Weekly Shounen Sunday #41

Feels like I was just here, but I'm back again for the first --er well, forty-first time with issue #41! Actually on the topic of impossibly high numbers, This is actually the 52nd entry on the blog! I was so busy not being busy and slacking that I didn't realize that the blog had passed a pretty big milestone! We're well on our way to the hundreds now, and then...I'm not sure. For now lets focus on the task at hand, issue #41!~

On this week's cover is Nagisa Sekimizu, along with Shinichi, Megumi, Komi and a very, very small sample cover of Tenshou no Quadrable's first cover! Oh right, how could I possibly forget the oneshot by the rookie author Atsushi Namikiri called "Kantsuu" of which the meaning is still completely unclear, but maybe when I do the proper coverage it will be? 

The table of contents is up next!

Hatsukoi Zombie by Ryou Minenami (Lead Color page)

Be Blues! by Motoyuki Tanaka

Detective Conan by Gosho Aoyama

Aozakura: Bouei Daigakkou Monogatari by Hikaru Nikaido

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san by Aiko Koyama

Hoankan Evans No Uso ~Dead or Love~ by Midzuki Kuriyama

Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu by Tomohito Oda

Magi by Shinobu Ohtaka

Tenshi to Akuto by Aya Hirakawa

Majou jou de Oyasumi by Kagiji Kumanomata

Kantsuu by Atsushi Namikiri

Shinobi no by Rokuro Ohgaki

Souboutei Kowasubeshi by Kazuhiro Fujita

Meteor Girl by Reach Ishiyama

Amano Megumi wa Suki Darake by Nekoguchi

Dagashikashi by KOTYAMA

Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina

Daiku no Hatou by Michiteru Kusaba

K.O.I. King of Idol by Wakaki Tamaki

Tenshou no Quadrable by Takahiro Arai

Joujuu Senjin!! Mushibugyo by Hiroshi Fukuda

Saike Matashitemo by Tsubasa Fukuchi

Youkai Giga by Satsuki Satou

Sunday Higaku Kenkyujou by Yuuji Yokoyama

Not appearing in issue #41 are the following

Major 2nd 

Kyoukai no RINNE

Hiiragi-sama wa Jibun Sagashiteru

RYOKO

A bit of a shake up....again Saike is in a worrying spot being basically at the bottom of the magazine if we don't count the permanent bottom dwellers. Volume 11 is basically confirmed, but after that who knows what'll happen to him if sales don't pick up and if I've been wrong about it's TOC status this whole time? In more uplifting...er, well lower news, Dagashikashi is a bit lower than usual, and the king of idols is among the plebeians in the bottom this week for whatever reason. Though I'm sure you've noticed how little I cover it --since I don't have much of an interest, so to be honest I'm not so bothered by that. Hatsukoi Zombie leads the group with a color page for a new volume and probably because it's creeping ever so slowly to that 100th chapter --as is Komi, and the aforementioned Saike. While I'd love to see some kind of crossover between the three, that's unlikely. Also there's quite a bit absent this week, but that's probably to make room for Namikiri's oneshot, rather than there being an issue with the authors who are sitting on the sidelines.

Today's pinup is Nagisa Sekimizu, and it's done in the style of a daily schedule for the model who was recently in a commercial. There's also a pun on her name "Nagisa" in the last mermaid picture, as "Nagisa" can mean beach or shore, so Nagisa is returning to the Nagisa, hah. She was born in Kanagawa on June 5th 1998, and enjoys boxing, making sweets and baseball. 

Hatsukoi Zombie gets the lead color of the magazine, and while the advertisement teases it's because of the series's huge popularity, I'm more inclined to think it's because the series is creeping closer to it's 2nd year anniversary. As you probably already know, I don't cover it because scanslations are more or less caught up, but I do make exceptions for series in this category if they get a color page in the magazine --and the art was pretty good this week too --very shoujo-esque. Granted Hatsukoi Zombie is only a step removed from being a shoujo manga, but it's that unique flavor that makes it stand out. In any case, if you want to know more about the story of the series itself, I'd reccomend a little Google-fu. I'm trying to be on the up and up here, which means doing as little direct linking to scans as possible, unfortunately, though it's not as unfortunate as the powers that be not bringing the series to the public officially....

Mr. Shounen Sunday plows ahead in his 1,000th file in this fourth installment of this arc. The codes, mysteries and romantic tension only get deeper as another code is found and identities tested! Not to mention Ran was speaking with Okita --who was introduced a few weeks back, which is enough to completely derail Shinichi's train of thought as he tries to solve the mystery! Though just when he's come to an answer, his time limit runs up and the transformation into Conan begins. Shinichi asks for some assistance from the police admitting it's going to be embarrassing --but for whom? We'll have to find out in the next "must see" chapter! 

Evans' Twenty first chapter starts with the lawman on a mission --to find a birthday present for Pheebs! Wait, could it be that at long last he's reciprocating? Is the manga running toward a cancellation despite being this high up in the TOC?! What's going on in the wild, wild, west?! 

Well, the truth of the matter is Pheebs friend Roza is throwing her a surprise birthday party and has requested Evans being her closest friend (and rival) to pick up a present for her. Since it's a surprise she can't know anything about it --a situation that gets all that much more difficult when the person herself ends up int he same place. Evans was already having a hard time finding something he'd think she'd like, but now he's really in trouble. He can't just play this off either as this is a place that sells lady goods, so what's a guy to do? Tell the truth, sort of. Evans says he's here to buy a gift, and Pheebs immediately assumes it's for her, and why not? The material he has in his hand is similar to her bow, and her birthday is coming up, so...though dang she's adorable on the last panel of the left. Unfortunately Evan sharpshoots her hopes by saying he's not here to get her anything, not realizing this serves to anger her. Ah there's the misunderstandings that I'm used to from this series. 

Pheebs is mad that Evans would even think of buying another woman a gift and suggests that she help him out --by choosing something that's clearly ridiculous to sabotage him. --In this case it's a huge carving of an Eagle, though she's not wrong in saying it has a huge impact! She even ups the ante by saying it's in vogue now --though in the end Evans says he'll just look for something himself as he feels this person would be happier if he bought something on his volition. Pheebs is devastated that Evans has a girl he'd go this far for, and spirals in despair and fury. 

Pheebs shoots a warning shot at Evans and asks if he really doesn't believe her? He figures if she's willing to take it that far maybe he should just take her advice. Evans asks for the gift to be wrapped, and Pheebs out of curiosity runs back to find out just who he's buying this gift for and finds her own name on the tag. For one thing I'm glad I got her name right with only katakana to go on --romanization is often a hit or miss practice, and for another thing, dang girl, you just bought yourself an Eagle statue. The next chapter is going to be the Birthday party itself, and that'll come with the first of two consecutive color pages for Evans, celebrating it's first volume's release. I'm looking forward to them and the digital release of volume one! 

The first half of two Komi chapters starts off with a time honored tradition --the Christmas Party! Though the thought on everyone's mind is thus --who will be the one to sit beside Komi herself?! It becomes a psychological battle of epic proportions as everyone rather than sitting tries to figure out the path that will lead to the conclusion of being able to sit with Komi! Well, except Tadano who just wants to enjoy the party. Meanwhile Komi isn't sure where to sit at all and ends up being so afraid of offending someone that she just doesn't sit, the poor dear. Eventually Tadano just picks a corner for himself, and Komi wordlessly joins him. All seems to be in our protagonist's favor Osanajimi sits in his lap.....and the awkwardness doesn't end there as everyone else glares at Tadano for the duration of the party, the poor dear. 

The second half of Komi and the 98th chapter overall is about games played at the party --in particular the "Ousama game" which is where one person --the King gives orders to the others, the King decided by drawing of straws. You can guess what this ends up devolving into --who can order Komi to do their bidding, though luckily for her this ends up failing in various ways, from just being plan too nervous to order her to do anything to Tadano just having an extra ordinary request of having his shoulders rubbed. (He is Tadano Hito ==Just a normal guy, after all.) It's not pictured here, but Komi's mom gets involved (somehow) and orders two of the classmates to kiss, which is just...hah. In the end --on the bottom most right page, Komi becomes "King" and her order is for everyone to get along, something that despite it's innocence still embarrasses her greatly. I really like how even though this could have been disastrous, Oda's strength in having this quirky cast of characters just makes it hilarious. 

Tenshi and Akuto might have finished the climatic arc in the anime within the manga, but the series still seems to be going strong. Akuto remembers that he's come this far because he's chasing after Nari who still hasn't shown up in the current arc of the manga which I'm finding strange, while Subaru admits she had a wonderful time with him. This reconfirmation of his goals and realization of how far he's come is important to Akuto's character going forward, and it should be interesting to see where Hirakawa intends to take him. Meanwhile Asuha on the last page of the chapter has decided to advance things in her own way --by confessing that she has feelings for Akuto! My experience with shounen romance tells me that this isn't going to go quite as planned, but I wish her luck nonetheless. We'll have to wait to see till next week if my experience will be triumphed by hope, though. 

After a week off, Maoujou picks up where it left off --with the Princess's desire for human goods leading her and the demons to travel to the human world to go shopping. Unfortunately for them, the princess is immediately compelled to catch some shut eye, which is a problem since she's the one with human money and probably the least suspicious out of the group, and after negotiations fail. (They try to buy stuff, but the merchants are pretty clear that despite them only having 1000 that they will take no less than 3000), in the end the demons have no choice but to find shelter and let the princess sleep for a while in hopes she'll wake up to give them further instruction, but the inn they find is also rather expensive at 1,000 gold per person. The bottom text on the last page indicates that this whole ordeal is an arc that will continue, and thank goodness for that as I'm finding this extremely entertaining. 

Next up is Atsushi Namikiri's one shot Kantsuu which I've decided to translate as "Puncture" or "Pierce Through". Though it also can mean something like "Being well versed". In any case, This is a oneshot about guys being ready to throw down whenever and wherever, so lets take Namikiri to the mats and see what he's made of --if this rookie has what it takes to eventually hang out with the prize fighters of the magazine. 

A boy takes a hit and laughs it off, so things must be in all good fun right? Well the truth here is a little more nuanced. Yukihiko (pretty cute name.) Is less a willing participant in this horseplay and more like a slave to the bullies that hassle him. A familiar situation to some in high school, and a decent way of getting into his head, poor kid. Yukihiko seems to be fine with his lot in life, or at least that's what he tells himself at the end of the page....

In truth Yukihiko's got a lot of unresolved stress that he acts out in his head where he's "free" as he says it. Namikiri's artwork for this whole sequence is pretty cool with Yuki literally shadowboxing as he works out his stress. For one thing it's something that connects us with the protag --who hasn't retreated into their mind during periods of great stress, and another is the focus on shading and Yuki's eyes. I really like that sharp focus in his gaze --eyes are a window to the soul and Namikiri nails it despite being new to this. 

Yuki is doing his shadow boxing thing when his shadow-self grazes a guy who...feels it somehow?! I usually don't talk about pages until I get to them, but I will confirm that this doesn't become a supernatural boxing oneshot --as cools as that would be. My guess is the new dude simply felt something and reacts to it --and boy does he react, with a punch that pierces (the title!) through a wall. His name is Yugasaki and when other kids ask what's going on, he replies that it's a fight and they don't need to worry about it. Characters like Yugasaki are what make shounen fun, and I'm expecting big things from him in this oneshot. 

Flashback to a time where Yugasaki won the inter-high boxing championship and announced his plans to take the world by storm. The scene fades the present where Yuga's friend/coach/trainer(?) Mane asks what he's doing and he quickly decides to change the location of their bout --one Yuki hadn't intended on having to begin with, heh. Yuki's been shadowboxing since he was five years old, but while the spirit (as pictured in the first plane on the right) is willing, the flesh is weak. Is it just me or does shadow Yuki look a lot like a certain purple stand from Jojo...though what's surprising is Yuga's intrigued by this revelation that Yuki has been practicing for such a long time. 

Yuga convinces Yuki to continue with the boxing club, a decision that he regrets a bit in the top panel on the left. --Something else Namikiri is great as expressiveness in his characters. Now I do think that a weekly serial would suck the soul out of that aspect of his art, but I still think some of that could be retained with some effort and honing in of his skills. Also I love that Yuki's shadow boxing (or dive bombing) continues, and he seems to get even more buff the more he does it. The days at the club continues, the more Yuki gains confidence in himself which is something I enjoy in the middle panel on the right. The shadow self takes a realistic shape in a flex of his hand, becoming something tangible for the first time in the oneshot, a really cool way of marking character progress in a short amount of time --valuable for a oneshot. 

The bullies have noticed that Yuki's out getting buff, and they can't have that, so they take him to a place Yugasaki isn't watching as they're under the impression Yuki hangs out with the latter out of a sense of being protected. It's looking bad for Yuki until Yugasaki makes a pretty incredible entrance. 

Heeeeeeres Yugasaki! That set of panels of him reaching into the hole he made to open the door is equal parts artistically awesome and badass. Yuga seems to have completely misread the situation as he proposes that he and someone else aim for being the best in the world together, and the bully who thinks that Yuga is referring to him, when in fact he's speaking to Yuki and says that it is he who will defeat all of them. After all Yuki's been shadow boxing them for ages now, so he's certainly picked up a thing or two right? 

Yuga explains that a normal person would hold back mentally when throwing a punch, but in comparison, a guy like Yuki who's been shadowboxing for some time now throws everything into each one of his punches. So if he were to take what he imagines and put it into practice, then he'd have a punch that "hunts" reality! It's weird, but a logic that like Yuki's punch puts all of its' faith into it --so much so that one can't help but go along with it. Plus look at Yuki's expression! That's not the look of one who's hunted but a hunter. 

And then there's this sequence of pages --Namikiri is indeed a rookie who might have what it takes to hang out with a higher weight class. The image becoming real, and the result of that overwhelming punch, it's all so good --almost seems like it's on a level way above a "rookie". Also It's awesome how the image of the bully is punched straight out of him too! 

In the end Yuki physically and mentally joins the boxing club to make his strength the real thing. I was quite taken by this oneshot and how good the pacing was! It's common for oneshots to feel like prequels to stories, which this one definitely went with, but that's just right as it's a great lead up to an eventual serialization. Namikiri's art will undoubtedly go through changes as he works towards perhaps having a manga with a regular run, but if this oneshot is any indication, he's got one heck of a start. Oddly enough there's nothing mentioning that Namikiri is working on another series after this, which can mean lots of things ranging from Namikiri not working on anything at the moment, to perhaps not being serialized in shougakukan's family of magazines which would be a real shame. 

Chapter 8 of Shinobi no comes with a advertisement for the first volume releasing on October 18th, though that's the last thing on Sen's mind as his mind whirls at the realization that he just witnessed a murder. Granted, it's not like Jerome was going to let them leave alive, but that can't be much of a consolation. Sen comes to the very real conclusion that if he continues to hang out with Pops that what's waiting for him is an extremely likely death. 

Pops doesn't give him much room to decide on anything --but it's not like he threatens the guy either, he just says that they need to contact the Sasukehana, and Sen puts two and two together. He could probably run, and maybe get away, but that's a risk that is most likely not worth it. Especially when Pops grabs him at the thought of someone coming and Sen feels like he's being held down by an iron bar! Getting away from him like that is a fools errand, and the metaphor is pretty awesome too. Though it is here Pops does warn Sen that if he makes any funny moves he dies, and it's that simple. The two are partners at this point and there's not a whole lot the little guy can do about it. 

Through a bit of conversation, Sen learns that Pops is 58 years old, and asks him how long he intends to continue being a shinobi --heck, why he'd continue being a shinobi, and he replies simply that a shinobi is who he is, and he'll keep being one as long as he is himself. That's all it comes down to, and even if the ages pass him by, he's got to keep doing him. Sen's wide-eyed shounen protagonist look indicates that while he's still pretty much being dragged along for the ride, that something in him will change....though as of right now it's hard to tell when that'll happen. I do believe that Sen will play a critical role at some point though, so I'll be keeping my eyes on him and I think the audience at home should too!

That being said, he figures that he's in the clear whether Pops makes it or not. As long as he helps the guy, whether he manages to pull off his mission or fail, he can get his ordinary days back, right? Though a wet barrel threatens to literally rain on that parade, when a few American soldiers decide to open it and check things out. Sen acts quickly and says the barrels are filled with urine and feces, protecting pops who is in the barrel --all without really intending to! The page isn't here, but the narrator comments that Shinobi have techiniques that can even take hold of people's hearts. I wouldn't have believed it, but there you go. 

Though it really only worked on Sen because he actually is a pretty good kid at heart. Pops reflects on this and apologizes to him --as he'll need his help for just a little bit longer. Meanwhile in a riverside not too far away, a certain man is torturing another man for information, and upon not getting any settles for being guided somewhere...

After a long time away, Yoshida Shioin has come back, and he sets his sights on the black ship. With yet another party getting involved in this scheme, one can rest assured that things are only going to get more problematic i.e exciting from here! What does Yoshida want, and how will this bring him in contact with Pops? Next issue...!!

We jump forward to slightly more modern times in Souboutei where Teido Sakamaki drags his one time friend into a portrait for reasons....known? Apparently Sakamaki just wants his buddy to "go" into the "center" of the "painting" and then "return". (The quotes are all there in the Japanese text, so this isn't some kind of weird shtick on my part.) With a face like that one, however (nice work on that Fujita.) it's safe to assume that Sakamaki isn't planning on this being very pleasant for his victim. I'd also like to point out that this has been the Souboutei's M.O since the beginning of the series, so at least that aspect has received an explanation of sorts.  That being said, when people get dragged into paintings in the house, it usually spells disaster, so hang on to your manga and lets go in.

Except at least at first things look pretty idyllic from a normal person's standpoint. The scene shifts to the Okuyama countryside, back when Zanka was 14 years old --a kid without a care in the world, and his friend Yoshitarou Sakamaki who now goes by the name "Teido".  Even then Sakamaki was quite the artist, drawing pictures of  a "Micchan" that the two boys are acquainted with, and that Zanka fancies. On that note, on the right page, Zanka asks his friend if there's anyone he likes, but Yoshitarou refuses to comment, replying that it's a secret. 

It's here that we meet a girl older than the boys --Shinobu, who is Yoshitarou's older sister, who shares his dexterity in drawing. Unfortunately their idyllic life comes to an end when Shinobu has to leave Tokyo to pursue the arts she so loves much to the behest of her younger brother. It is that night that something which --as Zanka explains it "Shatters the dreams of Yoshitarou and I's childhoods" and leaves Zanka unable to have happiness ever again...

Oddly it's now that Zanka realizes Sakamaki was smiling when he dragged the former into the painting. What happens here --aside from Fujita's masterful horror aesthetic sweeping the reader off their feet is both disturbingly clear and somewhat muddled. One can see what's happening but not the reason why or how. Even Zanka's thoughts come in as short sentences --"That was a white arm, a long pale white arm" and "What are you doing?!" I'll bet that Fujita will give us a bit more to chew on later, but the shock has set in. His decision to eschew lineart and go for something inky and formless for the big panel crosses the line from being just a manga page to something akin to disturbing but hauntingly beautiful olden Japanese art, and Fujita I hope you never stop crossing lines to ge this effect. 

Here's something we've seen before in Souboutei --the house breaks down a person mentally and it's represented by this cubism. So now we know why Zanka is bandaged, and has such a loathing for the house. Meanwhile Sakamaki explains with eerie calmness that he's bringing his sister home. Its then that Zanka realizes that what Sakamaki wanted to show him by dragging him into the painting was the scene from that night. For now that's all the info we get in regard to the goings on in the souboutei, but that longing for next week's chapter is part of the fun, even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes. 

Tetto is having girl problems of his own as he goes searching for Hane and instead runs into another fallen Meteor Girl. I didn't notice it until I started writing the blogpost, but Chihiro sits above watching the scene on the whole page spread on the right, which I liken to a picture taken by a haunted camera or something of the like --you know, where the ghost appears only when you look at it long enough? It fits with Ishiyama's horror tragedy stylings, so why not? 

That being said, Ishiyama's art suddenly gets a little cuter whenever Chihiro is involved for whatever reason. Despite being cute, Chihiro is quite cold on the left as she remarks that the person she's seeing isn't "Tettchan", though it's unknown why she thinks that aside from Tetto ignoring the meteor girl and complaining about Hane not being around --maybe it's his actions that she's paying attention to, and not so much his looks? Hm. On the next page posted, Tetto runs into the girls who were with Chihiro --they've apparently lost her and are asking around. Tetto seems disinterested until they say her name, "Chihiro Kawamitsu" which is a name he's very familiar with. 

Upon hearing the name of his dead childhood friend, Tetto is very alert, as are the girls when they realize that he's the guy who was tangling with the MG earlier. The conversation takes a very slow turn for the worse when Tetto asks how they could possibly know about that unless they were actually there...and with herculean strength, the girl in the hat --Ikeyama tosses Tetto aside with relative ease --somewhat similar to Ryoko's older sister Sachi....

Ikeyama claims self defense --after all this is a guy who was able to put the smack down on a meteor girl. Moreover, this is where we get a little incidental worldbuilding my favorite kind! As Ikeyama states that they have to set a precedent --make the first move! Kill before being killed! Seems like Sociopathy 101, but consider this --if someone(thing)? As strong as Ikeyama has a reason to feel threatened, then there has to be something out there scarier than she. Especially since if they saw the spectacle that Tetto was involved in, they'd have to know he's pretty harmless despite things. In any case, Ishiyama illustrates the threat they possess in the right page with some foreshortening and shading on their faces. Even without Japanese knowledge, it's plain to see that Tetto is in for a world of hurt. 

Surprisingly enough, he seems more than prepared to meet his maker, only asking if Chihiro is doing okay. Upon getting a sort of confirmation from Ikeyama, Tetto monologues about how he had a faint hope that she --Chihiro had come back as a MG, and is doing okay, but had always denied it to himself until now ---not only is she okay, but she has friends which is more than he could have ever hoped for. This is a side of Tetto we haven't seen up until now, and it really gets me wondering about what kind of person he really is. Sure he's a normal high school student, but when the only thing he can think of in the face of certain doom is his childhood friend and how she's doing, it makes me think that there's more to him than what we see at face value. Even now as Ikeyama orders the girl with glasses --Sakamoto, to finish him, he can only ask the two if they've ever looked up at the stars like he and Chihiro used to. 

Chihiro returns in the nick of time, now convinced that he really is the Tetto She knows, and the chapter closes on a sweet note --something I didn't even think this manga was capable of. Tetto's trying to convince himself that this moment isn't a dream, and the bottom text seems to imply that while this is really happening, it is at best a temporal happiness. Meteor Girl remains on my radar because of it's impeccable sense of pacing and artwork, despite my feelings about it upon it's commencement, and it seems that it'll be around for another week at the very least. 

All hell is breaking loose in Tenshou this week, which to this blogger feels like an effort to wrap up several plot points in one fell swoop. Of course I hope I'm wrong, as seeing anything get cancelled is a real shame --especially when the story is beginning to find its' footing, but it is a worrying sign that it seems like the series is rushing along rather than taking it's time to properly set up plot points and resolve them one at a time --but at least if I am wrong and Arai is being told to wrap things up, he's doing so with style if  the pages above are any indication. Right now, the boys' leader has turned out to be a traitor, Oda Nobunaga is sneaking around doing Nobunaga things, and monsters are destroying the city they're in. Sounds like the grand conclusion of a story no? In any case, Volume 1 is out in a few weeks, so maybe the sales of that might allow the Quadrable to soar just a bit longer, or be the shot that brings it down once for and for all. For now all fans of the series can do is pray and hope for the best. 

I wasn't going to include Mushibugyo this week, but when Fukuda's art makes an argument like this, I have no choice but to hear it out. After his mental melee of the last few weeks comes to an end, Jinbee is back on the scene and ready to deliver the last blow on the final enemy, but not without a little help from his friends --especially Mugai and his bro! That dual page spread is the thing of dreams (and or nightmares, judging from Mugai's expression), and it's why I love Fukuda's artwork so much. He takes some inspiration from Western comics but adds a very Japanese flair to it, and it's all so wonderful to behold. In any case the final page of the chapter indicates that Jinbee is going to bring this all to an end next issue, so perhaps we could be seeing Mushibugyo's swan song in the near future. Now with this and the new series vying for supremacy, I wonder if we'll see any new series coming along sooner rather than later? 

Bringing up the rear is Saike as the battle against the thread using oracle holder has reached a stalemate. Saike's power over time is a broken one for sure, but one has to hand it to Fukuchi --he at least makes it so it's not quite so easy for him to use it, therefore leading battles like these to have a bit more weight than they would otherwise. This was my major issue with past installments of Saike, and I'm glad to some extent this has been alleviated with the brothers arc. Enemies have to be a little more than fodder to actually stand a chance against Saike's abilities --especially since they don't know what he's doing since he resets things to zero. Though in this case, everyone's in trouble because he cannot move and reset things, leaving them at the mercy of the enemy as he pummels them for opposing him. 

So then Saike has to use his other asset, his brain. Something that had been bugging him up until now is how Koutarou went from zero to hero without any logical explanation. What I really like about Saike's ability and how Fukuchi portrays it in the series is that it works a bit more like a mystery manga than a battle one in the vein of Jojo (which Fukuchi is very much a fan of.) Granted this is the thesis of shounen battle manga overall, but you know what they say --execution is everything. While there is a kind of reward to waiting for the volumes to come out --especially for Saike since Fukuchi frames things in a way that a complete story is told in a volume, I believe there's a sense of satisfaction of getting the puzzle pieces each week and putting them together alongside Saike --like here where he logics his way through this situation. What changed Koutarou? He got decidedly more awesome when his brother cheered for him, but what could that mean? Is it just a shounen cop out of brotherly love? No...then...what if?! Saike commands Ana to believe in him, and attack the enemy....

But not before he requests that Otsujirou the little brother cheer Ana on? Everyone is sure that Saike's lost it, but then...Ana suddenly feels power flowing through her like she never has before, and Saike's intuition is proven to be right on the money. Koutarou's brother really is instrumental to his success but not for the reasons one would think!

The baddie lets the knife fly, bent on killing Saike once and for all, but Ana's powers are such now that she can send her packing tape flying from several directions at once! Otsujirou is an oracle holder who's ability is giving a boost to other's abilities via cheering! Not the most landmark of revelations, but one that fits comfortably in the narrative, and has a whole lot of payback for what we witnessed last chapter. --It isn't the power of friendship, but something a bit more logical in the framework of Saike's world that's at work here which is important in a work within the shounen demographic that often bends logic to get things to work. 

I mostly linked the left page because Ana's cold expression as she remarks on all the power she has now is as adorable as it is terrifying. Meanwhile Koutarou goes for a low blow complete with cute skull and crossbones graphic to the bad guy's crotch, ending the chapter with a double entendre --saying that he is no "man" anymore, pfft. The "brothers" arc has had it's ups and downs, but I really like how it all came together in this penultimate chapter. Yup, that's right, the next chapter is the last for this arc, and I'm wondering what Fukuchi will set us off with before either going to hiatus or the next stop on his time traveling ride. 

Youkai Giga reunites us with Kuro this week, and starts off with how Kuro and his master ended up becoming good buddies in the first place, and it's quite the story...poor kid was an orphan and at a young age was forced to take on adult responsibilities along with the realization that he wasn't wanted. It was these stressors and the wish to not be alone that gave birth to Kuro, a friend who got him through a lonely childhood, and is the reason why Kuro is so loyal to his master. However in his adult life, there's not much he can do for the young man...meanwhile Makoto is having problems of her own as she's not taking being rejected by the aforementioned very well, and its' then that the strange youkai from before levels with Kuro that they may be powerless but that doesn't mean that they are acting without reason. Could it be that these two youkai have something in common after all? I wasn't expecting to get Kuro's backstory and for it to be something so childishly simple, but it's really effective in communicating why he's so loyal to his master in the limited amount of pages that Youkai giga gets. I'm really intrigued by how Satou is linking together the story of youkai and humans generally, but this revelation in Kuro brings it to a whole new level, and I bemoan that we only get to hear from the little youkai every other week. Still, this is a mark of good storytelling, and I may have to pick up volume one to show my support of Satou's hard work. 

And that's it for issue #41! Next week in commemoration of it's first volume's release, King of Idol will recieve a lead color page, while Evans will receive color pages for two straight weeks to celebrate it's first volume dropping on the same day. Meanwhile Daiiku will have a chapter that spans 22 pages --a bit more than the customary 18, Yuugami will come in for his monthly visit, Nana Okada will be the pinup of the week, and Saike will possibly be saying farewell for a bit?! Well, at least the text indicates that the brothers arc will come to an end next week, but it's unclear if Saike will return to hiatus for a bit after that or if another arc will run in it's place. Hopefully this becomes clear with the next issue's release, and I can't wait to talk about it! Until then, have a good Sunday(s)!