So a week ago, one of the new Shonen Jump Sports Manga just finished.
So I had picked up this manga when it first came out in April of this year. I thought it was charming and had potential to grow. As the manga went on, it stayed pretty consistent. Characters clashed against one-another pretty well, and it was cool to see how our prodigy protagonists weren't just good at the game, but were legitimate inspirations to others. Their light shone bright enough to get others into the sport, but also shone so bright that it blinded others (as shown with a newer character, Higurashi). The crew goes up against at least two new teams, including a rival team who is primed to go far in a tournament, and a team that includes the guy who got our star player interested in Basketball in the first place. There were neat moments, and it was always cool seeing our lead pulling off impressive feints against his opponents.
The final chapter begins with a TL;DR, stating that after winning the match last chapter, the team lost to a different team. But flash-forward to the team training at the Gymnasium, we get to see a handful of new characters (including someone who can match our lead's passes, and someone who can even block the star player's shots). We then see the lead's love interest talking about our lead in a reminiscent sort of way. And then the manga just sort of... ends. It's a satisfying place to stop, but it very much reads like missed potential because of being cut short. At the very least, it didn't rush towards its ending like Yuki Kawaguchi's works.
In the end, I find that Drawn to the Fire retained shocking consistency throughout its run. I thought it was a 7/10 when it started, but I also thought it was a 7/10 when it ended. It's not a bad manga by any means, but I assume most will find it easy to forget.