1996 Issue 45 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. Selected news from this issue Fujita Kazuhiro's Ushio to Tora ends in this issue, more than thirty volumes after its beginning in Shonen Sunday. The popular manga and TV show centered around the unlikely pairing of the high school boy Ushio, who wielded the mysterious and powerful Beast Spear, and the loud-mouthed "demon" Tora, who insisted he would eat Ushio in the end. Through various adventures, the two come to act as a formidable team that fought on the side of justice and mercy (even if Tora was, at first, not very happy about this). As time goes on, the two came to learn about the darker side of the Beast Spear, as well as about the giant demonic Hakumen beast that sought the destruction of all of Japan. More on the last installment of this series is below!

Me Gumi no Daigo 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 and his perpetual rival Amakasu have both been training long and hard for the grueling Rescue Team test, which is the next day. Daigo is, it seems, determined to rise beyond what others have told him is impossible: passing the test. At work, old-timer Ueki describes to Daigo the watch towers that firefighters used to sit in all day, watching over a town for signs of fire. Just as the times have changed since then, Ueki predicts a new change is coming to the field of firefighting. Later that night, a fire alarm comes in: fire on a mountain....

Love 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 still fights Hyuu in a painful battle. Love's arms, however, are rapidly wearing out against Hyuu's power shots. Her "dolphin" shots are starting to fade. Even her curving "drive shot" fails. Even as Yuuko arrives with a new, Love-like short haircut, Love is gathering up her determination....

Grooming Up! 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: The Watarai farm's primary competitor, the Daigo farm, owns a top-ranked mare (Daigo Artemis) whose offspring are winning major races. Shunpei and Hibiki are taken to the Daigo farm by Hibiki's father. There, amid a sale of horses and much discussion of horse farm politics, Shunpei overhears a conversation about the planned sale of Artemis...

Ghost Sweeper Mikami Gokuraku Daisakusen!! 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: Still on the moon, Mikami and company face a younger Medousa (Mikami's arch-enemy, newly reborn from Yokoshima's body). Mikami and the moon's princess quickly board a ship to take them to the demonic energy transmitter. In the meantime, Yokoshima, Maria, and the other moon people battle Medousa. Medousa leaves her creatures to fight them while she goes on ahead to stop Mikami.

Ushio to Tora Fujita Kazuhiro Overview: Ushio and Tora are a formidable and argumentative team of boy and demon, their fates bound together by the Beast Spear. The unlikely pair works to protect humans against the evil of the Hakumen monster. This issue: Ushio and Tora ends in this issue. Tora sinks the Beast Spear into himself to hide its presence from the Hakumen, and he and Ushio fly in close for the grand finale. Tora, made of the same flesh as the Hakumen and long-ensnared in hatred, has torn free of that hatred and thus no longer feeds the Hakumen with that energy. He and Ushio destroy the Hakumen with the Spear. Tora fades away after the battle. Even as Ushio grieves, he begins to turn into a demon-beast, the same fate that befell previous wielders of the Beast Spear. However, the spirits of Jemei and her family enter into him, halting the process. Many demons go off to support the sinking Japanese island. At last, life returns to normal for Ushio; he now has his mother back, along with his father. But he is still missing Tora. As the reader is reminded, however, monsters such as Tora are known to come back sometimes...

Major Mitsuda Takuya Overview: Honda Goro, the orphaned son of a professional baseball player, has put together the Mifune Little League team. The group of friends struggle to become the best team in Japan.... This issue: Still facing the No. 1 Yokohama Little League and losing by two points, the Mifune is up to bat in the last inning with two outs and one runner on first base. Yokohama then makes Shimizu walk, and comes in close around the injured Komori when he comes up to bat. Komori, however, ignores his damaged hand and defies expectations; he hits the ball as hard as he can. One runner makes it home. Shimizu follows and slides to home plate, just as the ball comes in. The umpire's call...?

SHONEN SUNDAY: COPYRIGHT © 1996 SHOGAKUKAN