoid spoilers) but the author has done something truly incredible by continually expanding our knowledge of the world and our rooting interests in the characters.

While I struggled at times early on to follow the systems and the many many characters introduced, ... the more I read the more I learned and the more I cared about everyone involved. It’s rare that a series can establish characters with limited page or screen time and make me empathetic or care about them but this series does that. The lead protagonist’s growth is something that also should be applauded. For those that say jump writers can’t write females well then I say Fuuko is one of the best developed characters I’ve seen. The author takes the generic power up in shonen battle manga and makes it feel deserving. Not going to say much more on this point but just say this is definitely Fuuko’s story and it is one to follow.

This is truly a gem of a series that gives more the longer you stay with it. I already can’t wait to reread this series and that’s very rare for me but it totally makes up for the early confusion I went through at the beginning. A series that can weave intricately character, plot and world building in such a carefully constructed way, feeling neither too fast paced or dragging its feet, makes this a series that needs to be recognised more. I have no doubts as to the author’s ability to finish this series right and make it one of the gold standard series that will be remembered for years and years to come.

With the recent announcement of the Anime adaptation by David Productions. I thought that it's about time I give my honest thoughts about this series that could soon potentially be a massive hit.

At first glance, this merely seems like "another" urban battle shonen genre in the current Shonen Jump lineup. You have a one dimensional, bland and perverted main character in the form of Andy and a boring pushover of a female lead in the form of Fuuko. A series filled with lackluster, perverted and overused gags with at least one censor bar in every chapter of the first two volumes (This is no ... exaggeration I promise you). In short, Undead Unluck is your average battle shonen with bland and one dimensional characters ,in a setting that offers no unique aspects that has not already been seen before, that repeat the same gags again and again every chapter.

The paragraph above is likely what your and everyone else's opinions of the series will be in the first 10 chapters or so. In fact that was my opinion as well. A lot of people drop the series from here on out.

But to those that choose to push through the next 10, next 20 and next 50 chapters after. You will witness the incredible character developments of not just our main cast, but even the side characters with their rich and emotional backstories that exudes a sense of realism befitting of a Shonen in an Urbanized setting. I cannot name a single poorly written relevant character in the series as all of them have been developed in one way or another.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The power system is one of the most creative and well thought out systems I have seen in the shonen genre. A main character having Undead powers is generic and will certainly put off people's interest. But I personally think that Andy, the main character, should be an example of how to properly write an Undead character. Every battle in the series is not only a feast for the eyes, but also a feast for the mind because of how diverse and rich this power system is.

The story begins to hit off a little later but once it does, the gears really start turning at an incredible rate. I wouldn't necessarily say that the story is as strong as the character writing of the series but it's certainly enough to keep you at the edge of your seat.

This manga is a perfect example as to why a series should not be judged from its first couple of chapters. Once the anime comes out, I am certain people will bash on the series' early stages, drop it and miss out on the amazing latter arcs. As someone who is currently reading over half of the current lineup in Shonen Jump, I am addled as to why it consistently ranks low in the rankings nowadays. Though I must admit that I'm glad to have picked up this series despite it's subpar first impression to me.

In comparison to other popular manga this has a different setting. Its not set in a world of super heroes even though the people there also have super powers, nor is it in the dark ages with fantasy elements. The story plays in the present and revolves around life and death which are also linked to the powers of the duo Fuuko and Andy. Most heroes have the goal to be the strongest but thats not their wish. They have rather very personal goals that only benefit themselves and sound rather bizarre but this wacky style is what drives the series.
The art is fantastic ... and draws parallels to Hunter X Hunter´s Phantom Troupe Phinks for Andy at least. This really rough looking face. Fuuko is meant to display a tomboyish girl and has an interesting fresh look with her jacket and cap without showing too much skin like other shows.
The characters are really the backbone of this manga. Especially Andy has such a good and edgy humour and sometimes says whats been on the minds of the readers and you think, did he just really said that?. Fuuko, the girl, also is a relatable person with the problems of many teenagers and her ability gives this dynamic between them both an original spin and incredible chemistry. The enemies are also not all one dimensional and go through some development even in this early stage.

Overall a surprising execution of a premise that first sounded to be not long lasting but proved me wrong with the world building and combat that has more depth to it than expected.

Reading this, as of now, quite short and not extremely popular manga feels like watching Lebron as a rookie.

This series is a complete breathe of fresh air. Do not judge by mediocre first chapter(s), it evolves from a mediocre gag manga with an interesting premise to qutie possibly the second (behing one piece of course...) best series in Jump. It evolves into a manga with an immensely interesting setting, incredibly unique and fresh ideas. It has the brains of Hunter x Hunter, with the cool designs of Bleach, and the unthinkably high stakes of a JRPG. And thats not even mentioning the fantastic MC ... duo/relationship of Andy/Fuuko, one of the freshest, most interesting, and cutest relationship in jump. Nothing in the manga is flat- but it does this without becoming too heady and uninteresting. Reading this- especially considering its lack of extreme popularity- feels like reading a modern classic in the making, one that is as of now going ludicrously unappreciated. If you make it past the nonplussing first few chapters and enjoy shonen even a little bit, this series has virtually anything for anybody. I cant reccomend this series enough, and with full confidence think by its end it will be spoken of amongst the likes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Hunter x Hunter, and Jojo (i shy away to compare it to One Piece, an untouchable piece of fiction by anything not named Game of Thrones, and Naruto, due to its sheer difference from Undead) as the greatest shonen of the 21st century.... This is all considering it maintains its current upwards trend in quality and doesent fizzle into nothingness like Demon Slayer or toilet dive like Food Wars or The Promised Neverland. (The art, while cartoony and stylized, is also great, and we are blessed with frequent spreadpages)

For anyone thinking about picking it up - it get's REALLY good as the chapters go on, even reaching peak fiction at one point.

It's not for everyone and the beginning will make you wanna drop it (I dropped it twice!) but if you stick with it there is a payoff later in, with interesting story twists and great character development. I'd argue that Fuuko character development is one of the best done I've seen in manga (like top 10 rather than top 3). So if you are looking for something that will be immediately good - it's not for you, but if you are looking ... for something that will reward you later on, this manga is perfect. I kinda cannot believe how much it improved later on and how interesting it got.

If the start was better I'd say its 9/10..but I kinda cannot ignore it (along with some other weird aspects in the beginning that are a bit creepy) so final score 8/10

(Review up to ch. 39, score subject to change)

I've fallen a bit out of touch with what's new in manga and anime over the past couple of years, so I decided to cop a subscription to the Weekly Shonen Jump app to get an overview of up-and-coming series. I already have a few ongoing series on my radar, but I started with Unluck x Undead at the suggestion of a friend. Sure, it's another shonen joint about eccentric, superpowered demigods, but I was intrigued by its central concept of Negation. The abilities of UxU's protagonists subvert the laws of universe, which can be a help ... or a hinderance depending on their user's creativity.

My first impression of the series was the frenetic pacing of its first few chapters, which rarely lets up. There's very little in the way of exposition and world-building, which means by the time you've reached the fifth chapter, you'll get the gist of the story, the cast, and the stakes. It's a welcome alternative to a cookie-cutter backstory and one-by-one introduction to characters, and the dynamic between protagonists Fuuko and Andy is original enough to create interest off the bat. As the pair are adults, we're spared your typical high school setting and puerile antics for a more complex relationship with romantic tension that's directly linked to their powers.

Unfortunately, because UxU never really lets off of its plot-driven gas, Fuuko and Andy feel wooden as individuals. The latter's design is generic, and his overconfident veneer is only occasionally removed via an artificial plot device. Fuuko's the more interesting protagonist on paper, though as other reviewers have suggested, we could spend more time getting to know her better. Shonen jump already has a dearth of multi-dimensional female protagonists, and having Fuuko play sidekick is a wasted opportunity. She's also the butt of some ecchi gags leave a bad taste in my mouth. Luckily, UxU gets significantly less horny as the story progresses: it's better for it.

Where the series succeeds is in its willingness to take wild risks and flirt with meta-referential humor. The central conflict between the union of Negators and God itself leads to an onslaught of ridiculous plot twists (including the earth expanding into an entire galaxy, each country occupying a different planet), and the weirdness of it all is a running joke in the story. Where I've left off in the series, our heroes are in pursuit of a mangaka whose writing has predicted the events of the story thus far — which may explain some of the existential confusion that I've experienced while reading. It's not as successful a deconstruction of shonen tropes as, say, Mob Psycho 100, but I've found UxU to be pretty promising. I forsee it continuing to improve as it goes on.

I will start this off by saying Undead Unluck is in my opinion one of the best manga Shonen Jump, or action shonen in general has to offer. While it starts slow, the story and characters just get exponentially better over time.

Story: 9/10
With the most unique and one of the best power systems ever, the deep worldbuilding that draws you in, arcs that are just incredible all the way through and more. This is probably the most unique story in a shonen manga I've ever read. Honestly, it starts off at its worst point, putting off a lot of readers. Especially through the kinda ecchi ... humor, though this is already gone a couple chapters in. Somehow, Undead Unluck just manages to get better and better with almost every arc. I can't explain too much without spoiling, but UU handles fights and story arcs unlike most series I've read. Everything leads into each other naturally, and I always just can't wait to see where the story goes next. That said, there are very minor critique points, some events or characters I'd have liked to see a little more of, but aside from that it's really great.

Characters: 10/10
The characters in Undead Unluck are just... fantastic. Fuuko and Andy are incredible protagonists with interesting stories and developments. Especially Fuuko, who is also my favorite charcter, gets some of the greatest character growth I've seen/read in a long time. A lot of people are turned off by how her ch
Aside from the main duo though, the Union, Under, etc are all amazing as well. Every character has a tragic past created by the manifestation of their powers, which we get to explore throughout the series.
And let me tell you, not a SINGLE character in this series is wasted (aside from like some absolutely fodder enemies that are not presented as anyone major). This might sound weird, as some characters die early on or are not really explored at all in the beginning. But the creator has an incredible way to tell all the stories of every character and even have arcs revolving around all of them to flesh them out.

Art: 7/10
While the art is CERTAINLY not bad, this is not really a series that draws you in by its beauty. The art is clear and easy to follow, and can go really hard at times. But it is generally just above average.

In conclusion, this is one of the most unique, wildest and fun rides I've had with manga. If you can get through the weak start (which isn't even that bad) it evolves into one of the best shonen ever in my opinion.

Quite bluntly, I'm sad that this manga started as a funny, unpredictable action manga and slowly became a mess where tension has been lost and the plot twists seem contrived now in chapter 56.

The sexual harassment fanservice played for laughs wasn't very funny as well.

Art was always good.

After a while, in my opinion, the story became too meta. The emotional and deep moments also weren't because they felt forced. All in all, I think the story slowly ran out of energy.

I still think that people should read this manga. It was greatly executed for the first 20 or so chapters. Have fun reading :)

Undead unluck has more to offer then what it seems. It's a roller coaster of emotions both positive and negative.
Suffering from some typical tropes and cliche it makes up with a good solid cast and growing character.

At first, the story seemed to be simple and felt it would not pick up the pacing for long. Purposefully dragging some elements but it allows the author to introduce us to the whole cast of character that a absolutely necessary for the plot to move on later on.
You might feel like dropping it on the first 60 chapters with the lack of growth from our main protagonist being ... Fuuko.
But fear not, like Naruto and a lot of shounen you will be surprised by the growth of the character in terms of personality, resolution and motivation. No character grow instantly when exposed to such weird and supernatural circumstances.

I rate the side character and main character a solid 8/10. I did remove a few points for how "optimist" and how forgiving they can be but I did grow liking them.
The plot is yet to be fully explained and we have yet to see where we are going. We never know with those authors. They can suddenly flip the plot upside down. You can pull so many references: Blood Vlad, tsugumomo, naruto, HunterXhunter, One Piece, Rosario Vampire second arc and many more.

The art still and direction feels heavily inspired by many other works. With over the top exaggerated action and humor.
The ecchi part of the manga is barely noticeable. It's more a comedy relief then the male or female protagonist craving for some skin contact. No naruto bleeding nose or weird groping that feels motivated by lust. There is groping, but it's more to allow Fuuko to activate her power.
The theme of life and death remains vague, there is death. But a lot of it is motivated by a reason which is later explained and discovered.

Without spoiling at all, I recommend it as the later arc gets absolutely more depth and entertaining. You can feel the author growing and improving his story telling and consolidating the plot. Moving away from the typical shounen formula that plague some other works.
Enjoy this rodeo as it is an absolute fun ride.

Around chapter 30 the manga really gets good and comes to its own. But before that things can be a little bit weird. Still a fantastic read.

I have made a whole video discussing the different cons and pros of the manga. You can find a link to that in the profile description.

Now for the actual review:

Story - 7
Very generic and formulaic (apart from a twist or two) but that's actually a good thing. The manga takes some pretty standard tropes and puts them in a very original and creative world making the generic structure actually fit. At the same time, this is where the worst ... part of the manga is... the pacing while the first chapters have some very great moments they lack structure which results in a lot of exposition/setup in some chapters. That can kill the vibe (just like it did for me when I was reading it at first).

Art - 8
The whole aesthetic this is going for is an old-school manga with a splash of modern drawing technics and damn it pulls it off. Some spreads (double pages) can be generally very masterful crafted. And from time to time there are some tasteful small visual gags that are pretty fun too.

Characters - 10
Yup folks there is actual character development here, it's crazy. Not only that but the cast of characters is pretty sizable and all of them feel very nice but coherent with each other and the themes of the manga.

Enjoyment - 9
Man some of the fights in here are great. But better than that the moments of celebration after someone is defeated are legendary. I will forever remember those 2 (as of chp 74) moments. In short, when the manga is great it's legendary great.

Overall - 7
I think that maybe when the manga ends it will have fully compensated for the slow start but for now, that is a big part of the "low" score. Also, the fact that the manga combines strategy and action for its fighting system while great for the most part sometimes can make some moments leaving you wondering "Wait why didn't they do that instead of this?" which happens rarely but it's still there. But those 2 things are the only 2 bad things about the manga. (even though they are nothing to scoff at)

It's a good time and thought investment. Read it.

- GrunWho

Never has the phrase "let them cook" had more relevance.

Undead Unluck is a series that flew under mine, as well as way too many other's radars, for way too long. And with the anime's release I gave it a shot, since I couldn't contain my excitement about seeing more of the story. I could not stop reading. Before I knew it it was tomorrow, and I was caught up.

As you may have heard, the beginning is admittedly very rocky, it takes a while for the ball to truly start rolling for the story, which happens at around chapter 40. But when I reached that point ... it was over for me.

As an avid shonen fanatic that consumes all from mid to peak shonen, I've come to gain a taste for what makes a shonen more enjoyable and consistent in it's enjoyment. Fights, characters and third is story. The better these three, the better the shonen. Undead Unluck's fights cut out a unique style of their own, in regards to the incredibly creative power system of the series, only chained down by the person's own perception of reality, as well as their own creative vision. This makes combat a crucible for new possibilities, where the reader can follow and try to imagine what will come next alongside the author, it's incredibly fun. The power-scaling and growth of the respective characters is also very well-paced and consistent, extremely satisfying.

Then, the characters. In many shonen I've read, there comes a point where the roster of characters lose relevance, some of them always fall off or lag behind as others excel due to their own narrative circumstances. In Undead Unluck, this doesn't happen. Every character is respected and given the time to be developed as people, fully with proper backstories and motivations for who they are as people and why they've become who they are. The author doesn't forget a single important point. And if a character hasn't had their time yet, then it's definitely coming in the future chapters of your read.

Most important is naturally the dynamic duo of the story, Andy and Fuuko, who have risen from characters I've left on the backburner to some of the most well-developed new-age shonen protagonists on the block, rising up to take the spot of Nr.1 in my eyes. Their development as characters to themselves and towards each other is incredible to read each step of the way and the catharsis is palpable.

And then, the story. Undead Unluck might have the most enjoyable story I've read in a shonen as of the recent years. The way the story is built up and designed has become one of my new favorite narrative angles to read. I will keep it spoiler-free, but the story twist that comes in Undead Unluck (you'll know what it is when you experience it, dear reader) solidifies itself as one of the most intense and investing hooks of my shonen reading life. And the story utterly soars after this point. If you can put down this story after this point, you are superhuman.

I also must mention, the world-building of Undead Unluck is stellar. The tools that characters use, the locations, the entire world and the rules that govern it, it all has an impact that flows throughout the entire world, far outside of exclusively where our characters are. If something happens, the effects of it possibly echo throughout the entire world, and the applications of powers and tools serve to enrich the world itself and how the characters approach it. Once again, the powers serve to become a tool where the reader can clearly follow and theorize the coming story while the author creates it, the participation as a reader is so much fun.

To summarize, this manga is incredibly slept on. It doesn't have a solid opener, but if you give it the time, and LET IT COOK, I can guarantee you that the time you've spent will be paid back to you multiple times over. If you keep reading through the opening bore, you'll be hooked. If you keep reading after that, you'll suddenly realize you will stay with this manga until the end, no matter what.

The art is very good, it's nothing amazing, but it's very clear and generally pleasant, unless we see a side shot of the face of any character in which case, it looks horrendous. The art is very consistent, until one point, which is the only time we really get a major change in the style, chapter 130-131, the fact it comes in so late makes the change so much more meaningful and gives the events that relate to it so much more power, it is amazing.

Okay, the 10 first chapters are just perfect. It is so funny, the characters are so intriguing, every new unlock ... is stupider than the last, the plot is so ridiculous, the way the fights are structured with an "information gathering" phase and then the actual fights is fascinating, the pacing's great. If the manga was just that, it would easily be a high 8.
After that, once Andy and Fuuko join the Union, it slows down for a bit and the more serious story starts to take its place while the jokes take a backseat (though the ones we get remain very funny) and we get a second introduction of sorts, it's still good, just not as good in my opinion as the first 10 chapters and that applies for the rest of the manga I think.

However, we do start getting more characters, which are all absolutely amazing, their designs are each super great and distinct, their personalities are all very interesting. This truly applies to every character, including characters like Rip or Top who present archetypes I usually hate, or Creed who is unbelievably simple, yet still super interesting.
If this manga was nothing but the story of each of the character's backstory, it would be a 10/10, their stories are just this interesting and present such emotionally powerful scenes, I just want to learn more about them, all their misfortunes are so unique! Every time the story goes back to a misfortune that has already been presented to add detail unto it, it feels great. Every character interaction is just a joy to read.

The action scenes are good, but I personally feel that action scenes in general have a sort of hard cap on how good they can be without being animated (for instance Demon Slayer or Mob Psycho II) or being absolutely insane (Chainsaw Man or Goblin Slayer), since the Unluck Undead manga offers neither (until the God fight when Undecrease comes into play, HOLY SHIT, just thinking about it puts a smile on my face), they are good, but nothing more really. However, the non-conventional fight scenes like the fight against Spring are very good (but not amazing).

The setting is underdeveloped I think. We barely see any interactions with Apocalypse or any explanations relating to his rules, we don't see many artifacts and see even less of them being explained, Umas are explained in a way that doesn't make sense if we take into account what rule they are supposed to represent and how the world was before their existence, some rules seem to exist before their Umas do (Insect for instance (if we compare the 101th's loop's earth to the one where Insect was killed)), some Umas have rules that make no sense (Move or "Kain" for instance), some Umas seem to exist without Apocalypse, etc. The one chance we had to see a lot of Apocalypse is used to skip 26 years, there's so many little holes that feel like they could easily be patched up if the author just took the time to explain them properly.

This leads me to my next point, negators are a mixed bag, most of them are pretty self-explanatory, like Unluck negating luck, Undead being unable to become dead, Undecrease being unable to run out of things, Unrepair making things impossible to fix, but others feel a little wonky like Untruth making people do the opposite of what they want (the part about them saying the opposite makes sense though), Unfair... just... I get it, but... why? Unruin and Unfade also make very little sense. That's not to say negators aren't great, most of their abilities are really interesting, but some others feel out of place like Umas.

The pacing is pretty bad honestly, it gets better during the 101th loop, but the problem is that the story seems to be too focused on doing 1 thing at a time, so we'll get 10 or more high speed, combat focused chapters before 5 or 6 slower chapters, but the fact that they are often so grouped up makes it so that the highs don't feel like highs (cough cough Spoil fight cough cough), because they are surrounded by other highs, and the lows don't feel like lows, because they are surrounded by other lows. It's a lot better when it mixes it up like during the Autumn fight or while Fuuko is looking for other negators.

The 101th loop is just god tier, the time skip feels like a huge shame, because it's more of my biggest problem with this manga, we don't see enough of the small things (artifacts, Umas and the world in general outside the main plot) to truly be able to appreciate the world, but what we do get is taking what the 100th loop did well and polishing it until no impurities remain, we don't just see the flashbacks about the misfortunes that every negator has, we see the misfortunes take place, it's so good. We get to learn about the characters we couldn't learn about in the previous loop, every little spec of information from the first part comes back into play, it's just amazing.

It's a mid 8. Because of the terrible pacing, while reading it, I was thinking more of giving it a high 7 or low 8, however, thinking back on it, it has so many memorable moments and such a powerful and interesting plot, I just can't give it any lower than a mid 8.

Undead Unluck is a relatively new title from Jump. I never checked it out because it looked like it was eichi to the highest degree, and I'm sure many others feel the same. However, the series continued to reinvent itself and won me over despite its many flaws.

The story begins with a girl named Fuko trying to commit suicide because anyone she comes in contact with becomes unlucky to a fatal degree, including causing plane crashes, lightning strikes, and even meteors homing in on them. Andy, a man who can't die, meets her and decides to use her to finally die. Like I said, the ... series changes a lot from its beginning. Andy is very... gropey of Fuko at first, as the more contact there is, the more unlucky he will be. While this element is turned on its head to signify character development later, at this point it makes Andy pretty unlikeable. This part is thankfully discarded pretty quickly, but it was probably a turn-off for many. Heck, I only kept reading because I heard it got better after.

Anyway, this 'Union' starts hunting down Andy and Fuko, because they're causing a lot of damage. The Union is made up of 'Negators' like Andy and Fuko who can negate concepts. Initially, it seems the story will be that Andy and Fuko will fight this union, but after learning one can join the Union by killing a member, the two decide to kill two members. So Andy and Fuko get into the union, and it turns out the Union's main goal is to do quest provided to them by a book that, if not dealt with quickly enough, will add conceptual demons called Umas that are detrimental to humanity, and eventually the world will end if they fail 101 quests. Apparently God is doing this.

Now, why God is creating humanity, making a few of them Negators, then making a book telling them how to stop demons HE created from destroying the world... Is currently not known. He seems to be against the Union, so why he lets them have the book despite being seemingly omnipotent is also unknown. This is a preliminary review, after all. That aside, there's this plot point where another group called Under tries to take the quest book from Union, but the leader was already on the council of Union. Why didn't the leader have some of the members of Under kill some Union members to the point that he takes over from the inside? The 'killing Union Members to become one' thing is completely abandoned, actually. The point I'm making is that the actual story of Undead Unluck is kinda dumb. However, that isn't the focus; The focus is the battles.

Alright, so when we have battles in Shounen. If we put character and story aside completely, the tip top is Jojo. Next is Hunter x Hunter. Then in third, at least from what I've read, is Undead Unluck. There are other series who might be equal such as Yu Yu Hakusho, but my point is that the battles in Undead Unluck are extremely creative and exciting. The abilities are much more simple than something like stands from Jojo, but every ounce of potential is squeezed out to a level of near absurdism, but it remains entertaining. You'd think the simple act of regenerating body parts and spraying a bunch of blood would become stale, but it seems the author has literally thought of every possible technique, and it only becomes better when combined with other abilities. Some may say the lack of a real framework that is consistently followed is a negative, but I think that's somewhat the point. The negators, by definition, don't follow the rules, and that's what makes them powerful. The series doesn't have much depth, but that particular commentary on Battle Shounen is very interesting. Or maybe I'm just a pretentious doomer who likes garbage, I don't know. My point being that if the series commited a bit more to just battles, I think it would be better (An example would be Golden Wind, which has a plot, but it is secondary to the episodic encounters) . I also think a bit more variety would be interesting, but that problem may already be solved, as the most recent arc focused on Fuko and an Uma playing Beyblade and other games in a way that still utilized their powers in cool ways.

The characters have definitely grown on me. At first, I didn't really like Andy that much due to the aforementioned groping, but it retroactively worked to portray Andy as an immortal being who had lost any sense of morals for the longest time, but has grown to genuinely love Fuko beyond his initial desire for death. Fuko is pretty good too, and while her ability doesn't allow for as much creativity, her lack of skills makes her an underdog in a way. I like Billy too. He seems pretty interesting in terms of his morals, but I feel it's still a bit too early to really speak on him. Chikara is solid too. The others are alright. There's this one guy named Shin though, and while I like him, there's an arc where his adopted father, who was a bad guy, came to fight him. The arc was barely built up and it didn't do much for me. Besides that one instance, most character developments do have at least a little build up or hinting to them, and I appreciate that.

The art is certainly competent, and there are good character designs and such, but it's probably another element holding the series back from excellence. It has little style or detail, which doesn't differentiate it from its competition. The paneling was good; There's not much else to say there though. It reads smoothly and is easy to understand, but it's not remarkable.

Overall, it's been an uphill battle, but I've enjoyed Undead Unluck so far. If you like fun and creative battles, I'd really recommend this series. If you want an interesting plot, skip out on this one. I hope this one keeps going for a while and eventually gets an anime. This could fall to a 6 depending on how the writer handles it, but I'd give it a 7/10 for now.

EDIT: Well, in the most recent chapter it was revealed that the leader of Under did his whole plan because his negation only works against people who are his enemy. One could say it's a bit contrived, but it works for the story just fine.

Moderate Spoilers up to Ch 17 ahead

I had high hopes for this one. I found the premise and the potential character dynamic between Fuuko and Andy to be very interesting. However, as I kept reading, I kept becoming more and more disappointed. I quickly realized that this story was not going to be about Fuuko overcoming her weakness and using her Unluck to her advantage. Rather, it was about Andy, which isn't good considering that Andy is an extremely bland and uninteresting character.

Andy is my main problem with this story. Not much about him is interesting or appealing. His main power (Undead) is simple ... enough, but the attacks which he performs using that power (like the finger guns) are poorly explained and honestly make no sense (feels like most of his attacks are just asspulls). His personality isn't appealing either. He has a very bland "idiot badass" thing going on with a very strong tinge of rape. He's also got the "demon inside" trope, which is one of my least favorites. There are barely any stakes when fighting Uma since he could just power himself up and tear everything to shreds. Very boring, very overdone.

Fuuko, however, is a much better character. Much more bearable, and I wanted to follow her story much more than Andy's. The problem, however, is that Andy takes much too much time being le epic badass man, leaving Fuuko in the dust. Doesn't feel much like a duo. My main problem with Fuuko isn't herself, but the way she's treated in the story and by Andy. From the very start, she's not presented as a full character, but rather an object Andy can rub his hands on to gain a power boost. I'm no stranger to women being objectified in anime either, it's just that in this case, that's her only purpose. That's it. Andy needs some power? He can go rub his face in Fuuko's chest.

From the start, this feels like Andy's story, not Fuuko & Andy's story. Andy's journey to grope Fuuko until she eventually falls in love with him and he can die already. The actual concrete story isn't very good either. Why are they joining the organization that only serves to hurt the Negators of the world? Even if that organization helps destroy the Uma, they could just do that themselves. There's no reason to force themselves into that organization. At the start, the story presented itself as a "fight the establishment!" story quickly devolved into "go on quests to kill the Uma and gain cool loot!" and I did not like it.

However, the art is nice enough and the supporting characters aren't too bad either. We've only really met a couple side characters, but Shen and the one girl that they fought with the big lake (forgot her name, sorry) were compelling enough, and had interesting personalities and powers. The battle system also has a decent bit of depth. Rather than throwing yourself at the enemy, you must figure out how exactly their negation works. By figuring out what exactly they negate, you can then find their weakness and exploit it. It's not the best, but it's more than I was expecting coming into it.

I'm really sad that it turned out this way. I don't read or watch much up-and-coming manga or anime, so this is a bit of a turn off from doing that again. I had really high hopes from what this could have been. What was an interesting premise just devolved into a story filled with tropes and gropes.