The fascinating new Shonen Jump manga Wild Strawberry flips the script on the "traditional" post-apocalyptic world and paints a doomsday scenario that draws a lot from the struggles of the COVID pandemic. It is one of Jump's more intriguing additions to its monthly lineup and therefore should be on everyone's list as a potential blockbuster.

Ire Yonemoto's Wild Strawberry is not your average post-apocalyptic manga. There are no zombies like in the new smash-hit anime Zom 100, corrupt mega-corporations, or aliens determined to enslave humanity. Instead, the problem is that after thousands of years of literally being enslaved by humanity, plants have now become the predator. A mysterious overgrowth engulfed Tokyo, with plants evolving to absorb nutrients from humans. The horror component of the story comes from something else, however. Parasitic organisms called Jinka - human flowers - spread from host to host through pollen, making their victims "bloom" and transforming them into ravenous hybrids with an appetite for human flesh. The only apparent defense is vaccines, but that's only true for those who can afford them, making poor districts like inner Tokyo true hells to live in.

Wild Strawberry Tells An Eerily Familiar Apocalyptic Story

The protagonist of Wild Strawberry is Kingo, an orphan who wants to protect at all cost his "sister" Kayano, who has been infected by a strange Jinka that does not kill her, but actually saved both boys' life. Kingo's struggle to survive quickly takes a dangerous turn in the first chapters of what promises to be an exciting and genuinely scary story. Wild Strawberry also features great art with impressive detail and refinement for a debut work.

Of course, Wild Strawberry is clearly influenced by recent history, showing how a single event in the world can have global consequences that not only threaten life as we know it but also changed life as we previously lived it. Indeed, according to the manga, the circumstances which allowed plants to evolve to their current stale of rebellion are unknown, however, the protagonist Kingo offers that climate change might somehow have played a role. The presence of vaccines and the themes of mistrust for the infected, inequality of care, and harsh government repression will surely tap into the raw feelings that the readers, have felt over the last several years during the COVID pandemic.

Wild Strawberry Is The Perfect Post-COVID Apocalyptic Manga

Wild Strawberry truly is the perfect doomsday manga for a post-COVID fan base. The mixture of real-world elements with superb storytelling and exquisite artwork puts Wild Strawberry head and shoulders above the new manga that Shonen Jump has been offering over the last few months, and a low-key candidate for the surprise hit manga of the year.

Wild Strawberry is now available from Viz Media.