Ryuu to Chameleon
Dragon and Chameleon

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1 Recommended

1 Mixed Feelings

0 Not Recommended

Mar 25, 2024

DinoNo1

Having worked with esteemed authors like Oda as an assistant for One Piece, Ryou Ishiyama was never able to burst onto the scene and make an identity for himself. But its all in the past now it seems, because after a near decade of hard work, he has come up with "Ryuu to Chameleon" as his breakthrough, and rightfully so. I mean the manga which the man himself, the author of My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi, advised to keep an eye on, is bound to be good at least.

I had the most fun while reading this, which is a rare case for me when talking ... about shounen nowadays. The relation between shounen and me has started to slowly and steadily thin out as I fall out of favour for the demographic. Filled with overly generic plots, and some sakuga to back it up, I do not view it the same way as I used to back when I was a teenager. But this manga is now kept in as an exception. Despite a theme such as this, it is more shounen-esque than most dedicated shounens out there. When you feel the hype with nearly every chapter or so, you want more of that, the reason I was able to breeze through the chapters while reading this.

Now about the story, it is a manga with the body swap theme, but introducing an original flare to it to make it feel fresh. It has elements common to the demographic, even got a fucking training arc to boot. It doesn't bore you with the technicalities of the manga making world. It just taps enough of the information to keep you going, rightfully going back to being what it is, a shounen. The author knows what he is talking and writing about.

Every panel has been given extra care as you witness the mind-numbingly beautiful artistry this manga presents. I sat there in awe reading pages after pages to unfold more pieces of art, that when I stood up after completing I was still shocked to see the levels of detail the drawing entails. You got likeable characters, good protagonist and antagonist, where every interaction between them, may it be direct or indirect has me genuinely curious how their fight will unfold in the upcoming chapters. I have nothing but only high hopes to come.

So to wrap it up I don't think anyone would hesitate picking this up, and the thing that it has only three volumes or so published currently should add to the point.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 1, 2025

jingo123

Ryuu to Chameleon is a hot-blooded battle shounen about making manga. Our MC is a top mangaka who gets bodyswapped with another mangaka who is the best at copying other people's style, and he continues the MC's manga while the MC makes a new one in the copycat's body. So a pro mangaka starts from the bottom creating a new series to overcome his last one, rediscovering himself as an author, beating the copycat, and eventually reaching the top (hopefully). The premise is fun, but as I continued reading I noticed one glaring problem.

The problem lies in how the manga battles are conveyed. It's entirely ... an 'aura battle' and it doesn't work for me. They don't actually show the manga itself, just people saying "Oh wow that was really good" and a cool image of a dragon or something. The manga exists off-screen and we don't get to see what it's about, just someone explaining it vaguely. As a result, the whole ideology battle between the characters feels a bit hollow to me. How can I tell if the copycat's manga has no soul if I don't see it for myself? Don't just jump ahead to the conclusion, at least show us a small part of the story, then explain why it doesn't work, relate it to the main themes, etc. I'm not asking for a fully detailed explanation, just a short one that shows us why the story is better. Without this, the manga becomes purely about which character has the best beliefs. It's like Dragonball without the beams and punches, just people screaming until their hair changes and someone dying out of nowhere.

So if the battles aren't appealing, then there should be another aspect that carries the story. But there isn't one. The characters feel more like shounen caricatures/symbols rather than people and the story doesn't really focus on the actual craft of manga. Compare it to Bakuman. The story works because a BIG part of the focus is on the character's lives, chasing their dreams, friendships and whatnot. Ryuu to Chameleon is more of a contemplation on manga itself. Like "What makes a manga good/popular?" or "Do people really care about passion in a manga?", which could be done well, but not as a pure battle shounen with off-screen battles imo.

Though, there is a certain charm to the manga's unapologetic, straightforward shounen spirit. And I also think the manga philosophizing is fun, but good themes can't carry a whole story. Maybe it gets better, still enjoyed it tho. 6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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