New serializations hit the book of the sun(day) like the seasons themselves turn. Today, we're blessed to talk about a pair of veterans, though one of them isn't the traditional artist/author, rather....well, let's just get into it.
The Writer
Takenori Ichihara
To begin with, we address the elephant in the room—Ichihara is all and not at the same time. He didn't come from drawing manga or writing it; he was the editor-in-chief and lead planner of Monthly Shonen Sunday (known as Gessan, derived from "Gekkan" (monthly) and Sunday. It's meant to read "Get the Sun." Get it?) for a whopping 13 years before spearheading the Weekly variant for five more and then retiring from editing and Shogakukan in April 2022. We've translated a few interviews with the guy (and now is a great time to read them if you haven't, hint hint), so I don't intend to get too into the weeds here, but he is a big deal in terms of the magazines he was in charge of. During his time in Gessan, among the series he edited, two major hits stand out in both Ayumi Ishii's Nobunaga Concerto and Soichiro Yamamoto's Teasing Master Takagi.
It's not a stretch to say that he saved Weekly Shonen Sunday from complete collapse after several disastrous years in the 2010s, and hit series such as Frieren, Komi, and Sleepy Princess were all created under his watch. The phrase "For the love of the game" is tossed around flippantly nowadays, but if there's a man who truly lives it, that would be Takenori Ichihara. Like, he took an exam to join Shogakukan simply because he loved Mitsuru Adachi's Touch that much. His plan was to go into the food industry, but he did so well on the test that he figured he'd give Shogakukan a swing, and if he didn't like it there, he'd quit in a year. That was back in 1997. To say he left his mark on the publisher is an understatement.
His biggest thing is to nurture new talent, and I'd say he was successful in that regard. All of the series I mentioned above are by authors who are now well-known but were relative newcomers when he discovered them. He even stated upon taking the position of editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Sunday that he'd take responsibility for fostering new authors and that every series that appears in the magazine was one he handpicked and, most importantly, read himself.
So now he's in "retirement" and clearly unable to stay away from Shogakukan and manga itself, writing not just Kimi wa Akeboshi but maybe Aga Kimi chiruramu?
As mentioned in its review, he may be using the alias Shiishiihi to write manga. If so, he's also behind Te no Geka... but now Shiishihii is the writer of AgaKimi, and he's using his own name to write this series, so it's all very confusing. I can't find anything suggesting that Ichihara isn't Shiishihii. Though even if they are the same person, I could understand maybe if he were using an alias in an entirely different magazine for whatever reason, and it's not unheard of for a manga writer (or artist) to work on several series at once, but to have two series in the same magazine and use two different names? It's weird. Plain and simple. Weird enough that I can't come up with a satisfactory reason why they'd do this unless it's a conspiracy to fool readers into thinking they are two different people, but that couldn't be the case....could it?
Either way, Ichihara's reputation deserves respect even if you don't care for AgaKimi, Te No Geka or even this series, since he's had his hand in so many other manga that it's likely, no, certain that he's worked on something you have read and liked from either Gessan or Weekly Shonen Sunday.
The Artist
Aiko Koyama
On the other hand, Koyama-sensei falls into that unfortunate pit many other Sunday authors do (especially overseas), where she should be better known but isn't because her series haven't been licensed, or well, made into anime save for Kiyo in Kyoto (aka Maiko-san chi no makanai-san) which got a live-action adaptation and an anime that were both exported overseas. Still, the original manga did not have such luck. Admittedly, even I didn't know the vast expanse of her works until I researched her for this article. Turns out Koyama's been pumping out works for Shogakukan for the better part of a decade. I personally only heard of her during her Gessan series Chirori, which has a very similar vibe to the aforementioned Kiyo in Kyoto in being comfy comfort food, but did you know she did a sports series and a manga based on a Konami video game for Corocoro? Bet you didn't. Don't worry, I've got your back.
Aiko Koyama got her start in the manga world working as an assistant to artists such as Shinji Saijo and the creator of the eternally popular Konjiki no Gash Bell Makoto Raiku. She then won a rookie artist award in 2001 and went on to create a one-shot for Sunday Super the same year. She then had her first serialization in the same magazine Keppare Daikoku in 2003, which was followed up by a manga adaptation of Konami's video game Iron Feather, which ran from 2005 to 2006. (The game itself came out January 19, 2006.) Since it came out before the age of digital and the game itself wasn't particularly well-received, there's no easy way for me to read it myself, but I managed to dig up a decent-ish quality volume two cover. (there were only two volumes.) I'll also throw in the game cover for good measure:
From what I've seen the manga story diverges greatly from the game—makes sense since it was probably created to generate hype for it, considering it came out before its release. But it's amazing to think about that Aiko Koyama who's known for her comfy manga once did an action-RPG manga adaptation.
After that, she went on to try her hand at sports with
Ping Pong Rush which was serialized from 2009 to 2010. Koyama admits that she's not great at sports so writing this series was a struggle.
If you told me this was by another artist and ran in Corocoro I'd totally believe you. Even with her name on the covers above I still can't believe this is by Kiyo in Kyoto Aiko Koyama. Like, huh?? At the same time I'm glad she was trying out different things at first even if it had to be a pain.
Koyama's long since found her niche, so I doubt she'd ever go back to these days, but I can't help but wonder about a world where she got her sports groove and kept drawing manga like this.
She then took a big swing in the opposite direction and, from 2011 to 2015, serialized
Chirori in
Gessan. Chiori is closer to
Makanai in being a comfy slice-of-life manga. Though I'd say it's a wee bit more...sensual? Uh, no, um...mature? Either way, I think it's here that Koyama found her groove—gone are the over-the-top
shonen stylings she came up with, replaced with the down-to-earth allure.
After this, she went on to the Big leagues and drew a series for Big Comic entitled Kinrou Crecendo, which ran for basically a year and two volumes. The vibe of this one is one of an author who has found their sweet spot from both a writing and art standpoint. The simple construct for this series is a man who works in a cafe and strives (maybe a little too much) for his customers' happiness.
Although there's some silliness in this series (which one could guess from the premise), gone are the more rounded, more Corocoro-esque artwork, replaced by something more mature, with meticulous pacing. Yes, this is for a much different audience in that it ran in Big Comic, it's because Koyama's artwork, while evolving from here, did so but laterally from here, which leads me to believe that this is a more comfortable place for her. She's more into a slow burn vibe, and that has endured even when she returned to a shonen audience with her next work.
Finally, at the end of our long road is
Kiyo in Kyoto or
Maiko-san chi no makanai-san, which ran in
Weekly Shonen Sunday from 2017 to 2025. It's Koyama's most popular work, being both the longest, with an eight-year serial, and the one that received both a
TV anime and a
live-action adaptation. It picks up on
Chirori's vibe and is once again a manga that's a feel-good read with very little text in some chapters, wonderful scenery, and even a short feature of the food eaten in the chapter. (The Japanese title is "The Maiko-san house's cook.")
I discovered Koyama during Chirori, but Kiyo is where I became familiar with the nature of her game. It's easy to see why this series ran as long and comfortably as it did simply from its visuals alone, which are both cute and have an air of melancholy—the protagonist, Kiyo tried to be a maiko but failed and is now their cook instead. This series could have dwelled on what it's like to be an outsider looking in, or any number of dramatic threads dangled within, but instead uses them as a set piece for the lives of these girls pursuing this often harsh art. That's not to say there's no dramatic flair in this series, no, but Koyama doesn't dwell on those things longer than necessary, creating a work that has a very distinct but not heavy atmosphere.
So now that we've had our history lesson, it's time to venture into the present.
The Serial
Kimi wa Akeboshi
Starting in issue #8 (2026) of Weekly Shonen Sunday is Takenori Ichihara and Aiko Koyama's new serial Kimi wa Akeboshi: You're the morning star. The blurb says it's the "Continuation of Aiko Koyama's gentle journey through life's scenery."
The Premise
Azuki is an 18-year-old girl with a talking bear(?) and her grandfather's classic Volkswagen Type 2 WestFalia SO23. Grandpa has long since passed away, leaving the car in her care along with instructions to visit certain people. Kumakichi (the bear thing) recommends they take a road trip around Japan to visit the people her grandfather requested, and thus begins their journey. That'd be well enough on its own, but there's a little twist to this-- Azuki and the people she's meeting? They're all mages. If the talking bear-thing didn't tip readers off, this series deals with some light supernatural elements, something Koyama hasn't featured in her series before. Though don't get me wrong, this still has her fingerprints all over it.
It's unusual for a write-up like this to have the premise done so quickly, but that's due to it being incredibly simple. One shouldn't fool themselves into thinking it's fluff --there's a lot one can do with a premise that isn't complex. That being said, as this is the second time we've had a veteran artist and writer combo, but the first time that both have been accomplished in their own right, it's hard to tell where one person begins and the other ends. Like, I could see Koyama writing this on her own without Ichihara really adding anything to the script. The atmosphere is very similar to Kiyo more so than Chirori which makes sense since the former and this series are serialized in the same magazine.
Add to this that Ichihara has done (as far as we know) two very different series so far, and it's difficult to parse what he adds to Kimi wa Akeboshi. Why, even Azuki regretting her decision to turn down trips with her grandfather while he was alive, breathes a melancholy whisper upon this series much like Kiyo. Though, due to its supernatural elements and the idea of meeting friends of a dearly departed grandparent I think it's much more akin to the likes of Natsume's Book of Friends than anything in either creator's repertoires. I've talked a ton about who's line is it anyway-but what of the series itself? Not to exaggerate, but it might be another masterclass by Koyama. Whether Ichihara is giving her ideas or simply freebases them and allows Koyama to fill in the lines, there's no doubt that this series is deft at setting a mood and gently enveloping readers within it. Azuki not only learns about her grandfather as she travels, but bit by bit she comes to an understanding of herself both as his granddaughter and as a mage. The magic isn't the focus of the series --at least not in the sense of casting spells, but rather it's a fulcrum in celebrating the little mundane events in life that are special. Azuki's past, too is filled in with excerpts rather than being dumped as a multi-chapter event. Although the series is early in (volume one is probably a ways off since the chapters can be on the short side from time to time) the satisfaction of peeling back layers over time is definitely there.
The Japanese Connection.
The problem with having a reputation (be it good or bad) is that past efforts can overshadow current actions. The comment section for Kimi wa Akeboshi is no better evidence for this. Similar to AgaKimi, most Japanese commenters are speculating on Ichihara having a great relationship with the Shogakukan editorial and the favoritism that would grant him rather than the actual work itself. The division caused by his involvement gets even worse when people try to give him the benefit of the doubt, as he did save Weekly Shonen Sunday vs the guy who just can't seem to write (their words, not mine) what with Te No Geka and AgaKimi being seen as well, not good. There are a few commentators who say the atmosphere and artwork of this series show that Koyama's still got it, but that's far outweighed by the Ichihara battle going on in the replies. Checking out other chapters is even worse as the critiques of AgaKimi prop up --that the writing is amateurish, and the mysteries surrounding Azuki are more annoying than they are appealing. I asked earlier where Ichihara ends and Koyama begins, but it seems Japanese fans have the belief that the artwork and atmosphere are Koyama's work, while the writing and all its faults are Ichihara's.
The Verdict
Not gonna lie, reading the Japanese comments for the series sucked the wind out of my sails. Not because I don't agree with them, but because I can see where they're coming from. I still think the series is very good, and very Sunday-esque, and that the commenters on webry are just a fraction of those who read it without being online, but it stings because there are many pertinent critiques for the series. However, maybe this is out of a vain sense of hope but I think these can be ironed out over time. With the chapters being as short as they are, I think the approach for this series should be as a pocket of time with Azuki and Kumakichi.
To me, Koyama's strength is that she can make the mundane memorable, the everyday, eventful, and I see that in spades in Kimi wa Akeboshi. Now those who feel like there needs to be something happening on every page may be disappointed. That much is true, but as in the likes of Frieren, Kimi Wa Akeboshi is about the trip more than it is the destination. It's what you see, learn, and do on the ever-expanding road that is the human experience that makes it all worth it,--where the magic is. Koyama has proven herself in her past works and I hope that having Ichihara in the car with her won't deter readers from enjoying this series when volume one comes out eventually.
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