Stories that begin in a seemingly ordinary, everyday world often carry an air of underlying tension. This is a technique used to emphasize the contrast between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Thunder 3, the work we’re introducing today, follows a similar introduction. The striking gap between the adorable, stylized artwork on the cover and the content inside makes a strong impact.

As always, let’s start with the plot summary.

Thunder 3 (manga) Synopsis

The protagonist is an ordinary middle schooler named Pyontaro. His younger sister Futaba is still quite young and attached to him, so much so that she even follows him into the bathroom. Pyontaro gets along well with two of his classmates who live next door, and the three of them often go to school together or hang out after classes. Local high schoolers have nicknamed them the "Small Three."

One day, the trio visits the home of their homeroom teacher, Doc, who is well-liked by the students. Doc had recently purchased an 80,000 yen (about $550) item from Mu, a famous occult magazine in Japan, but the unfortunate part was that the item could only be played on a PS5. Since Doc didn’t have a PS5, Pyontaro borrows the disk, thinking he can use his father’s console.

As soon as Pyontaro plays it on the PS5, a realistic scene appears on the monitor. The three are amazed at how lifelike the image is, exclaiming things like "Is this 8K?" before getting distracted by a dragonfly that emerges from the screen. In the chaos, Pyontaro’s sister Futaba chases the dragonfly and enters the screen, getting lost in another world.

Realizing what happened, the trio follows Futaba into the screen, only to find themselves in a world that looks almost identical to their own. The main difference, however, is that in this world, the government has been subdued by aliens, and humanity is on the brink of disaster.

Futaba is kidnapped by the aliens, who mercilessly fire missiles at them. However... in this alternate world, the trio discovers they are invincible, like characters in a comic book!

The series has been serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine since the June 2022 issue. It ranked 4th in the 2024 This Manga is Amazing! (Male Category).

Thunder 3 (manga) Review

The contrast between the art styles in Pyontaro’s world and the alternate world is what makes Thunder 3 stand out. The cover of the first volume and the opening pages of the first chapter intentionally depict Pyontaro and his friends in a very flat, cartoonish style.

At first, the story progresses like a typical slice-of-life series, compact and lighthearted. But as soon as Pyontaro plays the disk borrowed from his teacher, the tone shifts dramatically. The world shown on the screen is completely different from the previous art style, resembling the real world we know. The change is meant to suggest to readers that this is an entirely different world.

The three friends, realizing they can enter this hyper-realistic "multiverse," dive in and run around like comic book characters. The author, Ikeda, skillfully switches between two completely different art styles to express these contrasting worlds. Readers will be captivated by the warm, cozy atmosphere of Pyontaro’s world and the tense, realistic depiction of the multiverse. It’s reminiscent of the dynamic collaboration between Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny in Space Jam.

The realistic art style might seem familiar to devoted manga fans, as it closely resembles the work of Hiroya Oku, known for GANTZ. So far, the author’s identity remains unknown, but the style is an almost perfect replica. Hiroya Oku hasn’t publicly commented on Thunder 3 on social media, so while it’s unlikely that Ikeda is Oku himself, there’s a chance Ikeda could be a former assistant.

In any case, the clash of the two worlds in this story will certainly stimulate readers' imaginations.

Thunder 3 (manga) Author

Yuki IkedaONE
The profile page on Monthly Shonen Magazine's official website describes Ikeda as "a super rookie who appeared like a comet in the pages of Monthly Shonen Magazine. This work marks his debut as a serialized author." Since there is no information available prior to his debut, he remains shrouded in mystery.

In Japan, some YouTube programs have speculated that Ikeda might actually be Hiroya Oku, the creator of GANTZ. There have been responses from the editorial team and the author, but it seems that they are deliberately keeping his true identity a mystery.

◆Source
Official profile page
Japanese TV program Manganuma: Youtube