Ben Beckstrom
It’s always interesting when the first thing that comes to mind when reviewing a literary work is “where to start?” Should I begin with the introduction of Buddhism to China and the broader East Asian world? Ming Dynasty Chinese literature? The influence of Journey to the West on East Asian storytelling? The conventions of shonen battle manga? The story of Joseph Smith? The Mormon moment of the 2020s that has centered on fantasy novels, dirty sodas, and giant cookies? All of these would be relevant to Joseph Smith—Knight Errant, which is gaining momentum in Weekly Shonen Jump, and yet none of them really feel quite right.
For example, in the late 620s, after the birth of Christ, a Buddhist monk was dissatisfied with the Chinese Buddhist sects and traditions of his day. He traveled through Central Asia and India to gain new scripture and restore original Buddhist revelations, which he then brought back to China. Almost a thousand years or so later, his journey was made into the fantastical epic Journey to the West, a classical Chinese text. Several centuries later, characters in Journey to the West like the combative Monkey King Sun Wukong and the naive Tang Monk influenced manga and anime protagonists like Son Goku, Naruto Uzumaki, and Monkey D. Luffy. After a few decades, a reclusive young mangaka named Shinjiro Koizumi brought forth a fantastical adaptation of a young charismatic man journeying West to find new scripture—this time set in antebellum America, with fewer monkeys and more apostles.
On social-media platforms debating whether Crumbl and Brandon Sanderson are insidious or amicable, the subject matter has ignited on contact, like napalm on the Wasatch in July. There are the young men, called “power scalers,” debating whether Porter Rockwell’s “Eagle Eye of Vengeance” technique can rival other famous powerups. There are the self-styled theologians of every stripe—some of whom say that this is yet more proof that Mormonism is a heresy, some that Brigham Young would have approved of the rippling muscles he has in the manga, some that this is sacrilege not seen since a certain musical graced the stage, some that it is validation not seen since Donny and Marie. There are also many readers, largely young women, intrigued by the historical fact of plural marriage and the manga medium’s tendency towards sprawling interconnected romances ranging from harems to reader-concocted pairings. JSKE, as it is often referred to, has received acclaim above all for its shocking ability to portray Joseph Smith as he likely saw himself: a young hero fighting against demons and monsters with massive, earth-shaking powers.
As for me and my house, well…. It’s certainly a unique approach to Church History. And I’ve certainly never seen a shonen manga become quite so concerned about parsing the exact nature of God—sometimes at the expense of story. The fights are impressively epic and fit interestingly within the historical context. Currently, the manga is in the middle of depicting a fullscale magic-and-martial-arts duel between Joseph and U. S. President Martin Van Buren over committing American national power to rescuing the Saints in Missouri. I’m not sure I’d recommend JSKE to all readers but, if you’ve ever wanted to see the Sword of Laban wielded as an energy sword cleaving through the Oval Office, this is the manga for you.
All said, this manga is an impressive achievement. JSKE is worth reading simply for the unutterable strangeness of seeing sacred history represented both respectfully and utterly fantastically. I’m not sure my mother would find the same level of enjoyment, though.
Joseph Smith—Knight Errant can be found wherever manga is sold. It has been picked up for an anime adaptation by MAPPA Studios with an anticipated release date in 2028.
Ben Beckstrom owns the finest collection of ancient American cimeters outside those held by the American Museum of Natural History and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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