Agravity Boys Review: Four Idiots, One Alien Planet, and the Survival of Humanity Going Exactly as Badly as You'd Expect

Most Shonen Jump series are about the burning will to protect the future. Agravity Boys is about four morons who are technically responsible for the future of the entire human race and would mostly rather mess around. It's a gag manga that knows exactly how stupid it is and commits completely. I laughed more than I expected to.

It's brief, silly, and self-aware — junk food, but the good kind.

Quick Take

• A fast, absurd sci-fi gag comedy from Weekly Shōnen Jump
• A four-man crew stranded on the distant planet α-Jumbro after Earth becomes uninhabitable
• Rated T (Teen); complete in 7 volumes, published in English by VIZ Media

Who Is This Manga For?

• Fans of gag manga (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Gintama's sillier arcs)
• Readers who want fast, low-commitment absurd comedy
• Anyone who enjoys sci-fi parody and self-aware humor
• People who want a short, complete series

Content Warnings & Age Rating

Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Crude humor; comedic cartoon violence; gender-swap comedy (one character is transformed into a woman as part of the premise)

The T rating fits — the humor gets crude but stays cartoonish.

Story Overview

Earth has become uninhabitable, so humanity launches a last-ditch space mission. Four young men end up stranded together on α-Jumbro, a distant Earth-like planet, charged with the absurd responsibility of ensuring the survival and continuation of the human race. The problem: they are, collectively, a disaster.

The crew is Baba, the earnest, easily flustered de facto leader; Chris, the flamboyant member who serves as the group's doctor; Geralt, the brooding serious one; and Saga, the cheerful wild card. To even attempt repopulating the species, one of them has to become biologically female via alien technology — and the comedy spins out from there as plans collapse under the weight of four incompatible personalities. The humor is fast and self-aware, layering sci-fi premises (alien biology, advanced tech, the genuine logistics of survival) on top of rapid-fire character gags. There's a loose throughline — twists about the mission, the planet, and the characters themselves — but the engine is always the gag rhythm and the chemistry of four idiots stuck together. It runs a tight seven volumes and ends before the joke wears out.

Characters

Baba — The overly serious, anxious de facto leader who actually takes the "save humanity" mandate seriously, which makes him the perfect straight man for everyone else's nonsense. His earnest exasperation is the comedic anchor.

Chris — The flamboyant, theatrical crew doctor whose dramatic personality reliably escalates situations past the point of control, and who ends up at the center of the series' gender-swap premise.

Geralt — The gloomy, deadpan one, whose dark mood and blunt commentary play off the others' chaos.

Saga — The cheerful, impulsive crew member whose enthusiasm sends plans careening in unexpected directions.

What I Love About It

The chemistry of the four leads. Agravity Boys lives or dies on whether its central quartet is funny together, and it is — each is a distinct, well-calibrated flavor of idiot, and the comedy comes from how predictably and disastrously they react to each other. Nakamura clearly understands gag-manga construction: the setups are quick, the escalation is sharp, and the series has the good sense to be short. It's a comedy that knows precisely what it is and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning

The recurring engine of the series is any "serious mission" beat — the crew solemnly resolving to take a real step toward ensuring humanity's survival on the planet — immediately collapsing into absurdity because of who these four people are. The best gags take the genuine sci-fi premise (repopulation, alien resources, a hostile environment) completely seriously for half a panel before one of the four detonates it. There's no single plot climax to spoil; the defining experience is that reliable rhythm of a competent-sounding plan meeting four incompetent men.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Fun, fast, genuinely funny gag comedy
• A distinct, likable quartet with strong chemistry
• Self-aware and unpretentious
• Short and complete at 7 volumes

Cons

• Light on substance — it's a gag manga, not a story
• Crude humor and the gender-swap premise won't land for everyone
• As with any gag series, the jokes are hit-or-miss

Is Agravity Boys Worth Reading?

Yes, if you want a short, silly, self-aware comedy to blow through. It's not deep and doesn't pretend to be — it's seven tight volumes of four idiots failing to save humanity, and it's a good time.

Where to Buy

Read the first volume. If it doesn't hook you, put it down. It'll hook you.

Start with Volume 1 →

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