#MAPOLLO 3-go

[chitincooties]

hi i just wanted to share this amazing (unofficial, obviously) music video my little brother (16y) made, for the song All Circles by mewithoutyou, based on the manga Magical Girl Tsubame: I Will (Not) Save the World.

If you like either, or just like seeing cool art, please check it out :)

[oratokyosaigunda]

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[saqvobase]

I read the 39 chapters of "Magical Girl Tsubame: I Will (Not) Save The World!" by Mapollo 3-go

I enjoyed PPPPPP a lot, so I was excited to read another work by the same author.

This is the first piece of magical girl media I've read or watched from the beginning.

The art style is something I am familiar with from their previous work. I really liked the character designs and costumes. The splashes of color and photo realistic images mixed in really give it an esoteric and bizzare vibe that increases the impact of certain scenes.

The worldbuilding is really cool and scary. The high magnitude Notion events would be incredibly terrifying without the magical girls. The lore of the past and creation of magical girls was really interesting.

Despite their cuteness, the powers of the magical girls are unparalleled. The collateral damage is devastating.

The plot structure seems pretty simple so far. If it continues like this, the end of the series is near. Although, the title might be a clue of what's to come.

I'm excited for the next chapters.

[miminmimikyu]

Hearing that PPPPPP has been cancelled is making me feel so sad and so angry. It's not the first time Jump axed one of my faves (RIP Mitama, Magu-chan, Agravity boys...) But this one really stings.

PPPPPP was a real gem among the current lineup-- unconventional and with so much potential. Of course an introspective story about classical music was never going to be the number one series in the home of the battle manga. But it took some other Jump staples as a starting point (the school setting, the mediocre main character persevering through effort, friendship and (piano) battles) and turned it on its head-- using beautiful silent panelling to convey sound! And convey complex emotions! Gently twisting reality and portraying devastating loss by making chapters 61-64 feel off and dreamlike. Losing competitions but winning the bigger fight: helping his siblings one by one by showing them kindness and love. A manga you'd expect in a magazine like Harta, or published alongside Totsukuni no Shoujo.. but read by thousands in Shonen Jump!

Yes they took a risk but you'd think that PPPPPP did enough to prove its value in Jump during its 70 chapter run: Despite not scoring high in weekly rankings, the volumes sold well (350.000 for 7 volumes in one year is not bad!!), it's been recommended by other mangaka (including Shiro Usazaki, artist of Act-Age), it ended up on a few lists of manga to watch out for (THIS MONTH placed #10 in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023). It was by no means an unpopular or bad manga! It did not deserve to be cancelled like this. It's not even moving magazines or to Jump+. Not getting a long epilogue chapter in Giga or online. Not getting extra chapters in the final volume. Just an axe.

This story deserved a proper ending. No way Lucky is getting his catharsis in one 24 page chapter. No way are we going to gain insight into Gakuon's mind. We won't get proper reconciliation between the siblings. Find out how Don and Shikato played the piano, their relationship with Lucky. Or see what happens to Lucky's friends who have been deciding on their own futures.

I can only commend Mapollo 3 for still giving us so much in those last few chapters. I don't know how much notice he was given before the axe, but I am thankful that we got to meet Don and Shikato and got Dada's flashback. Shikato's creepy, dissolving smile and the "average Gakuon fantasy" two page spread will be seared into my brain for a whille.

For us readers, for a few days more, Lucky is still lying in that graveyard with Gakuon gazing silently at his unconscious body. It seems like a cruel, poetic coincidence that actually feels fitting for this manga. I hope chapter 70 takes us back there, so we can say goodbye to Lucky, and Mapollo 3's quietly captivating story.

[voliol]

PPPPPP has ended, it seems. Well, it has, but my head can’t really wrap itself around it. It very much sucks that it has ended, because there was more going for it which would be amazing to see. At the same time, this final chapter totally slapped (pun intended), and this manga could not have gotten a normal ending whilst staying true to itself. The ending was inevitably to be jarring and weird, the only question was when. Thank you for everything, Mapollo 3-sensei!

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[blog-of-hubris]

PPPPPP Chapter 26 - What is a Treasure Island?

An Unremarkable day at the Beach

PPPPPP is a series that flies under the radar for most overseas fans because it doesn't have the same appeal as the usual Shonen Jump Manga. I personally love PPPPPP and Mapollo 3 has done a fantastic job holding their own telling this story with nothing else in the magazine like it. I’ll most likely be posting about it much more now that I can be more active. 

Chapter 26 continue to astound me, following up after Lucky’s industry shaking performance that revealed the truth about his life and relationship with the famous Otogami family. Considering he didn't mean to do this until he was an established pianist, but now has done it as a student - the rest of Lucky’s life and career will be tied to the Otogami. So this unremarkable day at the beach was supposed to be Lucky’s way of finding what he needed to play his next piece at the competition: “The Joyful Island”

Furusu

Furusu is the definition of a powerful female character within this series (not that there is any lack there of) and she exhibits that by being that perfect mirror for Lucky. He sees his own flaws due to how she points them out but in this chapter its more about showing how to push forward. She’s smart, both logically and emotionally, possessing the ability to assess what needs to be said to Lucky and teaching him more about Piano. More than even that though, she has a mind that makes me feel like she’s a kindred spirit. 

She’s the one who says Lucky needs to go to a beach and be on the water to be able to perform “The Joyful Island”, actually she specifically says “He can perform a Treasure Island that is not of this world”. Furusu believes that Lucky can perform this song in a way that can’t be done by anyone else in the world.. she believes in him.

It sucks that it ended up being too cold so they just went on a boat together AND Lucky has a phobia of the Ocean (lol). He says its because humans can’t survive underwater and by end of the conversation Furusu goes: “Yea humans can’t survive under water but even the Killer Whale dies on Land”. Everyone laughed at the comment but in the moment you could tell that Furusu meant that comment in earnest and was in deeper thought about something. To me that showcased how deep her mind truly goes, just like the Ocean.

Mimin & The Fairy 

Minmin is having some issues with her “Fairy” and the situation is now coming to a front. She is completely unaware of the issues going on so now things must be addressed at face value. Melolin has decided to play the song “Pavane For A Dead Princess”, seemingly referring to Minimin (more on this later), who she approaches at the end of the chapter very upset. 

She confesses to her that she’s “in pain” because of Minimin, shocking the latter and ending the chapter. I’m not sure what's going to happen next between these two, nor do I know Minmin will respond to her idol telling her that she doesn't like how she’s been acting. But she deserves to hear it!!! She’s been a spoiled brat and did Furusu awfully wrong, so she needs to be put in her place properly.

Pavane For A Dead Princess is a song dedicated to a dead princess and the life she once had, which to me is a direct correlation to the past relationship that Melolin and Minmin used to have. A very very symbolic song choice.

I can’t wait for Chapter 27, I know the rest of this competition is going to be AMAZING.

Links to This Week’s mentioned Tracks Below: 

The Joyful Island by Claude Debussy:

Pavana For A Dead Princess:

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