It's honestly criminal that Nobuyuki Fukumoto is so often pigeonholed as the gambling manga guy. Not only did he start out with the romance story Wani’s First Love, he would go on to pen such human dramas as Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa and even managed to make golf exciting in Nikaidou Hell Golf. That flexibility is on similarly full display in his latest series, Aoi and Teppei.

Given that Hell Golf is still ongoing, Fukumoto’s role has been reduced to just story this time around. For art, he has recruited someone with a familiar name: Takumi Fukumoto. This is absolutely just pure speculation on my part, but could the two be related? Not only do they share exactly the same last name, but a similar thing happened to Keisuki Itagaki and Paru Itagaki some years ago.

In any case, Aoi and Teppei follows the diametrically opposed twin lives of the titular characters as they come together in a very unusual fashion. Aoi is the next Shohei Ohtani, dominating the major leagues and winning the hearts of the nation, while Teppei is a fat bald guy living in a shabby apartment. The other Fukumoto does an excellent job at driving home the difference through character designs, contrasting Aoi’s manicured appearance nicely with Teppei’s pronounced lips and nose hairs.

Like a true incel, the only way that Teppei can get any woman to touch him is by going to an idol concert. He’s a regular at the events of an all-male group known as Jaga Jaga Seven; not because he likes their music or anything, but because the overwhelmingly female crowd ends up jostling him around in their excitement. Perhaps the most Fukumoto (Nobuyuki) flourish here is when Teppei describes this feeling as becoming a jellyfish, surrendering himself to the currents and going with the pheromone-induced flow.

As luck would have it, Teppei ends up winning a raffle that has a hug on the line as one of the prizes. Performing this hug will not be one of the Jaga Jaga Seve but Aoi, recently returned home from a mobbing at Narita airport. Somewhat frustratingly, chapter one then ends at this critical juncture where both characters come face to face for the first time. Will their inaugural meeting be consummated with a little bit of physical contact?

The scant amount of pages does make judging this series a little difficult at this stage, but the description on the Young Magazine website does hint at the theme of reincarnation. What can be said for sure is that Fukumoto (Nobuyuki) is on fire once again with the most ridiculous metaphors and the other one has also almost perfectly managed to capture his art style. Seriously, you could’ve fooled me if you said that this was a solo venture. 

Like father, like son? Or maybe just a well-trained assistant.

Chapter One Club is a weekly column that aims to spotlight the latest in new series and one-shots from across a wide variety of different demographics and publications.