We all know about Spider-Man. And, if you don’t, I can’t even imagine what your life must have been—seriously. Like, what type of rock are you living under, my guy?
Anyway, Spider-Man today is one of the most successful and, without a doubt, one of the most exciting franchises in the world today.
With about ten movies made until now, thousands of issues of its OG comic, game adaptations including the discontinued runner-shooter game Spider-Man Unlimited by Gameloft and Insomniac Spider-Man games for PS4, PS5, and Windows, the celebrated Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon—which I bet we all used to laugh on when it aired on Disney XD—and obviously, the Spider-Verse trilogy by Sony Animation and other cool appearances which are difficult to even count on fingertips right now, it used to be hard to escape Spider-Man as a kid, especially if you belong to any household that holds a TV and a smartphone.
But, you must be wondering why I’m even mentioning something such as Spider-Man on a blog that is all about anime. Well, have you ever heard of a Spider-Man manga by Viz Media, the same company that is famous for providing the largest catalog of English-language manga in the world?
Exactly.
Imagine a Spider-Man, but as a shonen manga. Just close your eyes and think of the big anime-ish eyes, a fourteen-year-old depressed guy who has no friends in life, who has dreams but doesn’t realizes them, who is bullied in school so he’s left school and studies altogether. He is a loser, a nobody, someone who is loved enough by his parents but still feels like he’s not loved, like he has no one in his life.
And that’s how we got Spider-Man: Fake Red, a manga series written by Yuusuke Osawa, distributed by Viz Media, and made in collaboration with Marvel itself.
Spider-man Manga – The Plot
So the basic plot is a lot different than a typical Spider-Man comic. Like, it’s a manga, after all. The author of the series decided that it’d be better not to include too much of superhero sci-fi stuff like we have seen in the comics and games and other media appearances of the Spider-Man. He decided to keep it simple—and a little manga-ish. This way, the content feels like home to the original manga fans and fresh to the original comic-book fans of the web-slinger.
So, Onomae Yu is a normal high-school student—well, normal by the anime standards. He’s a big Spider-Man fan and a meek student overall. He can’t hold his school-life together, and so, he doesn’t like to go there anymore. After all, he has no friends and no social interaction there overall. He bunks school to go rock-climbing, where, as he said, ‘even if it’s just a little, he starts to feel like… Spider-Man.’
Obviously, he has a liking for the superhero who is keeping his hometown safe and wants to be someone like him—someone who is loved, respected, and not ignored by the society. And he’s taken a liking in rock-climbing because, maybe, climbing on walls like a spider is what Spider-Man does best.
When he was returning that same day from his rock-climbing, he saw that inside an alley, some guys were picking up on Toby, one of his classmates. He tried to go help, but he was too scared. He fights his fear and thinks about Spider-Man, wanting to act like him… wanting to be of any help to somebody. But, soon, one of the bullies punched Toby damn hard, and… Yu freezes. His mind went numb thinking what could happen to him if he tries to interfere. So, he just stands there.
When it was over in a minute and the bullies went away, Yu looked at Toby in the eyes and apologized. But, Toby just replied that he ‘didn’t really have his hopes high anyway.’
It hit him hard.
Soon after Toby was gone and Yu could do nothing but just stand there guiltily with his eyes wide open, he notices Toby’s ID card lying on the ground inside the alley. He walked in to pick it up, and that’s when his eyes fell upon the red color suit that was lying behind a dumpster.
He walked up to it, and to his horror, it… was the suit of Spider-Man, Just like any other rational individual would, he thought that it was some sort of fancy-dress costume. But, when he took it up—like any other rational individual would not do, even in curiosity—and took it home.
Don’t ask me why, because what he did was kinda… disgusting. He wore the suit (which was lying beneath a dumpster some panels ago) and started clicking some selfies when he suddenly noticed those buttons on the palm of the suit. He pressed the button on the palm with the two middle fingers, just like a real Spider-Man, and, just like a real Spider-Man, webs came out. Yes, webs came out (iykyk).
The first chapter continues as he tries to get to the actual Spider-Man to return the costume, and—again, like any other rational individual would not do—he walked up a building, wore the suit, and posed up, thinking that the actual Spider-Man might see him and ask for his suit. But, in fact, people actually started to cheer on him, thinking that he was the real deal.
Then, suddenly, some started shouting and pointing to some lanes back, where a building has caught fire. As people were watching him and shouting at him to do something, he decided that maybe he gotta step in. He ran down the stairs—which was, obviously, unusual for Spider-Man—and then he ran all the way to the next lane to the building instead of just slinging off there.
At the spot, he found a woman whose child is stuck some floor up at the apartment building. People pressured him to do something. Many asked questions. Obviously, many cussed too. So, he decided to climb it up with his Spider-Man powers. And man, I’ve never seen the fear of height being portrayed so accurately in any Spider-Man franchise.
It’s obvious that any new guy who got powers like Spider-Man out of thin air would be scared of heights at the first try. But, I never see this being depicted as vividly as this manga pulled it off. It was obviously not the highlight of the chapter, but this scene shows just how much great content could have been pulled out of Spider-Man.
And, when he successfully saves the child, that reaction really feels real. He feels proud, and he feels belonged. And he feels… well, not like shit like he always used to feel.
Spider-man Manga – The Diffrences
This manga feels fresh for any Spider-Man fan who has eaten up every piece of content there is about Spider-Man. It’s not like the others—it’s an actual superhero story, not just some Japanese rip-off of the American comic. Yu has a different origin story, and completely opposite to that of Peter Parker.
The biggest difference is that Yu is never bitten by a radioactive spider to get his powers. And, because nothing so scientific happens, it’s a lot more enjoyable and easier to follow. And because this Spider-Man doesn’t need to, he’s not into science and a geek like him—he’s just… a little too ordinary.
Also, his family is intact. There are no Uncle Ben or Aunt May in the manga, which play a really important role in the Peter Parker’s life.
Another difference is that he’s not being bullied by anyone. I can’t be sure on this one, because I’ve read only the first chapter, but it doesn’t really feels like he’s getting bullied. There’s just some other stuff happening at school that’s worrying him—maybe he’s just not getting used to his new school and can’t make any friends.
A New Take On The Spider-Man
Another thing I’d like to point out is that I feel like the manga is more realistic and down-to-earth. I mean, you see the point. He’s not a scientific geek, like many of us. He’s just… okay with it—he neither hates it nor loves it. Also, his parents are not dead—which is true for most of us, obviously. And no death such as that of Uncle Ben takes place. Now the last one might be due to cultural differences—gun cough gun violence—it’s good to see that the manga doesn’t try to Americanize itself too much. Its plot breathes like a manga, and is much more relatable to us Asians.
And maybe that’s why it feels so fresh. It doesn’t draw anything from the Spider-Man comics like many of the Spider-Man rip-offs do. Yuusuke Osawa has really given a thought to the story and made sure he doesn’t exhaust the same ideas revolving for eons since Spider-Man first appeared.
So, if you’re a fan of Spider-Man, I highly recommend you this manga. Even if you know nothing about mangas other than that some form of media like this exists, you’re the perfect match as the reader of this series. In fact, it’s recently translated into English, so it’s high time you get your smartphones up and check it out.
Current Status of Spider-man Manga
Just like they say, every good thing comes to an end. And so did this manga. But, its end was much more tragic and emotional than you can ever imagine. And that’s partly because it… never got the chance to end.
Yeah, the series was officially canceled by Viz Media soon in March 2020, and it didn’t even run for a full year. It just consists of fourteen chapters, a little too low to sink your teeth in, if I’m brutally honest. Viz had stated that even though the first chapter was successful, later issues didn’t really gather attention from the readers and they soon had to cut its life short.
It is such a tragedy, because the story had just so much potential. I’d have loved to see some high drama coming out of this manga. There was just so much that could have happened, man.
I’d have loved to see Yu fighting with the villains and finding out little by little some shreds of the mystery of the actual Spider-Man and his relationships with all these villains, and him finally being confronted by the actual Spider-Man who ran away from his responsibilities, the backstory and the character of the actual Spider-Man and why he dumped away all the fame that he had, those intense dialogues that could have taken place, and much more exciting stuff that could have happened, but unfortunately, will never happen now.
I know it’s a little too selfish of me, since it’s a manga that’s literally canceled before it even began its main arcs, but I’d really recommend you to read this stuff.
According to Screen Rant, this manga has pulled off Spider-Man better than Marvel itself, and even though I don’t necessarily hate the original Marvel comic, I kinda agree with it. For an anime and manga fan, it’s really something unique and a great start for any beginner that wants to sink their teeth into the anime universe.
That’s all I had to tell you today. I hope you enjoyed the origin story of the ‘Shonen Spider-Man’, as I like to call it. Consider following us on Instagram and other social media handles to get the best and latest anime-related content. We will be back with more amazing blogs! Sayonara!
