World Trigger

Summary

World Trigger (Japanese: ワールドトリガー, Hepburn: Wārudo Torigā), also known in short form as WorTri (Japanese: ワートリ, Hepburn: Wātori), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Ashihara. It was initially serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2013 to November 2018, and transferred to Jump Square in December 2018. Its chapters have been collected in 26 tankōbon volumes as of June 2023. In North America, the manga has been licensed for English release by Viz Media.

World Trigger
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Yūma Kuga
ワールドトリガー
(Wārudo Torigā)
GenreAdventure, science fiction[1]
Manga
Written byDaisuke Ashihara
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
Magazine
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runFebruary 9, 2013 – present
Volumes26 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by
  • Mitsuru Hongo (1−48)
  • Kouji Ogawa (49−73)
  • Morio Hatano (74−99)
Produced by
  • Daichi Nagatomi
  • Kei Mizutani (1−38, 74−99)
  • Hiroshi Yanai (39−73)
Written by
Music byKenji Kawai
StudioToei Animation
Licensed by
Original networkANN (TV Asahi)
English network
Original run October 5, 2014 January 23, 2022
Episodes99 (List of episodes)
icon Anime and manga portal

An anime television series adaptation produced by Toei Animation was aired on TV Asahi from October 2014 to April 2016. A second season aired from January to April 2021, and a third season aired from October 2021 to January 2022.

Synopsis edit

Setting edit

In Mikado City (三門市, Mikado-shi) (280,000 inhabitants), a "gate" to a different world suddenly opens one day. Monsters called "Neighbors" (近界民ネイバー, Neibā, lit. "Near-world people") start appearing from the gate. Humans are overwhelmed at first when their weapons are found to be useless against Neighbors, until a mysterious organization appears that is able to repel the Neighbors' attacks. The organization is called the National Defense Agency, or "Border", and has appropriated the Neighbor technology called "Triggers", which allows the user to channel an internal energy called Trion and use it as a weapon or for other purposes. By activating a trigger, the body of users is replaced by a battle-body made of Trion which is stronger and more resistant.

Plot edit

Four years later, people in Mikado City have grown used to the occasional battles with the Neighbors, and have returned more or less to their everyday lives. Border has become popular. One day, a mysterious white-haired student named Yūma Kuga (空閑 遊真, Kuga Yūma) transfers to the local school. Kuga is actually a strong humanoid Neighbor, a fact that he wants to hide from Border. In the school he meets another student, Osamu Mikumo (三雲 修, Mikumo Osamu), who is secretly a C-rank Border trainee. Since Kuga is completely oblivious about life in Mikado City, it falls to Mikumo to guide him through it, and to prevent him from being discovered by Border.

Media edit

Manga edit

Written and illustrated by Daisuke Ashihara, World Trigger started in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 9, 2013.[2] Due to health issues on the part of the author, it was put on hiatus in November 2016.[3] The series resumed publication in the same magazine on October 29, 2018, and ran until November 26 of the same year, before being transferred to the monthly manga magazine Jump Square on December 4, 2018.[4] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on July 4, 2013.[5] As of June 2, 2023, 26 volumes have been released.[6]

In North America, Viz Media licensed the series for English release in 2014.[7] The first volume was released on October 7, 2014.[8] As of August 1, 2023, 25 volumes have been released.[9]

Anime edit

In May 2014, an anime adaptation of World Trigger was announced to start airing in October of the same year.[10][11] The series is produced by Toei Animation and was broadcast on TV Asahi from October 5, 2014 to April 3, 2016.[12][13][14][15] The series is directed by Mitsuru Hongo with series composition by Hiroyuki Yoshino. Toshihisa Kaiya and Hitomi Tsuruta are the character designers and animation directors, and the music is composed by Kenji Kawai.[16] The cast includes Nobuhiko Okamoto, Rie Kugimiya, Hideyuki Tanaka, Nao Tamura, Jun Fukuyama, Tomo Muranaka, Yūki Kaji and Yūichi Nakamura.[17][18][19] The series was slated to run for 50 episodes,[20] but ended up having 73 episodes.[21] In summer 2015, the World Trigger Summer Festival 2015 event announced World Trigger: Isekai Kara no Tōbōsha, a brand new series with an original story not presented in the World Trigger manga, and with new characters and concepts.[22] This "new series" actually ended up being the "Fugitive Arc" of the anime, which ran from Episodes 49 to 63. On March 7, 2016, it was confirmed that the World Trigger anime would end, after it was announced that TV Asahi would be replacing the time slot airing it with sports programming.[23] The Nagoya trio Sonar Pocket performed the anime's first opening theme, "Girigiri" (ギリギリ, lit. "Borderline").[24] The second opening theme is "Ashita no Hikari" (アシタノヒカリ, lit. "The Light of Tomorrow") by AAA.[25] The third opening theme is Dream Trigger (ドリームトリガー, Dorīmu Torigā) by Pile.[26]

During Jump Festa '20, it was announced that the series would receive a second season, with the cast reprising their roles and Toei Animation returning to produce the series.[27][15] Morio Hatano is the new series director, while the rest of the staff are reprising their roles.[28] The second season aired on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation [ja] block from January 10 to April 4, 2021.[29] The opening theme is "Force" by TXT, and the ending theme is "Mirai Eigō" (未来永劫, lit. "The Endless Future") by Kami wa Saikoro o Furanai.[30]

During Jump Festa '21, it was announced that the series would receive a third season.[31] The third season aired from October 10, 2021 to January 23, 2022.[32][33] The opening theme is "Time Factor" (タイムファクター, Taimu Fakutā) by Kami wa Saikoro o Furanai, and the ending theme is "Ungai Dōkei" (雲外憧憬, lit. "Yearning to Be Above the Clouds") by Fantastic Youth.[34]

In North America, Toei announced in July 2015 that they would be producing an English dub with Ocean Productions.[35][21] The series began airing in the United States on Primo TV on January 16, 2017.[36] The English dub became available on Crunchyroll on February 11, 2020.[37] In September 2020, Crunchyroll announced a "home video and electronic sell-through distribution" partnership with Sentai Filmworks to distribute anime titles on home video.[38] The series was released on Blu-ray on June 8, 2021.[39] On October 8, 2021, it was announced the English dub of season 2 will be released in 2022.[40] The dub for the second and third season were released on a variety of download to own platforms beginning on October 4, 2022.[41]

Video games edit

A PlayStation Vita action game developed by Artdink titled World Trigger: Borderless Mission (ワールドトリガー ボーダレスミッション) was released in Japan on September 17, 2015.[42] An iOS and Android game developed by Ganbarion titled World Trigger: Smash Borders (ワールドトリガー スマッシュボーダーズ) was released on July 21, 2015.[43] It was later released on PlayStation Vita on February 17, 2016.[44] Both were published by Bandai Namco Games.

Reception edit

Manga edit

World Trigger was the 20th best-selling manga of 2016, with over 1.2 million copies sold.[45] By July 2023, the manga had over 15 million copies in circulation.[46]

The series ranked 43rd on the 2014 "Book of the Year" list from Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine, where professional book reviewers, bookstore employees, and Da Vinci readers participate;[47] it ranked 33rd on the 2015 list;[48] 31st on the 2019 list;[49] 44th on the 2021 list;[50] ninth on the 2022 list;[51] and 26th on the 2023 list.[52]

In a 2016 reader's poll on Goo, the series was voted as the fifth most likely to become a Weekly Shōnen Jump signature series.[53] On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, World Trigger ranked fourteenth.[54]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network said that "World Trigger is an exciting read that distributes its information organically rather than relying on info-dumps."[55]

Anime edit

The anime series ranked tenth in the Tokyo Anime Award Festival's top 100 TV anime series of 2016.[56] During NHK'S top 100 anime voting, World Trigger placed 158 out of 400, tied with Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare.[57]

The first season of the anime received criticism stemming from Toei's handling of the adaptation. Gabriella Ekens from Anime News Network referred to the production as "incompetent" and "baffling", stating "World Trigger isn't a bad show, but it's a terrible adaptation."[58]

References edit

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Further reading edit

  • Douresseaux, Leroy (September 25, 2014). "World Trigger: Volume 1 Advanced manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (October 6, 2014). "World Trigger: Volume 2 Advanced manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (February 25, 2015). "World Trigger: Volume 4 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (March 29, 2015). "World Trigger: Volume 5 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (August 24, 2015). "World Trigger: Volume 6 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (October 28, 2015). "World Trigger: Volume 7 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (January 25, 2016). "World Trigger: Volume 8 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Douresseaux, Leroy (April 29, 2016). "World Trigger: Volume 10 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Toon Doctor.
  • Luster, Joseph (April 28, 2015). "Manga Review: World Trigger vol. 5". Otaku USA. Sovereign Media.
  • Surat, Daryl (January 17, 2016). "[Review] World Trigger". Otaku USA. Sovereign Media.
  • Taylor, Jarrius (October 5, 2014). "World Trigger Episode #01 Anime Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (November 11, 2014). "World Trigger Vol. #01 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (November 20, 2014). "World Trigger Vol. #02 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (January 26, 2015). "World Trigger Vol. #03 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (January 26, 2015). "World Trigger Vol. #04 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (July 11, 2015). "World Trigger Vol. #05 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (December 12, 2015). "World Trigger Vol. #07 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (March 27, 2016). "World Trigger Vol. #08 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.
  • Warner, Matthew (August 19, 2016). "World Trigger Vol. #10 Manga Review". The Fandom Post.

External links edit

  • Official World Trigger website (in Japanese)
  • World Trigger manga official website at Jump SQ. (in Japanese)
  • World Trigger manga official website at Weekly Shōnen Jump (in Japanese)
  • World Trigger anime website on Toei Animation's site (in Japanese)
  • World Trigger anime website at TV Asahi (in Japanese)
  • World Trigger (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia