I buy and read a lot of manga magazines every month because if I can follow series from when they serialise, I’m less likely to spend money on full volumes down the road. At least, that’s what I tell myself. But I don’t buy Jump SQ (or Jump Square, as it’s often called) because Blue Exorcist, Seraph of the End and Gokurakugai are already simulpub in English through the Shonen Jump app. And sure, we’re not getting the whole SQ lineup in English, but it feels hard to justify buying it every month when I already fork over money to VIZ for their service and there’s that overlap in titles.

So, I still pick up first volumes of things that interest me from SQ instead, and that led to me picking up 華風キラーチューン (Hanakaze Killer Tune) Volume 1 in June of last year and then reading it in July. And I really enjoyed that first volume! Enough that I excitedly wrote about it in my Manga Debut column for Anime Atelier! And then I eagerly bought #2 in October and read it in December and patiently waited for #3, which came out in March, and I just got around to reading. And how devastated I was to reach the end and find it was the entire end of the series! After it had just introduced some relatively interesting things. It definitely feels like the author got told to wrap it up quickly, which is a shame.

I go into the basic premise in my Atelier review, so in a bid to not replicate that, I’m instead going to jump straight into talking about end-of-series spoilers. You have been warned.

Still here? Okay.

So one of the things I figured out about this series early on is that Hanamoto was keeping a secret, and that was probably some kind of health issue. Look, I am a glutton for punishment when it comes to music and dead heroine stories, so if I was gravitating this hard to something that was hinting at something devastating, I figured that had to be it. Which almost feels cruel, given both Ayu and Hanamoto once gave up on their dreams after the death of their idol. But after an extremely exhausting performance in Volume 2, here in our last instalment, it is revealed that Hanamoto has ALS. And in fact, now she’s pushed herself so far she can no longer play guitar or even walk around as she did before. But she still wants to sing while she can, and Ayu has to come to terms with both her decision and the reality of their future together.

What struck me here was that author Emi Watanabe went into considerable detail about the disease and how it affects people. Of course we see that portrayed through Hanamoto as well, as she’s steadily losing more and more of her mobility as the volume goes on. It’s unusual for a non-medical-themed manga like this to actually name an illness and explore it when it’s not the main theme. Ultimately, this is a shonen music series first and foremost, so you didn’t have to dive into the illness this way. But I’m glad they did, while equally disappointed that the manga ended so soon and didn’t have enough time to continue following the characters for just a little bit longer.

On top of disclosing Hanamoto’s illness, this volume had also introduced a new character into the fold who I’d wanted to see more of. Her story is handled relatively well in the time available, but even so, to introduce a newcomer so late feels like another indicator that Watanabe hadn’t been prepared to finish this one yet.

And look, manga can get cancelled prematurely, and it does. But I’m not one of those people who say you should never read a cancelled series (or, god forbid, not even start until it seems ‘stable’). Despite the quick wrap-up, I’d still recommend 華風キラーチューン for music fans, and I had a great time reading it. Despite being a newcomer, Watanabe’s art was polished, and they accomplished a lot with the time they had. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how their next work shapes up.