This week's question asks the artists of Sunday "Was there anyone where you were like 'This person is a genius' at first glance?"
Souboutei Kowasubeshi (Kazuhiro Fujita): Oh of course there are! Though there are so many of them that it annoys me to think of them.
Shinri to Mako-neechan (Tamaki Wakaki): Wakaki here. It'll soon be summer huh? Please be enchanted by the scene of elementary school students eating ice cream.
Ponkotsu-chan Kenshochuu (Tsubasa Fukuchi): When I read the 'Romance Dawn' oneshot, I immediately thought that Oda-sensei was a genius.
Aozakura Bouei daigakkou Monogatari (Hikaru Nikaido): Makoto Ojiro who I met when I was a youngster.
Major 2nd (Takuya Mitsuda): Shinichi Hoshi. (TN- A novelist and Sci-fi writer known for writing super short *3-4 pages* science fiction stories.)
Yuko sae tatakaeba (Sei Fukui) Tsuda-san of Daian!!
Detective Conan: Zero's Tea Time (Takahiro Arai): Butt Detective.
MAO (Rumiko Takahashi): Megumi's conversational abilities. (TN- Not sure of which Megumi...)
Amano Megumi wa suki darake! (Nekoguchi): I think people who can draw short manga on twitter while also having a serial at the same time are geniuses..
switch (Atsushi Namikiri): I feel that way when I watch those who can trace and draw serious sword fights from photos.
Komi-san wa komyusho desu (Tomohito Oda): Ryouko Kui! (TN- Author of Delicious in dungeon.)
Kimi wa 008 (Syun Matsuena): There are so many....most of them I met while in my high school days.
Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san (Aiko Koyama): Kaoru Mori (Author of "A Bride's story")
Be Blues! (Motoyuki Tanaka): The lyricist Takashi Matsumoto. (Who has written over 2,100 songs --130 of which have been the 10 ten in the oricon charts.)
Sokyuu no Ariadne (Nobuhiro Yagi): Man*Gatarou, Kousuke Masuta and Tobira Oda (TN- All three of them are gag manga authors.)
Tonikaku Cawaii (Kenjiro Hata): Wakaki (Tamaki) and Tanabe (Yellow) I guess...
Anonatsu 1959 (Ashibi Fukui) Ayumi Ishii (TN- Author of Nobunaga Concerto in Gessan.)
Undine ha Kyou mo Koi wo suru ka? (Shinya Misu): It's only been recently but the morning drama "Gegege no Nyoubou" has deeply moved me whenever I've sat down for a watch.
Daiku no Hato (Michiteru Kusaba): Tamori (TN - A Japanese comedian/host.)
Maoujo de Oyasumi (Kagiji Kumanomata): This question is too difficult!! The bears in my house are all cute and smart!
Fire Rabbit!! (Aya Hirakawa): Maya Kitajima! (TN- A character from Suzue Miuchi's manga series "Glass mask".)
RYOKO (Kaito Mitsuhashi): I feel this way about anyone who can gather mass quantities of things.
Tantei Xeno to Nanatsu no Satsujin Misshitsu (Kyouichi Nanatsuki): Katsuya Terada (TN- Probably best known for his artwork and designs featured in Blood the Last Vampire.)
Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ (Mizuki Kuriyama): I don't have the eyesight necessary to discern geniuses.
Chrono Magia: Infinity Gear (Homura Kawamoto): The pig tailed person I saw outside of college racing by on a skateboard.
Gofun go no Sekai (Hiroshi Fukuda): Conventional, but I'd go with Souta Fujii. (TN- A professional Shogi player.)
Youkai Giga (Satsuki Satou): Fire Fighters. (TN- The term Satou uses specifically refers to an archaic kind of fire fighter from Edo.)
Tokaichi Hitoribocchi Nouen (Yuuji Yokoyama): Mao Asada and Kazunobu Mineta. (TN- a figure skater and a singer/songwriter respectively.)
It's kind of great how the question didn't specify manga artists yet a lot of these answers do. Just goes to show you, even when they're not drawing manga the artists of Sunday constantly have it on their mind. Surprisingly enough this was pretty straightforward to TL despite all of the notes I had to make on the side. Fukuchi, you talk about Jump mangaka all the time on twitter and now here...I sure hope you're not going to get into trouble. Though Kuriyama's self defeating answer is probably the most relatable one, I think. Though Hata naming two of his Sunday alum is kind of sweet in it's own way. (Thank you for not being the most difficult one to translate this week as I expected.)
Hope you're checking out the twitter for color pages and such. The ones for this week's Souboutei are especially pretty --I like the warm pastel colors Fujita used to evoke a sense of calm. It really is a calm chapter as the heroes collect themselves and figure out what to do next. It really is "Sunday" type of transitional chapter, in which it's not a slow down because the villain is powering up their next move, or the characters are setting sail towards their next adventure and thus are waiting around as the nature of the pacing, rather these characters who we've come to know through time and our lucky seat as the observer to their actions actually have a moment to get to know each other. I mean, where else but Sunday will you get a chapter of a three year manga that's ostensibly heading toward it's final battle where the characters cook beans and talk about themselves? Dr. Auguste especially was a delight in how little patience he has for those without his superior intellect, and how that just doesn't compute with anyone around him. Though the real "core" of this week's installment asks the question that we've been wondering off and on. (Or well, at least I have) why despite his overwhelming normalcy and being terrified is Takoha still here? Of course I'm not discounting his service so far --it's because of him that several characters have been saved from the Souboutei's evil, but he's certainly been through enough with no supernatural abilities that no one would blame him if he wanted to pack up and call it a day. Takoha's answer is as straightforward as they come --"I just sorta felt like I've gone too far to turn around." The other characters can't make sense of this --and honestly can you blame them? It's ridiculous to think a guy would go along with this because he feels like he has to, but here we are. Still it doesn't betray Takoha's characterization and even Zanka finds him more endearing for it.
Though it's not all fun and games, the sister's "Dad" has appeared in the midst of Sakamaki and Shino! I asked before who's side is he on in this whole conflict and while the end of the chapter doesn't really give any clues either way, the fact that he seems to be on friendly terms with the two (He even refers to Sakamaki by his first name!) Suggests that he's at least someone that the good guys should watch out for. Preparations for the final (?) battle are going smoothly, and it's only a matter of time before the curtain lifts and the show begins.
I'll begin the review of this week's Ponkotsu by saying I'm more looking forward to the next one. Why? Well, because it's said outright in the preview for the next WSS issue that we're getting a new character! I've been saying it (probably ad nauseum by now) that the true series potential would flourish if Mito and Yumesaki had another character(s) to bounce their unique personalities off of and Fukuchi is going to deliver. I'm already eagerly anticipating how this will go since while these first six chapters have been fun, they've followed a pretty set formula --leaving me with very little to say. The formula works, mind you --but it's not necessarily ground breaking even in Fukuchi's very capable (and weird) hands. Speaking of him; Fukuchi that is, he's been very careful to not label this a rom-com, and the Sunday advertisements have been in step with this. I'm not sure if this is purposely because Fukuchi doesn't want to limit the story's potential by labeling it, or if it's just because it really isn't a rom-com in the traditional sense...(though Fukuchi did sort of imply the latter with a fan on twitter.) It doesn't have any bearing on this chapter, just idle musing on my part. This week's power is to slide objects around without touching them which feels like something right out of Jojo or Saike, even. Of course with Yumesaki things don't go to plan and from sliding a drawer of Mito's underwear out into plain view or sliding uncomfortably close to him, the chapter is full of rom-com fun. still, I'm much more looking forward to what an extra character will bring to the manga.
RYOKO is still in a rather uncomfortable place if you ask me --Not selling too well, but polling okay. The newest arc comes to an end this week, and we get a rather surprising reunion (one I mentioned recently) and the news that RYOKO won't be in next week's issue. Now this could mean all kinds of things, and while I'm worried since the last time RYOKO was on break, we didn't see it for two years I'm trying hard to be positive about this. After all this time around Shougakukan has announced a break rather than it just sort of happening as a matter of course. Though interestingly enough when other series went on hiatus and then came back just to end they did just that --ended. No breaks, just trucked on through until the final chapter. Heck, in Anagle Mole's case, they even ran two chapters once just to be rid of it a little sooner. (They did a good job of selling it as if it was a reward to fans who waited, but really we know what was really up.) So RYOKO being on break next week could be seen as a positive thing --they intend for it to run a while and are treating it like a normal series. Granted, what's worrisome about even that perspective is that it hasn't had a single color page since it's return, not even to advertise it's new volumes which is a pretty terrible sign in and of itself.
But yes the chapter itself --your standard fare really. Of course with RYOKO that means well drawn monsters and the sword girl who slays them, but what makes this work stand out in that regard is the nuanced approach Mitsuhashi takes to character interaction/development. He could have summoned his inner rom-com and had an awkward moment between Ryoko who didn't want Zen to see her in a swimsuit, and Zen himself, but he instead goes for a quiet moment where Ryoko --who has totally forgotten her fears is noticed by Zen. I would have expected him to act in his usual cavalier manner and not really get why Ryoko wanted to hide her outfit but instead he pleasantly surprises me by thinking about it briefly and well, having no words to describe how he feels. It feels like sometimes the spectacle is what artists (and writers) go for in these situations but one can actually trust that characters interacting normally can be just as rewarding. Or heck, in this case not interacting. I'm so proud that even with it's over-the-top premise and artwork that Mitsuhashi is more deliberate with his characters.
So now the elephant in the room --Ryoko's master is back! Aaaand the end of chapter text says that the story is going to "speed up". I really want to be more excited by Master's return since it always stuck me as odd that Mitsuhashi would have him leave the scene opposed to the normal trope of dying as masters do, but again the precarious situation the series is in really strips any anticipation I had away and leaves me with doubt and despair. I totally hope I'm wrong and Shougakukan will give the series a longer life-line as I love it so much but the writing is on the wall and I can only ignore it so long.
Speaking of endings, Xeno has quietly announced it's final arc out loud. We're now at the final murder room, and there's no denying it that we're in the final stretch. The son of the official mentioned in the last arc takes center stage this week and...he's a piece of work. Essentially a serial killer who had a dad in a high position. Yes I said "had" since Xeno implies that he even killed his father as well. He's also Kinoo, Xeno's old "friend" from the orphanage. Except...not? It's also said that the murderous son has somehow transferred his memories to Kinoo? The stakes have risen in regards to this mystery too --Umi has reported to Xeno and Ayla that her little sister Sora was kidnapped from the institution she was in --someone wants to corner Xeno and be sure he can't escape or decline.
And there it is --the final Murder Room "White Rose" Xeno's sure that the ringleader --the one behind the murder rooms awaits a final confrontation there, and I'm betting he's right. It's a pretty place to fly over, but something tells me the barrier to entry is to die for.
A chapter opening up with Pheebs hanging with friends? I like it! Seriously, adding a new character, or even having established characters interact with other parties does a lot more than constantly tossing folks into conflict like some stories tend to do. While I get that our lives are filled with the mundane and thus we'd like to see stories filled with things we couldn't otherwise see or do, that doesn't automatically make for a better story. The little things do matter! Like Evans opens up this week with Pheebs having girl talk and her friends assume she's going to a party in town --another one of their pals, Rosa has a boyfriend and will be going with him and as the girls lament being single, Pheebs takes the "high" road and says she has no interest in it anyway --an illusion that all but falls apart when one of her friends asks if there's anyone she'd like to be invited by. Of course not! And if you believe that, I have a bridge in Tokyo to sell you.
I've mentioned before how some people have compared this series to Kaguya-sama in Weekly Young Jump, and how I don't really get the comparison. Though in this case the chapter does unfold into something you'd see out of that series --Pheebs asks Evans if he's going anywhere tomorrow, and he misunderstands thinking she's talking about work. So he says he will for sure and now the game is afoot --but Pheebs can't just invite herself along, no. She's got to somehow fool or coerce Evans into inviting her too. So she asks who he's going with....and what's great is Evans kind of figures out her plan immediately --she wants him to invite her, but the problem is this: He's not aware of the party in town at all, rather he's perplexed because he thinks she wants him to invite her to a roundup of a gang that will be in the area. The one time Evans is genre savvy, he's almost completely off. The chapter is them both misunderstanding each other while somehow seeing right through their opponent? This is some really next level chess, haha, and it only gets better when Evans implies he doesn't want (gang) members targeting her and Pheebs reads this as he doesn't want other guys targeting her. Though when a bad guy comes in and the two are easily able to disarm him, Evans finally relents and invites her too.
Except, y'know. Yeah. It's actually perfect to end the chapter right here if only because I'm sure there won't be a follow up and leaving the rest of the evening to our imaginations only heightens the humor. Good luck you two!
This week's Youkai Giga features the Enenra --a youkai made of smoke. It is born of bonfires and takes human form when it emerges. Many have said that this youkai can only be seen by the pure of heart....also the last kanji in it's name "羅" is supposed to represent something close to "flowy clothing".
In Satou's take, a young man has a memento from his parents --a pocket knife that during the day he uses for making carvings but at night he tosses up in his sleep at...something, and it gets stuck in the ceiling. The man has no idea where the knife could be (and I suppose immediately searching the ceiling would be a stretch), and so the Enenra hiding out of sight watches him and wonders why he'd do such a thing, while also lamenting how it can't take material form to tell him where the knife is. Luckily for it, a neighbor is burning trash and it uses that to shape-shift and appear before the young man to help him find his knife. Not surprisingly he's shocked to see the youkai but rather than freaking out, he thanks it for helping him find this important tool and even says it has a nice face! The youkai disappears with the smoke and comments that it knew he was a good man. I say "it" but the ending text and the chapter itself implies the youkai is a lady falling in love with a human man --however I can't be sure and I think love is love no matter what so we'll leave it as is. It's a cute chapter all around, and very much in line with what non Kuro chapters of Youkai Giga are about. I do like that overall this one was a bit less cynical than others though.
And that's it for issue 27. I do hope you'll tune in next time for more --and keep on visiting the blog! I hope to have another surprise entry up for everyone who's stuck with me through all of these changes. Thanks again and see you next week!
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