Retcons are always a controversial part of any story, but a new one Shonen dance the manga includes a series in a great way: Nisioisin and Yuji Iwasaki’s Crypto Academy, an innovative manga about Iroha Irohazaka, a young boy trying to survive at a harsh school for the underprivileged. decoder. This isn’t the first time the series has made an interesting twist on classic manga storytelling, but the case works especially well considering how many people criticize retcons of any kind. which consciousness.
In Chapter #12, Iroha discovers that her opponent, Toshusai, was once the victim of a punishment game that forced her to say butt things at least ten times a day. This explains why Toshusai is often serious about using vulgar phrases throughout the series, which forces the Crypto Academy to get creative with censorship as well. However, it also contradicts her earlier explanation of her slang in Chapter 6, which explains that her use of a certain phrase is due to a play on words in the Kansai dialect. The character Kogoe, who often comments on the events of the manga and acts as an alternate author directly acknowledges this, while apologizing for the retcon. Although they said that they initially considered fixing this in the graphic novel version of the manga, they ultimately decided to drop the incorrect interpretation because they felt it made sense in a text that looked like Looks right but is actually wrong.
Crypto Academy makes its Retcon better by acknowledging it
This is a refreshing approach to retcons, especially when compared to other series that rarely acknowledge them. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as these retcons can sometimes be as simple as tweaking raw and unfinished artwork, like Hunter x Hunter did in its episodes. But sometimes these changes can be more confusing, such as Hirohiko Araki changing the name of Pucci’s last stall from “Stairway to Heaven” to “Made in Heaven” in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6. As fans want these works to be consistent, these changes can be frustrating, even if it ultimately improves the quality of the manga.
Luckily, the Cipher Academy retcon is presented in a way that fans can’t really get mad at. It makes both the explanation incorrect and the rule reworded at the same time, which, paradoxically, makes it less confusing than an unacknowledged change. Beyond that, it turns it into a meta joke and a surprisingly poignant statement of art and aesthetics. More series should learn from this approach, both within the comics industry and outside.
Other series should implement Retcons like Cipher Academy
Not every series can directly acknowledge retcons in this way, as Cipher Academy’s sublime humor and pun (making it difficult to translate) wouldn’t be suitable for a more serious story. But even having the characters acknowledge these changes in the universe without breaking the fourth wall will likely appease fans upset about the constant changes. Retcons are practically inevitable for most stories, but by following Crypto AcademyFor example, other series can mix them up without confusing or annoying their fans.
All chapters of Crypto Academy available to read from Viz Media.