Sunday Retrospective (2020)

 

Greetings all! It's hard to believe that we've made it through another year (all things considered) but here we are on the final blog entry of 2020! Like any year there have ben ups and downs in the magazine, and I thought even though it's not a formal look back over the year that we could discuss them. Let's go!

The biggest surprise of the year is of course Frieren's domination of the magazine and the sales. In a year where Shuiesha has almost literally taken over the world Frieren not only stands it's ground and sells quite well, but is looking like it'll sit alongside the pillars of the magazine! It took 2nd place in the male demographic of "Kono manga ga sugoi!" And has been nominated for ebookjapan's manga prize. Saleswise it has even started to outpace Tonikaku Cawaii (in volume rankings, not overall sales) and Sleepy Princess. 

(Courtesy of Blue Rock @ the MH forums)

Needless to say we'll be seeing a lot more Frieren in the future, and we're all for it. With it's unique take on a classic fantasy story it's no wonder fans have taken to it with such zeal. 

This was also the year of Shonen Sunday anime domination! On air this year was Major 2nd, Tonikaku Cawaii, Sleepy Princess in Demon's Castle, and the Inuyasha spinoff "Yashahime." Since I started this blog I don't think there's been a time where we had so many different anime from the magazine on at once in the same year. Not only that but Haro Asou's Alice in Borderland is a successful live action Netflix series with a season two greenlit, and three of the anime are receiving English dubs and likely home video releases! We're about to be eating real good. All but one of these series have ended at the time of this writing, but I have hope we'll be seeing more of this next year at some point. Aiko Koyama's "Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san" will have an anime on NHK come February, and Ichihara's interview (which you can read here and here) heavily implies that we'll be seeing series around 10-20 volumes receiving an anime in the near future. (Three guesses to which series that might be and the first two don't count.)

We also saw quite a few licensing announcements from the current line up in the magazine this year, all of them more surprising than the last. First no sign of MAO yet, but we can surmise that Viz perhaps wants to finish with Rinne before attempting another ongoing Takahashi (Though they also have re-releases of Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura to tide us over until then.) Hayate is still an ongoing release for them (two volumes or so a year), so seeing Tonikaku (better known as Fly Me to the Moon here) get the green light was out of left field for us. The license happened in February and we've got reviews here for the interested (volume one here!) so if you're interested in married life in a way only Hata could explore it then you know what to do. Yofukashi no Uta (to be known as Call of the Night upon it's April 2021 release) was less out of left field as it's doing really well saleswise in Japan, and has a level of accessibility that Dagashikashi didn't have. (Despite this the Dagashikashi anime did get picked up by Funimation and is relatively easy to find at a low price.) It's likely that Viz has snapped this one up due to it's likelihood to get an anime. (They called the Sleepy Princess one after all!) That notwithstanding, Yofukashi/Call of the Night is a fun and off kilter love story so be sure to pick it up in April! Last but not least and perhaps the most surprising is Makoto Hoshino's "Night of the Outcasts" being licensed by Seven Seas. I mean no offense to it when I say this but it's baffling that the series remains in Sunday (and gets color pages rather frequently) even now, much less being released in English. It's amazing artwork and story make it worth the read for sure, but, well, I won't say anymore. Just look out for it from Seven Seas come June 2021.

So what do we have to look forward to in the coming year of Sunday? 

Unlike last year (and many before it,) there haven't been new serials announced in the few 2021 issues that have been released this year. Granted this just goes to show how strong the last serialization round (Consisting of Frieren, Ryuu & Ichigo, Itoyan goto naki and Ikeda-kun) are as only one of those series (Ikeda) has ended. Ryuu being by a veteran artist was a clear frontrunner, and does well despite being caught by surprise by Frieren's success, and while Itoyan isn't doing the best as far as it comes to sales it's bizarre sense of humor gives it a unique place in the magazine. The lineup of newbies appears to be as strong as ever, so it'll be great to see them strut their stuff eventually through the family of Shougakukan magazines. Conan's also set to have a big year (though really when doesn't it?) With it's 1,000 epsiode of it's anime airing and the 100th volume of the manga being released. Not only that but the recently concluded spinoff "Wild Police Story" is selling really well. 

(There sure is a lot going on in Itoyan --and by extension Weekly Shounen Sunday Too.)

As 2020 shuffles on out, I look back and realize that while we've had a well, to put it politely bad year, Sunday has despite all of this come out stronger than ever. Some of it is serendippidous luck, but much of it is owed to the hard work of the editorial department, and of course the fans who support it. I'm hoping to see our cool little mag rise to new heights in 2021! As for the blog, well, "I" have become a "we" and we're hoping to keep giving you all what you need: Plenty of Shounen Sunday to go around. Heck, maybe a little bit of sugar from other Shougakukan mags to keep fans on their toes. We're all so glad you've made this your one stop Sunday shop, and hope that you'll continue to visit us in 2021 and beyond. Until the next Sunday! Happy New years!!