It's a pretty strong issue of the good book I have this week and I'm feeling particularly benevolent! Let's get dirty and clean (the order is negligible!)
NMB 48 hits the cover with two of it's prettiest members, and they're accompanied by Tsukasa from Cawaii, Saike, Sawyer and a few others! Surprisingly Zero is only a foot note on the cover for the first time in what feels like forever. Ah your eyes are probably drawn to that big "3000" up on top aren't they? I'll explain that and more inside!
Okachi is your #1 stop for the Sunday TOC particulars, while I'm here with funtimez with the artists! What's on the table for today? The question comes from Shizuouka prefecture and asks "What's a good-luck-charm" like object you have on your person when out and about?
Marry Grave (Hidenori Yamaji): Dreams.
Tonikaku Cawaii (Kenjiro Hata): My iPhone.
Souboutei Kowasubeshi (Kazuhiro Fujita): I dunno if I'd call it a charm or anything, but I have a keychain of Ultraseven using the Eye Slugger!
Amano Megumi ha Suki darake! (Nekoguchi): I literally have a charm that I bought at my first shrine visit of the year.
switch (Atsushi Namikiri): My health insurance card.
Maoujo de Oyasumi (Kagiji Kumanomata): Pocket change to use when I forget my wallet.
Tantei Xeno to Nanatsu no Satsujin Misshitsu (Teppei Sugiyama): The only ever lucky lottery ticket I've pulled in my entire live.
Detective Conan: Zero's Tea time (Takahiro Arai): The handmade keychain my daughters made me.
Komi-san wa Komyusho desu (Tomohito Oda): My energy bill.
Major 2nd (Takuya Mitsuda): The chain for my wallet is like a good luck charm.
Tsubasa Fukuchi (Saike Matashitemo) I have a letter I wrote myself in my wallet with my address...as a precaution.
Be Blues! (Motoyuki Tanaka): Loxoprofen. (TN- Basically pain medication, sorta like ibuprofen.)
Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san (Aiko Koyama) My cellphone. Without it I'd get lost.
Gopun go no sekai (Hiroshi Fukuda) my iphone (lol).
Edelweiss and Dialog (Masya Jiki): Stuff like stomach medicine...headache aids...
Hatsukoi Zombie (Ryou Minenami): I only carry my Smart phone and wallet.
Sokyuu no Ariadne (Norihiro Yagi): I like to be empty handed, so it's my belief to only go out with what is necessary.
Syun Matsuena (Kimi wa 008): A patient registration ticket for a cat I used to own....it's name was "Buta".
Memesis (Takuya Yagyuu): I always have Totoro's earpick whenever I head out!
Daiku no Hatou (Michiteru Kusaba): A notepad.
Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ (Mizuki Kuriyama): Whenever I need to have a bit of luck, I always carry something with a red check mark on it.
Birdmen (Yellow Tanabe): Nothing.
Youkai Giga (Satsuki Satou): I live the kind of life where I have a pistol in one hand, a flower bed in my heart and booze of fire in my stomach.
Tokaichi Hitoribocchi nouen (Yuuji Yokoyama): Something to write with.
Somehow....it looks like the question kind of got lost here a little, I feel like. It went from good luck charms to what people just generally carry on them, which I guess is kind of the same, but not really? Also where the heck does Satou live....
Say hello to Sayaka Yamamoto (known as Big Sis Saya) and Yuri Ota! Miss Yamamoto was born July 14th 1993 in Osaka, and loves researching history. Meanwhile Miss Ota was born December 1st 1999 in Nara and enjoys Music and Anime. Her future dream is to be a model, while Yamamoto wants to keep on singing. "Wait, but she's singing now, isn't she?" You might ask. Well, see the reason why these two ladies took the cover and got pictures in Shounen Sunday this week is because it's a kind of passing of the torch. See, Miss Yamamoto is "graduating" from NMB48 and Miss Ota is taking her place as the "ace" or leader. Graduating means exactly what it suggests --she's leaving the idol group. The reason for her departure isn't noted here, but let's wish her luck --and welcome in Ota as the new leader, not that I'm all that familiar with what that entails.
I'd love to pump these up to something a little bigger so you're able to see them better but there really isn't a way of doing so without wrecking the blog's look, I'm sorry! These are holiday illustrations from the artists of Sunday, and you can enter to win them (if you live in Japan.) 3,000 lucky winners will get the holiday card of their favorite characters! And as you can see this features all of the series currently running in Sunday --and a few that are on hiatus. Of course by saying this I just remind myself that there's no RYOKO here, which gets me that much worried about Mitsuhashi...if he's unable to draw even a holiday illustration, is his return getting more and more unlikely? Even in this issue RYOKO is simply listed as "on break" so it'll hopefully return eventually but this is a really bad sign for it. Though let's not dwell on doom and gloom --pretty much all of these are great, but it comes down to what series do you want? If you're lucky enough to be in Japan, you'd best let them know before your chance slips away! There are also alternative versions offered in Sunday Super's December issue, so there's another chance for goodies!!
A lot of people who know of me and this blog ask "Sakaki, what's up with Sunday and their lack of internet presence?" And the answer to that is something even I don't fully understand. Though I'll give Shougakukan credit --they're trying to do something about that with a very aggressive campaign to promote Sunday Webry, including a very "active" commercial as seen above. Even the text above says the commercial is as weird/surreal as it gets, and it's all thanks to "Noumisoo" who's name literally means something like "Brain-man". Though they've also got A illustration of Rum by Takahashi for grabs (apparently she's a fan too?) And 2000 coins for people who join the site right away! Shogakukan is trying their best now, and I applaud them. Now if only that enthusiasm could extend overseas somehow...
Karakuri Circus is currently airing in Japan --are you watching it? Shougakukan is hoping to give it the attention it deserves with more key artwork, this time featuring the next "arc" of the series, and the villains within. Their VA's are as follows: Dorttore: Ryuusaburo Otomo, Koronbin: Aoi Yuuki, Pantarone: Jyouji Nakata, and Alrequino: Jun Fukuyama. So quite the seiyuu all-star cast! It's also interesting to see Kyou kara ore wa there as a live action show among anime, but Sunday on TV is rare so it makes sense to advertise everything they can, really.
They say clothes make the man, but in this week's Cawaii, the case is made that they also make the wife too! I'm proud to say the manga is still following it's easygoing pace as this week's chapter is essentially Tsukasa and Nasa shopping for clothes at the behest of on of their friends. Though it makes sense in the scheme of things --the last time we saw the happy couple, their house had burned down so they are kind of just making do. Even with that, the series doesn't seem to be in any particular hurry to do anything other than be ridiculously cute. One could complain that it really doesn't have any substance beyond that, but that doesn't seem to stop the fans from lapping it up, so who's to complain? I may not follow it every week, but when I do pick up Cawaii I generally have a good time with it, so I've got no complaints either really. Especially the end where Nasa sees lingere and asks his wife if he were to ask her to wear that for him, would she? And Tsukasa (as seen above) replies with a quiet "as much as you'd like". Of course this is broken up by both of them changing the subject. (Though you could also read the answer as "how much") --so it's also a good old fashioned misunderstanding. Still these two being new to marriage and love is cute enough that I wanna hang in there with 'em, so score one for Hata.
I'll give switch credit for one thing --it certainly knows how to make it's characters compelling. Like, I'm already intrigued by this new guy here who can shoot and land a shot with his shirt over his face. Daiya Aragaki is his name, and peace for all men (and kids) is his game! There's an unruly bunch of guys using the court to upload themselves playing for cash, when some kids come just wanting to play a game, and it turns into a 3 on 3 match between them, and despite Aragaki coming off as kind of flighty, he lands a basket like a pro. (I should point out that the dudes there pulled his shirt over his face, so it's not like he embarrassed them on purpose, hah.) Like Cawaii above it (but in a different way), switch is pretty happy sort of aimlessly heading forward. I know I make that sound pretty bad, but honestly it's a bit refreshing and allows the characters to really start to take off when they exist to express their own whims as opposed to a narrative. Of course this can make it difficult for one to see an exit and thus might make future prospects a slog, but for now switch is just having fun and invites us to as well. The first two volumes are set for November so Shougakukan is placing their bets on lots of people wanting to have a good time --I really hope they're right as I really can see switch being a big deal, but that's not up to me or Shogakukan...but the fans in Japan, and to some extent all of you.
Is there really anything better than a good, old fashioned misunderstanding? When executed just right, the answer to that is no in my humble opinion. This week's Maoujo plays up on that to excellent effect with the princess and one of her loyal captors this week when they argue over which one of them the seals like more. Of course to the uninitated it sounds like they're talking to and about each other. Throw in a few expressions of love(ing the seals) and sleeping together (with the seals) as a sign of affection and it's no wonder the monsters have the complete wrong idea and rush to put a stop to what they think is a horrible idea about to happen. It's exceptional how this chapter trots around the idea of something improper happening without it actually going down. Why above when the monsters finally do step in, they think they've already missed the moment of naughtiness, and when they ask the next morning, the two say "they've already done it". Perfection.
Marry Grave itself will be covered in the editorial, but to tide you over until then have a look at this adorable color page! I'd totally play a Marry Grave video game --supposing it can survive that long...a little bit of good news is that the series did manage to rise a sliver up the sales charts for it's third volume, but I couldn't tell you if that's enough for the editorial staff to consider the series worth using the deadman recipe on. It's likely at least it'll reach it's first year without issue since it's still getting color pages for new volume releases --a relatively good sign that the editorial staff still sees it as worthwhile to promote.
Once again Zero's a series where it's subject matter isn't much to write home about, but it's execution makes it worth at least a second glance. I think you can mostly tell what's going on here even with the few pics and without a TL --Zero steps in to take a prowler down when his friend is in trouble, but it's those last two pages --not just that Arai has impeccable composition skills, but the idea itself is cool --sure Zero taking down the target is good enough, but having a rushing train in the background with some brilliantly placed SFX leaves a lasting impression --all while using one page opposed to a two page spread! I may not have much more to say about zero, but this is one case where a picture is worth a thousand words and then some.
Saike time travels into his final arc with this set of color pages. --I'll talk more about the events in this week's very good chapter in the editorial page, but ahh...I guess it's really hitting me that the series is about to say it's farewell, and it's really great how Fukuchi is tying together story elements in a way that's more than "one more villain". Though again, I'll wax poetic on this when the editorial comes out.
Five minutes has been doing some interesting things since I sat down with it last --not only has the Buddha threat been confirmed to be a worldwide phenomenon, but the introduction of more human characters has upped the drama in ways that giant Buddhas couldn't possibly match. For one thing, a character of Russian origin has been added to the cast, and I'm intrigued by how quickly Fukuda is bringing her into the cast as a possible romantic link for Yuuto, who is quasi-inexplicably still alive in the midst of this despite his many death flags. It might be weird to say this but 5 minutes exists in this vacuum where at any given second it could (and should in some ways) collapse on itself, but Fukuda's forward momentum with the series allows it to jump over some things that should slow it down and press forward. I guess in a less roundabout way I'm saying that the series intrigues me even if I'm not at all sure where it's ultimately headed. We at least know now that the Buddha statues are coming from underneath a lake, and that one of the survivors they've managed to save has a needle much like Jiro and the others did --and he's not afraid to use it on Yamato, but to what end? Five minutes keeps tossing questions at us before we can really think of them and to be fair that's a legit way to tell a story too --just hope Fukuda can keep it up without falling flat.
Edelweiss and Dialog continues into it's second chapter of five, and it definitely shows it has a simultaneously less and more pronounced dramatic flair than it's shounen contemporaries both in and out of this magazine. I've been asked before if I think "battle shounens" are going the way of the dinosaur, and honestly, no. Those will always be a part of the shounen DNA because they're easily accessible and often most fans entry way into the demographic. If anything I'd say battle shounen are getting more diverse and where "punches" were the food of the day, now battles are taking place in other arenas through other means. Though getting back to this series, Jiki is definitely using the five chapters given to unpack things evenly. The boy --Natsuki's story is explained in full, he was prone to violence to solve his problems, and his grandmother who takes him in is more concerned about apperances than allowing him to be who he is --even as he takes the right path and tries to channel his energy into karate, and she withdraws him from the classes to save face. Meanwhile Aika is still looking for her first love and has managed to convince this boy who looks like the one in her memories to join the drama club.
While this chapter is mostly focused on Natsuki's past and how it's following him, there is a sense of deliberation on Jiki's part --Natsuki reads the part of the drama the club is acting in, and his words so move Aika that she asks if he really is the boy from back then, and this time calls him by name --now we know he is the one she's looking for, but what happened to the gentle boy she fell for, and molded him into what he is now? A conversation with his Grandma is both chilling and realistically sound when he asks why he can't decide on who he wants to be --she acknowledges this, but says aside from his studies he really is and has nothing else. I won't say I know where Jiki is going to take us with the story, but since Aika has such fond memories of him, perhaps the lesson will have to do with how he gave what little he had to someone else and it was exactly what they needed --what he needed...kindness. Only time will tell if I'm right, but I'm looking forward to the next three chapters.
Aridane was in the last features section, but I'd be remiss not to at least mention how dang pretty this week's chapter was --Yagi really knows how to pack a page with details in a way that ensures there's no dead space to be found. The series is starting a new arc with what would seem to be a likely ally (or enemy?) for Leane and her band --a boy who fights dragons and possesses the ability to use light as a weapon. Sound familiar? Admittedly I like the balance of characters now, so I'm not too keen on the idea of another being added to the mix as an ally, but for now I'll just reserve judgement and see where Yagi takes this. At the very least it'll be a joy to look at.
And that's it for this week's features section! Next week, Xeno takes the lead color page, Yuugami is in with a color page of his own, and we get a new series from Homura Kawamoto, Hikaru Muno and Azuma Takeshi: Chrono Magia Gears of Infinity. Shougakukan is really selling the pedigree of the writers (Who worked on the very popular Kakegurui, so they have reason to be excited), and of course Takashi drew Denpa Kyoshi which got an anime and lasted a while on it's own right, so there is a lot to be excited for here, hopefully. In any case I hope you'll have a little time away from tricking and treating to read up on Sunday next Tuesday! Until then!
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