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MANGA REVIEWS


Published by Shogakukan
Update by Eri Izawa

What is SHONEN SUNDAY? SHONEN SUNDAY is one of the largest weekly manga magazines in Japan. Containing some of the latest and hottest boys' manga series in Japan, SUNDAY has hosted such notables as RANMA 1/2 and the currently popular MEITANTEI CONAN.

Last issue's SHONEN SUNDAY update



Selected Brief Updates:

INUYASHA
by Takahashi Rumiko

Overview: Kagome is a modern student who teamed up with the strange boy Inuyasha in fifteenth or sixteenth century Japan, seeking to retrieve the fragments of the magical Shikon no Tama.
  This issue: Inuyasha had sent Kagome back to modern-day Japan and had tried to seal up the magic well. But now, under a brutal attack by monsters sent by his arch-enemy Naraku, Inuyasha and his friends are in trouble. But Kagome, through her concern and desire to see Inuyasha again, somehow manages to make it through the well. Scenting Kagome, Inuyasha suddenly becomes stronger and easily defeats the monsters, and Inuyasha and Kagome are reunited in a touching scene that dissolves into bickering. Naraku realizes that Kagome is the lone unexpected element in his schemes; even as he does so, Kagome senses him and both Miroku and Inuyasha confront their long-time enemy. Naraku agrees to tell them the history behind his long campaign against them....

ME GUMI NO DAIGO
by Soda Masahito

Overview: Asahina Daigo is a young firefighter with the "Me" Company, who has an unusual ability to find and rescue people in danger.
  This issue: Daigo, unwillingly made to take a week off by Gomi (who had sensed that Daigo was becoming unstable), is in a remote town where he hears the legend of a wooden temple saved by a lone fireman fifteen years before. It turns out the "lone fireman" was probably Gomi himself, who shook the villagers out of their despair and organized the bucket-brigade that saved the temple. Gomi, Daigo pieces together, was in town for a mysterious, personal reason. After hearing the story, Daigo decides to leave town early to talk to Gomi. As he's leaving in the train, however, a plume of smoke is rising up behind him....

LOVE
by Ishiwata Osamu

Overview: Takagi Ai ("Love") is a girl who, in a bid to have a re-match with her old tennis rival, has entered a high school tennis club disguised as a boy.
  This issue: Love is facing a good-natured tennis player (Nakasuken) whose style is that of a precise, sharp fisherman - reminiscent of her own father. Her opponent, for his part, is feeling uncomfortable because he had been told of Love's secret by Youhei's jealous would-be girlfriend, who wants him to crush Love's dreams by defeating her. And meanwhile, a slimy gossip columnist has caught the scent of scandal and is watching Love like a vulture....


JYAJYA UMA DE GROOMING UP!
by Yuki Masami

Overview: Although originally a city boy, young Kuze Shunpei has taken to working as a farm hand at the Watarai racing horse breeding farm; he also has taken to Watarai Hibiki, one of the Watarai daughters.
  This issue: Much is going on at the farm, as foals are born and the family gossips about Strike Eagle's racing prospects ... as well as about eldest daughter Abumi's dates with a would-be fiancee. Father Watarai in particular is growing increasingly nervous about both Strike Eagle and his daughter....

GHOST SWEEPER MIKAMI GOKURAKU DAISAKUSEN!!
by Shiina Takashi

Overview: Mikami Reiko is a money-hungry, gorgeous female ghost buster, aided by her sex-starved and underpaid male assistant Yokoshima Tadao, as well as kind and gentle female ex-ghost O-kinu.
  This issue: The final battle with Ashtaroth has been put off for a while, and our heroes, with demons Luciola (in love with Yokoshima) and young Papillio, have returned to Japan. Luciola and Papillio are under intense scrutiny by the mistrustful ghost sweepers' assocation. But now, Papillio, still loyal to Ashtaroth, has escaped from Mikami and Luciola's control. Mikami, to protect Luciola from the ghost sweepers' association, wants to keep Papillio's escape secret, but guesses that Papillio will come seeking revenge. Sure enough, Papillio returns with a cloud of toxic magic butterflies. She downs Yokoshima, and in doing so draws Luciola's full wrath....

MAJOR
by Mitsuda Takuya

Overview: It has been 4 years since Honda Goro put together the Mifune Little League. Now, in junior high school, he is reunited with his old friends and is faced with a new baseball crisis.
  This issue: Satou Toshiya, after his narrow defeat, has at last decided to "team up" with Honda at Mifune High School in the future and, together, defeat baseball-powerhouse Kaidou High School. Satou stops by Honda's Mifune junior high game against Kaidou's junior high team, and is stunned to see the score: 19 to 0 against Honda's team. Later, in the locker room, Honda tells a disbelieving Satou that they were both deluded to have ever thought they could beat Kaidou....


Randomly Selected Brief Updates:

KARAKURI CIRCUS
by Fujita Kazuhiro

Overview: Masaru is a grade school boy who is the heir to a vast fortune. Shirogane, a French woman who controls a powerful puppet, is his bodyguard.
  This issue: For his friends' safety, Masaru has decided to leave home and school - and his new-found friends. As they leave, he talks with Shirogane about how strange it is that adults seem to depend on, and be ruled by, money. They run into the trio of desperate circusmen who'd helped them out before, and Masaru realizes that Shirogane might find some happiness working in the circus. The depressed circus trio protest that they've lost their tent, but Masaru points out the purpose of a circus is not to display a tent. Before long, the circusmen and Shirogane are strutting their stuff on the street and have attracted a large, appreciative crowd. Masaru notices that these circus people are sincere, hard-working, good-natured people not ruled by money, and decides he wants to work with them too....

RECCA NO HONOO
by Anzai Nobuyuki

Overview: Recca is a fire-wielding high school freshman ninja. He and his friends, who are aligned with the four elements, are in a long-running deadly tournament.
  This issue: Recca is facing his arch-enemy and fellow fire ninja Kurei for their final showdown. The stadium has been evacuated of all of the audience. Recca's friends reassure each other about Recca's safety from outside the stadium. But when Recca and Kurei finally let loose their fire elementals at each other, the stadium explodes and rains destruction and death down upon those outside. Meanwhile, the sinister Mori is far away, in the process of awakening a mysterious figure....

DANDOH!!
by Sakata Nobuhiro and Banjou Daichi

Overview: Dandoh is a earnest young boy who has found a calling in golf. With his friend Yuka and Shou, he uses sincerity and determination as his guides for becoming a pro-golfer.
  This issue: Dandoh, exhausted and worn, is in a tough situation: his ball is under a tree, which prevents him from getting the lift he needs to get it over the water and to the next hole. He has only one long-shot to keep his dream alive, so he uses his driver and actually skips the ball across the water and - amazingly - into the hole. One of the other golfers, Ben, asks him how he chooses his shots, and Dandoh replies that he picks whatever shot excites his spirit most. The answer reminds Ben of himself long ago, before he'd given up that pure joy in favor of the sheer pursuit of winning....

KATTE NI KAIZOU
by Kumeta Kouji

  This is a new series by the author of POKA POKA. This one, like the author's previous series, looks like it will contain the same silly and bizarre, often sexually-themed, bad jokes. Katsu Kaizou is the main character; he is an incredibly gullible, simple-minded, and science-fiction-addicted student. He sees alien conspiracies around him. When knocked out by an accidentally dropped biology model and wakes up in the science lab, he concludes that he has been secretly altered to become a superhuman cyborg agent meant to fight against evil [nah, never heard of THAT plot before]. He also joins the science club, which he is convinced is the secret organization that is fighting against evil. And so the story begins...  

Shonen Sunday ©1997 Shogakugan
¥220


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