Kashikoi Ken Rilienthal

As my second review of Shonen Jump mangas, I decided to go with what (according to a video from about three years ago) is ranked as the 150th worst-selling manga in Jump. This, along with my journey to discover as many Shonen Jump mangas as possible, caught my interest. But oh no, that wasn’t the real surprise—not even the shocking 9,000 copies it sold across 4 volumes. The real shocker? This manga was written by the author of World Trigger, a series that gained quite a bit of recognition not long after!

Kashikoi Ken Rilienthal was a manga published in Weekly Shonen Jump from September 14, 2009, to May 1, 2010. With a run of less than a year, the series wrapped up with 33 chapters and 4 volumes. Written and illustrated by World Trigger’s author, Daisuke Ashihara, Ken Rilienthal marked his first attempt at finding success in the WSJ. The premise of this series was inspired by a one-shot Ashihara previously published in the magazine on November 17, 2008. The story is about two siblings who receive a call from their parents, who want to introduce them to their new sibling (considering the parents are never around because they're always working and considered too important to hang out with their kids). When they arrive, they find a box labeled "new sibling," and it turns out—surprise!—the new sibling is none other than a dog! And not just any dog, oh no, it’s a talking dog!

STORY 4/10

The way the story starts, this manga kind of reminds me of series like Doraemon or what Robocco currently is in the WSJ—the typical comedy where everything happens because of the existence of a mascot character, which in this case is a dog that can talk and walk. This dog makes people's emotions stronger and deeper, which isn't always a good thing. Following this premise, Rilienthial slowly starts discovering what human relationships and emotions really mean. While it doesn’t sound too bad, the execution left a lot to be desired, mostly because the character of Relenthial feels super boring and frustrating, which reminds me even more of Robocco nowadays. The series also starts with an episodic format, which doesn’t really explore that interconnected discovery. The author also tried to explore with small story arcs (which, considering it only lasted 33 chapters, a 6-chapter arc is decently long) that do improve the whole "Rilienthial discovering things" part, but still, it wasn’t enough to get me to connect with the story—and probably not with readers either. Because, as the series progresses, it becomes apparent that the plot is treading water, and by the time it starts to go somewhere, the axe of cancellation has already fallen.

ART 6/10

I’m not gonna lie, the art is almost identical to what you see in World Trigger. It’s clean, and the characters show their emotions decently. But what I have to point out is that the design of Rilienthal is kind of eh--- ugly. While it’s clearly meant to be funny, honestly, it just isn’t. Of course, humor is subjective, but let’s be real, if it had worked, I wouldn’t be talking about how it got canceled. I feel like Ashihara’s paneling wasn’t as good as it is in World Trigger, but there are moments, like the one in the image below, where I could honestly say that if this manga had been a horror series instead of comedy, it would have been way more popular.

# CHARACTERS 3/10 Here’s where I see the biggest problem with the series: Rilienthal is a bad protagonist, and the human characters around him are just kinda decent, except for the sister, who’s the one who gets the most development. Aside from her, the characters are forgettable, with pretty shallow relationships. The cast is mostly there just to give an excuse for the emotional powers to activate. While the nature of the manga could’ve allowed for a solid character-driven narrative, instead, it feels like a series of disconnected vignettes that don’t manage to be either a comedy or any other genre. # ENJOYMENT 4/10__ I would’ve liked to enjoy this manga. While being episodic, it had a few decent chapters here and there, but they weren’t enough to make up for the lack of substance. The comedy just wasn’t enough to make me want to keep reading, and if it were still ongoing today, I probably would’ve dropped it long before its cancellation. I’m not gonna lie, I'm glad Ashihara-sensei decided not to do another manga solely focused on comedy.

VERDICT

Kashikoi Ken Rilienthal is a manga that’s probably not worth recommending, not even to people who hate series like Robocco or Doraemon. Honestly, I’d only recommend it if you’re a niche fan of the WSJ like me, who likes reading even the worst series that have popped up in the roster, or if you’re a fan of Ashihara-sensei and want to explore his early work. If not, this manga is an easy skip. It’s also a reminder that just because a manga is bad doesn’t mean the author can’t eventually find success.