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Why Is 'Kagura Bachi' Being Hailed As 'The Greatest Manga Of All Time?' Morbius-Like Trend Explained
Step aside, One Piece and Bleach: there is a new king of shonen manga in town. The first manga to be crowned the GOAT even before its first chapter was released, Kagura Bachi by Takeru Hokazono generated so much hype that it seems improbable – and it is! The trend of 'glazing' Kagura Bachi is mostly ironic. How did the trend of hyping up Kagura Bachi as the best manga of all time start and what is it even about – read it all in our explainer.
What Is ‘Kagura Bachi’?
Kagura Bachi is a shonen manga created by Takeru Hokazono and published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since September 2023. The manga follows the story of Chihiro, a swordsmith apprentice turned swordsmith to seek revenge against evil. As of September 20th, 2023, only the first chapter of the manga has been released, introducing several characters: Chihiro, a teenager studying smithing under his father and later a sword master fighting the Yakuza, Chihoro's father Kunishige, a master swordsmith, and Shiba, Kunishige's friend who assists Chihiro on a mission against a Yakuza group.
Why Are People Hyping Up 'Kagura Bachi' So Much?
Shorty after the preview panel of Chihiro unsheathing a katana was released in September 2023, and days before the first chapter of the manga was even published, Kagura Bachi formed an semi-ironic fandom which hyped up the manga as one the greatest shonen manga of all time, worthy of being in the "Big Three" next to the likes of Boruto, One Piece and Bleach.
The trend started with people initially expressing skepticism about the manga, with some commenting onto its generic premise. However, the tide quickly turned onto the new manga as some users started hyping up the manga as one of the greatest ever, despite the first chapter not even being out yet. Sound familiar
‘Kagura Bachi’ Usage In Memes
The ironic trend of hyping up Kagura Bachi, known as Kagura Bachi Glazing, started on X / Twitter when on September 13th, five days ahead of the manga's premiere, user Timmy Cook posted a meme hailing Kagura Bachi as a better manga than Boruto_, writing, "Enough time has passed." The post then was sharedjump/ in the /r/Kagurabachi subreddit, where it received over 560 upvotes.
In the following days, the user was joined by multiple others who made ironic posts hyping up the manga and naming it one of "The Big Three," the three most important manga of the current generation. The trend spread from X to Reddit and to TikTok, as 'Kagura Bachi' insanity started achieving Morbius-level proportions.
On TikTok, the trend became known as Kagura Bachi Glazing, and some users unfamiliar with the meme took the joke posts too seriously.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7280298187288513824
Following the release of the first chapter on September 18th, the trend became so widespread that the image of Chihiro unsheathing his sword became a meme of its own, inspiring redraws and cosplay.
Where Can I Read 'Kagura Bachi'?
The first chapter of Kagura Bachi has been published in Weekly Shonen Jump on September 18th. You can read it online on Manga Plus.
Is 'Kagura Bachi' Anime Out?
No! Despite multiple posts spreading misinformation, Kagura Bachi anime is not in the works at MAPPA, Trigger or any other anime studio.
There's an official trailer for the manga, though!
For the full history of_ Kagura Bachi_ memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
