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 is once again fighting his evil older half-brother, Sesshoumaru, over Inuyasha's sword. Sesshoumaru, thanks to help from Inuyasha's arch-enemy Naraku, has managed not only to wield the sword, but also to poison Miroku. Now, Kagome deals a temporary setback to Sesshoumaru, but the latter quickly realizes that she is a threat—and that Inuyasha seems to care about her. Sesshoumaru throws Inuyasha into Kagome, knocking her unconscious and enraging Inuyasha.
	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 has just finished telling his superior officer Oshitari that people such as her, who sit behind desks, could never understand people such as him, who fight on the front lines. But now, Oshitari's hard-won, brand-new firefighters' helicopter is mysteriously missing on a simple nighttime test run. Oshitari's superiors deny her request for police help, and now she and other firefighters are frantically combing the neighborhood for signs of the missing helicopter. Daigo accidentally finds her and sees for himself Oshitari's frustration, concern, and true dedication to firefighting. At last, he regrets his rash words to her earlier.
	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: Ai has just discovered that her old tennis rival Youhei, for whom she has gone through her long deception and struggle, has lost his fighting spirit and has just been dropped from the tennis competition. She angers her current opponent by announcing that her foe is still Youhei, even though he is not playing. Telling Youhei to watch her game, she coldly begins to crush her opponent, but with tears in her eyes.
	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: This episode starts off with multiple explosions as Ume continues to lose his horse race bets (He explodes every time he loses.). But as he mopes, he notes that Shunpei has not opened his Valentine's Day chocolates yet (In Japan, the women are supposed to give the men chocolate). Shunpei relates the story of how he finally got a chocolate from a grumpy Hibiki.
	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: Mikami and Yokoshima have at last come face-to-face with her arch-enemy Ashtaroth, who created her in her past life as a servant demon. To her surprise, Mikami is oddly affected by meeting him; her memories of being Mephisto Pheles (her previous incarnation) come rushing back. As Ashtaroth invites her back, magnanimously promising forgiveness and expressing his love for his creation, Yokoshima worries that she is being won over to the demon's side. Mikami reaches out to Ashtaroth longingly. But, then she gives him a surprise massive head-butt, rejects him outright, and announces that she is still Ghost Sweeper Mikami, who fears neither god nor demon.
	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: Toshiya, Honda's rival and the opposing team's catcher, rejects an effort to get him to pitch instead of the tired pitcher Naruse, and reassures Naruse that the team will cover for him. Even Honda himself is defeated by the pitching, and Mifune enters the last inning down by three runs.

	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: Masaru, adjusting back into normal grade school, is trying to look after his class' rabbits in the nighttime school yard with his school friends. The class bullies show up with knives, and while Masaru fights the leader, Shirogane takes away the others' knives, slaps them around for their stupidity, and tells them how knives carry the weight of "one's own life and future" on their small blades. Even as Masaru's fight winds down, though, puppet-armed assassins come rushing in — but so do a trio of displaced, desperate circusmen who have no idea what is going on. Chaos ensues, and Shirogane quickly pulls out her puppet Arurukan.
	NAGISA ME KOUNIN by Kitazaki Taku Overview: Nagisa is a cheerful high school girl who is a brilliant long-distance runner. She is in love with Masato, a brooding runner who is having trouble adjusting to long-distance races. This issue: Nagisa has lost her will to run after her rival Rieh had told her that her running was making Masato feel inadequate. She has even convinced the school to remove her from the racing team lineup. Later, Rieh calls out Masato on a lunchdate and chews him out for not being forthright with Nagisa about his feelings, and then leaves, warning him that if he does not shape up with Nagisa, Rieh will definitely win. Even though Rieh wants Masato for herself, she cannot stand winning in a race against a Nagisa so thoroughly weakened. But at the next roadrace, Rieh looks around and sees Nagisa, but no Masato.
	ARMS by Minagawa Ryouji Overview: Takatsuki Ryou has a mysterious right arm that is a powerful and dangerous weapon. He soon realizes that whatever happened to him is part of something much bigger. This issue: Ryou, seeking to rescue his friends from X-Army, has come face to face with the creepy little girl Carol, whose nickname is "Twister." She is capable of bending objects — including limbs — just by thinking about it. Her attacks on Ryou cause his "ARMS" (a form of nanomachine) to activate and practically overrun his body as protection. Ryou, however, eventually rises up whole and intact and back in control of his body, and despite Carol's repeated attempts to break him, tells her the enjoyment of power guarantees only that one will be eaten up by that very power, and that one will create nothing but terrible things. Thus, Carol, seeing the truth of it, is defeated at last. Ryou then demands of the observers that his friends be returned to him.
	ORETACHI NO FIELD by Muraeda Kenichi Overview: Takasugi Kazuya is a young ace soccer player in the J-league, struggling to help his team to victory against the world's best. This issue: Kazuya awkwardly almost confesses his love for Aiko. In fact, they almost wind up kissing, but circumstances (Takurou) interrupt (as usually happens in SHONEN SUNDAY manga). Shortly after, Kazuya receives a phone call about a game occurring between Argentina and Colombia, and he instantly arrives at the TV, hoping to see his friend and arch-rival Damian Lopez. At last, as Kazuya watches, Damian is called onto the field.

Shonen Sunday ©1997 Shogakugan
¥220