Weekly Shounen Sunday #25 (2018)

A late entry is still an entry, right? Ah, I guess technically on the internet being late is the same as not "being" at all. Still, I'll do my best to fight against my possible nonexistence! Though really, I like to think of the blog as a personal thing where I discuss Shounen Sunday more than being a place for the latest news, so if things are late like this in the future please bare that in mind. Anyway, let's get to the stuff.

Celebrating a happy marriage and first volume is Tonikaku Cawaii with a very pretty cover this week! I'm not reading this series as closely as I do my favorites but I admit I like it way more than I ever did Hayate, even if the genre doesn't agree with me. Sleepy Princess picks up a color page for her 100th nap (I'm guestimating.) and Be Blues/Zero/ and switch all pick up prominent places on this wedding cover. Watch out for falling bouquets and let's head in for the reception.

If there are no objections, then let me read the TOC.

Tonikaku Cawaii by Kenjirou Hata (Chapter 14/Cover/Lead color)

Kimi wa 008 by Syun Matsuena (Chapter 12)

Amano Megumi Suki darake! by Nekoguchi (Chapter 122)

Detective Conan: Zero's Tea Time: Art by Takahiro Arai/ Supervision by Gosho Aoyama (Chapter 2)

Major 2nd by Takuya Mitsuda (Chapter 138)

Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ by Mizuki Kuriyama (Chapter 54)

Be Blues! by Motoyuki Tanaka (Chapter 332/Center Color)

Gopun go no Sekai by Hiroshi Fukuda (Chapter 3)

Memesis by Takuya Yagyuu (Chapter 11)

Maoujo de Oyasumi by Kagiji Kumanomata (Chapter 100/Center color)

Shinobi no by Rokurou Ogaki (Chapter 40)

Hatsukoi Zombie by Ryou Minenami (Chapter 125)

Tantei Xeno to Nanatsu no Satsujin Misshitsu Story by Kyouichi Nanatsuki/Art by Teppei Sugiyama (Chapter 22)

switch by Atsushi Namikiri (Chapter 5/ center color)

Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san by Aiko Koyama (Chapter 67)

Souboutei Kowasubeshi by Kazuhiro Fujita (Chapter 101)

K.O.I. King of Idol by Tamaki Wakaki (Chapter 45)

Daiku no Hatou by Michiteru Kusaba (Chapter 50)

Komi-san wa Komyushou desu by Tomohito Oda (Chapter 141)

Sokyuu no Ariadne by Norihiro Yagi (Chapter 21)

Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina (Chapter 504)

Tenshi and Akuto!! by Aya Hirakawa (Chapter 164)

Danshi no Hinkaku by Makoto Hoshino (From Webry)

Marry Grave by Hidenori Yamaji (Chapter 20)

Chrono Magia by Fujiko Dousei (Chapter 4) 

Youkai Giga by Satsuki Satou (Kuro part 26)

Hitoribocchi no Tokaichi nouen by Yuuji Yokoyama (Chapter 22)

Not in this issue are the following:

Detective Conan

RYOKO

Aozakura bouei daigakkou no monogatari

So a few color pages a few shifts, and we get a fairly...odd TOC. Komi I'm willing to slide as a blip of sorts, there's no way it's collapsing with the sales it gets, though Chrono dropping like a rock to nearly the bottom is kind of surprising, and indictive of a trend I've seen with some Sunday manga --they pretty much land in the bottom straight-away and never recover. Granted I don't think the manga was meant to run too long anyway, but wow. Meanwhile Marry Grave being so low kind of hurts, especially since it's been so good lately. In better news on this eve before first volume releases, Memesis, 008 and Tonikaku are all high in the sky --of the TOC which is good for all of them, and Xeno's back in the middle where it seems he's carved a little house for himself with a murder door of his own. Gotta say though, I never thought there'd be a day where I'd see Daiku no Hatou hovering over Komi....

Shogakukan said "I do" to a color page for Tonikaku cawaii's newest volume, and I'm making things official by talking about it on the blog! I only covered one other chapter after the obligatory coverage, so I'm not 100% sure of what's going on, but from a cursory glance it seems the story of two has really been busy, and has a whole cast of characters now! 

It was recently "Maid day" on twitter, and I have to wonder if this is Hata's way of lampooning that what with a maid who has a sword bigger than she is....she even quotes Kenshin by claiming that she'll slay evil quickly, and Nasa's only response is "Don't you have the wrong weapon for that?!" Hata is genuinely a funny guy even if I don't like his choice of genre. Among other things that happens here, Nasa finally comes to the realization that he knows nothing about his bride to be, as he encounters Tsukasa's "moon stone". I love how one of the maids "accidently" photo shops Nasa in a compromising situation and Tsukasa's response is simply "anyone who could manufacture a fake that quickly should be working in hollywood". Tsukasa's sister Chitose seems obsessed with the idea that only she can bring her happiness, which isn't really explained in this chapter. Ah the perils of not reading this weekly... Though it looks like Tsukasa is upset over the picture, she actually uses it as a reason to escape the group and make haste elsewhere. 

Although the crisis with the maids and Chitose has been averted for now, Nasa does really start to consider that he knows nothing about his future wife. Though to him, the most important thing is the warmth in Tsukasa's hand. It's there that he tells her he wants to share her happiness her sadness and be with her forever. --Almost like a proposal, Tsukasa quips. To her surprise he says it is a proposal and well, the last page happens with Nasa pledging his eternal love to his new wife. Okay, my heart was moved a little, I admit it. Will it move you all to buy volume 1 which releases in a few days? Hit me up in the comments if you decide to take the plunge! 

Zero's tea time seems to have settled in to it's groove (and 12 pages ranking it with the other short series in the magazine) of handing out tantalizing backdrops of the Conan canon proper, but pulling back before revealing anything really palatable. I'm not sure if this is by design on Aoyama's part, however, but it would make sense that he wouldn't want to reveal anything about Amuro that hasn't happened in Conan yet, but it does feel like a case of having one's cake and eating it too. If Aoyama and Shougakukan are going to have this spinoff then I feel like they should either do something completely divorced from the Conan canon or embrace this as a chance to do something with it that they couldn't otherwise, and link the two together. I mentioned it that some people think that this series was meant to run in place of the main series that is on hiatus often now, but I hesitate to call it a replacement on that level --more like a diversion at best. 

That being said there's a lot to enjoy with the sense of cat and mouse conversation with Vermouth and "Bourbon" as they discuss business and how the wine at dinner reminds them of the organization they work for. Also Arai's take on the Conan universe is still great to behold with some spirited storyboarding and sense of composition. I just hope the story will start to reflect something worthy of his talent sooner rather than later. 

So last time we left Evans he was in the middle of a very precarious escort mission provided to him by Abby Earp who works for the government. Things weren't looking too hot however as the carriage containing the gent he was meant to escort ended up getting turned over in a struggle leaving the fate of the person inside hanging in the air. It's great that the person inside is fine, but...who the heck is that? I'm imagine Evans's line being read in complete monotone "Who are you"? as the narration gives the recap of the situation, and it's far funnier that way, I admit. Evans anime, please? Turns out that the guy they were guarding just up and walked away from the carriage when it flipped over, disappearing into the forest before he was seen by anyone other than the guy left behind seen above, so now the chase continues into the unknown woods. 

When they arrive in the forest, Pheebs takes the lead blazing a path her way due to the gunfire she hears in the distance. Apparently Morris got away from the carriage but didn't make it far before encountering trouble! I really like that Pheebs is playing a far more instrumental part in this arc than in past ones where she was simply crushing on Evans. The narrative has established her as on the same level as Evans, and while we've seen shades of that here and there, to see it unfold in this arc proper has been a real treat. She can exist past her crush on Evans and even within that trope she works well with him. In any case, they're faced with a rickety bridge, and no choice but to cross over it. (Yet again Pheebs takes the lead where Evans is rather reluctant to cross over something that looks so dangerous.) He does but ends up falling to his doom even with both girls reaching their hands out to save him from the drop. 

He's saved via his own quick thinking but runs into a familiar face --one of the bounty hunters from earlier. The guy quips that Evans should get a move on before their job escapes, while Abby is far more relieved that Evans didn't touch her hands drenched with sweat. She's really a wild yet oddly adorable card in this whole matter, and it's great how Kuriyama has been playing her --she really doesn't seem to have any interest in Evans which is good, but her actions could be seen by others (and they have come to that conclusion) that she has a thing for him, yet since she doesn't she's playing things completely straight, and it's a source of even more comedy. While I wouldn't go as far as calling this arc "ambitious" it's definitely doing a lot more with it's scenario than the ones in the past and the payoff is great --though I hope Kuriayma can keep it up. 

Be Blues is back on the blog after a long time off sporting a color page for it's newest volume release and change is in the air after the completion of another game for the team. It looks as if someone from Ryuu's past has shown up to get a rematch of sorts as pictured above on the bottom right. I still really dig Motoyuki Tanaka's artwork for this series --the page I just denoted looks like something out of a battle manga, doesn't it? 

An interesting two page spread with Tatsuhiko --a kid from Ryuu's childhood days laughing about the mere thought of seeing him again on the field. It seems there's a bit of bitter history between the two as indicated by the end of chapter text, but we won't get much more than that until the next issue which I can't say for sure I'll be able to cover, sorry! That being said, this might be helpful for a wretch like me who hasn't read this series from the start. 

It's do or died time in "After the Five Minutes" this week and Michiru has "done" the latter. Jokes aside, this is the final chapter of "obligatory" coverage for the series, and my decision as to it's future in the blog will be revealed at the end of the writeup. For now, Yamato as seen above isn't taking the death of his childhood friend and romantic interest very well, and is willing to hop back in time to restore her to normal. 

A bit surprising however (though it does make sense) is Yuto stopping his brother from leaping and taking a more rational approach --he'd rather not waste his brother's abilities as unknown as they are on a whim, even if it's a painful reality to face. I thought we'd see a leap back this week, and the story progress on a timeline where Yamato warns everyone and they prepare for the threat, but instead the series leans more into it's survival instincts as the three boys left try to figure out what to do next without using the power afforded to them. I've said it before that the series feels like a different take on Saike, so this further turn of events is a good way to further distinguish the two time leaping series. I mean, Yamato has only done so once in the first three chapters, and where Saike is a time slip battle series, "After the Five Minutes" is more of a survival one so the two may indeed be able to coexist without cannibalizing each other. It also helps that Fukuda's art is very unique though I do feel (just a smidgen) that he's being held back from his true potential by this choice of genre. That being said, it still has all the hallmarks of his artwork that I love just in lesser amounts. 

The brothers have a spat --Yamato being more emotional and Yuto being rational, though the latter definetly does seem affected by the events unfolding --but it's when they realize their friend "Ninjin" (Carrot, probably a nickname inspired by his appearance) is also afraid of dying that they put aside their squabbles and decide to try and make the best of things and survive for Michiru's sake. The situation is grave indeed --the net is unusable thus making it impossible to find out if there are any places that the monsters haven't appeared, and for the most part they're stuck traveling on foot. They find a temple to hide out in for a bit, but danger is right at their sides when a statue there injures Ninjin by breaking his arm. 

Things just go from bad to worse after that as even more statues around the temple they're hiding out in come to life with killer intent. Thank goodness this gives Fukuda the avenue he needs to show off his artistic chops, but man do I feel sorry for these kids. They really can't seem to catch a break can they?

Thank you Fukuda, thank you for just going buck wild whenever and wherever you can. Great spreads, great paneling, great everything in these pages as the statue comes to life and attacks the boys who are narrowly saved by Yuto driving a bus with only the knowledge he has from watching bus drivers do it every day during their commute. (Is there nothing this kid can't do? Makes me think that Fukuda might have "plans" for him....) The chapter ends with the statue blocking the only path out of town and into the mountains, so Yuto says they'll have to ram it to make their way through. I'm interested in seeing just where and why these things have suddenly popped up in this story and where Yamato and company will end up next, but....and this may come as a surprise --I don't think I'll be featuring this on the blog every week, even though I intend to read it as long as it runs. It might be strange for me to go through an entire serial and not pick up anything new, but the way I see it is like this --the less "obligatory" series I'm covering, the more I can focus on giving a much more balanced and fulfilling coverage on the blog. The nice thing about having several new series starting in a row is that I can talk about new stories from the start without being too put off by length, and I'd really like to focus more on that, so as an effort to change up the blog a little, I think I'll have series like this one featured slightly more often than most but not every week. So no need to fear, Yamato and Yuto will be back on the blog, but maybe not as frequently as say Evans or Shinobi No. In any case, I believe the group will be back next week as there is a color page, so my rambling is sort of moot, hah. 

Yagyuu has admitted himself he's very slow at writing a story and drawing, but perhaps it's results like this that got him noticed by Shogakukan in the first place, even if it means giving an action series like Memesis a shorter page count each week. The expression on the Hedoro elder brother on the the bottom left is as creepy as it is awesome, as is the layout on the frontispiece. What of the chapter itself? Well the story is pretty straightforward, if I'm to be quite frank. The bros take one look at Ash, Kijira and Rose and declare they've "passed". Passed what, exactly? See these monsters have the ability to inhale, absorb, and use anyone covered in their phlegm --the power of the Degu Stone that they protect, and the brothers have been quite busy inhaling anything foolish enough to walk through their domain. The other heroes saved by the group tell them that if they can damage the monster enough it should drop the stone, so now the fight is on! They're more than easily able to avoid the slime barrage but then the Hedoro bros mock the group for being nothing more than cowardly mice who run around in circles, and Rose not willing to take that insult lying down takes an attack of slime to show she's not afraid of the big bad monster! 

Of course that's the dumbest thing she could have done since she is immediately absorbed, and becomes a part of the hedoro bros strengthening them much more. The boys were never able to defeat Rose so they're rightfully concerned in regard to their chances of victory after this particular development. Memesis is rounding the corner toward it's first volume release, and I'm crossing my fingers that Japan likes it as much as I do! 

Happy Chapter 100 to sleepy princess! She's been a kidnap victim for two years (in real life) and while it might be weird for me to say this, here's hoping she'll stay within the clutches of evil for a few more! Except in this case it's clearly the princess who's running things, as seen in this hot springs visit. When the Demon king's advisor gets what he thinks is an eyeful of the princess in the women's bath, he spends the chapter wondering how to get away without being called a pervert, as well as knowing the resume with the princess --anyone who gets involved with her ends up in a tight spot, hah. This gets me wondering how old she is exactly simply because she can go from looking almost infant-like to quasi mature depending on how Kumanomata draws her. althouth in the panel above on the left her eyes really do hypnotize --in fact this entire chapter was drawn with skill that I haven't seen from Kumanomata before. Guess they really wanted to roll out the carpet for the 100th showing, huh. The humor in this chapter mostly revolved around the monsters just being too awkward to know what to do around the princess --so very human like behavior. This trip isn't quite over (though the ending text implies it'll end next week) so there's more of this to go around. The series will be availble in English soon from Viz, and I'm deciding whether I want to write up a brief thing about it when it slips (sleeps?) in....though for now the princess is sleeping over and here to stay whether we or her captives are ready for her or not.

Wow, at chapter 40 now it won't be long until the amount of chapters to this series surpasses Pops' age. If you had told me that I'd still be here with Shinobi no forty one weeks later (there was a break one week!) I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are! Toudou is on the scene and isn't impressed by the Shinsengumi calling them all "kids". To which Pops responds "you're the brattiest one here". While this is going on, Toudou notices Okita and thinking that she's in peril steels his resolve to save her from a perceived threat. Ahh, puppy love in turbulent times. Is there anything cuter? Probably as both of these kids can and probably have killed without a second thought. 

I say "she" but Ogaki unceremoniously reveals on the left that Okita is actually a boy. Not much of a surprise I suppose if you've experienced the Shinsengumi in other stories. I admit I'm a little disappointed since Sorachi of Gintama fame had the chance to make a female Okita and backed out, so it felt like a passing of the torch to Ogaki who almost went there, but also...well, not so much "chickened out" since Okita was a guy (and apparently a very effeminate one at that, hence all of his depictions in media following suit) in history, but...ah, I'm rambling, and you're here for translations. Yes, Okita is a guy and while Toudou is immediately smitten, he --Okita that is, is thinking about how much he wants to fight Toudou who's around the same age he is. Toudou takes the lead in this rescue attempt and Pops as you can probably see on the right above is bewildered but doesn't stop his protege from going on the attack. 

Meanwhile as if to remind us that there was a reason for all of this madness, we get a brief interlude with Kaede and Siebold. The latter has concerns over Toudou and Pops's ability to work together to get things done, but Kaede reassures him that while outside of combat they do nothing but bicker, when in battle they're a force to be reckoned with. 

Great to see Kaede's confidence is well founded, also that Toudou took Pops's lessons to heart, using a wet cloth to take down Shinpachi easily. Guess he was too hungry to counterattack, hah. 

Okita's really excited about this, and even if it means his possible death, he really wants to fight Todou. Oddly enough, Kondo seems really against the idea of having Okita take part in this fight, while fellow Shinsengumi member Yamamami is of the opposite thought --that seeing Okita mature is important. On it's own I can imagine the two men having differing but fair approaches to how the youngest should be raised, but it does seem like Yamamami has a hidden agenda in his interest. In any case, Toudou makes it over to Okita and proclaims he'll save "her" but Okita breaks his heart and sets to break the rest of him by drawing his sword and revealing his gender. In his shock, he's totally unprepared and unable to defend against Kondo who strikes him down first. Kondo's been really agitated when it comes to Okita for some reason, and I'd really like to know why. Sadly for now, we must part from the battle between samurai and shinobi....

Xeno's got a eensy weensy problem --no biggie though! It just seems that there's a sniper indiscriminately shooting people down in the park where he's currently residing. If I sound casual, it's because I'm adapting Xeno's sort of monotone delivery of the events in front of him as he calls the police and describes very bluntly "a scene out of hell". 

It wouldn't be Xeno if he wasn't already aware of where the culprit is of course. Juding from the speed and sound of the shots, they're in a nearby lighthouse. Despite there being 12 people injured, there are no casualties much to Onikobe's surprise. For whatever reason the sniper is aiming at people's legs and maiming them, but not killing them. He asks Xeno if he thinks this has anything to do with the crime from the night before, and the detective can't really rule it out, though he's not sure if there's a connection there or not. Onikobe is ready to rush in with a squadron, but awaits more information before making a move. It's in that moment Xeno gets a call from Ayla, who he asks straightforwardly "Why would anyone kill without reason"? She doesn't know the answer, only replying that "assassins" kill because they have reasons. She does add that this whole thing frightens her, that someone could kill without any regard for others. 

The character development is real as Xeno bids Ayla farewell after hearing her opinion and she prays for his safety. Meanwhile, whether it's better or worse, the detective from the Kai murder case is back and here to hassle Xeno the best he can. He's taken the case out of Onikobe's hands and is running the show his way, and Himemiya is willing to sic the squad on the sniper irregardless of what Xeno has to say, just to show him up and get the perpetrator. Xeno is under pressure for the first time and shows it by having an emotion outwardly manifest by biting his lip. There's a reason why the criminal is doing this, and it's not to get his jollies off hurting random people, but what is it? Xeno thinks back to the incident last night...

He figures out just as the raid is set to go down that the person killed the night before wasn't murdered at the light house...and there's more than one sniper right now! The page above has a striking composition, creating space, weight and a sense of movement all at once, through inventive use of paneling, scale and distance. The men crawling along the walls, the SFX placement as one receives a "gift" between the eyes, and the smaller panels of building panic, they're all wonderfully done here. 

There's another sniper in the clock tower, and their goal is to get Xeno to solve this case without the use of military force, hence the need to stop the strike force from making any sudden moves. Xeno declares that the challenge is on and asks Onikobe to assist him in bringing down the sniper. We've now got some motive and opportunity, but the mystery is only deepening in this case. Of course the deeper the mysteries the more profound the truths at the end of them usually, right?  So I'm anticipating some big things when Xeno finally solves this one. 

Switch plays its way onto the court this week with a color page! It's only been a chapter since we've been away from the series, and it's still taking it's time, which gets me wondering what it's long term goals are --or well, how long it intends to take to get to them. We've been teased with the picture of one(?) of the brothers reaching the professional leagues, and while this is still barely outside the grip of the first volume, it does seem kind of weird that we're only now seeing the bros on opposite teams and seeing other characters gather. I've heard that there hasn't been a whole lot of buzz surrounding this series as of yet, but that's not surprising since it hasn't quite found it's direction. That being said, Namikiri's art is still in top form as the first real game goes underway. It's also a bit refreshing to see that their female teacher is also taking an interest in their maturation, but this seems to be an ongoing thing in Namikiri's works. I wonder if it's from personal experience or just an interest? In any case switch is taking it's time showing it's hand, but I hope that won't be to it's detriment. 

Auguste might be a man of immense knowledge, but it turns out that doesn't quite translate into being socially apt, huh? He's accused of being himself --a bad thing in this situation since he's also a wanted fugitive, and he he responds by becoming belligerent much to the chagrin of the rest of the escape crew. Everyone is sure they're about to be caught until an old lady stands up and chides "John G Thomas" for being a naughty boy. 

I would have never pegged Fujita as being a fan of "Annie" but here we are, hah. The old lady says he --"Thomas" has always been a bad boy but one with the gift of singing, and launches into an impromptu sing along of the classic hit from the movie/stage-play "Tomorrow", as seen above. Yadogi is able to play this off as the two knowing each other from school days --the old lady being "John's" teacher, and this being their first time in Japan. To complete the deception, Auguste much to his embarrassment is made to sing the song too, and this elicits the entire bus into a singing mood. The guards who were once suspicious back off and everyone manages to escape without being caught!  

I gotta say their disguises were foolproof though, I had no idea that the lady was actually the pyromaniac, and the girl from the last chapter actually Frol. Oh, and Yadogi the tour group leader, though the last I figured out through context this week. Auguste asks why she --Josephine would help him, but in the end her husband reveals she just wanted another chance to sing again. IT just so happened that he got lucky enough that her desire coincided with what they needed at the moment --a distraction. The group is able to use Barret's connection to get cars, and under Yadogi's advice, split into pairs to meet at the Soboutei later. I like that even in stills like this, Fujita has a way of creating movement by using sharp lines and SFX placement as seen above. 

Yadogi and Auguste both arrive at their storehouses in preparation for facing down the evil house that feel kind of...final. I mean, Fujita has gone on record by saying that Souboutei only has about one or two "mountains" of things left, but this really does feel like the sally forth towards the ultimate conclusion what with all of those weapons and what seems like a friggin exo-suit.  Still with the preparations done, the only thing left is to head back to the Souboutei and assert their dominance. Will they succeed? It's hard to say, but we can be sure it'll be entertaining to read. 

This week's issue seems to be filled with manga I don't actually keep up with, huh? But I'd be seriously remiss to ignore the layouts and skillful use of text in this week's King of Idol. I'm really impressed with how Wakaki doesn't let a silly thing like manga being unable to express sound keep him from capturing the spirit of words like no other. (The words on the page read "run as far and wherever you want!") Indicating the freedom of one to chase after their dreams. 

Just the way the words run off the page and are utilized on this two page spread are extremely effective to me, as well as the aerial view taken on the page to establish a sense of scale and space. More than anything, Wakaki's ability to supersede the limitations of his medium is something to be respected. In fairness I do feel like K.O.I has gotten a lot better since it started doing this thing of following the characters and revealing their backstories and I only wish this had been the focus from the start. 

It's old faces in new places this week on Ariadne. Rashil has just about had it after his battle and can't move at all, but then an old friend of his appears. Though to rewind a little, the pillar supporting the cave they're in is falling apart and Rashil being the plucky shounen protagonist he is can't have it collapsing on his enemy since that just won't do, but he can't will his body to move. Before the collapse can happen however, Rashil's buddy appears and with relative ease lifts the pillar. Rashil doesn't remember him at first, but after a moment recollection hits him and he remembers "Ash", and it's apparently been six years since the two last met --a time period punctuated by the end of the war they fought in.  Of course part of the appeal of the series is that this war is only talked about briefly at a time, but now I'm quite curious as to how it all went down if light wielding child soldiers were the norm, and now they talk as if they're veterans despite probably still being in their teens. Leana shows up and immediately thinks Ash is the one who wrecked Rashil, but even as the latter tries to explain, the former simply attacks her without hesitation. 

Rashil refers to Ash as one of the "lost eleven" photon carriers from the war who disappeared without a trace. Ash comments that they fled and spent the time developing their abilities to a deadly degree, and is surprised someone like Rashil is still alive after everything. The surprises don't stop there as Ash has apparently been ordered to go after the rock eating worms and place the pillars in the cave in the first place. Rashil demands an answer for his actions, but then the man giving Ash his orders shows up and having no patience in dawdling around orders him to finish the boy immediately. Leana can't have that and defends her knight, even when Ash attacks her as well.  Leana's brave front aside, Ash's last words as the chapter comes to a close are interesting --he comments that he figured Rashil would be living a happy go-lucky life if he had managed survive, while he has always been one who dwells in darkness. What exactly does this mean? What path has Ash walked to get here, and how does it differ from Rashil? 

Nari's taken an involuntary vow of silence this week on Tenshi and Akuto, and at a rather inopportune time --they're in the middle of recording possibly what is their most important work to date! I thought it strange for us to get this kind of drama this close to the final chapter (only two more left!) And apparently so did Hirakawa as she pretty unceremoniously solves it through the power of love. I know I sound a little incredulous, and maybe I am, as it did seem like a reason to prolong the conclusion rather than a necessary source of drama, but on the flip side it is rather sweet to see these two characters come so far and for their feelings to be affirmed in such a way that I guess I'm willing to let it slide for the most part, since the pacing was only temporarily held up by it and the main point of the manga ---the voice acting isn't disservced by this detour too much. I do still sort of feel like there could have been another way to fill out the rest of the volume, but it's irrelevant now. Akuto is able to calm Nari down by promising to always be with her, and that he believes in her performance. He even drags in the two guys who hassled her and makes them watch their show, to see how awesome they are. 

The rest of the chapter is dedicated to the play and the two's performance of the lead roles, and other than changing the tragic ending into something more uplifting it really doesn't deviate too much from the source material. No, the point here wasn't really the play in the first place, but the affirmation of Akuto and Nari's feelings towards each other and their dedication to their craft of voice acting. In that respect this was a (popular) but well thought out pick for their final(?) performance. 

Does art mirror life or life mirror art? For these two at least it really doesn't matter as they've found their happy ending as the actual series gently heads to a conclusion. What will be the public reception to their hard work? The end of chapter text seems to indicate we'll find that out next issue. 

Makoto Hoshino welcomes you to a rather offbeat school in "Danshi no Hinkaku", which even has an offbeat serialization since the chapters featured here are the third and fourth with nothing more than a quick runthrough of the series plot for those who haven't heard of it before now. Luckily before this issue came out I did read the first chapter on Webry so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting into. So basically Tatsuki Tachigawa is your typical high school guy attending an all male school, who's school is well...terrible. As in the students are all a mere step removed from total delinquency, with him being the one exception. One day a teacher asks him to be the leader of the Morals Committee and he takes the job with gusto, and whips everyone into shape by having the guys wear skirts?! It's surprisingly effective, though his sister (who doesn't appear in these chapters, interestingly enough) is totally put off by the idea --or well mostly that her brother is so enthusiastic about it. 

That's the basic premise of the series, Tatsuki is campus good guy and keeps his school in line. These chapters were probably selected for the feature in WSS because they introduce the heroine who is this teacher wearing gauntlets and a knight's hood, and true enough she is featured in the handful of chapters after the first I read. She's Satori Yoroidzuka (her last name can literally be translated "Armor bearer/user", hah.) Actually on closer inspection her dad (the principal) is wearing goth loli clothes....moving along, Satori has an issue with being touched by or touching men which is why she's in the armor, and her father asks Tatsuki if he can help out. She does say this isn't the result of a trauma or anything, so no need to worry about that. In the end while the skirt reform at least made it possible for her to come to school, she's unable to actually interact with anyone, despite really wanting to change herself. Tatsuki understanding these feelings helps her train with things such as shounen manga, playing fighting games, spending time in boys locker rooms and staring down when she walks so all she sees is skirts. 

You'd think that wouldn't work but a little push from Tatsuki --asking everyone to put on armor like Satori is enough to get her to remove her own, and while the class members might have been weirded out by the idea of wearing (paper mache) armor to class, seeing her surprisingly cute face gets them all riled up and ready to learn. 

This continues into the next chapter where Tatsuki and Satori practice building up her resistance to wanting to run from the mere touch of the opposite gender. Satori is worried in her inability to open up to other boys than Tatsuki...

And he jokingly admits that a situation like this would probably make others jealous. It's great how Satori confuses this little joke with him being some kind of smooth talking ladies man and accuses him of being super popular with girls. (To which he reminds her this is a all boys school.) This conversation continues to sorta spiral as Satori somewhat-accidentally-confesses if she were his classmate rather than his teacher she probably wouldn't be able to leave him alone. 

Not wanting his progress with her to go to waste, Tatsuki suggests thinking of her confession as a yuri (girl on girl) one, if that'd help her feel more comfortable about it, and the spacey reaction above pretty much captures that moment perfectly. Of course that's just a no go, but Tatsuki promises not to give up on his teacher and work hard until eventually she's able to make contact with guys. In the end however, it seems maybe, just maybe those budding feelings may be reciprocated....Hoshino's artwork is fairly good, and the story just weird and charming enough to be unique, so I'd say it's well worth a read or glance whether you can understand Japanese or not. Here's hoping that like Maoujo maybe this gets picked up officially! 

Marry Grave has one foot in it's namesake being this low in the magazine, but I'm glad Yamaji isn't letting that get him down as the art and story still maintain their greatness even down here in the basement. Not surprisingly after finding out that the deadman recipes invite disaster from the golem last week, Sawyer hesitates in his journey to gather the ingredients.  He discusses his feelings with Jean about whether what they're doing is right, and she asks a pointed question in return --is he willing to give up on Rozalie then? 

Before he can really affirm his choice, the two hear a noise from something called a "Memory Shell" left in the cave they're currently adventuring in. These shells are akin to tape recorders and can play back things people have recorded into them. It's through this that Sawyer and Jean are able to hear the thoughts, memories, and goals of those who once passed through this cave as represented above in the very full panel of the two being surrounded by physical manifestations of the voices from the past. Though there is one voice in particular that stands out from the pack --that's right, Rozalie too was here and has her own message to the future! One thing I'm growing more fond of in regard to Marry Grave is how this is both Sawyer and Rozalie's journey through time to each other. It felt like at first it was simply Sawyer's path to reviving his dead love, but it's spinning into a story much more than that. 

It's from this that we find out that Rozalie's path to finish the recipe wasn't a quick one --though I suppose the first chapter illustrated this as she was an old woman when she finally brought Sawyer back to life. Yet, to hear the person herself express that after two or more years she hasn't quite completed it really grounds the idea of how perilous this journey is...or was. Even though things are hard for her, she promises she won't forget Sawyer, and will finish the recipe so that she can once again see him, and fall in love all over again. 

Almost as if they're renewing their vows, Sawyer renews his own dedication to bring Rozalie back to life and the journey resumes. I really like that Marry Grave can have these quiet moments --though I think many of the series in Sunday are like this which really lends to it's unique identity among Shounen manga/magazines that can feel like one battle after the next sometimes. Though as Sawyer and Jean leave now reinvigorated, the tape plays back something else--apparently the escape of a little girl from a church of some kind. Her pursuers say that she has a "cursed fate" that she can never escape from, and names her specifically --Mary Grave Rozalie. It's a sudden development to be sure, and with MG's current place in the TOC gets me very concerned about the series' future, but the promise of more Rozalie to come tempers my anxiety somewhat. Still, I want Marry Grave to survive as much as Sawyer wants to see Rozalie again, and these sudden movements don't bode well...

Good things have to come to an end eventually, and it seems as if that's what's happening in the Kuro chapters of Youkai Giga. It was implied a few chapters ago that Seji --Kuro's master might be drafted to war, and while that's not outright said this chapter, I think the last page of Makoto's tears makes it pretty clear that's what happened. Although the couple themselves don't discuss this development it's clear to Kuro that this weighs heavily on Makoto's mind, as the narration flat out says that the atmosphere between them returned to that of what it was before they got married --stiled and on airs. Kuro goes to Makoto who's having a sleepless night and comforts her as she asks why this had to happen, and begs Kuro to protect Seiji. Kuro being the "backbone" of Youkai Giga has been a wonderful --if consequence free read, but now Satou is here to ask us to pay up. I'm still not entirely sure when in time Kuro is set, but it's becoming slightly more clear with these events....perhaps a re-read is in order. Hm. In any case, I hate seeing Makoto cry so I hope Seiji will be all right. 

And that's it for issue #25! Next week's main feature is a return to the farms of Silver Spoon with Hachiken and Mikage! the announcement doesn't specify how long he'll be around though, so I'd say being prepared for a short stay is a good idea. Meanwhile, Memesis, Kimi wa 008, Evans and The World Five Minutes later will all receive color pages, as well as Yuugami stopping in to chat for his monthly session. I'm hoping I'll have Sunday a little earlier next week so we're not late again, but I am at the mercy of the powers that be. Either way, I look forward to seeing you all again here next week, early or late!