Hard to believe it's been three weeks since I started using this format. It seems to have had a positive influence on the blog itself as numbers have risen a notch for the features sections as I had thought they would. Makes sense as the news is probably what people really come here for --which means I just have to work harder to ensure my writing is up to snuff to keep folks coming back. For now, here's the first of two halves!
On the cover this week is Tsukasa from Tonikaku Cawaii ready with breakfast for the readers of Sunday. Gotta love her shirt though --it's the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor I'd expect from Hata. Next to her is Yamato and Kiyo both coming in for color pages, as well as Sawyer who's reaaaaaaaaallly little there, but he's there, and it wouldn't be a WSS issue without some mention of Mr. Shounen Sunday who looks like he's ready for a quick breakfast and a nap.
You know the drill, go to Okachi.fr for the nitty gritty on the TOC, (from the tiny bit of French I know, I think they're saying I spelled the title of "The world Five minutes later" wrong as "Gopun Go no Sekai" when it's "Gofun go no Sekai". To my credit the image quality is hard to make out sometimes...) But either way they have things correct there so give 'em a look! Now for the question of the week which is essentially "What's one personal belonging that you couldn't live without"? As asked by Kuroda * Shiro in Kochi prefecture.
Hidenori (Marry Grave) Yamaji: It's gotta be my Woody doll! (Probably referring to the Toy Story Character.)
Kenjiro (Cawaii) Hata: Gotta have my iPhone.
Hiroshi (5 minutes) Fukuda: iPhone (lol)
Kagiji (Maojo) Kumanomata: My air conditioner remote. (It never comes when I call though.)
Gosho (Detective Conan) Aoyama: A certain Black Zaku that I left at the entrance of the house...that can draw manga in my place. (Lol).
Aiko (Maiko) Koyama: A futon. If we're talking today, it would be fun to have slept the entire day.
Takuya (Major 2nd) Mitsuda: I'm fine as long as I can take responsibility of my own life.
Teppei (Xeno) Sugiyama: My right hand since I need it to do work, but personally I need the left to eat snacks and read manga.
Kazuhiro (Souboutei) Fujita: I've got a fine partner in my pen, though I feel like we'd get into arguments sometimes.
Michiteru (Daiku) Kusaba: My Smartphone.
Ryou (Hatsukoi) Minenami: I wouldn't want to be responsible for anything so I don't hold anything.
Atsushi (switch) Namikiri: Food scraps.
Syun (008) Matsuena: I'm pretty much always having a go at my characters day and night.
Tomohito (Komi) Oda: My wallet, because I don't want to have to constantly buy new ones.
Takashi (Zettai) Shiina: I'd want my dead hair follicles to return.
Nekoguchi (Amano Megumi): My main computer. I'd totally want something to slack off with.
Takuya (Memesis) Yagyuu: My Wallet. Mr. Wallet and I always take walks together and he warns me not to wastefully spend money.
Norihiro (Ariadne) Yagi: A car...I guess?
Hikaru (Aozakura) Nikaido: Siri would be cool, but although it can talk I don't think we could have a conversation.
Tamaki (K.O.I) Wakaki: I'd like a TV remote so I can decide on a channel to watch.
Rokuro (Shinobi no) Ogaki: "Shinobi no" didn't live. Next chapter is the finale --please hang out with me until the end, I daresay.
Tsubasa (Saike) Fukuchi: My Pen, though I'd like one that operates on it's own. (lol)
Mizuki (Evans) Kuriyama: An alarm clock that has a mechanism far above any machines to wake me up would be great.
Satsuki (Youkai Giga) Satou: There's nothing I'd prioritize having over my own life.
Yuuji (HItoribocchi) Yokoyama: Kangu-! (Possibly referring to the Renault Kangoo line of vehicles?)
A lot of people have really weird senses of humor, but I guess that comes with the territory of being a manga artist. Also, yes as revealed here Shinobi no is ending with it's next chapter, and I'm not sure if Ogaki is bitter or accepting of it. Maybe both I'm really sad to see it go too, but we can discuss that more when I do the editorial section.
This is probably already big news on the internet, but being a Sunday blog I can't possibly not talk about it --the crimson trip that ran on chapter 1,000 of Detective Conan will be airing in the anime in January as two one hour specials --One on the fifth of the month and the other on the twelfth. Not only that but you get triple the Conan on October 18th With Hanzawa's 3rd volume, Zero's 2nd Volume and Conan's 95th all releasing on the same day. Not only that but the magazine gave us artwork of the anime version of the arc as pictured on the right. This set of chapters is a pretty big deal to Conan fans, so I'm hoping they get it just right! I'm reading the manga and not so much watching the anime, but I may tune in for these two just to see how they're handled.
Gofun go no Sekai opens up with a color page of clashing moods which actually work super well for it. Yuuto feels like he has to protect his brother Yamato who holds the key to the "future" that lies in the "past". As such he's assuming a crapton of responsibility. It's interesting since until now he seemed to be the more carefree of the brothers, but maybe that's because just didn't have a reason to step up to the plate? Either way I like this new thing Fukuda is doing with his color pages --the dot effect that fades and bleeds into the page is quite unique.
Emotions flair as the despair roams free and unchecked. I never really thought of Fukuda as a character writer --not because he's not good at it, but because Mushibugyo didn't really require it. It was the kind of series that just charged off in one direction and we just followed it until it was done. So I'm pleasantly surprised to see that he can handle character interaction with a degree of fidelity, even if the story isn't exactly anything unique per se. See, it turns out Yuuto thought that Michiru likes Yamato (who thinks it's the other way around), and he's been fighting to keep his brother alive so that they can have a happy future together, when it was Yamato doing this for his brother's sake. On one hand it's a teeny bit contrived, admittedly but on the other it does serve to flesh out these brothers and really explain what makes them tick. I like Kakeru's line above that what Yamato needs isn't the courage to fight, but the courage and preparation to run when things get bad. Not that this stops him from rushing in and saving his brother at the end of the chapter anyway. I think I'd like to see Fukuda --hm, not punish Yamato per se, but show that there are consequences to every action. The first volume of the series is out this month so hopefully the Japanese response is enough to keep the suspense coming.
Technically Tonikaku got the cover so even though it doesn't have a color page, it gets coverage. Not much to speak of here really --the happy couple is exploring Nasa's hometown and are looking dang adorable while doing it. I'm kind of surprised with the Buddha statue there that Hata didn't make the obvious "5 minutes" joke, but I guess it would have been out of place maybe. The series is doing pretty well saleswise so Hata doesn't have to be in a hurry to move things along, but I think that leisurely pace is part of this series's appeal. Though after the couple's first outing they return home to begin their newlywed life in earnest....just to find their house has burned down. I probably shouldn't have stifled a chuckle at this but the timing and their expressions at the end of the chapter made it too difficult for me to. What a way to start a marriage, huh?
The lovey-doviness doesn't stop in Sunday! Except this advance is less than welcome in the case of Kid who's disguised as Kazuha and Heiji who's hoping to jumpstart their relationship in a similar manner to Shinichi and Ran. Although I don't count myself a fan of the phantom thief, his heists are always fun to watch --especially when they start to go catastrophically wrong like this, haha. Conan also knows he's here and who he's disguised as, and as I'm reading through the first volumes from the start as a side project, it's funny to compare Conan's humble beginnings where no one believed a thing he said because of his age to now where he's still a kid but people take him much more seriously. Still, even if one isn't quite pleased with how the plot has taken a sudden shift in focus, and the one time Heiji finally gets to meet Kaito kid, it's like...this, you gotta admit that Aoyama is great at the comedy --inadvertent or not. Next week is the last for this case, and then no Conan for a while --I wonder if the pint sized detective will be back before the end of the year? I certainly hope so as Zero for four months straight would be a lot.
I actually think having a story that's about not much at all is a good thing when done right. Maiko-san's chapter this week is essentially about the group of girls getting together for a meal, and that's really it. It's mother's day and the maiko want to do something for their "mom" but can't think of anything --so what are they to do? Why cook her a great meal! And that's it. Really. Through text it sounds like I'm not impressed, but it's quite the contrary. That Koyama is able to tell a story like this and keep it engaging, interesting and most of all cute/fun is a testament to her ability to take text out of the picture and allow her artwork to do the heavy lifting. This really is the kind of series you could only read in sunday due to it's laid back nature, and the magazine is better for it.
I do think that sometimes the Sunday authors get together and discuss a theme of the week --and this one would be love --be it for brothers or lovers. The main write up for Marry Grave will be included in the editorial, but the color page is here for your approval. It's an odd juxtaposition since the color page really has nothing to do with the chapter's contents, but it's nice seeing the Sawyer of the present again after a long while away. Though yes, the chapter itself is about Rozalie and Sawyer getting closer to enjoying what Tsukasa and Nasa have. More in the editorial~
This might be weird for me to say considering I'm not reading the series (regularly) but I really think switch might have what it takes to be the next big sports manga --at least on an artistic standpoint. Namikiri admitting he's not really thinking about how the story will progress does give me a bit of a concern, but when you see a spread like the one directly above this paragraph one can't help but feel a surge of confidence in this work. It helps too that Namikiri perhaps because he's not thinking of the story on a deeper level can devote more of his resources into making sure it's a lot of fun to read and follow. I really want to see switch succeed if only so I can say Sunday has the rights to the sports manga crown just as much as Jump and Magazine do. They've got soccer down pat, so the next move is Basketball, obviously. Interesting that the first volume still doesn't have a date yet, but I may have an idea of why that is --perhaps they will release two at once. If so that means Shogakukan has some confidence in the series and I can't say it's entirely unfounded.
Oddly enough Summer's just starting in Komi while in real life we're settling into fall. For Komi at least this means dealing with the fine art of the compromise which is described at the beginning of the chapter as deciding who to invite to things or who to accept invitations from. Komi looks through her phone to figure out who she'd want to hang out with and gets a call from Manbiagi Rumiko who suggests the beach! It's great just how adorable she is as she figures out what to wear (rejecting one dress because she wants to wear it with Tadano, d'aww.) Finally she works up the courage to ask Rumiko if she can invite everyone just to find out that this was the plan to begin with. It really is more fun to do things with friends isn't it?
After that Rumiko tries on some swimsuits, and bless Oda (not that one) for being kind enough to include this in the chapter even if he really didn't need to, cause she's quite the cutie.
Picking up from last time, Wakaki really is leaning into the idea that idols aren't allowed to fall in love with the development that Mahoro and Sena have fallen for each other. Of course I haven't been following the series all that much so I can't say whether this development was handled well, but it does lend itself well to the series's rumored (or well, basically confirmed) conclusion heading our way. As I said before, I don't see Wakaki tackling the underlying idea of idol culture and it's take on romantic encounters, but at least from the looks of this chapter and the one before it, I can say I like that things are progressing with a sense of importance and finality. It doesn't feel rushed even if it's likely the series is facing cancellation, and that's the best a series in this situation can ask for.
And that's it for the features of this issue. Next issue Evans and Hatsukoi Zombie get center color pages, while Komi gets a lead one and takes the cover. Aside from that, Shinobi no will feature it's final chapter, and Conan will feature the finale of this case before it heads back on hiatus. So there are a few farewells next issue! I say farewell to you from the features section as well and hope you'll tune in for the editorial which should be out within a day or two. Until then, ciao!
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