Buzz
Doron Dororon is seen as a 'redo' from the mistakes of the contentious manga series Ghost Reaper Girl.
Shonen Jump's latest manga debut, Doron Dororon, is dubbed as a 'reimagining' of one of its most controversial series to date – Ghost Reaper Girl.
Although not rated R18 like Shonen Jump's Dandadan, Ghost Reaper Girl's theme is daring. The protagonist, Chloe Love, is an ordinary girl with dreams of becoming an actress. However, she possesses a unique physique that can attract souls, making them want to inhabit her. Chloe has allied with two special entities and allows them to use her body; when they inhabit her, Chloe transforms into a different form, often wielding a scythe and wearing chains.
One of Shonen Jump's three new manga includes Doron Dororon, authored by mangaka Gen Oosuka. This manga revolves around Dora Sasaki, also an ordinary person. Dora's desire is to pass an exam to become a special samurai tasked with hunting down 'mononoke' monsters. However, he utterly fails due to lacking spiritual power – the only way to kill 'mononoke.'
Luckily for Dora, he coincidentally encounters a benevolent and unusual mononoke named Kusanagi. This creature only desires to transform the world for the better. To stop a mononoke that preys on children, they collaborate. Kusanagi transforms into a giant sword for Dora to wield. Thanks to this, Dora not only can sense the energy of mononoke transmitted through him but also possesses the strength to effectively use Kusanagi.
Although Dora doesn't undergo transformation and Kusanagi doesn't truly possess him, Dora can still converse with Kunasagi (now with additional eyes on the sword's body). In Ghost Reaper Girl, Chloe wields a scythe with Kai's consciousness residing within. When communicating, Kai's mouth and eyes will appear on the scythe.
Another soul frequently inhabiting Chloe is Noel Ulthar, but in a different manner. When taken over by Noel, Chloe gains the special abilities of cats, even acquiring cat ears and a tail.
The contentious issue in Ghost Reaper Girl is how these souls attempt to take over Chloe's body, even if it's just to grant her supernatural powers. Matters worsen when both Kai and Noel are very intrigued by the prospect of turning Chloe into their own vessel. Another inappropriate detail is Chloe being constantly harassed by Kai's friend, a soul named Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep is female, but her obsession with Chloe is truly horrifying and difficult to accept for readers.
All these details in Ghost Reaper Girl evoke images of harmful possession, spiritual and physical harassment of women. Whether intentional or unintentional, portraying a female protagonist as heroic yet manipulated, owned by others has garnered the manga its fair share of criticism.
In Doron Dororon, such 'possession' elements have been eliminated. Moreover, author Gen Oosuka has cleverly made Kusanagi a weapon for Dora without the need for possession. Thus, Doron Dororon has a more positive storyline and plot, revolving around a boy eager to make the world a better place. Despite being unable to do everything himself, he still strives to collaborate with a monster to fulfill this desire.
The difference between Doron Dororon and Ghost Reaper Girl also shows that Shonen Jump has become more attentive to readers' and internet trends. Previously, readers might overlook 'toxic' elements in comics, but that's no longer the case today. Manga publishers are also more cautious in releasing manga, avoiding unnecessary controversies.
