Aka Akasaka, who is known for his works like Kaguya-sama: Love is War and Oshi no Ko, is returning to the manga world with a new title, Maerchen Crown. Set to launch in Weekly Young Jump issue 16/2025 on March 20, the work is a fantasy romance drawn by Aji Chika and has a series composition by Aoi Kujira.
The narrative will be set around a prince and princess in a fairytale world, but even with the interesting concept, most fans doubt if Akasaka can pull off the drama elements well, especially the manga ending. But why are fans worried about the new manga? Let’s explore.
Aka Akasaka returns with a new fantasy romance manga: Fan reactions to Maerchen Crown
With the launch announcement of Maerchen Crown, Akasaka’s reputation has cast doubt on its reception. While some are enthusiastic about the magical romance scenario and the involvement of Aji Chika, others are hesitant. Some of the fans’ reactions are as follows:
This indicates that even outside of skepticism of Akasaka’s work, there are some fans who are not persuaded by the genre as a whole. The skepticism about Maerchen Crown comes from the mass disappointment with the ending of Oshi no Ko.
The series concluded in mid-November 2024, but instead of being hailed as a masterpiece, it was greeted with harsh criticism. Most fans felt that Oshi no Ko had one of the worst conclusions in recent manga history, especially because of its failure to provide satisfying conclusions for its characters.
Aqua’s character arc was a major point of contention. His journey, which revolved around finding happiness after Ai’s death, tragically concluded in a murder-suicide with Kamiki. Instead of a meaningful resolution, his arc appeared to go nowhere, and fans were left enraged. On top of this, no single character in the series had a truly happy ending.
Kana was never actually given closure with Aqua’s affections, Akane was left in a perpetual state of dynamic tension with him, and Miyako was never actually validated as a mother figure by Aqua and Ruby. The series ended with a montage of characters preparing for the future and not showing their struggle in getting over Aqua’s death, which only emphasized the abruptness of the ending.
Oshi no Ko: A pattern of controversial endings in Akasaka’s work
The criticism of the ending of Oshi no Ko is not in itself unique. Fans have argued that Aka Akasaka has not been able to bring his series to a satisfying close in the past as well. While Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a popular series, its final arc was criticized for ruining Kaguya’s family drama and not wrapping up several character arcs to a satisfying conclusion.
Also, Akasaka’s earlier series, Love Agency, was flat-out canceled after scarcely more than a year of serialization, raising further questions about his ability to maintain long-term storytelling. With such a track record, the majority of the fans have lost confidence in Akasaka’s narrative, particularly in the area of writing drama.
Now, whether Maerchen Crown succeeds or fails will probably make or break Aka Akasaka’s reputation as a writer in the future. If he can write an engaging story with a good ending, he might be able to save himself and shut up his critics. If the series is plagued by the same problems as his other works, however, it might solidify the notion that he cannot write drama well.
Oshi no Ko and most of the manga by Aka Akasaka are available to read on Shueisha.
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