Last but not least of the five new Sunday serials is a familiar face in Takahiro Arai and a newcomer(?) in writer Shiishihi's "Te no Geka." All hands in on this one (and you'll see why in a moment.)
The Writer
Shiiishihi
Unfortunately, I can't find any information on the writer for the series. All of my searches come back to this serialization. The language on the first page of the manga says it's their first series which would make sense, but I dunno, I feel like that could also imply they've done other things before this? That's not to say that Shougakukan wouldn't take a chance on someone who's completely new to the industry if they felt their work was promising enough. Though yeah as far as I can tell this is Shiiishihi's very first thing ever.
The Artist
Takahiro Arai
That being said, it'd then make a lot of sense to pair them with an artist who has a ton of prestige, and Takahiro Arai fits the bill. He's been in WSS and Shougakukan since the 2000's and while he hasn't had a huge breakout hit, he's been consistently providing high quality artwork for nearly 20 years.
His first series was an adaptation of Darren Shan's self-named series about a boy who ends up in league with vampires and integrates into their society. If you'll allow us to brag a little --the author himself noticed a tweet of ours way back in 2020 and wrote up a blurb about how the series got off the ground, which you can read here. In short, Shan had several choices for who would adapt his novel series and chose Arai despite him being a newbie at the time. I think it's fair to say that opportunity is what launched his name in Japan and worldwide as the series is available in several different languages including English from Yen Press who reprinted the series in omnibus releases in 2021. In Japan the series ran in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 2006 to 2009. If you're interested in our opinion of the series, check out Jecka's review of volume one here.
Almost immediately after that in 2010 Arai returned to WSS with ARAGO which didn't stray too far from Darren Shan's European influences as the series takes place in London. This time around the work follows two brothers who's parents were killed by a mysterious monster. After this one brother, Ewan joins the police force to investigate incidents similar to theirs, while Arago the protagonist takes a path of vigilantism to find the monster known as "Patchman" to seek revenge for his parent's murders. The two brothers cross paths and find Patchman but Ewan is mortally injured leaving Arago to defeat Patchman. He does so but in the process gains his brother's arm and mysterious powers that leads to him delving deeper into the mysterious underground of London where supernatural beings run rampant.
It's a shame this series was never licensed for English release (though it did get picked up in a few other languages) as the artwork is sublime. It ran in WSS from 2010 to 2011 for a total of 9 volumes.
Not many mangaka can say they've had the opportunity to adapt not one but two western works, and definitely not one with as high a profile as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables so in that way Takahiro Arai is living the dream. Two years after Arago ended in WSS, Les Miserables started in Gessan. (Otherwise known as Monthly Shonen Sunday.) The series ran for 8 volumes in the magazine over a span of 3 years from 2013 to 2016, and is available from Seven Seas in English. The English release will be done in four omnibus --two of which are available right now!
Never one to rest on his laurels for long it was barely a year later when Arai returned to WSS with Tenshou no Quadrable which ran in the magazine from 2017 to 2018 for 4 volumes. Unlike the other series listed here that were before our time, this serialization happened after this very blog was started! So you can read our impressions of the first chapter here, and the last chapter here.
Of course, this wouldn't be an Arai write up if we didn't return to Zero. That's right, Detective Conan: Zero's Tea time started but a mere few months after Quadrable ended. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that Shougakukan saw the writing on the wall for Arai's work and wanting to boost their prodigal son's image got Arai right on work on this spinoff.
There's not too much to say about Zero's Tea Time (though we did talk about the first chapter here if you're interested!) It's a spinoff about Rei Furuya who's undisputedly the most popular character in Detective Conan. The series essentially follows his everyday life as he navigates his daily life working in a cafe, the public safety bureau and of course as Bourbon in the Black Organization. Weirdly, this is probably the series that most people know Arai for, but it's not licensed in English (in the west.) at all. Understandable as Conan's in an interesting place in the states as not unpopular but not super popular either. With the advent of Viz's "Shoggy Vault" I could see it eventually making it's way over as a digital only release eventually. In any case, the series started in 2018 and ended last year in 2022. The ending implied this was only a temporary stop on the Zero train, but now with Arai tackling a new serial perhaps it's done for good? Speaking of..
The Serialization
Te no Geka
Starting in Shonen Sunday's #25th issue in 2023 is Shiishihi and Takahiro Arai's Te no Geka which sees the latter leave the comfort of his European inspired locales for a Japanese hospital. Though the practice here is unusual as rather than general medicine (or like some of its contemporaries veterinary medicine) this series focuses exclusively on hand surgery.
The Premise:
The protagonist Isshin Tezuka is introduced as a laid back young man who has a strange scar on his thumb. Kind of appropriate for the type of doctor he is (and by extension the type of manga we're getting into.)
The series doesn't spare the reader any time as it heads right into the thick of things with a man worried about his father and his severed right arm. He's rightfully worried and incredulous about the doctor's assertion about reattaching the limb. It's then that Isshin lackadaisically shows up for work and gets chewed out by the other doctors. It's pretty clear this is a routine for them much to their chagrin, and Isshin handles them with a sheepish smile and bow as he makes his way to the operating room.
Aside from his scarred thumb, Isshin's also got quite a tattoo game going on. Which for any doctor might seem strange, but it's even moreso for a Japanese one. Especially the type of tatts he's got. It looks very similar to a Yakuza's Irezumi, which in the past are whole body tattoos that cover up prison tattoo marks indicating criminality. The process is usually long and painful, so it's not for the faint of heart. In Isshin's case, the flowers he has are symbolic of the samurai, which is interesting considering his temperament. In any case, the panels above describe the situation --a 65 year old man has had his arm severed. It's been three hours since the accident, which means the Golden hour (or period where a surgery has the most success) is running out on them.
I can't say for sure how accurate this is since I'm far from knowledgeable about this kinda thing, but I appreciate just how much detail they go into, even going as far as describing the machinery Isshin is using to reconnect the nerves of his patient and how painstaking and delicate the work is. As I type this I look at my own hands and marvel at how intricate they are, hah. Though yes, for a shonen manga it's incredible how in depth this goes and trusts it's audience to follow along. Then again, WSS is perhaps the magazine which takes on occupational manga like this with gusto.
Isshin works like a master artisan, and it's later another doctor reveals he was at it for 8 hours straight without losing his pace or concentration, which is incredible. I've only ever been in for a quick procedure in the past but I've heard of surgeries taking hours and doing a number on doctors. Heck, even in a quick procedure, the pressure alone has to be enough to cause even the most measured individuals pause. These are people's livelihood's one's dealing with!
Isshin heads back out to meet the son of the patient who reveals his dad has been running a Sushi shop for 30 years, and now the fate of his beloved shop is in danger due to a terrible accident. Isshin tells the man--Doumoto that he's not sure what the result of the surgery will be as yet, but his father's life is no longer in danger. That in and of itself is worth celebrating. Which yes, is easy to forget in a situation like this --as long as there is life there is hope.
Whether it be out of selfishness or genuine concern, (though in reality it's probably a bit of both) the other doctors go to the head of the hospital a Atsushi Wakai, and complain about Isshin being in charge of all the more complex surgeries. Which is mind-boggling to me. Like, doing one 8 hour procedure is one thing, but several of them in a row?? The docs are right to be a little concerned, even if it is more about how it looks for them. They state he shouldn't get all the important procedures, which prompts Wakai to ask who these are important to? The Hospital? The Patients? To them, the doctors? He then asks the doctors just when in the annals of history are they considered to be the most essential? They answer predictably in big cities or around the elderly, but Wakai clarifies...
It's during times of war. Its after this incredible two-page spread that Wakai reveals that Isshin crossed through France to Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe seeing different people and the battlefields they either live in or aside, treating soldiers and civilians alike. He then challenges them to be more like Isshin and work on a battlefield, to which they can only simper in silence.
This isn't techinically a two page spread, but what it communicates visually can't be understated. The old man is barely concious but sees his life flashing before his eyes, from his marrage to his wife, to the birth of their son to the death of his wife and the work in sushi that gives him solace. One thing I think that will give Te no Geka it's unique identity is how it treats the patients Isshin well, treats. We've established he's an expert physician, but it's one thing to deal with people's injuries, and another to deal with the person themselves.
And people are complex creatures indeed. Remember the son mentioned earlier? He was concerned about his father being able to continue making Sushi, but it turns out the last thing he and his dad talked about was the latter going back to the shop instead of properly mourning his wife/mother. In frustration the son said he'd rather see the shop be destroyed, but he knows deep down how important it is to his father.
Even then he suggests closing up shop for a bit for Dad to recover which leads to another argument. He has customers waiting and he has no intention of stopping. He then tells his son to get lost, as he's about to be a father himself. The son storms off in a huff. Dad sure seems obstinante about his sushi but..
As I said before, people are complex in the sense that what we say isn't always what we mean. Dad said that to his son's face, but when talking to Isshin, he reveals his true concern is that he won't be able to use his hands to hold his soon to be born grandchild. Maybe he won't be able to make sushi anymore but if he can do that much that's all that matters. Isshin doesn't sugarcoat that his recovery will be long and arduous, but if he sticks with it he will for sure be able to hold his grandchild. To that both father and son are grateful and perhaps his hand isn't the only thing that will recover from this incident.
And I think we can say the prognosis is good. (A side note but I like that the son's wife looks very similar to his mom. I guess it's true what they say about mom's and sons huh.)
As an aside, this is from chapter two. I'm throwing this in because you all have been patient with us, and it was too cool to pass up --I love these illustrated allusions that sports manga have and Arai has captured here as Isshin works on the patient in the chapter, but more than that...
Isshin reveals when he was six years old he lost his thumb and the one he has now is his father's. He and his parents got into an accident and he underwent surgery to have his fathers grafted onto his hand. It's at the end of this chapter as well that Isshin has to deliver bad news to his patient --the surgery was a success but their pinky will never function properly again no matter what they do. The chapter ends there, but the series is already presenting what kind of bedside manner Isshin has when the news isn't all good, and it'll be interesting to see how the story moves on from there.
The Verdict
Shonen Sunday has had many occupational manga through the years, so in that way Te no Geka isn't unique, but where it does shine is it's treatment of the patients Isshin sees on his operating table. What I've seen in the first two chapters are the elements to which occupational manga can succeed: An understanding of what they depict, and the characters that partake in them. Pair that with Arai's artwork and you have a manga about a niche subject that can stand the test of time. Without a doubt, Te no Geka will be a series worth following because it is assured of itself and what it wants to be.
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