WcDonald’s THE MANGA Chapter 03
WcDonald’s THE MANGA Chapter 03Illustrations and Art by Acky Bright
Published by McDonald’s
https://www.wcdonalds.com
WcDonald’s THE MANGA Chapter 03, released on March 11, 2024, is a loving homage to the Mecha Genre. Notably, it draws inspiration from mecha classics like Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ as we witness a Mech versus Kaiju battle ON THE MOON!
I was surprised that Chapter O3 starts in a setting shown at the very end of the previous chapter, which led me to re-read the previous two chapters—and believe it or not, the manga has had subtle hints as to what characters or settings will be involved. One example is in “The Race to WcDonalds” chapter, which has a blink-and-you-‘ll-miss-it Easter egg for Chapter 2’s male protagonist, Kazuki, a WcDonald’s employee.
“WcNuggets Space Force 3000”
Chapter 3, titled “WcNuggets Space Force 3000,” begins funnily enough, where I concluded my review of Chapter 2 by saying, “To The Moon!” So, imagine my excitement when it’s made clear where the third chapter is set. It’s a satisfying little reward to readers of the previous chapters to have some predictions come true.
The third chapter also marks the first time a year is revealed, and we learn that the year is 2199. This implies Chapters 1 through 3 (possibly 4) are set in this year (editor’s note: excitingly, it also implies WcDonald’s makes it to the future). In 2199, the moon has a WcDonald’s that acts as an operational base and line of defense from otherworldly threats while also doubling as a fast food restaurant for what seems to be nobody currently except for the employees who live and work there.
Stationed at this WcDonald’s base are the four main characters of Chapter 3: Yarutokya, whose design reminds me of Chibodee Crocket from Mobile Fighter G Gundam; Yaruzo, a fellow pilot from the WcDonald’s base; Flurry, who sports green eyelashes and a puffy blonde ‘fro; and Wicke, an employee with long green hair done into a ponytail. For those who have the WcDonald’s paper bags, Wicke might seem familiar as she appears on the promotional comic printed onto it.
The story starts on the WcDonald’s base as Wicke brings a box of 12 WcNuggets accompanied by the in-universe WcNuggets sauce (it tastes like ginger, with a hint of spice!). As Yarutokya, Yaruzo, and Flurry join in to enjoy their meal, they are interrupted by a massive mechanical pod from the cosmos crash landing on the Lunar Surface—within is a Class-A Monster threatening to make its way to Earth.
Yarutokya and Yaruzo go to two fighter jets and take off to investigate. When there, they encounter a massive armored Kaiju with a bipedal lizard design. Realizing the danger, the two pilots have their jets assembled into the mech WcDizer 3000, obviously inspired by the assembly of the MSZ-010 ZZ GUNDAM from Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ.
The WcDizer then attempts to restrain the Kaiju, but it breaks free, draining the mech’s power. In a last-ditch effort to stop the Beast, they try to use a WcNugget with the WcDonald’s sauce to refuel to mech, but it’s snatched away by the monster and consumed! In a shocking turn of events, the Beast was just hungry and came to the moon not to invade Earth but to order some WcNuggets and it would return sometime later for more. Unfortunately, the Kaiju does not know that the WcNuggets sauce is limited time only…
Thoughts on the Chapter
Compared to Chapters 1 and 2, this week’s chapter was a lot of fun to read because, on its own, it holds up as a good one-shot with a simple premise of a team of employees on the Moon as the only noticeable line of defense to prevent Earth from being attacked by monsters sent from beyond the stars and battle them with a mech!
Had it not been so obvious this is to promote McDonald’s WcNuggets and WcDonald’s sauce, I would’ve been fooled into thinking this is a fun mech series with the bizarre involvement of fast food as a fuel source that’s meant to critique how fast food companies would capitalize on not only opening up shop on other worlds but also have the money to fund a military-grade mech designed for battle (not so far off from our reality honestly).
The standout in this chapter for me is the WcDizer 3000, which has a very appealing mech design similar to the Gundam or Gurren Lagann with its protruding shoulder armor, massive fists, and small head. With a unique design, I feel it must have taken quite some time to thoroughly plan out the look for the sake of being easy to draw repeatedly in animation and on the page. Artists who draw mechs in a manga in multiple angles, panels, and pages consecutively always amaze me as it is a learned skill, but it’s also possible with how the mech is designed.
That much is apparent reading this chapter as the mech is drawn 16 times throughout the 25 page span of this chapter. The same can be said for Kaiju’s design, which balances a level of simplicity and complexity with a Godzilla-like silhouette with sharp geometric shapes to imply a mix of mechanical parts and armor. Also, the action flows well from panel to panel, better than in Chapter 1, while rectangular panels make the story feel more like a detailed storyboard; having simpler panels makes me remember how Kohta Hirano does his panels for Hellsing.
I’m unsure what more there is to say about Acky Bright‘s illustrations in this chapter that I have not said in the previous reviews except that, here, Acky is showcasing his skills as an illustrator—from drawing action to simple panels for romance to focusing on the character reactions to heighten emotions to now even showing that he can draw mechs and Kaiju. It makes me wonder what Acky can’t draw; I mean, there are some things specific artists are good at which others are not, and vice versa, but Acky continues to amaze me chapter after chapter.
For the first and probably the only time in WcDonald’s manga run, the last page previews the fourth and final chapter, “The Wisdom of The Sauce,” which appears to be a fantasy/isekai story with possibly some swordplay. How will it be connected to the previous chapters? What new characters will we meet this time? We will find out soon enough.
Where to read WcDonald’s: The Manga
All three released chapters of WcDonald’s The Manga can be read by scanning the QR code on WcDonald’s-themed paper bags from participating McDonald’s near you. If you can’t get a WcDonald’s bag, you can find copies of the current three chapters of WcDonald’s The Manga at select comic book and manga stores throughout the U.S.
Also, be sure to check out the WcDonald’s website for cards of the various characters, which contain neat little bits of lore from their birthday to background. Plus, you can watch Minisode 3 of the official WcDonald’s Anime, which condenses and recaps the events of chapter 3 on the McDonald’s YouTube account. They’re short and sweet, about 30 seconds or so.
I can’t believe next week is what seems to be the final chapter and end of WcDonald’s The Manga. How will the final chapter wrap up? Will there ever be more to the WcDonaldsverse?
Until next time, when we will go further into The WcDonalds-verse!
Follow McDonald’s on Twitter for more news on the WcDonald’s-verse. As always, I highly recommend following the ever-so-talented illustrator of WcDonald’s The Manga, Acky Bright, on Twitter to see the amazing art he’s created and the projects he’s involved with.
