Hey there Sunday hopefuls! It's the last issue of 2018 (Despite only being the last week of November), but Sunday is definetly not chilling out! There still haven't been any new serialization annoucements, but the mag --at least to me is in a really good place. Especially considering Mr. Shounen Sunday is back for a visit. There's him and more down below, so let's go!
The cover is actually a two parter! Although I suppose if you know Conan then who he's getting a boost from shouldn't be all that surprising. I kind of like that Aoyama does these double covers that no one else does simply because it makes him unique. Though yes, Detective Conan is back for a little while, and for now at least Shounen Sunday feels just right.
This week's question comes from Fukuoka and asks "If you woke up one morning as a different gender, what would you do?"
Yuugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga inai (Jun Sakurai): I think I'd check to make sure my bodily functions were in order!
Detective Conan (Gosho Aoyama): I'd try to find the girl I changed bodies with! (Lol) (TN- This is likely a reference to the Makoto Shinkai movie "Your name."
Chrono Magia Infinity Gear (Takeshi Azuma) I'd go to the women's baths, and until I returned to being a guy and got thrown out I'd enjoy a set in there.
Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san (Aiko Koyama): I'd go out to see others in order to find out if everyone had changed.
Souboutei Kowasubeshi (Kazuhiro Fujita): Other than having long hair I don't think anything would change --I'd just get back to work.
Kimi wa 008 (Syun Matsuena): I'd exercise, drink some water and draw manga.
Be Blues (Motoyuki Tanaka): Insert "Your name" reference here...
Komi-san wa komyusho desu (Tomohito Oda): I'd rub those things.
Gopun go no Sekai (Hiroshi Fukuda): I'd want to enjoy being fashionable!!!
switch (Atsushi Namikiri): I'd want to experience things I typically do with new sensations.
Aozakura Bouei daigakkou monogatari (Hikaru Nikaido): I'd go to the baths.
Memesis (Takuya Yagyuu): I'd check my bust and crotch by rubbing furiously.
Marry Grave (Hidenori Yamaji): Isn't it obvious?
Maoujo de Oyasumi (Kagiji Kumanomata): I'd think about my work.
Tantei Xeno to Nanatsu no Satsujin misshitsu (Kyouichi Nanatsuki): I'd hit up the baths --for the sake of "Sunday"!!
Amano Megumi wa Suki darake! (Nekoguchi): I'd take pictures of myself in all kinds of poses for my artwork.
Tonikaku Cawaii (Kenjiro Hata): A foolish question!
Hatsukoi Zombie (Ryou Minenami): That's....well, you'd have to see.
Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ (Mizuki Kuriyama): I'd retrace my steps to figure out what I did the day before.
Sokyuu no Ariadne (Norihiro Yagi): For starters I'd take notes on what kind of stories I could get from this.
Naisho no Kyouko Nee-san (Nao Kasai): I"m back in the main magazine again! Please pick up volume one!
Zettai Karen Children (Takashi Shiina): I'd do as I always do --take care of my cat and draw manga.
Saike Matashitemo (Tsubasa Fukuchi): Depends. Would I be pretty? Or would I look the same as I do now? (Lol.)
Youkai Giga (Satsuki Satou): I think I'd mistakenly believe my testicles got taken and look around for them.
Tokaichi Hitoribocchi Noen (Yuuji Yokoyama): For starters I'd Jump rope.
This might be my favorite set of answers thus far. Yes a few of them are pretty much what you'd expect (Your name references and all), but the overwhelming majority are basically "Draw manga" which I find both hilarious and inspiring. Fukuchi's is probably the best because of how pragmatic it is too, but I gotta say Namikiri's answer (and really most of his answers) seems calm in it's straightforwardness. On that note, it could very well be that Satou is misdirecting us on purpose but could I have been wrong about their gender this whole time? Their answer seems to heavily imply they're actually a male....In any case, Kyouko being back isn't a surprise with Major's sudden hiatus, so for once me being surprised by something isn't just because I have a terrible attention span, hah. It is sad to see things this way, and I hope Mitsuda will be back when he's fully rested.
Right on the heels of the Christmas cards are the New Years ones! I think the thing you'll see right away is that it is very much the year of the Boar, and many of the Sunday series are celebrating just that. It's fun seeing all of the artists come together but the lack of Mitsuhashi is very telling for the second time in a row, considering even the series on hiatus are present....In any case all of them are gorgeous, and I'm so jealous we can't get them here with the ease that Japanese Sunday fans can. Which are your favorites?
Seems like Karakuri Circus is only one step away from actually being performed in an actual big-top. A stage play of the series has been green lit and will be rolling out in Japan starting January 10th until the 20th. Tickets go on sale the 28th, and from what the advert above says, they've got an all star cast playing our favorite characters including two Shiroganes for the price of one! I'm not at all sure why that is, but they both fit the part so no complaints. Taiga Fukazawa will play Masaru Saiga, Koudai Takigawa will play Narumi Katou, Momoka Oonishi and Riho Iida will both play Shirogane/Francine, Kairi Miura will play Bai in, and Ryoutaro Kosaka will take on the Bai Jin/Xin part. Of course this is really only applicable for those who will be in Japan, but if you've got a few bucks (Approx 7800 yen for a normal seet and 10000 for a premium set with some Karakuri merch) then be sure to see the big top! And maybe report back to the rest of us poor souls?
Conan wastes no time getting into the thick (as blooood) of things with his return. By now even if all your exposure to the series is this blog (And no lie if that is the case that's pretty impressive) then you know the Conan cases/stories are slow boil and thus one shouldn't expect much from what is the set up chapter. This time around Makoto Kyogoku martial artist extraordinaire and Sonoko's boyfriend is the suspect after being scouted for a movie of which the lead actor meets with a grisly fate as seen above. Admittedly with Zero being out of the picture until issue 7 and this having all the hallmarks of a typical Detective Conan case I have to wonder if this will really take up all that time until it's return or if we'll have one or two issues again with no Conan whatsoever. Well, not really none as there's always at least advertisements for the series in this magazine.I say that but in Aoyama's defense the last few cases have been slightly longer than usual. That being said, it would be kind of nice if the plot progressed a little more than inching forward now that this seems to be the norm for Conan. I like the characters and everything enough to keep reading for their sakes, but what I like most about the series is the overlying mystery of the Black Organization, and Aoyama dangling them in front of me every so often works once or twice to get hype but loses it's lusture when used too much. At the very least I'm into this to see what kind of post case content we get, and Aoyama's use of pop culture icons --(We get an Avengers reference and an AKB48 one.) Though yeah since it's not like Conan's in any danger it's likely to mosey along for better or worse.
Since I did cover Komi last week, I'd typically skip it in favor of Maoujo to keep the "short series roulette" fair and balanced, but this week's chapter was pretty good, and I have big news! Komi has been licensed by Viz Media for English release! This is wonderful as I've been wondering why they haven't picked up what is probably Sunday's biggest series behind Conan and Silver Spoon. Plus now it means we have yet another chance to show official companies that there is interest in our favorite magazine! Of course I'll still talk about the Japanese releases of Komi here (Though in the intrest of fairness I probably might not next week), but please, please puhleeeeze let Viz know you want more shounen sunday manga by picking up the English copy when it comes out next summer. Now for the chapter itself, this week is about Nakanaka our resident chuuni slipping out of character for a night of gaming, that due to her delusions of grandeur ends up turning into a quasi complicated situation. Y'know it's actually kind of a shame Nakanaka doesn't keep her gamer look more often since I think I like it way more than her normal eye-patch wear. Though yes, she ends up going through her snacks and having to make a run to the convenience store (or the God of Night in her parlance) and due to the way she wields her umbrella, many people think she's got a gun including a lady who fakes being shot to avoid trouble. Her legend (and misunderstanding) only grows after this and something tells me it's going to be way more complex than she thinks, hah. It was only 8 pages this week but Komi still manages to be pretty hilarious despite the shorter runtime.
It really does only feel like five minutes ago I was reporting in on "After the 5 minutes." rather than a few weeks. Fukuda's art at least makes the pacing being somewhat slow a little more palatable, I think. I wasn't expecting to see the mother and son team again this soon either....seems you really can't escape the doom and gloom even if you really want to. The series didn't manage to capitalize on it's first volume sales for it's second release which is sadly the tale of Sunday serializations nowadays, but with the magazine in a kind of safe spot I'm assuming we'll not have to worry about these five minutes being up too soon. I do like the elements being introduced here in the series --the diary seems to change it's writings as the future is manipulated by the characters which leads to an air of unpredictability. Michiru also hasn't been forgotten --in fact she's kind of the centerpiece of this chapter as the bros still want to save her and her little sister realizes she has feelings for Yamato but resigns herself to only being second place due to her older sister. So while the plot doesn't advance a whole lot, the emotions of the characters are going full throttle.
A good thing as despair is also on the move.
Like Komi before it I wasn't going to really talk about Switch this week but this whole chapter is for lack of a better word --magical. It's a bit of an exaggeration, but if this chapter were the final one of the series, I'd be simultaneously disappointed and satisfied. If only because it does really feel like (despite it not being Raimu) that the series has reached a plateau of sorts. Of course from here I hope to see it go to greater heights, but man, Namikiri makes even this chapter look great, and I can only hope when it is Raimu's turn that he'll give it the TLC it needs.
I still enjoy these chapters when a bunch of motley characters show up and the "real" story starts, even if with Chrono Magia I'm a bit disappointed that things are progressing the way you'd expect from a series of this type. That being said, the character designs are pretty unique, and Azuma's artwork is settling into a great stride that I enjoy quite a bit. Also it seems the girl --Reika who has been around thus far even after being defeated is going to play a bigger role....I guess that's not entirely shocking as they went ahead and gave her a name among other things. The enemy is now in sight, and Reika in a state of distress despite being stuck in the middle of things --she works for the "Diamond association" and they don't take kindly to losers. This is also going to be Kei's first fight in his "female" form and with magia, which I have to wonder --if he didn't have any up until now will he know how to use it? Hm.
It is Maoujo's week, so it's getting coverage despite Komi being here. That actually works out as this was a pretty important chapter in the scheme of things?! So the Demon King's father comes to visit his son, and hoping not to be shamed by the princess's willful ways introduces her as a fellow demon...just for her to act like a hostage now of all times. Dad is completely bewildered by this and comes to the conclusion that no human could be this...free spirited and thus she must be actually his son's soon to be bride. (I mean she goes as far as writing her name in his pillow which no mere human would dare to do, so she has to be family right??) I adore how this entire chapter built on one misunderstanding just ends with the ultimate one. I might have to cover the next chapter simply because I must know how this is going to shake out for the Demon King and his dad. Considering that this is the conclusion he's come to, there's gotta be more than "All parents want to see their kids settle down" for his reasoning right?
Kyoko's back for a surprise visit, and if you've seen my writeup for the first chapter here then you can can expect pretty much more of the same. Kyoko is aiming to be the toughest female thug in her school, but her doting on her little brother keeps her from being nearly as threatening as she thinks she is. As I mentioned before this chapter was likely meant to act as a replacement for Major 2nd which is on hiatus for the time being, but it was nice to see more characters interacting with Kyoko and her brother. From the "boss behind the boss" Saki, to Maya who outright questions little bro joining them, these interactions really help to flesh out the status quo of this series, and I admit I'm a smidgen bit more interested in it than I was before! Though really the start of this is the titular Kyoko and how she's basically acting on her own selfish desires to dote on her little brother. Volume one is out now so if you find this to be your thing then by all means pick it up!
And that's it for the features this week! Next week Ariadne gets a color page along with Marry Grave which is apparently reaching it's climax?! As you know by now "Climax" simply means an ending is in sight and not so much that it is ending, but all the same it does seem like Marry Grave might be heading to it's eternal rest sooner rather than later, which is a real shame as it really seems to have found it's stride lately. Of course on the cover is Conan with the second half of it's two part cover, along with new info on the next movie! Next week is also the first issue of 2019 (and December!) so we're going right around the bend again. Stay tuned for the editorial out in a few days, and a brand new Sunday next week!
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