Warning: This contains SPOILERS for The Ichinose Family's Deadly SinsWhile the new Shonen Jump manga series The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins is ostensibly about uncovering the secret lives of the family members after they suffer a horrific accident, so far the story has focused on addressing that unfortunately common aspect of a teenager's school life, namely bullying.
Taizen5's The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins doesn't begin in the traditional manga manner. After being involved in a terrible car accident where their vehicle is thrown off the road, the story opens with the Ichinoses recovering in the hospital. On the one hand, the family feels fortunate to have suffered only minor physical injuries. However, by some strange coincidence all members, including grandparents, parents, and children, suffer complete amnesia, not only to what happened to cause the accident but more importantly who they are individually and collectively. On their return home, it's revealed that despite their good nature, everyone had secrets that suggest they were not the nicest of people. The mysteries set out in the debut have made for an interesting "hook" to entice readers' continued interest in figuring out who the Ichinoses are and what they did.
Although subsequent chapters start peeling away at the mysteries surrounding the Ichinoses, especially the son Tsubasa's story, it is also evident that Taizen5 intends to make his story something more than just another manga series uncoupled from reality. By focusing on uncovering Tsubasa's "deadly sin" and the reason why he's plastered his room walls with the kanji for "die", Taizen5 brings a topic into the story that most of its target audience, teenage boys and young males can relate to. While it is not surprising for a manga to include bullying as a theme, this series' inclusion is different. It forms the key element in Tsubasa's relationship with his frenemy Nakajima and therefore is more than likely central to his personal mystery.
In Combating Bullying, Knowing Is Half the Battle
Rather than just another plot point, The Ichinose Family explores the subject quite extensively. The bullying consists of Tsubasa getting food, garbage, and rotting milk thrown on him by Nakajima, as well as him wearing clothes identifying himself as an idiot, and performing assorted humiliating acts all done just out of notice of the teacher, despite the fact that much of what happens is posted online. It's a brutal treatment that would shatter the nerves of the toughest person, let alone a teenager. The detail in which the bullying is depicted suggests it's more than just part of the story. Indeed, it's the main story in four chapters.
There are a number of reasons why Taizen5 might want to focus on bullying in Shonen Jump's The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins. He might want to call attention to its existence as a problem in Japanese youth culture. He might also want to draw attention to the diversity of ways it manifests. The bullying depicted rarely takes the form of the more traditional idea of bullying involving physical violence. Another possible reason for the focus could be mental health. Both Tsubasa and Nakajima resort to bullying as a result of the pressures they experience in life. Even if there is no specific reason for including bullying in the story, readers and fans cannot help but notice it. That exposure, at the very least, will help others see how bullying can and does affect the victim and the perpetrator. With The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sin, Shonen Jump exposes the common ways bullying is used to hurt and how friendship can help overcome it.
The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins is now available from Viz Media.