Approx length: Currently at 128 chapters, with 8 volumes released physically.
Where to find it: Shonen Jump has the first three and most recent three chapters available for free, and the rest with a subscription. The volumes are also for sale at most book/comic shops, and ebook versions online, though they don't have the full story yet.
What is it, in summary?: Fuuko's just an ordinary girl with a tragic curse. Anyone who touches her suffers a bout of bad luck, depending on how much she likes them. At the low end, they might trip over something or have something fall on their head. At the high end... well, her curse first manifested when she hugged her parents goodbye at the airport. Their plane exploded before takeoff, leaving no survivors.
Hating the prospect of life without being able to touch anyone, she finally decides to end it all -- but before she can, a mysterious man intervenes, really interested in the idea that her ability could kill him. He's got a curse of his own, you see -- he can't die. The idea of an unlucky break actually getting past that and killing him -- that's wicked sick. So now he's just going to have to get her to like him enough to give him a stroke of unluck greater than anyone's ever had!
As time goes on, we learn more about the nature of their 'curses.' The world is defined by rules, and there are people called Negators who have the ability to break one of those rules. Fuuko has the power of Unluck, and the mysterious man, Andy, has the power of Undead. There are other Negators out there, including a group called the Union that would be very interested in acquiring their powers. There are mysterious beings called UMAs who embody the rules themselves, and use them to torment humanity -- for instance, Spoil, the rule that all things decay, turns the people of a town into rotting zombies. And there's a strange book giving out quests that can change the rules entirely. As Fuuko and Andy learn more about the truth of the world, it starts to look like the only way to make things better might be to find the 'god' that created the world -- and kill him.
What do you love about it?: I've always loved worlds that work on principles very unlike the real world, and Undead Unluck provides that in spades. The fundamental building blocks of the world are the Rules, and over the course of the manga we see the Rules change several times. Defeating the UMA Language unifies all the languages of the world. Creating the UMA Galaxy retroactively adds the concept of stars and planets to a world that never had them. At one point, it's made explicit that things like gender, disease, and even movement were added to a world that never had them at some point. Seeing a world in flux like that is fascinating to me.
The story is also much better about its portrayal of women than many shonen manga have been. There's some unfortunate sexualization sometimes, but it's in my eyes outweighed by the sheer gutsiness of every female member of the cast. Fuuko is the main hero of the story, though with Andy as a close second, and she grows from being a depressed shut-in with no particular skills to being an active heroine who takes active part in the battles and weaponizes her Unluck to take down the strongest of foes -- while also showing compassion and understanding in how they got there. There are numerous other women in both heroic and villainous roles, and they're some of the strongest members of the cast.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I've nominated a few characters I'm fondest of -- Fuuko, Andy, Juiz, and Anno Un -- but more than anything else, I'm interested in the world, and how they get along in it. I'd love to see the world with different sets of Rules -- what was it like before gender, or before spoilage, or before death? What happens when several UMAs get killed in a recent arc -- we don't get much of a look at what changes that causes, but there's a lot of potential there. Anno Un and Juiz both have parts of their personal story that would make them excellent viewpoints for watching the world change. But I'd also like characterization pieces for either of them, or Fuuko and Andy together.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: It's hard to narrow things down -- the story builds on itself. But Volume 1 sets up Fuuko and Andy pretty well, and Volume 2 introduces the concept of the Rules and the quests. The UMA Autumn arc (chapters 37-52) introduces Anno Un and also gives a solid look at the other characters and the nature of UMAs.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Shonen-typical battles and violence, with a bit of extra caution recommended: Andy's Undead powers mean he can weaponize damage to himself, and so he will intentionally cut off limbs or use jets of blood in combat. He also sometimes appears as a severed head, a skinless body, or otherwise maimed. Also, the early chapters especially have 'comedic' sexual harassment -- Fuuko's Unluck is stronger the more skin contact she has, so Andy will often grope her to activate it. This thankfully tapers off as the series progresses. There's some non-explicit nudity -- Andy's Undead powers don't heal his clothes (and there's a running gag about showing off his censor bar), and a later character is Untouchable and can't wear clothes, though she's usually shown in a big mech suit.
Undead Unluck
Undead Unluck
Media:
Manga
Approx length:
Currently at 128 chapters, with 8 volumes released physically.
Where to find it:
Shonen Jump has the first three and most recent three chapters available for free, and the rest with a subscription. The volumes are also for sale at most book/comic shops, and ebook versions online, though they don't have the full story yet.
What is it, in summary?:
Fuuko's just an ordinary girl with a tragic curse. Anyone who touches her suffers a bout of bad luck, depending on how much she likes them. At the low end, they might trip over something or have something fall on their head. At the high end... well, her curse first manifested when she hugged her parents goodbye at the airport. Their plane exploded before takeoff, leaving no survivors.
Hating the prospect of life without being able to touch anyone, she finally decides to end it all -- but before she can, a mysterious man intervenes, really interested in the idea that her ability could kill him. He's got a curse of his own, you see -- he can't die. The idea of an unlucky break actually getting past that and killing him -- that's wicked sick. So now he's just going to have to get her to like him enough to give him a stroke of unluck greater than anyone's ever had!
As time goes on, we learn more about the nature of their 'curses.' The world is defined by rules, and there are people called Negators who have the ability to break one of those rules. Fuuko has the power of Unluck, and the mysterious man, Andy, has the power of Undead. There are other Negators out there, including a group called the Union that would be very interested in acquiring their powers. There are mysterious beings called UMAs who embody the rules themselves, and use them to torment humanity -- for instance, Spoil, the rule that all things decay, turns the people of a town into rotting zombies. And there's a strange book giving out quests that can change the rules entirely. As Fuuko and Andy learn more about the truth of the world, it starts to look like the only way to make things better might be to find the 'god' that created the world -- and kill him.
What do you love about it?:
I've always loved worlds that work on principles very unlike the real world, and Undead Unluck provides that in spades. The fundamental building blocks of the world are the Rules, and over the course of the manga we see the Rules change several times. Defeating the UMA Language unifies all the languages of the world. Creating the UMA Galaxy retroactively adds the concept of stars and planets to a world that never had them. At one point, it's made explicit that things like gender, disease, and even movement were added to a world that never had them at some point. Seeing a world in flux like that is fascinating to me.
The story is also much better about its portrayal of women than many shonen manga have been. There's some unfortunate sexualization sometimes, but it's in my eyes outweighed by the sheer gutsiness of every female member of the cast. Fuuko is the main hero of the story, though with Andy as a close second, and she grows from being a depressed shut-in with no particular skills to being an active heroine who takes active part in the battles and weaponizes her Unluck to take down the strongest of foes -- while also showing compassion and understanding in how they got there. There are numerous other women in both heroic and villainous roles, and they're some of the strongest members of the cast.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
I've nominated a few characters I'm fondest of -- Fuuko, Andy, Juiz, and Anno Un -- but more than anything else, I'm interested in the world, and how they get along in it. I'd love to see the world with different sets of Rules -- what was it like before gender, or before spoilage, or before death? What happens when several UMAs get killed in a recent arc -- we don't get much of a look at what changes that causes, but there's a lot of potential there. Anno Un and Juiz both have parts of their personal story that would make them excellent viewpoints for watching the world change. But I'd also like characterization pieces for either of them, or Fuuko and Andy together.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
It's hard to narrow things down -- the story builds on itself. But Volume 1 sets up Fuuko and Andy pretty well, and Volume 2 introduces the concept of the Rules and the quests. The UMA Autumn arc (chapters 37-52) introduces Anno Un and also gives a solid look at the other characters and the nature of UMAs.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Shonen-typical battles and violence, with a bit of extra caution recommended: Andy's Undead powers mean he can weaponize damage to himself, and so he will intentionally cut off limbs or use jets of blood in combat. He also sometimes appears as a severed head, a skinless body, or otherwise maimed. Also, the early chapters especially have 'comedic' sexual harassment -- Fuuko's Unluck is stronger the more skin contact she has, so Andy will often grope her to activate it. This thankfully tapers off as the series progresses. There's some non-explicit nudity -- Andy's Undead powers don't heal his clothes (and there's a running gag about showing off his censor bar), and a later character is Untouchable and can't wear clothes, though she's usually shown in a big mech suit.