Weekly Shounen Sunday #2 (2018)

We're in the last month of the year, but Sunday is already in the future --the second issue of 2018 is here and with it another new series! After Xeno's excellent debut, can Yagi one up the amnesiac detective? I'm here on the scene to find out!

On the cover is Ariadne in the Blue sky looking very...un-Sunday like if I'm to be honest. Though that might just be because I'm used to seeing Yagi's particular art style on the covers of Jump magazines. Still, he's a welcome addition to the WSS family! There's also news on Dagashikashi's 2nd anime season, and a color page for Megumi's newest volume so let's hit up the TOC to start things off.

Sokyuu no Ariadne by Nobuhiro Yagi (New series, color page.)

Hatsukoi Zombie by Ryou Mineami (Chapter 105)

Hoankan Evans no Uso ~Dead or Love~ by Mizuki Kuriyama (Chapter 34)

Maoujou de Oyasumi by Kagiji Kumanomata (Chapter 80)

Amano Megumi Suki darake! by Nekoguchi (Chapter 102/ color page)

Tantei Xeno to Nanatsu satsujin misshitsu (Chapter 2)

Komi-san wa Komyushou desu by Tomohito Oda (Chapters 114 & 115)

Major 2nd by Takuya Mitsuda (Chapter 120)

Dagashikashi by KOTOYAMA (Chapter 170/ Color page)

Aozakura Bouei Daigakkou monogatari by Hikaru Nikaido (Chapter 70)

Tenshi & Akuto!! by Aya Hirakawa (Chapter 144)

Souboutei Kowasubeshi by Kazuhiro Fujita (Chapter 82)

Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san by Aiko Koyama (Chapter 47)

Be Blues by Motoyuki Tanaka (Chapter 315)

K.O.I King of Idol by Tamaki Wakaki (Chapter 27)

Kyoukai no RINNE by Rumiko Takahashi (Chapter 397)

Shinobi no by Rokurou Ogaki (Chapter 21)

Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina (Chapter 489)

Daiku no Hatou by Michiteru Kusaba (Chapter 31)

Hiiragi-sama wa jibun wo sagashiteru by Hiroyuki Nishimori (Chapter 82)

Saike Matashitemo by Tsubasa Fukuchi (Chapter 101)

Tenshou no Quadrable by Takahiro Arai (Chapter 34)

Meteor Girl by Reach Ishiyama (Chapter 29)

Youkai Giga by Satsuki Satou 

Tokachi Hitoribocchi Nouen by Yuuji Yokoyama (Chapter 2)

Not in this issue:

RYOKO

Detective Conan

Trying something a little different by adding chapter numbers to the series so we have a better idea of where everything in the magazine is. --Sadly Youkai Giga is a bit more difficult as Satou seems to only number the Kuro chapters and --spoiler alert, Kuro isn't around this week. I guess this is all that much more reason why I need to go ahead and buy volume one, hah. Anyway for the TOC itself, it's pretty normal if not a little aggravating to see Saike way down low even if I expected it. Other than that This is about what I've come to expect from the line up --aside from Hatsukoi being super high. Shinobi has also been low for two weeks in a row which is worrying for a new series --especially with more new series on the way, but Pops should be okay, right?

The Editors at shogakukan are looking for new talent and are offering prizes (and possibly serialization??) for people who enter and win their rookie contest! There's a theme contest --as in one has to write a manga following a certain theme which has been chosen (and will be judged by) Kenjirou (Hayate) Hata! The theme is "My girlfriend died!" .....pretty grim there, wow, with another free section where one is allowed to draw any sort of manga they want. Winners get cash, and their work will appear on the Sunday Webry app/site! I don't know if they allow foreign entries but hey, it's worth a shot! Just make sure you get your entry in before January 15th!

A new visual has surfaced for the Dagashikashi 2nd season, and it reveals that Tomokazu Sugita will voice Yutaka Beni --better known as Hotaru's older brother though it doesn't mention that anywhere in the article, so maybe I just spoiled....oops.  And Perry ---not the one in Shinobi No, of course from episode eleven of the first season. The airdates are also detailed, with the first chance to watch it being January 11th on TBS --Tokyo Broadcasting Station. I do wonder who will stream it for western audiences? I'd suppose Funimation since they did the first season, but there hasn't been an announcement for it yet. Hm. 

Brought to us by the author behind "Claymore" and "Angel Legend" is Ariadne of the blue sky! As sI mentioned before, I'm definetly more used to seeing Yagi's name associated with Jump than Sunday, so this is taking quite a bit of getting used to. The manga world is a secretive one so we'll probably never really know what made Yagi decide to jump ship after a pretty successful career with one publisher, but that's not important in enjoying this series --and right away we're treated to some gorgious artwork as a boy and his two sisters(?) Vivi and Meme run through a field and encounter a flying city! 

Is what you'd think but it turns out to be the boy's dream. In the morning when he asks his grandpa about the mysterious city in the sky the old man seems incredulous --he read a book about the flying city the night before so he's convinced the boy --Rashil dreamt it up as a result. Rashil admits he hasn't seen the city before, but a rumor from a village near a village near a village near a village this is exactly how it's written in the script, though I might have gone a village too far --which is the joke mentions something strange falling from the sky. Gramps is still less than convinced however, and sends Rashil off to get meat for everyone to eat. 

I've only read a little bit of Claymore --and none of Angel Legend, but the former has a sense of "lushness" that I at first attributed to Yagi having a month to work on the series. (Claymore ran in Monthly Jump which later became Jump SQ, both of which are monthly publications.), but the very full sense of scale is present even here in this weekly magazine, so it's definitely Yagi we have to thank for this. It lends very well to Ariadne's atmosphere of being a "high fantasy" sort of series --a pretty neat addition to the lineup, I think. Going back to Rashil, he asks if he can use "that", and Gramps says it's fine as long as no one sees --intriguing. He goes to check the traps for things to eat, when he encounters what seems to be a human leg? Oh no, it's a boot, and it's owner is nearby.

Interesting perspective shot here as the pretty girl who looks very much like Claire from Claymore asks for her boot back. It's worth noting that the boots seem completely at odds from her look and the rest of her clothes, by the way. 

The emperor of the boars appears in Rashil and the mystery girl's midst and one confrontation later, the two are forced off the side of a cliff! It's looking bad for Rashil until...

The girl grabs him and is able to sort of lower him to the ground safely. Unfortunately by doing so she starts to float away like a wayward balloon until Rashil grabs her and acts like a tether. The girl proposes he keep acting as her anchor until they find her boots --reminding the boy that she did save his life. 

I had to skip a little bit of dialog but Rashil finds the Boar Emperor and the girl's boots, and upon finding the latter, realizes how heavy they are. When he asks how much they weigh the girl replies that they're about the same as her body weight, and Rashil makes a educated guess she gets annoyed with him. We're not that far in and the characters already have distinct personalities, which is a very good sign for the pacing of the chapter overall. She's showing signs of being haughty, while Rashil is very straightforward --even boorish, hah. After she gets her boots back on, Rashil just sort of stares at her until she offers an explanation as to her floatiness. --She suffers from "Angel Sickness" which only the cutest girls get once they reach puberty. The girl thinks Rashil doesn't believe her when his reaction seems kind of weak, but it's more like he hasn't ever heard of such a sickness which leads the girl to berate him for being an uneducated child. Rashil takes this in stride without getting upset and states that he probably is uneducated, but he feels like she's not that much older than him and that's what prompts them to finally do introductions. Rashil has just turned 14 this year and the girl --Reana (Leana? I'll go with that one.) is 15, so she's clearly his elder. Her words.

Barely finished their introduction, Rashil and Leana are accosted by guys in mech suits, so much for high fantasy which are special suits known as Sprigan which are faster than humans --so fast that they're immediately surrounded! Rashil comments there's no helping it, and asks Leana to hold tight!

I'm assuming the thing he asked Gramps about earlier are the boots that allow him to leap several stories in a single bound. Rashil is hesitant to talk about them since Gramps apparently told him not to, but when Leana accuses him of being a bad guy he does so to defend his honor. He's not sure of the specifics of how the boots work, but they were special weapons developed during a major war, and use particle light energy to charge up and work. Leana has no idea what that is, implying --and confirmed by Rashil that this is the energy developed and used during the war. Leana doesn't believe him and insists on trying it herself but Rashil says only he can use the boots. --Great bit of world building here, done through casual dialog rather than stopping the story with an explanation, something I appreciate a lot Yagi!

Leana's haughtiness and Rashil being extremely laid back really compliment each other...or well, they don't but that's what makes it funny, hah. She tries to use the boots and instead starts to float away as they don't work for her like Rashil said they wouldn't. Rather than save her immediately, Rashil wonders how far she'll float away and only steps in when she says "to a point where people die." She then tries to play it off like she wanted to float away --quite the strong willed girl. Rashil rushes forward with Leana and asks her if she knows anything about the flying city as well as mentioning the outside world that he knows nothing about, but would love to see someday. 

Rashil goes on to state that he believes the flying city is out there and keeps an eye on the sky in hopes of seeing it someday. Leana asks that he slow down a bit, but he can't hear her at all cause of how fast he's going, hah. Though it's actually a good thing he's traveling at high speeds as the Sprigan have appeared and have his Gramps surrounded --and they ask about a girl and boy, who are most definitely Rashil and Leana. 

Rashil asks the important question of why they'd send a force like this after one girl, and pretty heavily implies that she's some sort of legendary evil, man this kid. Leana reveals her full name --Leana Scuraktofi Ariadne, the imperial princess of kingdom of Ariadne. Rashil's only reaction is to apologize --he's never heard of that place before. Leana explains she's betrothed to marry someone in a luxurious wedding ceremony now that she's fifteen, and after that all that awaits her is a life of being stuck in a castle, unable to leave. So it was her hope that before that begins she'd be able to see what life in the world outside of hers was like. 

Leana states all the things she's heard of but not seen which serves as an indicator of what we might be able to expect from this series --twelve clans of beings other than humans, seven vast seas, a sand dune of seven different colors, and a golden waterfall among other things --her country is one made of iron, a pitiful city-state as she calls it. 

Rashil hears this and recalls a time where he was saved by who I can assume is Gramps after his father, mother and older brother were killed --though I'm assuming there as the script doesn't specifically say "killed' just that they're gone. (Gotta cover my behind here.) He stands and says that while most of the things Leana has said are things that may only be rumors, he himself knows nothing about what is in the skies beyond the mountains, so they may very well be true! If they intend to verify this then there's no choice but to take down all of the guys here. 

Leana's envoy doesn't believe a kid with a big mouth can touch them, but he proves them wrong by singlehandedly smashing the Sprigan one after another. It's then that one of the guards comments that Rashil might be a possessor of something.....

And in an impressive two page spread he uses something called a "Photon burst" that takes out the Sprigan all at once. 

Apparently Rashil has been able to gather light energy sine he was a little kid. Leana had the same reaction as myself when she asks how he could keep something so important to himself, and he's like "Well no one asked, so..." he's been living in the mountains because of this ability of his --to keep it secret, and such. It's then that the floating city of Ariadne appears --apparently Rashil had the right idea that it actually exists, but it only appeared now! Next week will have 25 pages and hopefully reveal more of the world above! Man, I'm not sure how I'm gonna handle this since both Xeno and Ariadne had pretty strong debuts, but I can't possibly cover both every week after the initial three chapter obligation, can I? I'll be asking that question over the next few weeks --until then you all benefit from it as I will be translating and uploading these series over the next few weeks. 

Evans has questions of his own in this week's chapter which picks up immediately after the cowboy's first long arc. Turns out the man who they thought was the ringleader in fact wasn't. He's just a relay for whomever the real client is. the truth is Evans really did think he was the ringleader, but the gunman can't have people thinking he was caught unawares. 

A few days later the identity of the true mastermind is unknown even after Evans and his crew question the gang in question. It's then Ted states his outright suspicion of Pheebs allegiance. During questioning one of the brigands brings up that it's possible she was in on the plot herself since she seemed quite pleased with herself when she was able to sneak into Evans' house. Of course we know the truth is she just wanted to be in the room of the man she's crushing on, but there's no way she'll just admit to that, hah. She tries to get Ted to back off on his questioning but he's on the trail of something and refuses to take a hint. 

Evans is intrigued by this in the page on the left as well so he's not going to step in and save Pheebs at all. The text box says that Evans is perfectly fine leaving the dirty work to Ted, while making it sound like he's just ruling out all possibilities, hah. Pheebs doesn't help her own case by asking what basis Ted has for his assertions rather than outright denying them, however --which leads Ted into the next part of his deduction it was said by all of the bad guys that Pheebs took something from Evans' room, and then burned it. Now Evans is hoisted by his petard --while the two think it's a list of his techniques, Evans knows that it's actually his notes on his Dad's sermons on being popular, --and if he lets this conversation continue, there's a good chance they'll ask him about it and he'll have to explain. 

So he steps in and puts an end to Ted's suspicions --saying that Pheebs isn't suspicious in the least. He then has a flashback where his father prepares him for the possibility that his notebook will be discovered, and if such a thing should happen he should just tell the truth, since a man who becomes popular on falsehoods is the worst sort --so Evans settles on sort of telling the truth. He admits the notebook is teachings from his father, but stops short of admitting exactly what it was his father was teaching. 

Poor Ted and Pheebs react with anger and disbelief accordingly upon hearing this, but Evans doesn't seem to mind --he's not a small man who worries about such things after all. Except the text box mentions that his courage has shrunken considerably with some really bad timing as the person who might have been behind the assassination appears ending the chapter. The preview text seems to indicate that Evans is off to a marriage meeting next week so perhaps for now Kuriyama is moving on to other things. Still, Evans first arc was quite good, and I look forward to more when the story calls for it. 

Megumi is up this week with a color page commemorating a new volume release --#9 this month. It feels like not too long ago I was talking about volume 8's cover, so this comes as a bit of a surprise --but this is by far one of the most popular series in the magazine, so I guess it's not too strange that it gets a lot of press. As for the chapter itself, Megumi's underclassmate Natsu Hadzuki appears again, and this time she is like a little sister to Megumi. The chapter moves along to Megumi and Ma-kun having a picnic under the cherry blossoms (Megumi more or less forces Ma-kun along by stealing his lunch, though.) To my surprise the chapter takes a little bit of a somber turn when Ma-kun mentions his studies and how he'll be able to see cherry blossoms from Tokyo if he gets into the school of his choice, while in the page above, Megumi wonders where where she'll be seeing cherry blossoms in two years. Ma-kun has a set path, but Megumi admits she has no idea what she'll be doing. Ma-kun then admits to himself that he does find Megumi's smile enchanting from time to time..

And well, I am contractually obligated to bring you guys dual page spreads, so rejoice, kinda. Whether this view ruins the moment or makes it better is up to you all to decide, but as I've said in the past, I like that Megumi knows what it is and doesn't try to fight that in spite of things. Also I see what you did there with Megumi's panties, Nekoguchi. A new year (of school) has started in Megumi and like a wind through cherry blossoms (and panties) it's refreshing! 

Xeno's second chapter begins with the detective thinking deeply about something as Inspector Onikobe drives him to the next crime scene --the home of the illustrious architect Shichiro Kai. Except not really, it's just more like Xeno is carsick and after dealing with it as long as he can, asks the the inspector to pull over so he can "relieve himself". As he does so, the two regard Kai's tower in the distance as their new crime scene. 

Sugiyama must have been an architect himself in a past life, as wow these set-ups look amazing. Two chapters in and I'm willing to say that his panel work might be some of the best in the magazine! Anyway, they meet up with the butler Anzai, and get a brief look around the abode including a very creepy clock that looks very much like the Grim Reaper. A clock that Kai himself is noted to have said that when someone in the house dies, the Grim Reaper comes out and harvests their soul. 

It's then that they're taken to Kai's body and Xeno's expression is interestingly furious-ish looking. Possibly because he wanted to see through Kai's attempt to provoke him by invoking the "seven locked rooms". Unfortunately now he's dead, taking whatever knowledge he had with him to the grave. The police want to launch an investigation, but the room is locked --and apparently Kai's final will states that the investigation can only commence if Xeno is the one who starts it. 

Xeno still wonders what Kai's intentions were when they last talked, while the Inspector continues his own investigation --noting that nothing was stolen, and since there's only a single glass of wine in the room, Kai wasn't expecting any guests --or well, at least no one he was familiar with. The right page also indicates something interesting --Onikobe outright laughs at Xeno for wasting his time coming out here since this case doesn't require a detective. I figured maybe there would be a little bit of friction between the two after chapter one, but I didn't think Onikobe was outright antagonistic toward Xeno --then again Xeno did outright call him a fool in chapter one, so maybe this shouldn't be as much of a surprise to me as it is. 

Xeno finds a gun and it appears it hasn't been fired yet --it looks as if it was just left behind, though that's not the only strange thing here....the glass from the broken cabinets is on the outside as if something burst from them, instead of the other way around which would make more conventional sense. There are too many unnatural occurrences here that Onikobe outright missed, which vexes him enough that he yells at his men to pick up the pace and begin a more stringent investigation, starting with who might have been in the house at 9 pm that night, as well as questioning the butler. He also mentions three more people....hmm.

Xeno spots something and seems curious about the air vent and excuses himself to go and talke a walk --something Onikobe is totally fine with as he's in the way of the investigation. Sugiyama's framing is strongly on display on the right, page as Xeno strolls into a room after finding a very familiar pen...

And begins stabbing the room for a bit until a familiar face appears asking if he's trying to kill her. Welcome back Dzaka Ayla, you've been missed! The pen is hers, as well as the gun Xeno found, but she's very quick to say that she wasn't the one who killed Kai. Xeno believes her as there'd be no reason to remain in the house if she were the killer. That being said, she was contracted to kill Kai by someone which is why she's here. Xeno surmises that she came to carry out her contract when she was ninja'd by someone else who killed Kai before she could, making her the sole witness to the murder. I'm not sure of how old Xeno is, but he specifically calls her an "assassin girl". It's a bit lost in translation, but the language he uses indicates something closer to "little assassin girl" though he doesn't look that much older than she does? Just a bit of food for thought. 

Ayla says she didn't see anything --and that's the problem. She claims an invisible Grim Reaper came and killed Kai by flinging him back using unseen forces, as well as flinging knives at him using more of the same invisible abilities. There's an unseen monster in the room, and it's got killer instincts! 

Supposing she did somehow doubt the validity of what she saw, actual experience speaks volumes. While hiding in the vent and processing what she saw, the very same invisible Grim Reaper yanked her gun out of her hands, terrifying her and sending her into hiding. Xeno is deeply interested in her account, but doubts anyone would believe her story --except someone does believe her --three someones. The three ladies in the right page appear, the tallest of which, Riku introduces herself. 

The second black haired girl is Umi, and the last youngest girl is Sora --they are Kai's three adoptive daughters, and they overheard Xeno and Ayla's conversation --so they are aware of Ayla's "mission" to kill their Dad, but they oddly offer Ayla solace --after all if she's found in this room she'll be immediately suspected as the killer, so they say they'll offer her a change of clothes to keep her from being discovered. --It's somewhat implied they're doing this to keep the investigation on track, as they ask Xeno to follow them as well, though Riku asks Xeno if he knows who killed their father, and he replies he doesn't know anything. 

The girls' reaction is...interesting to say the least. They immediately call Xeno out on being a liar, but their expressions range from disgust to fear. Riku straight up says they know he's lying, and that's what makes them Kai's daughters. 

The butler reveals that the three girls have something called the "Polygraph syndrome"  --a disease that causes them pain whenever someone lies. According to Onikobe, people with this affliction don't tend to live long, due to the stress it puts upon their hearts, and considering how society is built upon lies, it's tough going with anyone who has this sickness. Kai gathered the girls here because he found their affliction interesting, and is or well, was raising them as his adoptive daughters. Ayla is with the daughters where Umi reveals that their father didn't really love them, so she's not too torn up over him being killed. 

He was basically using them to ensure that whenever he got a big contract, that the contractor wasn't lying to him --so as human lie detectors. Meanwhile Onikobe runs into a bit of trouble when another officer from the 12th precinct --Himemiya appears and pulls rank to take over the crime scene. 

As Himemiya is with the public safety bureau, he takes great joy in saying he has no obligation to explain what he's doing and why. Xeno drops the bomb that they're looking for a "criminal planner" --someone who's organizing crimes and giving folks the ability to commit them. Ranging from politicians to people in the corporate world. It goes without saying that the public safety bureau can't have this happening under their noses, so they called in Himemiya and his cronies. Needless to say this does not start the two out on the best footing, and Himemiya fabricates assault on an officer to get Xeno locked up and off the crime scene --Onikobe seems to know that he plays dirty, as he stops Ayla from getting involved --surprising since she has no real reason to care about what happens to Xeno....

Though they don't get very far as the same invisible forces that killed Kai send several officers to their deaths out of the several story building. Not only that, but the aforementioned Grim Reaper clock has started acting strangely as according to the butler. Surprisingly Xeno's only response to all of this is to declare that he's solved the mystery. Will next week's chapter be the resolution of this case? Or is there more than meets the eye? At the very least it'll be the resolution of my obligatory coverage, and honestly speaking I'm interested in Xeno's world enough that unless the third chapter really drops the ball that I could be convinced to continue coverage after that. 

A color page brings in this chapter of Dagashikashi --basically advertising the "soon-to-be-upon-us" second season. Though the CP isn't all that interesting, the chapter's contents are very much so --Hotaru reveals to Koko that she's got a time limit on how long she can remain in the country side --until the next summer vacation. After all, she came here for the purpose of recruiting his father, not so much to hang out and make friends. Koko doesn't want to see her go, but he doesn't want to head into the snack business either, so now he too has a timeline to decide on which one he wants more. I do like that he tries to defuse this situation by invoking the "Trope of the week" asking Hotaru to talk about this week's candy rather than the serious subject at hand --KOTOYAMA knows what his audience comes for and subtly subverts that. Though the question now is the series setting up it's own endgame? I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case, as I can imagine with just over three years of content, and rather good sales, it might be good for the series to go out on a high note. No need to fear though, I think the sweets will keep coming for a while yet. 

Tenshi to Akuto keeps up it's romantic streak with this week's chapter, though the art is engaging enough to keep me interested even if the drama that ensues from the romance isn't so much. I'm also impressed by Akuto's character arc --he may not realize what he's feeling himself, but Shou and the audience sure do. His feelings for Nari who he initially just looks up to are becoming something more than that --not quite love but more than friendship as he watches her voice act with another person and becomes visibly upset. I was thinking this would be a temporary diversion until the story returns to what it does best, but I think Hirakawa is going to resolve this subplot before she takes on the next big arc, which makes sense. I just hope she doesn't ruin the overall very strong pacing that came from the Sweets girls arc by dragging this sub-plot too long. 

Takoha makes a dynamic entry with this week's Souboutei, barely saving Kaerikuro from being killed by a mystery monster in the halls of the house. Considering this is the first time Takoha has met Kaerikuro, it's a great show of his character that he dives in and saves her despite them being strangers. After making sure sh'e's able to move, he moves to run away...

But the men she was fighting aren't about to allow her to escape so easily. Takoha's a bit braver when it comes to dealing with other people, as he argues with the men who would dare gang up on a woman, which is pretty assertive for him, I'd say. Though he seems to think they're cosplayers --or at least calls them as such. The men ask where he came from, and he reveals he's been in Sakamaki's company up until now. When the soldiers seem to be perplexed by this, Takoha realizes if he does things just right he might be able to take Kaerikuro and escape from this predicament without a fight!

A flashback to before --Sakamaki is surprisingly considerate in his critique of Takoha's art...in that it's strange he's taking an interest at all, really. Takoha really just wants to run as far as he can, however, heh. Sakamaki comments that Takoha should take more consideration into doing rough sketches as they'd help direct the flow of his finished drawings. Takoha is relieved that Sakamaki isn't going to outright kill him anymore, but this critique on his art is almost as deadly, admitting that he's not so great at doing rough sketches, as his teachers would get mad at him during his sketch lessons explaining drawing models in different poses --something apparently Sakamaki's generation knows nothing about. 

Takoha then as a slight joke suggests that he study sketch art with Sakamaki, but they don't have any female models here so that's a no-go. Though that's not true, as he shows his ability to look into different parts of the house as it's owner. He cuts into Kurenai and Rokuro first, but Takoha realizes if he says the wrong thing Sakamaki might actually try to bring her to them, so he plays this off and says Kurenai is too skinny to be used for sketch studies. Sakamaki then changes over to Kaerikuro, but she's on the verge of death. Takoha can't bear to watch and basically demands that Sakamaki send him to her if he's not going to do anything to prevent further injury. Sakamaki's expression on the bottom of the right has slowly become my favorite thing in this series. He doesn't get at all why Takoha would want to go so far for someone who's basically dead, but he lets him go anyway --not like he can escape, right? 

He figures since the soldiers and Sakamaki are on the same side, they'd simply let the duo leave, but..this is a shounen manga, and things are never, ever, that easy, Takoha.

Whether Sakamaki approves of it or not, the soldiers are not pleased to have someone wander into their fight uninvited. The price for such rudeness is....death. 

Two more chapters (well, it's actually one, since it includes this one) are left for Rinne, and The final volume will be out in a mere month --January. Let's get right into it! Rinne tries to buy the stone for Sakura on the black market but is unable to find it for sale. Meanwhile Sakura's friends have noticed that Rinne has stopped coming to school and ask her about it --but she feigns ignorance stating she has no idea, but deep down she figures he moved out of the club rooms in order to properly focus on ridding himself of debt. 

Sabato appears suddenly and gives Sakura a present to make up for the one his son broke, while asking that she keep it secret. Tsubasa drags him away to find out exactly what's going on, while Rinne consults with his mother who finally explains everything that's going on. Including how she basically forced Sabato to go to the beyond and buy something for Sakura after everything he did, heh. Ageha doesn't help matters by commenting that even if Rinne had reasons for selling the gift, no girl will ever forgive him for doing so. 

And then it all clicks. Sakura was upset with him last time they talked, and while he only wrote the letter to her as a means of apology, it really does come off as a farewell letter. (The one he penned a few chapters back thanking her for looking after him.) So it looks very much like he cut and ran just because she wouldn't give him money (or that he had found a new source.) Rinne quickly realizes he has to set things right, but before he can, Rokumon reminds him that they have to find the pieces of the broken otherworldly river device seems like everyone completely forgot about that, hah. 

While Rinne is looking for Sakura to apologize and properly explain this situation to her, Sakura starts to realize she's actually really sad to not have Rinne around, and that perhaps...maybe she might be in love with him. --And yes I know the word "suki" has many connotations, from "like" to "love" but considering the context it's used in on this page, I'm choosing the latter. She's always been fond of him, but now the realization seems to be that her feelings run much deeper.

Ageha and Tsubasa head to the dorms to find Sakura --and it's then they find out the secret of the river device --that if humans come in contact with it they'll be whisked to the other side on a straight trip through the circle of reincarnation, which is exactly what happens to Sakura!

Except when Rinne heads to the wheel to save her...she's not there? Is he too late to save Sakura from being reincarnated? Next week is the finale, and you can bet I'll be here to translate and cover it for everyone! 

Shinobi sets out swinging as the fight between Perry and Pops starts. Perry's been depicted as a tall meanacing sort, but how does he stack up in actual combat? The answer to that is...pretty darn well --as he's able to keep Pops on his toes and on the defensive. Perry's done his homework on Shinobi and Samurai, and it shows through his movements. This isn't going to be a one and done assassination, and even worse, the commodore's men are almost done preparations for their attack on Edo! 

While this is going on, Sen --remember him? is freaking out. Not only is his home country about to become annexed by America, but he's kind of complicit in the whole "letting-pops-on-board-to-meet-Perry" thing! This can't be real can it? Oh but it is very real. Add to the fact that he is Japanese on an American vessel, and things just got very complicated for Sen. The optomistic lad does have a pretty good head on his shoulders though, he quickly realizes that even if Pops does manage to finish his job and kill Perry, that the chance of war once the ships reach land isn't going to just vanish, and even if the two wanted to talk, a little thing known as the language barrier is going to keep that from happening. Sen quickly dashes off in hopes that he can find the two and barter some kind of understanding to keep things from getting worse. Meanwhile people have started gathering at the shore and assume the worse --until a gallant stranger appears and...

Basically confirms everyone's nightmares with a big smile on his face. The people were hoping it wasn't war and may have concluded somehow they could avoid war, but this guy says it is, and he looks....pleased? A shame his identity isn't revealed this week, but it's good news for the series longevity if Ogaki is still introducing characters, so rock on mystery man. 

Perry and Pops's struggle continues, with the former even being familiar with Kusarigama, and employing a feint to avoid Pops's attack on him. Perry's not only clever, but fast so Pops has trouble landing a hit on him. Perry acknowledges Pops's strength, goading him on with a promise that he will be defeated here and Japan will be conquered. 

Although Perry can't understand him, Pops acquiesces that little tricks won't be enough to stop the commodore and drops all of his tools of the trade except for his sword. He then begins to chant a mantra for the goddess of the sun Marici before transitioning into the page on the right where he promises to show Perry the true essence of a shinobi. Perry thinks this means he's ready to clash head on, and welcomes the opportunity...

Though Pops surprises him with a pretty sneaky tactic --he took one of the medals that Perry is so proud of and shoves it into his eye for a healthy serving of "eye scream" after seemingly abandoning his sword. Pops quips that he was praying to the sun goddess --something done often to prevent the enemy from seeing....but I doubt she meant anything like this, or at least not quite this litterally! The chapter ends with Pops commenting that Perry's learned one more thing about Shinobi, and with us at the edge of our seats. Although this probably isn't the end of the fight, it's important to keep in mind that Shinobi no isn't a shounen action manga in the usual sense of the term. So far Pops' victories have been pretty decisive and quick, which leaves the true whereabouts of this battle in the air. 

I'm not covering the series itself due to the scanslations being pretty caught up and generally not reading it for a while, but I felt like this tribute to the recently departed Hiromi Tsuru (who voiced Mikami in Shiina's previous manga --Ghost Sweeper Mikami) was worth posting on the blog. Mikami is Shiho on the left, Aoi is Bulma, Kaoru in the center is Dokin-chan from Anpanman, on the right of her is Madoka Ayukawa from Kimagure Orange Road, and last is Ukyo from Ranma 1/2. May Tsuru rest in peace and her legacy of characters she brought to life not be forgotten. 

Next up is Saike fresh off his 100th celebration, though none of the characters have any time to really relax and kick back as Calim isn't down after the blow he received from Hizu last week, and Silviano has taken Hi from Shinonome and Minegishi's grasp. Hizu tries to convince Calim to walk a righteous path, but the latter won't take defeat as an answer, and has a near breakdown when Hizu says he's no hero, just a kid messing around. 

Without the ball and chains serving to his advantage, Calim doesn't stand a chance against Hizu who manages to get another blow in despite being blinded. Silviano appears after the two are down, and comments that Johann isn't going to be happy to hear he failed. Still, he's required to report in since he's managed to grab Hi, and so he prepares to go until...

Calim grabs him --he's quite persistent isn't he? Calim demands that he be taken along for the ride, but Silviano's oracle only allows him to transport one thing at a time, so if he takes Calim, he'll have to leave Hi behind. Calim replies that he can easily capture Hi again, and demands to be taken back all while grabbing Hi's paw, which results in a nasty bite from the lesser panda. Now if you all at home remember, this little critter has the ability to grant others abilities through bites and scratches --hrm...

This may be explained later, so I'll refrain from passing too much judgement on it but all it takes is an intense stare from Calim for Silvano to drop Hi and return with him instead. Does Calim have something on Silvano? Is there some kind of deeper reasoning the latter had to abandon his mission despite being a stone's throw away from completing it? I'm not sure, but it does tug at my sense of disbelief that things played out this way --but that's the downside of reading manga weekly, one doesn't get the whole picture to contemplate on right away. In any case, Saike and the others find Hi and Hizu using the latter's GPS signal, where they find him blinded. Saike is ready to hop into mogura pond to reverse things and get Hizu back to normal but he stops Saike instead....

Hizu says that he knows that his eyes will never recover if Saike doesn't reverse time, but if he didn't do what he had to, his words would have never reached Calim. What Calim needed was someone like Saike --someone who was willing to risk his life for his sake. If it meant perhaps breaking through his chains with his voice, giving up his eyes was a minor price to pay. He then asks Saike if he managed to do something heroic, like him?

Saike weeps bitterly --how can he possibly ignore Hizu's wishes and go back after hearing that? Hizu isn't "like" a hero, but the real deal. I'm a bit surprised that the chapter played out like this --I wasn't expecting Fukuchi to slow down the action to this degree, though on the other hand I do feel like it was warranted --Hizu's character development from his debut until now has really come around and it feels like a huge reward to see it come to this point. Saike's been more than a friend to him, but an inspiration --though now I'm left wondering where the arc will go from here as the heroes have achieved their goals by defeating the bad guys and getting Hi. I feel confident Fukuchi won't let me down though, and eagerly anticipate the next chapter. 

The final battle in Quadrable heats up as the boys (and girl) take on their former benefactor in a no holds barred battle royal. Oddly the villain has Miguel in his sights as his attacks seem to constantly be aimed for him for reasons unknown. As he attacks them relentlessly, he recalls their time spent in Japan and how fond of them he is --all adding salt to the wound punctured in them by his betrayal. Arai's artwork is a spectacle to behold over these pages as the looks of determination met by the impressive panel work labor together to bring a final battle we won't soon forget.

It turns out he's looking for a replacement to the "King of the final night", and needs a suitable human who has taken on the blood of diablo himself to sit upon the throne. This is why he's lead the group here and continues to toy with them. Even after their strongest attacks, --including a flashy one from Mancio, he simply stands and asks if the boy would like to be the one to inherit diablo's blood?

Miguel and the others rush in to protect Mancio, but he's quickly tossed aside, as it turns out true true target was Miguel the whole time as humans with strong emotions are the easiest to control. Since the very first moment they met, he's had his eyes on Miguel as the one who would inherit the devil's power. 

And with one bite, Miguel has been taken over by the darkness, defending their foe from further attack. There's not much room for me to add anything this week --as the art speaks for itself, evidence of Arai's mastery of his craft. That being said, with the quadrable being a trio now, what can they do to stop the rise of the new diablo?

In a week where it seems like the bad guys have one up on the heroes of Sunday, can Meteor Girl change the tides? The answer to that question gets complex when the antagonist of this weeks chapter is Sachi --the older sister of Ryoko the nurse. Sachi's been sent by Chihiro to keep anyone from getting into the tower where she lurks, and while at first Sachi seems to be under Chihiro's thumb, upon seeing Tetto, Sachi thanks him for his help before, and professes she really doesn't want to kill him as it would make Chihiro sad --so she begs Tetto to leave and let her vent out her feelings by destroying everything. Ryoko catches up with the group and demands her sister back off, and leave Tetto and his friends to do what they must. 

Ryoko is unable to comprihend why Sachi would do such things after they seemingly made up with each other, and Sachi is quick to explain her sympathies with Chihiro who's lost her family, her friends and her place in this world. How could Ryoko possibly understand her situation? Ryoko's having none of it and slaps her sister --"of course I don't  understand! Because I have..."

Sachi smacks her back and demands she stay out of it if she doesn't understand. Tetto is aghast and asks how she could do this to her own sister. Sachi admits they were sisters but this was in a past life before she died. Now she's nothing more than a Meteor Girl --a machine that knows nothing but killing, one that has nothing and no one --but Ryoko refutes her that she's still here, and she will bear half the burden of her sister's sins. 

Hane's the only one with the presence of mind to say that this is a good time for them to get moving, but Sachi isn't going to let them through --luckily her sister tackles her down which allows Tetto, Hane, and Ikeyama to get through without further interference. Ryoko tearfully mentions how it's been a long time since they've had a sibling fight like this as Chihiro looks on from high, an interesting expression on her face. Not quite anger, not quite sadness, not quite understanding, but something in between, maybe? MG is speeding along toward the end --that much is clear, but what kind of ending will it be? I'm glad that at least the sisters got a satisfactory ending, as I was worried that story-line had been dropped. 

This week's Youkai Giga chronicles the "Baku" of which is probably a popular creature in media as it has representations of several types in folklore and pop culture --the latter having representation in Pokemon as "Drowzee". It is a youkai that eats dreams --and has quite the interesting origin story as a creature cobbled together from the leftover bits of creation, explaining it's appearance. In Youkai giga this week, the Baku is called upon by a young man in an effort to help his childhood friend --a pretty girl with her insomnia caused by bad dreams. He writes the name of the youkai on a paper and puts it under her pillow --is what he wanted to do but already there is a paper with his name on it. She had heard from a friend if you put a paper with someone's name on it under your pillow,  you'd dream about them, and she was hoping to see the young man in her dreams --as she's had feelings for him for some time now, which are requited from the young man. So now what? Well as the last image shows, she's ready to take things to the next level, but...

Turns out it was all a dream created by the Baku, heh. It eats the dream bows in thanks and leaves as the young man asks it to let him see how the dream ends. Sorry, but that's just now how it works, buddy. 

Chapter two of the loneliest plantation has Yokoyama trying to find farmland for his little project --a prospect that's exactly as difficult as it sounds, as he'd have to talk to an organization known as the "agricultural committee" but his editor says all he needs is a house with a yard to do his thing, not an entire plantation. --Not that his editor is being particularly helpful in searching, hah --and for good reason, he's in it for the ice cream out in the country. In the end, Yokoyama is able to score some land that was going to be repurposed for something else, but he'd have to buy it outright rather than getting a traditional loan, which sounds...sketchy. I'm not sure how much of this is fact and how much is fiction to keep this interesting, but Yokoyama's got a long way to go. 

Surprising --but not really is this dual page ad taken out for Conan's current case (which wasn't in this issue) and the ramifications for Conan should it be found his alter ego Shinichi Kudo is alive --there's a good chance he and the people around him will be targeted putting everyone in danger. What's a pint-sized detective to do? We'll find out next issue where the current case is meant to come to an end. Considering how big a deal they're making of this, it makes me wonder if fans should do the opposite of what this is implying and keep their hopes low? This just seems so suspiciously in-your-face, and the speed of which things are occurring are unlike Aoyama's normal pacing....well, I won't tell you guys what to think, but that's my feeling on the matter. 

And that's it for the 2nd issue of this year that hasn't yet started! Next week we'll have color pages for the 2nd chapter of Ariadne, and the third of Xeno, along with another for Rinne's final chapter --that will have extra pages (29 in total). Not only that, the Conan spinoff series about the criminal shadow Hanzawa-san will run it's first chapter, and last but not least is the first chapter of Marry Grave by Hidenori Yamaji which will get the lead color of the issue, (but not the cover --Idols get that one.) Oh and I almost that Yuugami will be stopping in as well, making this an issue full of things not to miss! It'll be a lot of work for me, but I'll do my best to cover everything! At least I'll have a week off after that to recover, maybe. See you next week here on Sundays on Tuesday!