Here we go, 'tis the season for new Weekly Shonen Sunday serials, and this round presented us with some goodies from the giddy up. This write-up in particular is interesting as it's the first author so far who's not only got licensed series available (aside from this one for now), but has been all over the place as far as publishers and content. Let's jump right into Shinta Harekawa's body of work!
The Author
Shinta Harekawa
When doing preliminary research for this article (and the ones before this.) I'm used to finding maybe one, maybe, two works that an author has penned since Shonen Sunday's claim to fame leans more toward fostering in house talent than seeking out those who are established elsewhere. Aside from obviously the veterans of the publisher itself. So it was a shock when I found just so much Harekawa to go around! It was to a point that I didn't know where to start at first, but I think what makes sense is to begin with the works one can actually purchase in English.
On right, Senpai, This Can't be Love! or “Senpai, Danjite Koi de wa!” and on right Three Exorcism Siblings or “Tengu Barai no Sankyoudai.”
Available from our friends at Yen Press is the Boy's Love manga Senpai, This Can't be Love! Which in Japan ran in the BL anthology Comic Fleur for three volumes starting in 2019. As of this writing, the first volume is available for purchase digitally or physically from Yen Press. As this is available in English, I won't go too into what the series is about, since you can check it out at the link above. For a brief synopsis, the series follows Yanase, a confident CG designer who's assigned to teach a new hire Kaneda about the job. He finds that Kaneda is frosty cool on the outside which makes him wonder if he's cut out for teaching the newbie, but on the inside Kaneda is down so bad that it takes all of his fortitude to not fall apart whenever Yanase is nearby. This series also got a live action drama in 2022 as well, which as far as I can see is available to watch on Viki.
Advertisement for the Live action drama.
What one can take away immediately from Harekawa's artwork is that it's incredible. She has a way with lighting, expressions, and paneling that is ridiculous --and none of that is lost from the transition from monthly manga to weekly, as we'll see in Momose Akira no Hatsukoi hatanchuu. Also Harekawa-sensei loves drawing gorgeous men, which, yeah. Makes sense as a ton of her works are firmly in the Boys Love genre. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say that it's only when she came to Shogakukan that she started to explore other genres. Overall, a good chunk of her works are shorter BL series that run the gambit from one to three volumes. She even has an Omegaverse entry aptly named Last Omegaverse which was published for one volume by Takeshobo in 2018. Up until now she hadn't done anything for Shogakukan, that is, until…
A very short ditty entitled Kimi ni hikareta riyuu or “The Reason I fell for you.” which was published on Webry in 2023. Interestingly, the text at the bottom advertises Three Exorcism Siblings despite being an entirely different publisher. Whether they advertise other works or not seems to be down to the prominence of said series, and I'd assume then Three Exorcism Siblings did pretty well for itself (or perhaps it's just recency bias as it would have been wrapping up around the time this oneshot was published.) The move to Shogakukan sees Harekawa-sensei taking on female protagonists instead, and seeing as this lead into the serialization of Momose Akira no hatsukoi hatanchuu I'm assuming Shogakukan liked the reception they got from the oneshot.
In the oneshot, a female fan of a male V-Tuber finds out there's a chance to meet her fave offline and takes a chance --to find out that they are in fact voiced by a woman. Not only that, she's totally a fashionable gyaru, and the moody girl cannot believe for a second that her favorite 2D boy is voiced by, well, this. As a note, the character the gyaru plays is a moody sharp tongued type, so it's all that more jarring to find out what she's like IRL. The girl thinking she can get one over on this obvious faker asks how she got into V-tubing, and expects a flippant answer like “Idk, it was fun? Lol.”
Nah. She answers “Bloodlust.” a long time ago, she was just like protagonist-chan, a gloomy loner that no one paid attention to, and got an escape by reading about idols and vtubers. Boys in her class mercilessly mocked her for her hobby -- I mean, how could someone like her ever hope to be like them? So she made up her mind to show those fools who they're messing with, reinvented herself, and is now a popular vtuber. Protagonist-chan realizes that her love for the character isn't for his looks, but what's in the inside. Only a person with this kind of bloodlust could be her type! So once again, s he becomes her biggest stan.
She's just like me, frreal.
It's a very simple story told in a few pages, but it's incredible all the same. To think that Harekawa-sensei would pack in an endearing message about being your best self and that there's someone out there who's just like you into a short oneshot like this...it's no wonder Shogakukan wanted to give her a shot in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and it wouldn't be long until we'd see her again.
The Serial
Momose Akira no Hatsukoi hatanchuu
Staring in issue 39 of Weekly Shonen Sunday is Shinta Harekawa's first shonen manga, as well as the first with Shogakukan: Momose Akira no hatsukoi hatanchuu. The original billing for the series states that it's a “mismatched romcom”.
The Premise:
15-year-old Hajime Kugayama is on cloud nine. The girl he had a crush on in elementary school until she moved away is now in his class, and he's got a second chance to shoot his shot. Except he's never actually talked to her before, and is well aware that she's completely out of his league, or so he thinks..
She suddenly kabe-dons him by a tree outside the classroom and asks what his favorite food is. He stumbles to try to give a cool answer but fails miserably. To his surprise, however, Akira says she likes that he hasn't changed at all since they last spoke. She then departs, ending this very brief, very strange reunion.
Here's the kicker --Akira is totally head over heels for him, but she's woefully shy, while Hajime who misunderstands their exchange and thinks she hates him, is hopelessly dense. Combine these two traits together, and you've got the crux of the series.
If that was all there was to the series, it'd be fine, perhaps charming, but nothing to write home about. Rather, what the strength of this work is Harekawa-sensei's beautiful artwork, and the sense of over the top comedic shenanigans. For example, in chapter two, Akira manages to work up the courage to ask Hajime to meet her after school in the gym, and when he does, this is what happens.
What looks like a kidnapping attempt was Akira's way of flirting. See she meant to do a “guess who” but completely missed her target.
It's further not helped when Hajime simply places his hand on her shoulder to understand the meaning behind this, and she reacts like he hit her, when in fact she's just overjoyed that she had contact with her crush. It's the little things, or well, the little things blown massively out of proportion that is the lifeblood of the series, and this is emphasized by Harekawa-sensei's use of full pages to punctuate a moment. Utilizing these pages builds a wonderful tempo between the outlandish and the sweet. You'd forgive Akira for almost kidnapping you if she looked like this, right?
Oh and Hajime is no slouch either when it comes to how expressive he is. I'm no stranger to wonderful manga art sacrificing expressiveness for beauty, but Harekawa sensei somehow combines the best of both worlds to leave a lasting impression.
Hajime Moodboard anyone?
In addition Akira has her friends cheering her on as they understand how devistatingly shy she is, and each incrimental victory she gets, from managing to squeak out a word or two to Hajime to successfully giving him her handmade chocolate and you've got a recipie (heh) for success. I quite like her friends being in on it as it gives a unique spin to the formula --no jealousy vibes here (for now) just girls being in their bestie's corner.
Mission Complete!
Not surprisingly, the series opining narration and some blurbs imply these two getting together is a forgone conclusion, but this is for sure a case where the ride will be the focus over the destination.
The Verdict:
I've mentioned it a few times on the threads, but with Komi Can't Communicate being on its final arc, one might wonder where the mismatched romcom vibe will come from next. May I introduce you to the future? Though that's not to say that Momose Akira no Hatsukoi Hatanchuu is simply a Komi clone. No, it's much more than that. It's manic energy differentiates it from it's senpai, and is a tour de force I haven't seen in a Weekly Shonen Sunday romcom in, well, ever. While Sunday is the home of the slow burn, the elegant pining, and the eventual payoff, a serial like this that just dispenses with the pleasantries and goes all in while somehow still being incredibly charming. This is the type of work that could perhaps only come from someone who hasn't serialized a work in the magazine before, and is perfect timing with the titan that is Komi can't communicate on its way out. Harekawa-sensei has the potential to be big. I don't think Momose Akira no Hatsukoi Hantanchuu will redefine the DNA of Sunday romcoms, but if it can create a path of more series like it being in the magazine then I consider that a net positive.
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