Media Thread: Drawn to the Fire (Ch. 1)

Yesterday was the Debut of Jump's newest Sports Manga: Drawn to the Fire.

It's a manga about a young boy rediscovering his love for Basketball after he fell out of love with it. He was always judged for his height before a girl showed him that even short people can do good at B-Ball. He learned to play Point Guard and was pretty good at it until middle school where he started passing shots to nobody and convinced himself that he was actually bad at the game. In high school, a prodigy whom our MC has faced before recognizes him and badgers him to join the team because he knows the MC's true talent from a previous match. Upon rekindling the flame of passion in the MC's heart, he decides to pick up Basketball again and it turns out he's super talented at it. He's got really good feinting and passing skills, but that's the kind of skill that requires good teammates that won't also be confused by his feints. After winning a practice match, he decides to actually join the Basketball Team, concluding Chapter 1.

I thought it was a pretty neat start. The artwork is really good with a style that I wouldn't normally expect from a sports manga of all things. The story and themes are cool, illustrating how imposter syndrome can stunt talent without a good support system to let said talents flourish; as well as the simple "don't give up on your dreams" that many stories feature.

Overall, I'm looking forward to where this story goes from here. 7/10.