Here's Round Three of your FREE VIZ Social Media Team Substack! 🧝♀️
WE'RE HERE
Welcome back VIZ fans (and any haters too, if you’re reading this)! Here’s the 3rd official Substack post from me, a person (yes, a person) on VIZ’s Social Media Team! Seems like a good a time as ever to start with the singular pronouns am i right. 😎 Anywho, you already probably know this by now but this free Substack will continue to celebrate your comments on VIZ social media posts (along with your cosplay), and you’ll get to read first-hand observations and thoughts from me as well. Onwards! *Naruto-runs to the paragraph below*
Speaking of which, let’s begin with a big ‘ol birthday shoutout to the inspiring, beloved shinobi who has touched the lives of people all over the world: Naruto Uzumaki!
October 10th was The Seventh Hokage’s special day, and X (Twitter) users jackie7921, SDagger02, ohMarqqq, Elmangareadluv1, and lilslasher117 were just a few of the devoted fans offering elated berfday wishes! No Talk No Jutsu needed here, I’m a firm believer of your Naruto devotion. 🫶
I still vividly remember reading the first few chapters of Naruto in the hefty physical magazine of Shonen Jump back in the day, and even early on, the spunky blonde ninja made my heart pulse with admiration for his persistence and integrity. Naruto dealt with social isolation and antagonism from others, but embodied resilience and courage to still be himself even amidst those obstacles. Of course, being roughly the same age as the young shinobi at the time certainly helped with the relatability factor too. We love you Naruto! 💞
AND TO CONTINUE THE CELEBRATION: let’s talk about the impressive premiere of the anime adaptation for Undead Unluck, which first launched on October 6! The series is about a dude named Andy who possesses an ability that keeps him from dying (Undead, albeit) who meets a girl named Fuuko who brings calamitous misfortune to everyone around her due to her Unluck ability (get it? Undead + Unluck? teehee). Andy is thrilled at the idea of finally getting to bite the big one now that he’s met Fuuko, and together they embark on a riveting adventure with imaginative battles galore.
I can feel the palpable love from you fans already! phantom_spring (IG) gets it, cause if you’ve read the Undead Unluck manga (hint hint which you totally should *shameless plug for the Shonen Jump app*), you know there’s tons of exciting fights to be thrilled about. Also, gotta give shoutouts to anyone praising the VIZ social team captions (can’t use the singular ‘I’ here), so thanks whynottaditya and _jayargonaut (both on IG). We’ll keep delivering the W captions for as long as we can fr fr.
Negators – people with the ability to negate the rules of the world – represent the crux of Undead Unluck’s battles and narrative. This got me thinking: what would be my Negator ability? Personally, I’d have the Undebt ability, and this’d only affect me. Basically anyone could harangue me with debt (in the form of loans, bills, tickets, literally anything that would cost me money) and POOF. The debt would instantly be negated. *Professional and personal disclaimer: this in no way represents an objective articulation of how Negator abilities actually exist and function within the Undead Unluck universe, I’m just pontificating like a real goofball.*
Er, anyways, purchase Vol. 1 of the Undead Unluck manga to get an extra helpin’ of this delectably exciting story!
We need to talk about another anime adaptation premiere that cast a most enchanting spell over yours truly, and also the fandom: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End made its debut fairly recently! Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End explores the ongoing travels/adventures of the near-immortal elf named Frieren. She learns plenty of new life lessons throughout her journey, as she grapples with loss and the mortality of those around her.
X (Twitter) user Epic_Member_Bean YT gave a succinctly positive comment, stating simply ‘I like the series.” Another user, Keyblader007 (X) gave glowing praise to the series, noting it possesses depth and maturity while not being too glum.
While plenty of fantasy focuses on characters trekking towards some massive fight, this series begins decades after Frieren and her comrades already won a decisive battle. Although there’s still exciting magical combat and quality fantasy aesthetics/tropes, I love how the series prioritizes character development and important themes. For me, Frieren brought up some heavy but poignant questions: what does life look like after those big moments/successes, especially when it includes the absence or loss of loved ones? What do you do when you realize you took others for granted, but it’s too late? How do you carry on and persist after tragedy continually strikes? Deep stuff! 😭
If you can’t get enough of this touching title, then be sure to pick of Vol. 1 of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End!
A very chill and friendly reminder: we want to show off all your mind-blowing cosplay, so send your submissions anytime to this email: heysocial@viz.com
And now, I sign off! Let us know in the comments about your thoughts on Undead Unluck, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Naruto’s birthday, and heck, anything else you wanna chat about. themed anime/manga. Continue to give us excellent submissions on what you want from our VIZ Substack, and chime in on this week’s poll below! Until later~~
This anime season seems full of fantasy anime.
Wind Style Rassenshuriken