It's a brand new world here on the WSS Blog! Well...no not really, but I am doing things just a smidgen differently for now on. For some time now I've looked back at the blog and thought one thing: "Wow this is a lot to read". I appreciate everyone coming in and joining in the fun, but I can understand that this is a lot to deal with on a weekly basis! So after some thought, I've decided to condense things down a bit so it's easier to parse. This here is the "features" section, and generally speaking I'll have this out Tuesdays right after the magazine is released in Japan. It'll include color pages, the cover and other interesting things in the magazine that aren't related to the pillars (Saike, Shinobi, Evans and so on.) So this is a quick read to tide you over as I prepare the "Editorial" section which will feature the pillars. I might have an "extras" for non pillar manga eventually but let's try this out. I'm also announcing a new name for the blog to follow up with the the newspaper theme: "Weekly Shounen Sunday Edition". Since Y'know, getting whole entries out on Tuesday probably isn't going to happen anymore, and I'm all about branding, hah.
This week's Cover features three members of Keyakizaka 46, the return of Mr. Shounen Sunday and his rival, Aozakura celebrating 100 chapters and Be blues and Evans with color pages. Although Aozakura is taking up the corner, I can't help but think this cover being very pink was by design to give it that extra "congrats".
As mentioned in the last issue's write up, I won't be posting the TOC here in an effort to save time and space. If you're interested in seeing the lineup please check out Okachi.fr: here for a much more aesthetically pleasing look at the order of series for the week. Although the site is in French, I've direct linked the TOC for easy access! Please give the site a look see, since I contribute when I can, and the webmaster is a pretty cool person.
Though I gueeees I could do something a little more fun:
So with the TOCs come author comments. In Weekly Shounen Jump for example these are usually just random comments from the author about anything ranging from the manga they're currently serializing to what they ate for breakfast that morning. Shounen Sunday is a wee bit different. Rather than allowing it to be free form, the editors choose a question from a fan, and every author with a manga in the magazine that issue answers it. This week's question is from "Tofuu Kaku" of Tokyo and is something like "Is there someone in your age group who gets your way of thinking?" Here are the answers:
Motoyuki (Be Blues) Tanaka: I see a lot of people on TV who are the same age like Matsuko-san and Kenkoba-san...
Hikaru (Aozakura) Nikaido: I'm all alone (Bloody Tears).
Gosho (Detective Conan) Aoyama: Maybe Brad Pit? (Laughs).
Tomohito (Komi) Oda: Kenshi Yonezu-san! We were born the same year and month!
Kagiji (Maojo) Kumanomata: If it's someone of the same age then Mana Ashida-senpai would be mine.
Hiroshi (5 minutes) Fukda: My siblings (lol).
Aiko (Maiko) Koyama: Rather than thinking the same way, I have great respect for Kaoru Mori-san.
Atsushi (switch) Namikiri: Haruka Miyase.
Mizuki (Evans) Kuriyama: I can't relate to people I see in media who were in college at the same time I was...
Syun (008) Matsuena: Good luck Ichiro.
Takuya (Major 2nd) Mitsuda: Ultraman.
Nekoguchi (Megumi): Keisuke Oka who was in the same class as me. Oh and other comrades in Sunday who write romantic comedies.
Norihiro (Ariadne) Yagi: I don't really have anyone like that, but I am interested in those my age.
Ryou (Hatsukoi) Minenami: I don't have anyone since I'm usually fighting against myself.
Kazuhiro (Souboutei) Fujita: I don't really care about those my age! Being a mangaka is my everything!
Teppei (Xeno) Sugiyama: Everyone around my age have become wonderful adults, so it's kinda hard to say I think like any of them...
Kenjiro (Cawaii) Hata: Amatatsuu (It's a reference to a Japanese weather caster Takeshi Amatatsu)
Michiteru (Daiku) Kusaba: Kokoro Tereada
Takuya (Memesis) Yagyuu: Tatsu Murakoshi-sensei, Yamato Fujie-sensei, Tomohito Oda-sensei DJ Matsunaga
Rokurou (Shinobi no) Ogaki: Kenjiro Hata-sensei. We're the same age, but more than thinking the same way, I have great respect toward him.
Hidnori (Marry Grave) Yamaji: I'm more or less just conscious, (lol)
Tamaki (K.O.I) Wakaki: All of the mangaka I've met.
Yellow (Birdmen) Tanabe: Hata-sensei. We're about the same age, but his writing is so much more awesome...
Tsubasa (Saike) Fukuchi: There isn't really anyone I can think of...
Satsuki (Youkai) Satou: Demon Kakka (His Excellency Demon). This refers to the lead singer of heavy metal band Seikima II.
Yuuji (Tokaichi) Yokoyama: Fedor and Nogeira.
I hope this helps people learn just a little bit of their favorite artists...and it was kind of fun to TL!
The three Sunday gals for this week are well...their names are right there, hah. I swear I'm not being lazy but there really isn't a reason for me to rehash what's there in English is there?
Miho Watanabe was born February 24th 2000 in Saitama, and is a 2nd year in Keyagizaka. Meimi Kakizaki was born December 2nd 2001 in Nagano and is a first year, and Akari Nibu was born February 15th 2001 in Saitama and is also a second year. This page advertises their appearance in a stage play of the popular "Madoka Magica" anime series. That just gets me interested in watching it again at some point, though I wonder if my heart is ready?
Aozakura celebrates two years of serialization --and thus 100 chapters (although this is actually chapter 101) with a color page lead in. The series sells pretty decently so it's not surprising it's made it this far --but I always marvel at how something with this subject matter has managed to thrive in a shounen magazine. Granted it's really just is a slice of life manga for the most part which is totally Sunday's aesthetic, but it's still surprising that it's managed to find pretty stable footing here. I'm also happy for Hikaru Nikaido since their art is pretty unique and I quite liked their first Sunday effort "Heaven's Runner Akira". I'm not at all sure if that's been translated on the world wide web for browsing, but if you can find it, it's a charming read about a sport I've not seen much in any demographic --track and field. Though the sport itself seemed more like a framing device for the characters to interact than it was the reason to be for the series which is just the way I like it. For the most part this is just another day in the training for the characters despite it being a landmark chapter, but that's a good sign that the series has a future ahead of itself. Here's to another year Aozakura!
Mr. Shounen Sunday returns and brings Kaito Kid with him this week! Sadly it's with the knowledge that his stay is a limited engagement since Zero's last chapter indicated it'd be back in issue #44. Four weeks of Conan is better than nothing, and there are a lot of moving parts this week. Kid for one thing --you know he's here to steal something and that "something" is the "Fairy's Lip" --pictured above. Meanwhile Heiji has been feeling the burn what with Shinichi and Ran's relationship moving from "will they" to "they did". --in regard to them being an official couple. Now he wants to move his own relationship forward with Kazuha but with a cop from Nagano getting involved with Kid's heist, there are lots of players and only one stage. I have no doubt Aoyama has the moxy to pull this off in four weeks since he's been doing it for more than 20 years, but man I gotta admit only seeing Conan every two months is getting to be hard to bear. At least he'll be on the cover next week so that's something to look forward to.
This week's Komi is about studying and the hijinks that ensue when you have a class like this gathered in one place where they can't speak too loudly. The use of the old "paper-fan" gag seen in anime and manga was so good here as well as everyone trying but failing to actually study. Definetly Komi works as an ensemble piece just as much as it does when it focuses on it's titular character, thanks to the strong writing. That being said the series is weirdly reserved a lot of the time? Like it does dabble in the absurd sometimes, but generally speaking you don't get chapters like this where if anyone speaks or makes a sound over a certain decibel, they get smacked in the head with a paper fan by men in black. It's such a silly premise and a breath of fresh air for Komi. Though with school starting maybe it's a thinly veiled message to the demographic reading this as well?
Be Blues keeps kicking it's goalposts a little further down the field which is actually a good thing for it, all things considered. It's sales are strong, and the artwork remains some of the best in the magazine. Tanaka doesn't seem to have any intention of slowing down with 32 volumes and 345 chapters under his belt either! Though, it would be nice if this got an anime sooner or later to really capitalize on what it's got going on, even if I personally question if an anime could really capture the magic the manga has. The characters are in the middle of another game --not surprisingly so there's not a whole lot I can talk about, but it's great to see that this sports manga still has some kick in it.
This one was a week of Fukuda embracing the artwork I so love of his --as well as a liberal slice of despair for "After the Five minutes". We've also got a street date for volume one: September 18th. I have no idea how this will do in the sales since TOC positions can be really misleading if you look into them too deeply. I certainly hope it'll do well since so far it's been an entertaining read, but I'm going to reserve my judgement only after the volume is out in stores. For now, Yamato and Kakeru are in a pretty bad situation that only appears to get worse (and better somehow?) when the Buddha begin to fight amongst themselves for reasons unknown. Even with them being distracted by each other however, Yamato isn't able to do anything to save his best friend's little sister --luckily the cavalry arrives just in time to save him! Though so far any little bit of hope given to the heroes has had just a pinch of despair with it, so I don't think they're out of the woods yet. Hoping Yamato will see his way through this with his friends, both in and out of the series proper.
Evans is also hitting newstands on September 18th, and because of this, Kuriyama gives us a color page! Now the actual writeup for this will come with the "Editorial" section due out this week, but I'll be featuring all color pages in one go for those who just want to see them right away. I can tell even with my poor eye for art that Kuriyama definitely leans on computers for their artwork, but I like that they're getting much more comfortable and consistent with linework. Pheebs looks real cute in this picture, and the color work itself is pleasing. I should point out as well that the color page commemorates the new volume and the apperance of a new assistant which seems to imply Max will be a staple of the series, maybe? I dunno what he'll add to Evans and Pheeb's rapport, but I trust Kuriyama to make it work --after all this is the 68th chapter so they have the experience, but man time sure does fly doesn't it?
It's still hard for me to justify the existence of this manga when it's sales are...not great to put it lightly, but I also can't really say I want it gone either when it's just so good at what it does --which is making Nagasaki and boating more accessible! From the fronstpiece we're introduced to Nagasaki Kunchi, which is a festival held from October 7th to the 9th and acts as a culture festival of sorts. Minato ends up getting sick out at sea --but he's still able to request high class food to which none of his classmates know how to make, hah. In the end the simple broth they make him brings him to tears, so it's safe to say he'll make it. There's also an element to the idea of eating and how to make food --in this case fish and whale taste better that while I can't say I'm completely behind, is pretty genuine for a series like this which I appreciate as Daiku isn't trying to be anything grandiose, and it reflects through the characters ambitions and the pacing of the series.
Now for some actual features! If you pick up WSS's bigger sister magaine "Sunday Super" You get some limited edition art of Amuro and Conan drawn by Aoyama himself! Although the advert is in black and white, the illustration is in color.
And while I won't be TLing the TOC itself, I figure I should at least explain where it comes from. So above here is a list of the series in this week's issue and a questionnaire. Generally speaking one would pick five series they enjoyed this week and write them down, as well as answer a few questions about what features in the magazine they enjoyed, what products featured in the magazine would they be interested in buying, as well as how they felt about the pin-ups and what manga they'd like to see continue and which ones they don't much care about. There are prizes involved in actually voting for these things to entice people to do them, but for the most part it's to figure out what people actually want in the magazine. Although the editor is the one who makes the final decision, the readers do have a lot of sway on what actually sinks or swims in Sunday --or any manga magazine really. So while it might seem pretty random there actually is a science to this, and it does have to do with the readers more than some faceless corporation dictating what we read.
And with that we're done the "features" part of the magazine! What did you think? Does this work for you? Please let me know in the comments~ The "Editorial" part will be out before the end of the week hopefully. Next week's features will, well, feature Xeno receiving a lead color page due to it's popularity, as well as switch, and Conan will be featured on the cover! Ah you might wonder why I don't talk about the series on the bottom there --well, they're mostly advertising upcoming events in a random three manga --this week it's Youkai Giga, Saike, and Zettai Karen Children. These summaries are usually vague (on purpose) to create hype without giving away anything pertinent so I usually don't bother with them. I might start doing a little more with these preview pages on the features section, so by all means keep an eye on things here!
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