Weekly Shounen Sunday #1 (2019) Editorial section



What's a guy gotta do to be able to purchase his porn in peace? That's the question plaguing Evans this week when he picks up what he thinks are dirty mags but instead ends up with a case full of wanted posters --with his face on them. Hello everyone, welcome to the newest "arc" of Evans. Pheebs, Ted and Nona are after the guy who made the Evans fliers --which Evans has. You'd think that'd be the end of it, but the others want to track down the other guy with Evans porn --the nerve of them. All joking aside, this is the kind of misunderstandings I've come to love from this series, especially when they're in arc format. Something about having more than one chapter to really let things twist out of shape really does allow the jokes more breathing room and the situation to get even more wild, wild west. Not to mention Evans' face at the start of the chapter as seen above is one of the best I've seen in the entire series, to be quite honest. 


But things just don't get any easier for Evans. He can't have Pheebs and the others knowing he reads nasty books Though I'm sure with as shrewd as she is, Nona knows. So he elects to find the man carrying the case of wanted posters on his own, but Pheebs knowing he'd say something like that decides that she'll do whatever she wants, which is ultimately to keep all the posters to herself. It's weird how she's suddenly this into him, but seeing everyone being this selfish to chase down porn is so hilarious on it's own (both in and out of context) that I don't even mind that much that Pheebs is being slightly out of character. Oh and that's not even the best part really --the end of the chapter finds that the now recurring bounty hunter Ed Williams has captured the guy they are after, and as such has Evans porn. Bro, maybe you should just consider swearing off the nudie mags. 



It's a grand reunion in this week's chapter of Marry Grave. As you probably read in the features section here Marry Grave is probably, most likely heading to it's conclusion soon. I'm not sure what this reunion means in the scheme of things, especially since the series was given a color page just to announce it's ending --something that's odd for a work that's just barely reaching a year of serialization and wasn't selling particularly well. Over the last few days I've racked my brains trying to figure out why MG is receiving this treatment, and can't really think of a reason. I am kind of wondering with the cycle we've had of cancelled authors coming back to do serialized works of popular franchises if perhaps Yamaji wasn't scooped up by another company to draw a manga about something else which might make Marry Grave's sudden acceleration to the end seem a little more palatable, but in all fairness it probably really is just because the series wasn't selling well and thus is being cancelled. Either way, Dante is back in the picture and probably alive even though he's a little stoned at the moment. If this really is the end of Marry Grave, I'll miss Yamaji's designs for monsters and people alike --and even those things that are kind of in the middle like the Snake lord here. He's totally clashing with the quasi-high fantasy vibe that MG has, but his elongated features kind of fit right in with it too. If Marry Grave really is about to end and Yamaji is about to embark on another project then I hope they make good use of his artwork!


Ultimately there's a fight against the Snake Lord, and just when it looks like Sawyer and his group have managed to get the upper hand he comes back in a even more horrifying form as seen above. It's nothing surprising in the scheme of things when it comes to Shounen Manga --though it would be a little bit disappointing if the Snake Lord --as cool as he is ends up being the final boss of the series when there are far more interesting characters we've been introduced to way before him. Granted, as I've said before about the word "climax" in regard to shounen manga, it simply means the end is coming and not so much that it's here. I don't think that the editorial staff would use the term lightly however, so it's likely Marry Grave's time is limited. 


They say if you want to find something, you gotta go back to where you last saw it --which may be sometimes back to the start. Xeno takes that to heart as he heads back to the first Murder room a mere three months after the case he solved there. Being plagued by dreams of a person asking who they are (or who he is?) Xeno decides to take a more active role into finding out just that. On a side note, I kind of like seeing how Sugiyama has settled into a groove with his artwork. He's always been very good at composing pages, but the artwork of the characters has been an acquired taste. Here on the 50th chapter (so about a year!) It really feels like the characters artwork is second nature to him --Ayla looks cute, and Xeno's chibi-faces are pretty funny, and when need be the detective can be cool as well. 



Though there isn't much time for humor here as Xeno while connecting the dots comes to the conclusion that they need to find the remaining murder rooms (numbered three) on the double. It's true, up until now Xeno's always been sort of invited to the murder rooms and generally is the last to know of a situation even if he's the first to figure it out. Ayla realizes he's in a big hurry, and I like this small detail since it heavily implies that this rush might be what does Xeno in later. Xeno says that he's the same as always, but Ayla can see right through him. While it seems that he's just impatient to learn about who he is, she senses it's more like he's afraid of it. Xeno's reaction --playing this off is interesting too when you consider that up until now he's been very measured in his words and actions. While he's not wrong when he proclaims that the pocket watch he has from Kinoo proves that his past is deeper than even Kai knew, his actions all seem to suggest that he is in fact afraid of something even if it's not clear what. In his haste he leaves Ayla behind and investigates on his own where he's kidnapped by a group of three --one of which knows about the pocketwatch he has. The truth is getting closer, but is Xeno really ready for it? 



Excuse my parlance, but everyone is a big damn hero in this week's Souboutei chapter. Not saying that Fujita's not good at quiet introspective, but when the man dials into what is his strength, it's really satisfying. Of course it leaves me with little to actually talk about, but who cares man. The pictures really do tell the story and while I'm more into the story part of manga, I can definitely appreciate amazing artwork too. 



Makoto is out to save her brother even if that means abandoning her fight and running straight to where Seiichi is. Seiichi on the other hand comes to grips with the realization that he had totally forgotten his beloved little sister despite being so close to her in their peaceful past. That being said, the fact that the opponents this time around were the ones to trigger this memory return which gets me wondering what they get out of this other than the one skewering Seiichi really wanting to see his little sister again. So much so that when Makoto does appear on the scene he's beside himself in anger. I'm assuming this'll be explained next week, if not before then immediately after the siblings are able to reconnect. Though with the time screwery going on in Souboutei it's bound to be a little weird that the little sister is now older than her elder brother, but really in terms of this series that's the least strange thing going on here, hah. 



Dreams are the strangest bedfellows of them all in this weeks Memesis. After getting beaten within an inch of their lives last week, Kijira and Ash retreat into a happier place where they were teammates with Leon and continued going on adventures. Leon was even less of a jerk! They're taken back to a time where they were about to take on the Hedoro bros together and it feels like this dream like state is everything the duo ever really wanted. Could it be deep down that despite everything that happened that Ash and Kijira really just want to go traveling again with their fearless leader? We saw a bit of that when they were reunited briefly before, and really if you've read Memesis for any amount of time, I think it's kind of obvious despite how much they don't like Leon, the two respect him, and probably after airing out their grievances wouldn't pass up an opportunity to travel with him. This dream for everything it is represents an innate desire of the duo. They don't travel so much to show Leon up as much as they want to show him that they are indeed up to the standards of the legendary hero, his standards. 


That being said they know he is also a jerk. Such a wonderful dream is at least right now just that. --A dream. I like that they both realize this enough to get back up and back in there. I'm also a fan of how they don't defeat the enemies who beat them down with ease too easily here either. Even if it were a gag, it would have been far too unbelievable for Kijira and Ash to play off their foes this quickly. This way there's still a sense of tension, even with the joke. I hope that we'll at least get one more chapter out of this fight since I find it much more interesting when these characters struggle. 



If I didn't know any better I'd think the final events of Saike already happened and we're seeing the afterward of a story that's concluded. Intriguing that Fukuchi is saving the "final battle" of sorts as the very last thing to happen in the series rather than the typical handling where it's final battle --> aftermath instead. Granted the next chapter of Saike is going to be a whopping 34 pages which is about as long as a Birdmen/Yuugami chapter and those only come once a month! Chances are the "final battle" will all occur in that, and the chapter after next week's which is the final one will see more afterward like events. I'm still a little sad that this final arc couldn't have gotten the few more volumes I thought it would get before now, but that might just be me being greedy for more Saike/Fukuchi than the story really needing all that much more time to conclude. I won't give Fukuchi too much credit since I'm not entirely sure how much he had planned other than what he stated in an interview which was up to the Nepal arc. For all I know maybe this is exactly the deal he came up with alongside Shougakukan, since it does feel like Saike has reached it's natural conclusion of sorts. I'm also not displeased with each of the characters we've gotten to know over the length of the series being given time to get a proper conclusion, including Saike and Mikan. 


So with this chapter which is probably the last normal length one we're getting, we get Saike and Mikan's graduation and time out on the town before Saike takes his trip to save the world. The biggest attraction of course is Saike's classmates and his teacher treating him completely differently than they did when the series began almost four years ago. (Wow time flies!) This isn't because they've suddenly seen his worth. It's because Saike himself realized what worth he has as an individual. He's matured in steps, going from someone who saw no worth in himself to someone who only saw worth in himself as long as he had his oracle to finally a young man who understand his value isn't linked to any "thing" but to who he is. While the last few weeks have been about others realizing their importance because of Saike, this week is about Saike's own long journey to find himself reaching this point. 


I've looked at Saike as the maturation of Fukuchi's story telling abilities, and this chapter I feel like drives that point home. Saike isn't unique or even landmark in the scheme of shounen series, no, there have been stories written with better character arcs, artwork, and narrative focus than this one but in regard to Fukuchi himself Saike has been a leap above what he started with back when Ueki was serialized --a sense of purpose that Anagle Mole started to show but due to it's hiatus was cancelled before it could take it anywhere. This chapter itself, heck, the entire final "arc" has been Fukuchi fleshing out this new grown-up-without-abandoning-his-roots self. He's still very much within the shounen tradition, but he's found his niche so to speak --a character driven story that has now come to a beautiful ending with the protagonist not only being victorious over his enemies, but coming to an understanding of his intrinsic worth and importance to the world and those around him. As Saike promises a tearful Mikan he will come back home, I feel a stronger sense of purpose and resolve coming from him --stronger than any point of the series thus far. If nothing else, Saike Once Again has succeeded in making the protagonist's journey to self actualization feel realistic and rewarding. Now with two more chapters left, I can only hope Fukuchi lands the ending as much as he's succeeded in the road here, but I'm feeling confident he can. 




This week's Yokai Giga features the "Kawahime". A yokai that steals life energy from men it meets along riversides using it's alluring looks. So it's something like a siren, just without needing to be at sea. Satou's spin on the yokai this week features a young man meeting a Kawahime who's very straightforward about what she wants from him, and despite this he's more than willing to give it to her. See, he thinks that he's causing people trouble by being alive, and to avoid shaming his parents and someone named Sasayama, he'd much rather have his life energy stolen. The Kawahime suggests rather than well, dying, he just try to work to be a good person for Sasayama (who is in fact a cute girl at his school), at the very least but he says ever since he caught a glimpse of her thighs he hasn't been able to think of anything else. She playfully says that if he looks at her and is still filled with just that he might be saved, but he takes her seriously. The Kawahime then dismisses him as being perfectly healthy if not just a little too naive, (and maybe having a thing for thighs.) It's a cute story of a guy who doesn't realize he's just in the throws of puberty, really. Still I found it to be one of the more enjoyable chapters of Yokai giga despite not much actually happening.


And that's it for this issue's editorial page! Sorry it's really, really late. Next week should be a little better, but just in case I'll apologize in advance for that too. I'm glad for anyone that's been waiting around for the editorial page and hope you'll continue to visit the blog well into 2019 as well! It's a great year for Sunday and I'm looking forward to what it'll bring. See you!

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