Weekly Shounen Sunday #11



If it wasn't enough to have me around once today for the Saike on the rewind post, you get me again for the normal WSS weekly post as well! Eventually this energy of mine will die out and I'll get woefully behind, but until that happens, let us enjoy our time together, okay? Now to WSS #11!


On the cover this week is Yurina Hirate of Keyasaka 46 who is a sister group of the ever popular AKB48. I really don't know much about idols to be able to accurately tell why we need so many of them, but they often end up on the covers of Weekly Shounen Sunday and Weekly Shounen Magazine, so maybe I oughtta learn.


As I mentioned last time, she has a strong resemblance to Kiyo from Makanai-san so perhaps that's why she was chosen to be on the cover of an issue where that series gets a color page. I can't lie, she is a cutie though!



Surprisingly we get Dagashikashi pimping before the usual Conan one! The newest volume #7 hits stores on March 17th, Apparently they're advertising the new star of confectionaries? We'll find out more in the chapter itself.


The TOC! It looks so weird with both Conan and Saike out of the lineup, but this is actually closer to normal-ish. RYOKO is right in the middle, though what is a little surprising is Oniwo is not dead last --rather Sunday's unscientific laboratory is. (I thought it was unranked!) And above that is Denpa! Zettai is also really high as is Hayate, but with Sunday it's hard to tell what's actual popularity and what's just a blip.


To celebrate RYOKO's first volume releasing on February 17th, Mitsuhashi Kaito answered a few questions about the sword wielding heroine. WSS seems to be pushing her as the next big heroine of the magazine. The questions aren't really all that revealing, such as her fashion sense, her three sizes (which Mitsuhashi does not answer) and her taste in guys. I'd translate the whole thing, but Mitsuhashi really doesn't answer anything here which makes sense since not everyone reads the weekly mags.



First up is Komi-san who for the first time is experiencing...Jealousy? Could it be that her and Tadano's relationship has gotten to that stage?


Turns out the girl who's been hanging out with Tadano lately was asked to since it seems like he's being bulled by Komi. Of course the girl thinks that he's some sort of M(achoist) who enjoys it.


With Komi-san's taciturn and aloof aura, it's not weird to think that, really lol. Tadano tries to explain that it's not like that, but well, the bottom panel on the right happens and the misunderstandings escalate.


Komi makes it clear that she just wants to help out though. Poor shy little thing, you can see the blush reaches to her fingers.


The girl gets it! --Er what exactly. Something tells me a whole new misunderstanding has started as she tries to push them together.


Yup. She misunderstood, but she's a good hearted person. She says she'll cheer on Komi and Tadano for now on and won't come between them. Ah to have good friends like these.


Next up is Souboutei, As we left off last week, the govt is bombing the crap out of the very evil house. Geez, Fujita, even the way you draw smoke is impressive. 


Seiichi has been charged with the task of preventing the invaders from having their way in this page that's pretty spectacular. 


With a page that would make Matsui question his talent, the plane headed for the house is unraveled slowly, in an effort to stop the alien aboard from reaching earth. 


And now the story dives toward the present where Rokurou and Seiichi met in the house that would irreparably change their lives. The government knows the story behind the house's origins and now everyone is of one heart and mind....the Souboutei must be destroyed. Next week will move the present story forward as it's been in flashback mode for the last few chapters. I can't wait to see what'll happen!


This week in Maojou, what's a young princess to do when it's Valentines day and she wants some chocolates? Sadly since her prince charming isn't coming for the time being, it looks like she might be out of luck. A demon explains Valentines day to her  --including the part of getting chocolate from someone she likes.


So she can neither get yummy chocolate or sleep in this castle away from her people and as the narration on this page says, she falls into a quiet despair.


So she wanders around the castle trying to get monsters to say they like her so they're obligated to give her chocolate, lol. She has the best priorities --but of course this starts all kinds of misunderstandings.


The problem is that the monsters all think her advances are well...extremely naughty in nature so they all die of nosebleeds before they can give her the goods. 


The princess is on the verge of falling into deeper despair because she thinks no one loves her, until one of the few remaining demons makes her a valentines cake. The princess doesn't quite get what happened, but hey, free chocolate and a nap. Can't beat that!


And now Makanai-san with a color page to celebrate it's "popularity." As much as I'll admit I'm a skeptical so and so, the series hasn't been around that long. Though actually this is common practice for manga magazines, to advertise series as "popular" when they've barely started. No one's gonna buy something if you say "Please pick this up out of pity!" After all. Though yes, Kiyo is looking busy as she cooks for the Maiko.


I love that Kiyo has such a great memory for shopping despite not having a list of any sort with her. The top panel is everything she needs to feed the ladies back at the house, in vivid detail. 


She also visualizes how everything will look in her bag to ensure she has space for everything she's going to buy.


Kiyo runs into a cop who finds it strange she's out during the day and with a backpack bulging with goodies. She is 16 years old after all, so she should be in school, right?


The Cop takes her back to the landlady who's able to clear things up. She understands that Kiyo should be in school and it does look weird for them to have a cook at a time like this when there are no customers.


What's interesting is that the landlady says that she's got the same level as a pro, and Kiyo is even nice enough to give him a Muffin filled with chocolate!  Though since she found a sale on radish she kind of forgot the reason why she went to the store in the first place --for eggs and beef. The officer kindly says he'll take her back to the super market, lol.


Next up is Keijo being...amazingly high in the TOC for once. 



Yeah, she has what seems to be an electric current going through her bikini top over a giant swimming pool. I can't make this stuff up, people.


Zettai Karen children is also high up in the polls. This is a pretty cute cover page, though I haven't interacted with the series since the first anime almost ten years ago...Not really because I don't like it or anything, just sorta fell out. It's been on it's final arc for a while, though oddly enough WSS doesn't advertise that anymore unlike Hayate and Denpa. Have they just decided to forget about that?


Ahh, I remember him though. He was in the anime! Also his nipples are vibrating in the bottom panel. 


Next up is Amano Megumi! I'm still genuinely surprised that I enjoy this series considering my aversion to romance and fanservice. I guess the cuteness sort of overrides the other stuff. (Sort of.) It helps that the art is adorable too.


What's fun about this series is that the basically formula doesn't really change, yet Nekoguchi does a pretty good job of both conforming to and defying expectations. Like here, Ma-kun is trying his best to tutor Megumi who has begged him to, but despite his best efforts...


When you have a friend/potential love interest like this, well, the mind tends to wander a bit.


Besides the fact that Megumi is --well, no need to be polite about it...stacked she also has no real interest in sitting down and studying. Instead she's trying to generate static electricity here to bug the hell out of Ma-kun. Like, she's not even trying to do anything lewd, but it comes off that way.


Ma-kun's expression at the bottom slays me. Though it's somewhat relatable --that feeling of having an attractive friend and being at that age...


And it would seem the theme of this week's WSS is "misunderstandings." Those misunderstandings go well with Valentines don't they? Here Megumi has all the static electricity she needs, but Ma-kun's mom totally gets the wrong idea. 


And I love the bottom text there. "Mom's lightning struck".  Poor Ma-kun, he was just trying to study and not get turned on..


Next up is RINNE! Though this has been advertised already, but the bottom text confirms there will be an Inuyasha stage play. In fact including the advert for the wide edition of Ranma 1/2 and the third season of RINNE coming on in April, almost all of Takahashi's series are represented on this cover in some kind of pimpage, lol.


This week's chapter is about a female ghost who dropped her homemade chocolate, in which Sakura suggests they could just make it again for the person she wants to give it to.


They manage to make a great set of chocolates, but the ghost girl says that they're not good enough. Note Rinne vomiting blood in the third panel of the right page, lol. Sakura asks how they're not good enough, and..


The ghost girl wants a bigger heart, so Sakura complies. The ghost girl seems happy enough, and wants to write a message on the chocolate....but it turns out this message is to "die". (Their expressions, I can't, I'm dying.)


Turns out when she was alive in middle school, she made some chocolate for a boy she likes, who turned out to have someone else he was interested in --which is why she can't seem to pass on. She's just that pissed at him.


The next chocolate she makes is filled with Wasabi sauce. (Man, ghost girl really holds a grudge, huh?)


Rinne and Sakura track the dude down, but it turns out he actually feels sort of bad for jilting ghost girl, and won't accept her chocolate to spare her feelings. They're about to force him to eat it anyway, but Ghost girl realizes she just wanted him to say sorry, and so she and the chocolate pass on to the after life. (There's a note specifically about the chocolate passing on too.) Meanwhile Sakura used all of her supplies to help out, and thus cannot give any chocolate to Tsubasa who thinks he's being jilted now. The End.


Hatsukoi Zombie time. It'd take me a lot of time to explain why this chapter is significant, but I'll try to. See, the two there on the bottom? One is clearly a guy, while the other is a girl masquerading as a guy. They both met in childhood and liked each other, but the girl-guy moved away and didn't come back till years later, dressed as a boy due to a huge misunderstanding. (There's that word again.)


Tarou (Black haired kid) isn't aware that his childhood friend who he confessed his love to and then came back a boy is actually still a girl, so this is a little awkward for him.


And the awkward just keeps getting more awkward. 


Tarou is confused of course but starts to imagine what if..what if she actually is a chick?


Meanwhile Ririzaki (The girl) accidentally rolled into Tarou's futon while she was sleeping, but ended up waking up in the middle of things and now realizes how much shit she's in. Ahh this is one of the reasons I find it hard to like romances, though Hatsukoi does it a little better than most. Still, in the back of my mind I am kinda like "Just tell him already, dammit." 


Then again, even my cast iron heart moved a little at this. Even after everything that happened, Tarou still pulls the covers up over Ririzaki to keep her from getting cold. Does he know? Does he still not know? We don't find out this chapter, sadly.


Speaking of boys and girls, RYOKO comes with it's lead couple on the cover. Hard to believe RYOKO is already approaching 20 chapters, but here we are.  It took me a while to realize that Ryoko is holding up one finger for "1" and Zen five for "5". They really are adorable together. The chapter promises at the end that we'll be headed into a new arc next week, so that's something to look forward to.


DameTerasu is up to bat next with the final moments of a crow until it's found by Ameterasu herself. What bearing does this have on the chapter itself?


Interesting that the very next page is Yata, Ameterasu's assistant....hmm, could there be a deeper meaning to this?


The chapter itself is about Yata's service to Amaterasu despite it being 2000 years. The obvious joke being that someone who works as hard as she does should have a God(dess) who appreciates her, but after everything Yata still chooses to be with Amaterasu despite having the choice to serve another God. 


I have to say I'm growing fond of DameTerasu, though this happened with Fujiki's last series --Hajimete no Aku where I loved it enough to translate nearly three years of it, but then it fell apart with harem nonsense and I had to drop it. So far DameTerasu seems to have avoided this pitfall, but it's to be seen how long it'll stay that way. Anyway, in the first page, Amaterasu says that she'll save the little crow if in exchange it will serve her. The crow questions her tears and intent as she says it'd be better if humans didn't exist. Dat's some grade A foreshadowing.


Next up is Tokiwa Kitaeri which is still sporting what I think might be a "History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi" crossover. I'll admit that's got me a little more interested in the series than before, but the writing is still all over the place. 


Dagashikashi starts off with a dispondant Hotaru and the promise of big news. No, it's not another anime, sadly. 


Apparently the mascot for "Baby Star Ramen" ---Bay-chan is retiring, and Hotaru just can't have any of that. 


If any of my readers are familiar with Gintama and Katsura's larger than life delusions, this is essentially the same thing except with snack mascots. Bay-chan is retiring and being replaced by Hoshio-kun (pictured above) and she has a one woman play in her head about how Hoshio-kun has accepted the hopes and dreams of his senpai.


Thaaaat's what the advert at the start was for. Apparently this new design will be on the ramen for now on. Gotta love Dagashikashi for paving the way for snack mascots.


Be Blues! I'm probably a broken record at this point, but I have nothing but praise for the art of this manga that I do not read, lol. All three panels on this opening page are working hard to make me furiously regret that decision though.


 

I think what really makes this manga work for me is the sense of movement that Tanaka Motoyuki packs into each page. Even if one doesn't know anything about soccer, there's a sense of kinetic energy in every frame. It's like Tanaka draws each and every page with everything he has in his body. 


Of course this blog isn't just for the audience at home to appreciate WSS series, but for me too! I'm totally considering giving this a shot despite not having very good luck with sports series in the past. Perhaps animated sports isn't my thing, but manga ones? At the very least with pages like this, I really want to understand more of what is going on.


And Oniwo. I think what works for me with this manga is it's grotesque depictions of monsters and the things they do, like the bottom panel. Again, it's sad that it's probably on it's way out, as this is the first issue I've reviewed that doesn't have it on the very bottom of the polls.


Look at that depiction of classic oni! Everything about this page is creepy and crawly and I love it. Ahh I don't need another series to buy Shogakukan!


And that's it for issue #11! Next week, RYOKO gets the lead color page to celebrate it's first volume, and Major is on the cover. Mushibugyou and Be Blues will get center color pages, and two series from Sunday Super (actually I mentioned them last week)  "Shitei Buryouko Shoujo Shiomi-chan" by Inoue Kazurou, and Suu no kuuki kouryaku by Fukui Sei. This is probably to advertise their volumes coming out next month, and you can bet I'll cover them. Until the next Sunday, have a good week! 

Comments

  1. Those Komi and Maoju chapters sounded super cute! Interesting that there were so many Valentine's specials this week. I guess with Sunday there are enough episodic rom-coms to ensure there'll be more than one chapter in the mag about the holiday.

    With the InuYasha stage play, those Ranma 1/2 widebans, and the third season of Rinne coming up, it's definitely a pretty good time to be a Rumiko Takahashi fan. Though I'm really holding out for a new anime project for Ranma 1/2 to coincide with the series' 30th anniversary this year. That final arc needs to be animated darn it!

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  2. Yeah, there was definitely a theme going on for this week's magazine. Though you bring up a good point about the episodic rom-coms. Personally the way they're done in WSS seems to be enticing to me somehow, despite my normal loathing of the genre. That being said, I do hope they'll consider adding at least one more action series to the line up since Saike is basically an irregular serialization, and the other big action series(s) are on their way out.

    Actually, yeah! They should give Ranma the Ushio to Tora treatment! Though I'd love to see the entirety of Kekkaishi animated. Actually, now I kind of wonder how many WSS series received anime but never got a complete run...Though for sure, Ranma deserves it!

    As always, thanks for commenting!

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