Act-Age

Act-Age (Japanese: アクタージュ act-age, Hepburn: Akutāju) is a Japanese manga series written by Tatsuya Matsuki and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump since January 2018, with its chapters collected in 11 tankōbon volumes as of May 2020. Viz Media published the first three chapters for its "Jump Start" initiative and then began to simulpublish the series in December 2018 after a restructuring of the English Shonen Jump. Shueisha has also published the series in English on Manga Plus since January 2019.

Act-Age
Cover of the first manga volume of Act-Age, as published in Japan by Shueisha.
アクタージュ
GenreDrama[1]
Manga
Written byTatsuya Matsuki
Illustrated byShiro Usazaki
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 22, 2018 – present
Volumes11

Plot

The story focuses on Kei Yonagi, a high school girl who strives to become an actress. She lives with her two younger siblings, after their father left them and their mother died. Kei has an extreme talent for method acting, to the point where she loses track of reality while acting. At an audition, some speculate that acting of this intensity could be self-destructive, and cite that as a reason for not accepting her. However, Kei catches the eye of the highly acclaimed director Sumiji Kuroyama, who steps forward with the intent of bringing out her full potential.

Characters
Kei Yonagi (夜凪 景, Yonagi Kei)
A gorgeous high school girl who finds herself raising her younger siblings, Rui and Rei, on her own, after their father left them and their mother died. She has an innate talent for method acting, in which she uses memories from her own past to fully get into the role. However, her approach is extremely immersive, to the point where she gets lost in the role and becomes unable to distinguish fiction and reality.
Sumiji Kuroyama (黒山 墨字, Kuroyama Sumiji)
He is a director and the founder of Studio Daikokuten. He is famous overseas for his awards in various film festivals, but he is not as well known in Japan.
Yuki Hiiragi (柊 雪, Hiiragi Yuki)
She is an assistant director and filmmaker at Studio Daikokuten who works with Kuroyama. She is also a production manager and a talent manager for the studio.
Chiyoko Momoshiro (百城 千世子, Momoshiro Chiyoko)
Nicknamed "the Angel", she is a famous actor from the Stars Agency.
Arisa Hoshi (星 アリサ, Hoshi Arisa)
She is the founder and CEO of the Stars Agency.
Akira Hoshi (星 アキラ, Hoshi Akira)
He is an actor from the Stars Agency and the son of Arisa Hoshi.

Manga

Act-Age is written by Tatsuya Matsuki and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since January 22, 2018.[2] The individual chapters are collected and published by Shueisha, with eleven tankōbon volumes being released as of February 2020. On April 2020, volume 11 was delayed to two weeks due to COVID-19 concerns.[3]

Viz Media published the first three chapters for its "Jump Start" initiative and then began to simulpublish the series in December 2018 after a restructuring of the English Shonen Jump. Shueisha also simulpublish in English the series on the app and website Manga Plus since January 2019.[4][5] In October 2019, Viz Media announced the print release of the manga in summer 2020.[6]

Volume list
No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 May 2, 2018[7]ISBN 978-4-08-881483-4July 7, 2020[8]ISBN 978-1-9747-0996-0
2 July 4, 2018[9]ISBN 978-4-08-881509-1September 1, 2020[10]ISBN 978-1-9747-0997-7
3 August 3, 2018[11]ISBN 978-4-08-881583-1November 3, 2020[12]ISBN 978-1-9747-0998-4
4 November 2, 2018[13]ISBN 978-4-08-881657-9——
5 February 4, 2019[14]ISBN 978-4-08-881694-4——
6 May 2, 2019[15]ISBN 978-4-08-881795-8——
7 July 4, 2019[16]ISBN 978-4-08-881878-8——
8 September 4, 2019[17]ISBN 978-4-08-882051-4——
9 December 4, 2019[18]ISBN 978-4-08-882103-0——
10 February 4, 2020[19]ISBN 978-4-08-882205-1——
11 May 13, 2020[20]ISBN 978-4-08-882284-6——

Reception

The manga was ranked 3rd in Honya Club's Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2018, a survey that collected results from 1,100 professional bookstore employees in Japan.[21] Volume 5 of the manga ranked 13th on Oricon's weekly manga rankings chart, with 52 thousand copies sold.[22] As of February 2019, the series had 750,000 copies in print.[23] The series ranked #6 in a poll conducted by AnimeJapan of "Most Wanted Anime Adaptation".[24]

The series ranked 3rd on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2018".[25] In April 2019, it was nominated for Best Shōnen Manga at the 43nd annual Kodansha Manga Awards.[26]

In December 2019, Brutus magazine listed Act-Age on their "Most Dangerous Manga" list, which included works with the most "stimulating" and thought-provoking themes.[27]

References
  1. "The Official Website for ACT-AGE". Viz Media. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  2. Hodkins, Crystalyn (3 December 2017). "Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine to Launch 2 New Manga in January". Anime News Network. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  3. Sherman, Jennifer (April 9, 2020). "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Other Jump Manga Delay New Volumes Due to COVID-19 Coronavirus Concerns". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  4. Ressler, Karen (10 December 2018). "Viz's Shonen Jump Adds Haikyu!!, Demon Slayer, More to Simulpublishing Lineup". Anime News Network. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  5. Rafael Antonio Pineda (January 27, 2019). "Shueisha Launches Free Global MANGA Plus Service". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  6. Rafael Antonio Pineda (October 4, 2019). "Viz Licenses New Bleach, Naruto, One Piece Novels". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  7. アクタージュ act-age 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  8. "Act-Age, Vol. 1". Viz Media. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  9. アクタージュ act-age 2 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  10. "Act-Age, Vol. 2 (2)". Amazon. Viz Media. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  11. アクタージュ act-age 3 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  12. "Act-Age, Vol. 3 (3)". Amazon. Viz Media. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  13. アクタージュ act-age 4 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  14. アクタージュ act-age 5 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  15. アクタージュ act-age 6 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  16. アクタージュ act-age 7 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  17. アクタージュ act-age 8 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  18. アクタージュ act-age 9 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  19. アクタージュ act-age 10 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  20. アクタージュ act-age 11 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  21. Karen Ressier (4 February 2019). "Japan's Bookstore Employees Rank Top Manga of 2018". Anime News Network. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  22. Egan Loo (14 February 2019). "Japanese Comic Ranking, February 4-10". Anime News Network. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  23. Sherman, J.; Ressler, K.; Sherman, C. (March 3, 2019). "Roundup of Newly Revealed Print Counts for Manga, Light Novel Series - February 2019 (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  24. Loveridge, Lynzee (March 24, 2020). "180,000 Manga Readers Vote for Their Most Wanted Anime Adaptation". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  25. Ressler, Karen (February 4, 2019). "Japan's Bookstore Employees Rank Top Manga of 2018". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  26. Pineda, Rafael Antonio. "43rd Annual Kodansha Manga Awards' Nominees Announced". Anime News Network. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  27. Morrissy, Kim (December 18, 2019). "Spy×Family Included in Brutus Magazine's 'Most Dangerous Manga' of 2019 List". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
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