Weekly Shounen Sunday #7 (2018)

Pop the streamers and put on the party music, as the blog has reached it's first birthday! Things have rolled right back to the first issue I covered ---#7 a year ago, and while I'm sadly lacking in any special party favors for you all, I do have the milkshake that's brought you all to the yard --er blog for the past year! It's been a great holiday, but now it's time to roll up those sleeves and get right back into Sunday!

The first single issue of 2018 brings it's A+ game with Dagashikashi proudly on the front! Of course we've got a year's worth of issues to go through after this, but man, I think I can say this will be one of my favorite covers of the year. KOTOYAMA's art has really come a long way and looks splendid in color! Komi, Akuto, and Xeno are on front as well and not surprisingly this issue will hit newsstands in Japan the day before the new Dagashianime launches on TV sets all over the country. It's been set for a simulcast in certain territories so soon we'll all be enjoying some sweet, sweet candy!

It's not Sunday without a TOC so let's get it on.

Dagashikashi by KOTOYAMA (Lead Color page/Chapter 173)

Marry Grave by Hidenori Yamaji (Chapter 3)

Amano Megumi wa Suki darake! By Nekoguchi (Chapter 105)

Be Blues! By Motoyuki Tanaka (Chapter 318)

Sokyuu no Ariadne by Norihiro Yagi (Chapter 4)

Tantei Xeno to nanatsu no satsujin misshitsu Story by Kyouichi Nanatsuki/ Art by Teppei Sugiyama (Chapter 5)

Major 2nd by Mitsuya Takeda (Chapter 122)

Maoujo de Oyasumi by Kagiji Kumanomata (Chapter 83)

Tenshi & Akuto!! by Aya Hirakawa (Color page/ Chapter 147)

Souboutei Kowasubeshi by Kazuhiro Fujita (Chapter 84)

Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san by Aiko Koyama (Chapter 50)

Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ by Mizuki Kuriyama (Chapter 36)

Komi-san wa Komusho desu by Tomohito Oda (Chapter 118)

Hatsukoi Zombie by Ryou Minenami (Chapter 107)

Shinobi no by Rokuro Ogaki (Chapter 24)

Aozakura bouei daigakkou monogatari by Hikaru Nikaido (Chapter 73)

K.O.I King of Idol by Tamaki Wakaki (Chapter 30)

Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina (Chapter 491)

Daiku no Hatou by Michiteru Kusaba (Chapter 34)

Tenshou no Quadrable by Takahiro Arai (Chapter 37)

Meteor Girl by Reach Ishiyama (Chapter 32)

Youkai Giga by Satsuki Satou (Kuro part 18)

Tokaichi Hitoribocchi Nouen by Yuuji Yokoyama (Chapter 5)

Not in this week's issue are the following: 

RYOKO

Detective Conan

Starting off the year pretty normally is this issue's TOC. There's nothing too shocking about the lineup aside from Evans being a tiny bit lower and K.O.I being scarily low for something that sells okay-ish. Shinobi is up a little higher which is wonderful for Pops, and the new series are still feeling themselves out so there's not much to say in that regard. Feels like the issue is a little smaller with so many things ending like they have, but we have at least two more new series on their way soon, maybe, and at the very least two more are probably going to end, but yeah nothing exciting here folks.

Dagashikashi starts us off with one heck of a fourth wall shattering as Kotaru refers to both the ending song of the first season and the opening theme of the upcoming second which are both performed by her voice actress, Miss Ayana Taketsu. As I mentioned earlier, the second season of the anime will be airing the day after this issue (and by extension entry) hits, and I'm almost positive the simulcasts will be out around the same time. 

I've said it before but it bares repeating --I really think KOTOYAMA could nail an action series, I mean look at the bottom two pages and the sense of weight and paneling! It's great that his future is pretty much secured when he decides to get off the candy train. The chapter itself is basically a celebration/advertisement for the new anime with Hajime finding herself bored now that Koko has returned to school full time. Hotaru seemingly busts her for slacking off, but not really --she just wants Hajime to slack off correctly and "correctly" means with snacks --specifically "Young Donuts". Koko comes in suddenly and remarks upon the full length version of the second opening after Hotaru mentions people flying in it, and while the two aren't really sure what to expect, they decide the best way to determine things is to make "anime like movements" in the manga, hence the dynamic posing. Never stop, KOTOYAMA, never stop. 

Marry Grave is next, and this is it's final chapter of "obligatory" coverage. Will Sawyer and his adventure from beyond the grave continue via this blog, or will it be stakes up for him? You'll have to keep reading to find out! On an unrelated note, I'm surprised to see so many fairies in manga nowadays. Not that there's anything wrong with this of course, but another manga that recently started in Jump square --"Demon Tune" by Yuuki Kodama also features faries yes, yes, I know how could I read the competition?! as one of the protagonists so it was a bit of a surprise when I opened up Marry Grave to see one here too. As what's standard with this series Yamaji's opening page is gorgeous, in both art and execution. Curiously this fairy says that something is "boring" while in tears. Wonder what this means...

After his exploits last week, Sawyer arrives at Fairy Land (Though the kanji reads "Fairy Village") to gather more ingredients for this recipe of the dead. I already raved about the artwork, so I'll contain myself here, but maaan, I don't know how Yamaji or anyone in this magazine manages to do this on a weekly basis. 

Seems here fae-folk and the general populace get along pretty well which is a nice change of pace for stories like this where they're antagonistic forces. Sawyer drops a little bit of world building too in his sense of wonder that a place like this still exists in the world. I know it was indicated in the opening of the series, but it's little things like this that remind us that the setting of Marry Grave is a "grave" place indeed. Sawyer is greeted by a little fairy --Pickett who offers to show him around --for a nominal fee of course. 

This chapter is all about the sense of scale, as Sawyer takes Pickett up on her offer and goes to an inn to grab some grub. Apparently Capeside where he came from is quite far from where he is now, as the fairies and inn owner are surprised he managed to come so far on foot. Sawyer comments he's had about 40 years, so it's not that surprising, really. Though there is a reason why this little town seems to have avoided the problems the rest of the world is having in regard to goblins, and it's the fae-folk themselves! They make a special powder that renders the city invisible to bad guys and other evildoers, in short those with wicked souls are barred entry. Good thing Sawyer is human so he passes the bar for entry. 

First thing on the right --I think it's amazing that Yamaji not only has mastry of scene setting BG art, but over the top expressions. Even without understanding Japanese, one can tell what Sawyer might be reacting to. Though I'm here to help make it clear! So while the city is free of most "demonic" souls, there is one who stands apart from all of this, someone/thing named "Jean" (Jin? I'll go with the former until Yamaji makes it clear, as it fits the naming conventions of the series.) Jean is a fairy too, but of the "dark" persuasion and as the other fairies describe them a "violent, tyrant that is the most hated in the village." Sawyer immediately wants to hear more --and being a guy who's unable to put a cap on his emotions, it's clear Jean has something he wants. 

Turns out the powder a dark fairy produces is one of the ingredients for the recipe so Sawyer is off to collect, even if it means climbing up a tree with a coffin in tow. Unfortunately for him, Jean isn't in a benevolent mood, and doesn't even want to accept visitors, much less give them things for free.  Man that right page looks painful. Jean's a fairy but punches way out of that weight class as Sawyer goes flying! 

Saywer lands back in town where everyone is surprised he's alive. (Of course they don't know what we know, so I guess that's not surprising.) but Sawyer is undaunted despite everyone telling him how impossible it'll be to communicate with Jean. 

Rather, now he's really interested in making her his friend! Huh, not just getting ingredients, but becoming friends? I had wondered if Sawyer's journey would be a one man show which makes sense considering what he's out to do, but maybe it is time for an ally or two? Good luck with that, Sawyer. Meanwhile, I'm at a crossroads with whether I'll keep Marry Grave going...there is a group (inspired by this very blog) scanslating it and they're pretty caught up, but I like the series enough to keep talking about it as well. The point of this blog is to talk about things that are ignored/unknown though so I'm not sure what I want to do here. I'll need more time to think about it --but feel free to chime in on the comments section as to what you want to see! Hopefully by next week I have a decision for everyone! 

If you've been reading this blog long enough you know I'm not a fan of romcoms, but Megumi manages to do something a little different with it's characters while being very cute at the same time and just the right amount of raunchy, I guess?? This week is pretty simple in execution and scope --Ringo who is Megumi's newest underclassmen is still learning the ropes of the kendo club, and Megumi being her senpai tries to encourage the younger girl to do her best. I'm not making any effort to hide that I just find Ringo's design to be endearing, but I honestly do just enjoy Megumi being a big sis of sorts to her classmates. It's a great way to show progression in the series without committing to anything serious that might be considered "jumping the shark" Ringo like Megumi has a complex about her weight, but after hearing her senpai's words, she seems to cheer up and says she won't let being chubby get her down, but all Megumi hears is "chubby" and well, you can see how that goes, haha. In short this is a pretty good snapshot into what makes this manga tick and be more than what it shows on the outside. 

I just liked how colorful this advert for new sunday series launching in January looked so I threw it in. It's focusing on Hatsukoi Zombie and Tenshi & Akuto, kind of describing the major plot beats for both series and what one can expect upon picking up the newest volumes out on the 18th of the month. Also the top text reading "Spring update --except not for fashion but for comic news" is parodying something I'm sure, but it's pretty good even if one doesn't know what the parody is. Actually, Akuto gets coverage in this week's entry so by all means check that out in a bit! 

I feel like Xeno is going to be the next Meteor Girl for me --as in a series I intended to drop after the obligatory coverage, but keeps managing to draw me in somehow. I guess that's fine since MG is set to end soon, freeing up one slot for dedicated coverage I actually haven't decided how many slots series with dedicated coverage get, though. Though it being a mystery series does give me some pause. Anyway, chapter five is here and with it a pretty slick color page. The chapter starts with Kai delivering a pre-recorded message from the grave to the survivors on his estate. Kai actually was well aware that one of his daughters would kill him, and even knows who did it --the youngest, Sora, but this was to set up a long game of sorts. Kai is a man who's made a living making places for others to live, but he himself has felt most comfortable dwelling in the darkness as the pages above describe

As such Kai used his expertise to create 7 locked rooms that make it possible to commit impossible crimes, the place of his death being the first of them. This was all a test to see if Xeno is a worthy opponent, and he's passed with flying colors so he issues him a challenge and request via this video tape --to find and break through all of these doors. Of course, he isn't asking Xeno to work for free --somehow Kai has gotten ahold of Xeno's mysterious past lost within his amnesia. If Xeno can complete this monumental task, then he will be rewarded this information that will tell him who he is. It took five chapters but here we are at the "crux" of the series, I think. Though not surprisingly this just leads to more questions rather than answers, but that's the quality of Xeno that's got me ensnared in it's trap. 

Xeno accepts Kai's challenge, and this announcement as well as his death becomes a big news scoop. Still even after denying entry into the house and conducting a thorough investigation, no one could find anything in regard to the rooms Kai spoke of, and although all of his creations --the buildings he is a part of are suspect, there are far too many of them to investigate. 

It's some time later when we meet up with Xeno again as Ayla has been summoned by the detective much to her displeasure. Since he knows she's an assassin (who so far at least hasn't actually assassinated anyone.) she thinks he's here to use that as blackmail of sorts, and thinks her only choice is to kill him.  

However before she can strike at Xeno, a surprising waitress serves her a drink --It's Umi, the middle of the three daughters of Kai --who I've just realized are named "Land" (Riku the eldest) "Sea" (Umi, above) and "Sky" (Sora the youngest). That aside, Umi is here because her sister Sora has been comatose since that day, and she wants revenge against Kai for what he did to them, a revenge that'll only come if Xeno finds the rooms and destroys all of them. Though man, thinking about it Umi's got it rough as her oldest sister died for their sakes, and now her younger sister is in a coma. She's willing to use her "sickness" to help Xeno --and without a doubt a living lie detector would be rather useful. Ayla is against the idea, once again showing she's got way more humanity than your average assassin. Though that discussion isn't the reason why Xeno called Ayla out here, no, he wants to make her his assistant. 

Xeno admits he cannot understand how people think without his memories, and that makes her invaluable to him. He can't be a detective without the understanding of people's emotions and thoughts, and that's where she comes in. Umi confirms that Xeno isn't lying about his proposal, and he asks Ayla to think about it as he doesn't want to force her to make a decision right now. Ayla's puzzled and with good reason --why would he want to make a known assassin his assistant, other than the two words sounding really similar in English? It's then that a man comes into the cafe and makes Xeno an offer he can refuse, though it wouldn't be in his best interest. He has a case he wants Xeno to get to the bottom of, and if he can't he dies! What a hook to leave off on, seriously. Xeno's got some strong character writing and having the "main cast" gathering together like this only deepens the intrigue. I'm on the hook for another week, and I hope you'll stop in for it! 

Things go from worse to....not terrible but still pretty bad in this week's chapter of Maoujo! Turns out the hulking knight that the veteran hero is talking to is actually the demon king and his adviser hiding out from prying eyes, all while having the princess with them. They try to beat a fast retreat before anyone sees them, but the hero begins to reminisce about the princess's younger days where she fancied herself a magical girl, and she almost literally dies from embarrassment, and almost gets them discovered! It seems even as nonchalant and nigh near impossible to defeat as the princess is, she's still got a few things that she'd rather not talk about, hah. What makes this even better is the monsters try to strain their ears to hear these embarrassing stories about the princess's youth but she absolutely refuses to allow it. She's so mentally stressed by this that she falls asleep in her room leaving the monsters at a loss, but then bad news comes in the form of the Succubus getting a whole lot of attention. See, the kingdom wants to throw a celebration for the return of their lost princess, except well, that's not her. The monster and princess gang have to act fast before Sakkyun (Princess's nickname for the Succubus) is discovered or even worse --actually ends up becoming the princess! 

Tenshi and Akuto like me have a lot to celebrate --three years of serialization, and an 18th volume on it's way in January. Right now however, the series is in the middle of probably it's biggest chain of events with Nari it's heroine admitting her feelings for Akuto the hero. Hirakawa has a shoujo aesthetic that she does a good job of fitting into the shounen demographic as her color art abovshows, but where will this wayward confession take us?

 

Akuto's brain is frying at this revelation, as he wonders how long this has been a thing? Is it that she's always felt like this about him? Things I didn't realize were that they're actually longtime acquaintances, and even live near each other. Though the biggest thing --for Akuto anyway is that she's just so flippantly able to drop this confession in his lap. Though before he busts a capilarry trying to figure out how to respond, Nari takes it back just like that and says it's a joke and leaves him with his emotions as if nothing happened, though something very much did even if neither of them has the wherewithal to realize it. Or do they? Akuto can immediately tell something is up because he's heard her voice enough to be able to pick out lies, and that last part, about it all being a joke? Yup, not true. 

Akuto might act big and bad but being confessed to twice in the last few days had done a number on his psyche. Though this is a problem I feel like most of us wouldn't mind having. It renders him unable to sleep and not surprisingly in a quandary. Who does he go with if anyone? Unfortunately he has barely any time to think about this as he's scheduled for a stage play soon and needs to prepare for that. Akuto finds himself lost in his thoughts and his realization that her strong faith in herself is what he admires most, what he likes most about her, despite her being younger than himself. He sees her as a dazzling princess like existence in his life...

And realizes adores her. Akuto then (hopefully after the play!) runs to find Nari knowing that he has to tell her his feelings immediately. The bottom text says next issue is not to be missed, and for fans of romantic developments, I'll do my best to cover it for you. I have to wonder though, assuming things go well, what happens next for the series? Are we seeing the beginning of the end? 

One of the things I enjoy most about Souboutei is that there isn't just one protagonist. Writing a series where every character has a sense of agency is a difficult thing, especially on a week to week basis where I can imagine it might just be easier to rely on the "main" character to carry the story. Thankfully that isn't the case in Fujita's house of horrors --I get so engrossed with all of the characters that not seeing one or a few of them for several weeks never feels like a glaring omission. When Fujita feels like swinging the story around to bring someone back into the spotlight it never feels forced because everyone has an interesting stake in the plot. Kaerikuro and Zanka appearing to save Takoha doesn't feel contrived because of the time Fujita took to spin out their stories and ambitions, which makes it all that much more dire when Kaerikuro's healing abilities don't work on Takoha for reasons unknown. Worst yet, the monsters from earlier have regrouped and stare hungrily down at the group. Seiichi who's shown up on the scene suggests they get out of here and think as they run, and it's here that Kaerikuro uses her tongue to taste what might be preventing her abilities from working...

Kaerikuro discovers there's a literal enemy within, and as long as this creature inserted by the guards continues to crawl about in Takoha's body, her efforts to heal him are frutless. The problem is it's a fast little creature and barring cutting Takoha up, getting it out of him is going to be difficult. Takoha is wavering between consciousness and the dark unable to muster energy to speak out, only to think that he'd like to hear "that person's" voice one more time, before the scene fades to black. 

Meanwhile Kurenai and Rokurou have survived their fight against Shino, but Kurenai's hands are functionally useless now due to her touching the nitroglycerin directly. Big sis tries to put on a strong face for her little brother, but it's clear when she comments on her eyesight fading that she's in no shape to, well, anything at this point. Rokurou is at a loss of what to do to help his ailing sister now, but a nearby voice might just be the source of salvation --or worse news to come. 

The siblings have managed to wander back around to Zanka, Seiichi, Kaerikuro and Takoha, though the group seems to be having internal issues --Zanka is convinced Takoha has passed away and the way to save him is to cut him open, but Kaerikuro won't allow him to cleave him up so easily. 

Kurenai steps in and is willing to go Roronoa Zoro on Zanka to stop him from hurting Takoha. If her hands don't work she'll wield a sword in her mouth! Kaerikuro heals her hands, but advises against any hasty actions. Kurenai surprises Rokurou and Zanka by being able to see the black shadow preventing Takoha from being healed, but that doesn't make it any easier to prevent it from moving, until Rokurou reveals he has a method that might just work. However, he's not sure of how efficient it'll be, nor if it will stop it's movements completely. So this is quite literally a shot in the dark. 

Rokurou will give the signal and Kurenai will make the decisive cut to save Takoha's life. I'm not sure what he has in mind, but when Zanka asks Kaerikuro if she thinks they can do it, she replies she isn't sure but they don't have a choice but to rely on the two of them. The siblings have mostly been apart for the span of this story, so seeing them work together at last is bound to be rewarding, but do they have what it takes? 

I've done some thought about it, and I think I know why I like Evans so much despite not being fond of romance in general. --It's because it's a parody of romantic comedies more than being one itself. Every time it looks like Kuriyama is gonna take things down a romantic route, there's a gentle nudge right back to being a comedy and this is often executed with pinpoint fidelity. Let's take this whole situation for example. Pheebs walks in and hears that Evans has a kid all of a sudden, and we're assured that we know where this is going to go, right? Evans tries to signal to Pheebs to stay away so that things don't get more complicated Spoiler: they do but one of the guards connects the dots and asks what her relationship is to him. Left with no choice, Evans says she's his wife. It's like Kuriyama knows what the audience wants and gives it to them in the most backhanded way possible. 

This is also what Pheebs wants so she's willing to roll with it, though. Before that, let me say that these two are really a pair. Sure, she leans into the role because she gets the satisfaction of playing out a fantasy with the man she likes, but Pheebs works out on her own that Evans needs her to play the wife in this scenario even if she's not entirely sure why. That takes a good amount of trust and understanding to pull off, and she nails it, allowing them to get on the train and out of town where Evans explains the situation to his "wife", while commenting on how incredibly uncute Mattie is. Pheebs just figures she's scared and that's why, even going as far as praising the girl for her bravery, but Mattie shakes this off replying. "I don't need to be praised for being able to outwit idiots". 

The top panel is Pheebs thinking to herself. "Wow, how uncute". I can't say why, but I found this hilarious. The plan is to get to the next city, but Mattie puts on a brave face and tells the gunslingers she can handle things on her own, relieving them of their duties to her. Though that won't work, since the gang after the girl have boarded the train, so Pheebs and Evans are stuck playing "house" for a bit longer. (Pheebs tries her best to seem upset by this whole deal but is clearly only a few steps removed from overjoyed by this, heh.) Their trials and tribulations begin when a bored member of the gang starts asking intrusive questions such as when did they first fall in love,  and who said it first. (Evans says it was Pheebs who did, and she doesn't say no...) 

The whole act is almost ruined when the guy asks why Evans only refers to his wife by her last name, but Mattie dives in with a save by saying her parents situation is incredibly complex and it's best not to ask about it. Things get so awkward that the guy leaves after this and Pheebs once again comments that Mattie is incredibly uncute. Still, as her "mother" she'll have to accompany her all the way to the next town whether she likes it or not. 

Unfortunately things continue to unravel as back in town the bad guys realize who Evans and Pheebs are, and that they are not in martial bliss. Furthermore a girl from the early chapters of the series --Melissa (remember her from chapter 2?) appears and expresses her surprise that Evans is married to someone else when he was set to marry the famous actress Miranda Kelly before..? Ah how misunderstandings are the spice of life. Though Kuriyama threw me a curve ball by bringing back an old plotline and character all at once. The wild west is about to get a little wilder....

It's a month early but Komi dispenses the valentines in this week's chapter. I had the series on a little hiatus since I had covered it for several weeks in a row, but I'm glad to announce that at least this week it's back and still just as charming as ever. To give a brief run down of Valentines in Japanese culture, it's the same as western territories, except the kind of chocolates given has way more weight to it. There's "obligatory chocolates" that girls give to guys they consider acquaintances, and then there is more serious stuff given to potential(?) romantic mates. Here Tadano is home with a cold when Komi comes to give him something, and like any boy with a crush he's trying to keep on the down-low, he assumes she's going to give him chocolate when it is in fact a copy of the homework for that week, ouch. Though Tadano is a good sport and plays off his dashed expectations expertly and the two part ways until Komi speaks out....with her voice(!) and...

Gives him chocolate. It's "friendship" chocolate though, which is kind of in a class of it's own. Higher than that given out of obligation, but not quite that of romantic reciprocation. Still, Tadano accepts her gift and thanks her, saying that he's happy to have her as a friend. 

Komi reveals this is her first time making/giving chocolate to anyone, d'aww, but is so embarrassed that she pretty much runs all the way home after giving Tadano his sweet reward. Don't worry Komi, I didn't include that page out of kindness, and not space. These two have a long way to go, but part of the joy is watching them get there, I think.

Abbot is having a bad day on this week's Shinobi no. The man who leads him and by extension the incoming attack on Edo --Commodore Perry has been found dead and there's no one around to blame or explain. Because of this, Abbot announces that he's calling off the raid on Edo to attend an important meeting in Kurihama. So it doesn't appear he's quite out of the story yet, though I wonder where this meeting came from all of a sudden? In any case it's implied by Abbot that he thinks the person behind this assassination will be in attendance, so this is both a stop gap measure and the beginning of an investigation. 

So with the attack on Edo called off, what does that mean for Abe's schemes? Luckily for us, we don't have to wait long to find out. He's still lording it over Ieyoshi, commenting on how the country is rotten and the incoming American attack will be the "festival' needed for it to be born anew. 

He comments on how it is actually peace that has rendered the country a shell of it's former self, that peace is as cruel as it is kind. Though he's willing to risk it all because for them it's strife that is "better" for both the country and men like themselves. I'm not sure if Abe's a blood knight or just a bored statesmen, but I do find his analysis of peace to be interesting --there is a level of weakness that comes with no longer needing to fight, not that this makes his mad ambition any better, of course. Luckily for Edo and Japan the ships start to retreat leaving Abe dumbfounded. It's then that a familiar voice asks if things are proceeding a little differently than what was discussed secretly with Perry? 

Pops has shown up all of a sudden and reveals he's known Abe was fishy from the very minute he accepted this mission. Although he didn't know the particulars, he now knows everything --that Abe and Perry are in cahoots, and what his role was to be in this plan --to get war declared. Abe asks how he managed to get all of this information, and Pops replies that he talked to the headless Perry who's suddenly with him and not on the ship?? Pops then explains that when he was contacted for this hit, that he thought about the plan overall and it didn't make any sense --unless Abe was trying to provoke a response, and this was all but confirmed when he stepped foot on the ship and saw all the weapons and preparations for war. Wow Pops, but then the question is why'd you'd even go with this plan in the first place? That's not revealed here, but Pops does say that shinobi act on faith and conviction to their clients, and as such they expect the same in return --and Abe leaving him to die is a real breach of ethics. 

Abe's undeterred as this doesn't change much of anything really, Perry's still dead and war is still likely to be declared, that is until Pops asks what'll happen if he brings the dead back to life? And then the biggest surprise of the chapter --Perry is actually perfectly fine? 

It's because Pops knew of Abe's scheme that rather than killing Perry he just had him play dead, effectually putting an end to the mad plot by spreading bear blood on the floor, and staging the scene so that his underlings would immediately assume he was killed. So now Abe's been completely usurped, and with a punch to the face, says he'll show him how real shinobi prowess works. The side text says that the next chatper is the "climax" of the black ships arc, which indirectly reveals that Shinobi no isn't disembarking from Sunday quite yet! I wonder what Ogaki has in store for us after this? 

Quadrable isn't going to let a little thing like sales stop it from being one of the coolest looking manga in the magazine, as this final battle against Miguel's darker self rages on. These pages are really awesome, and I do wish the series had gotten traction for Arai's sake. Well, for now let's enjoy what we have instead of lamenting what we will lose. 

A brief flashback between two of the boys gives us background as to why Miguel is so fervent in making up for his folly in the first parts of this fight where he allowed himself to fall into the grips of his emotion and evil was able to seep in. It's there he learns that if one does whatever they can for others and not themselves that they'll realize a power more than they could have ever imagined. Miguel realizes this now as he fights against the manifestation of darkness within himself, and begins to drive it back. His sword breaks in the monster's skin, but Shun --or the new Julian tosses him a gun which he uses to great efficiency. 

"I will overcome myself and live" Miguel says here as he pulls the trigger and shoots his dark side down.

The gang comes to him in celebration, he won against the odds! He complains about them suddenly being able to move, and Julian says Mancio healed them just in time. It sets in now for me that the old Juilan is dead --I guess this whole time I just thought he was lost at sea, though with this being the final battle --and that silhouette of his on the side, there's no denying it now. Ah how the series might have been really interesting to have a trio of boys and Shun, but it wasn't meant to be.

I guess I spoke a little too soon though, as Miguel's evil side just won't stay down in this impressive two page spread. It's a thing I've always wondered about manga like this that are set to end --I couldn't make myself put my best effort into something when I know it's life was cut short way before I was ready for it, but man some of these mangaka knock it out of the park and just ride even harder rather than backing down and it's impressive. If I sound fatalistic, it's cause well, I wasn't able to include the page but the final page of the chapter reveals that Quadrable ends next week. It's not surprising with how the series has been selling badly and hanging out in the back of the TOC, but still a real shame. As always with final chapters I will be covering the last one next week, so please check in for that. 

Meteor Girl also seems to be wrapping up most of it's plots in a hurry with this week's installment --turns out Chihiro survived the explosion pretty much intact, and as revealed last week, Hane is in fact an MG herself. I feel like this was telegraphed pretty strongly throughout the series so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise, but the work itself wants it to be, so who am I to argue? I do think Hane looks way cuter without the hood, but to hide that damage on the nape of her neck it's a necessary commodity. I wonder how long it's been that way though, hmm....in any case, Tetto isn't at all disturbed by this revelation, in fact, he says he likes Hane for her attempts to retain her humanity, which angers Chihiro --how could he choose her? She attacks, but the combination play of Hane and Tetto and her own injuries prevent her from doing any major damage, and allow Hane to get the drop on her.

Hane then uses her ability on Chihiro and for the first time we get to see what it is she's doing when she calms other MG's down. Chihiro comments that it feels strangely "warm"....

Now this has interesting implications --just how old is Hane? From what we gather in her flashback that's beamed into Chihiro's mind, it seems she was a child when the bomb dropped on Hiroshima way back in World War Two? But...how were there Meteor Girls back then when it seems that Chihiro's dad was the one to come up with them? I only ask cause it doesn't seem likely that we'll get a cogent explanation of this, but I am happy to finally see more of Hane's mysterious past and the people she cares for who sacrificed themselves so that she would be allowed to live. 

It's enough to being Chihiro to tears, but there isn't much time for that as MG's fall from the skies in in huge numbers! 

Chihiro wrestles Hane off of her and asks why she'd give her a summary of her past as if that'll change her mind in any way? Could it be that she thought that she'd pity Hane and stop what she's doing? In fact wouldn't this serve as evidence of how horrible life is? It doesn't make sense! Except, that's just why Hane showed her this --it's not because she was expecting pity or anything of the sort, but the need to keep living the best they can until the very end. Even if people and the things they suffer do not change, the spirit to do one's best can see them through all of even the worst things. 

It's in this whirlpool of emotions that another surprise literally drops right in --Chihiro's mom returns as one of the MG's falling from the sky? What does this imply for this conflict? We'll have to wait till next week to find out, but I have to say while there are a lot of things I feel like won't be satisfactorily explained, I do like the pathos of this week's chapter amidst all of the doom and gloom. Shounen manga are generally optimistic even if their overall worldbuilding and plot might lean towards a slightly less rosy outlook. Meteor Girl has found that sense of understanding that an indomitable human spirit while not infallible is important, and I think the pacing of the chapter and Hane's revelation served well in establishing this point. MG's probably going to end soon --but this chapter takes off a bit of the sting, I feel. 

One might say Youkai Giga is light on content lately, but it feels to me that Satou is just being much more deliberate in her delivery. It's probably why Kuro's been getting more play in the magazine lately than before where the little youkai only appeared every other week. It does feel like the Kuro part of Youkai Giga is slowly coming to an end, though Kuro is also the mascot of sorts for the series, so I'm not at all sure what'll happen with the plot of this sub-arc of the manga. Will we see Makoto and Master's lives as a couple after this? Or...? In any case, this week's chapter is about Kuro itself. To my surprise it does seem that the young master has actually acknowledged Kuro as he wakes up and tries to say good morning to the youkai he can't see --apologizing that he was late in doing so, much to Makoto's confusion when she finds him talking to air. (A great little moment is when he tries to play it off as if he's not talking to anyone, but immediately retracts this and apologizes for lying, which Makoto glibly says she already realized.) Master describes how he and Kuro grew up together and how he has lost the ability to see him, but Makoto says as far as she knows Kuro's been watching out for him --Seiji (I realize now I've never addressed him by name, whoops.) and has never once left his side.  The chapter ending doesn't make it clear if Makoto or Seiji can see Kuro, but it's implied they know how hard the little youkai has been working to get them together as it rushes into Seiji's head for a hug. Guess Kuro gets a happy ending out of this too, which is wonderful! 

And that's it for this celebratory seventh issue! Next week we can expect a lead color page for Maoujo, a center color for Hatsukoi Zombie, the finale of Quadrable, and a special apperance by Koharu Inoue's series running in Sunday webry "Shinigami bocchan to kuro maid" or "Young master Shinigami and Black Maid". Inoue had a oneshot some time ago, but her series runs on the shounen sunday website, and with the first volume coming soon, I suppose the powers that be figured it'd be good advertisement to run it in the magazine. It's been a year since I started this blog and I thank you all for coming to visit and keeping it alive! Here's to another year of Sunday!