Warning: spoilers ahead for Ayashimon chapter 9!
Shonen Jump's Ayashimon recently teased that the yokai yakuza boss Urara could transform like shojo heroes such as Sailor Moon, but instead caved by indulging in an overused trope in shonen manga involving demons, as popularized by Naruto.
Before the disappointing development, Urara revealed that her true powers were sealed in a dagger to protect her identity since she was the daughter of the now-late Chairman Kioh who had led the largest designated criminal organization in a particular region of the spirit world. The fact that unsheathing her dagger unleashes Urara's true power, leading fans to make comparisons to how the Scouts in Sailor Moon assume their magical forms.
Unfortunately, Urara transforms into a demon-like creature when another character unsheathes her dagger in chapter 9 of Ayashimon. The demon is definitely formidable and impressively rendered, but the earlier nod to Sailor Moon suggest a far more compelling form, especially since manga has been inundated with heroes who can turn into massive beasts or monsters. Naruto definitely popularized this now overused trope with Jinchūriki - shinobi who have had one of their world's tailed beasts sealed inside of them. Chainsaw Man is another example of this, as Denji can transform into a version of the devil inside of him where his head basically becomes a chainsaw. This isn't to say that Naruto and Chainsaw Man should have taken a different path. Both series masterfully capture this phenomenon and greatly benefit from them. However, jumping on that same bandwagon fails to set Ayashimon apart.
Meanwhile, the type of transformations popularized in Sailor Moon are rare and usually confined to shojo series that, unfortunately, don't get much exposure outside of Japan as the aptly named Shonen Jump - an anthology of shonen - dominates the market. It wouldn't have only been refreshing to see a shojo-type transformation in Ayashimon, but a genuinely revolutionary act for a shonen manga. Ayashimon's Maruo is undoubtedly the personification of shonen, too. His entire identity is based on his favorite manga heroes who are all from shonen series, like Dragon Ball's Goku, though Maruo is definitely more like One-Punch Man.
Maruo loves these characters because of a commonly used trope in shonen: they never give up no matter how badly they get bloodied up by the villain, not just because they think they can win, but because they must keep trying. It would have continued the manga's meta theme for Maruo - the epitome of a shonen hero - to be paired off with a character who transforms just like a shojo hero, especially when she is his boss.
Unfortunately, this legendary match up was never meant to be. However, Ayashimon can still impress readers with how Urara acts in her true demonic form since the manga only showed her transform before the chapter ended. Readers no longer have the luxury to expect a shojo tie-in, but Ayashimon is still entertaining enough to keep them riveted with each passing chapter.