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ONE PIECE
by Oda Eiichiro
Started in #34, 1997 (12 volumes available)
Overview: Monkey D. Luffy is a boy set out to sail the Grand Line, find the legendary
treasure One Piece, and become the king of pirates. His small crew consists of swordsman Roronoa
Zorro, navigator/cartographer Nami, gunner "Captain" Usopp and chef Sanji. After an eventful stop
at Logue Town, the five manage to get themselves on the Grand Line, a navigational route where
anything can happen. At the second stop, Little Garden, the group meets the two giants of Elbuff
who have been sparring with each other for an entire century. Broly the giant wins the final match
against Dolly, not knowing that the battle was rigged by the Baroque Works agent so Broly would
win. After the match, Mr.3 sets his trap into motion, and he is about to make wax figures out of
Broly, Zorro, Vivi and Nami. Luffy manages to blow Mr.3 away for a while, but when asked to help
his crew, he replies that he doesn't want to?!?
This Issue—Episode 124: The Tea is Delicious - Zorro,
Nami and Vivi try to encourage Luffy to undo the wax-maker, while Luffy keeps asserting that he
just doesn't feel up to it. Usopp, aboard Karuu, rush over to the scene to help Luffy, but gets
barred by Mr.5 and Miss Valentine. Miss Valentine points out to Usopp that Luffy is standing on
paint, and Mr.5 tries to blow him away without explaining the paint. Usopp tries to run away aboard
Karuu, but the bird took off without him. Meanwhile, Vivi realizes that Luffy's behavior is caused
by Miss GoldenWeek's actions. Miss GoldenWeek's ability is to give subliminal meanings to others
through paint, and the black paint is used as the color of betrayal. Vivi realizes what this means,
and tells Luffy to stay still inside the circle. Luffy betrays Vivi and steps out, and he promptly
starts laughing as Miss GoldenWeek paints "laughter yellow" paint on his shirt back. Just then,
Karuu (still carrying Usopp) bumps into Luffy, rubbing some of the paint off (to send Luffy back
to normal). Luffy sets forth to attack, but the next color, "toreador red", makes Luffy attack only
the red painted circle. While Luffy is stuck attacking the circle, Miss GoldenWeek combines the
yellow on Luffy's back with blue to create "calming green"—and Luffy starts having a picnic
with her! All the while, Mr.5 gets fed up with Usopp's agility, pulls out a flintlock pistol and
fires. Usopp manages to send a flame slingshot to Luffy's back before getting hit with Mr.5's
explosive "breath gunshot," knocking him out yet bringing Luffy back into battle.
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I"S
by Katsura Masakazu
Started in #19, 1997 (13 volumes available)
Overview: This is a story about Seto Ichitaka and his love life. Ichitaka and Iori had
overcome their doubts to have a wonderful relationship. However, with Iori's workload increasing,
and her agent not wanting Ichitaka as her boyfriend, things were getting shaky. Ichitaka was
starting to feel more comfortable with his new neighbor Iko (or rather, Aiko) while Iori seemed
to be happier with a costar in Ichitaka's eyes. Upset that Iori seems to talk only about her new
acting career, Ichitaka decides to tag along with Iko as she goes back to her homeland to talk to
her boyfriend; but the guy flatly tells her to forget about him.
This Issue—Episode 132. Seven to Three - Iko talks
about her ex to Ichitaka, and how she believed in the old boyfriend despite the seeming lack of
a relationship between them. Ichitaka apologizes for ruining everything for her, but Iko replies
that he saved her by prompting her to start over, and that he should believe in his girlfriend
no matter what happens. A few days later, Ichitaka tries to call Iori but gets a "number no
longer in service" recording. He then consults Yasumasa about his problems, that he was thinking
about Iko 70% of the time while thinking about Iori only
30% of the time. Ichitaka asks his friend whether or not he was starting
to seriously fall for Iko, especially because Iori didn't even call him to say happy birthday.
Yasumasa replies that Ichitaka had to find the answer by himself.
Meanwhile, at the acting office, Iori is writing a letter to Ichitaka, saying how she
had written many letters with no response, and that she was waiting for a reply. Just then, her
agent comes in and tells her that she shouldn't write him anymore so she can get herself used to
the role quicker, and the agent offers to send the letter for her. The agent tells Iori that she
hopes Iori can make amends with Ichitaka quickly, but instead of heading for the mailbox, she
heads to the warehouse to throw that letter into a box. The box is filled with all the letters
and gifts Iori had written (and bought) for Ichitaka. Ichitaka, not knowing any of this was
happening, was on a walk one day, listening to the "no longer in service" recording—when
his hand slipped, and his phone dropped into the river.
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HOUSHIN ENGI
by Fujisaki Ryu, based on the translation by Anou Tsutomu
Started in #28, 1996 (18 volumes available)
Overview: Taikoubou is a sennin (a wizard of sorts) sent on a mission to seal away
the souls of the evil temptress Dakki and her henchmen because she is ruining the country starting
with the Chouka, the capital, by controlling its emperor (Chuuou / the Chu King). This project,
called the Houshin Project, is more than meets the eye—but the project is slowly nearing
completion. Taikoubou's Paopei (magical weapon of sorts), the Dashinben, gets an
upgrade; but when he rejoins his troops in the final fight against Chouka, a "modified" version
of Chuuou was waiting along with Dakki and her sisters. Chuuou seems to be possessed by a powerful
spirit, yet the group manages to defeat him. All that awaits the protagonist entourage is to claim
the capital, and the final showdown against Dakki and Joka, the mastermind behind everything.
This Issue—Episode 172: The blood of the Kou family part
3 ~ the sealing of Tenka - As dawn breaks, the Shu army approaches the
capital of Chouka. Tenshou is worried that something good and something bad will happen soon,
while Tenka prepares for the final showdown against the now-old Chuuou. Their swordfight seems
even, but in the end, Tenka triumphs over Chuuou. Chuuou, on the ground atop his own blood, says
that he had lost before the battle even began because he no longer had anything he could risk
fighting to protect, and he tells Tenka to behead him to end it all. Tenka replies that he wasn't
the one who should take Chuuou's head, and that he will let Taikoubou take care of the rest
because he no longer had any reason to fight either. Just then, one of the king's bodyguards
thrusts his sword and stabs Tenka from the back. Tenka weakly smiles at Chuuou, saying he wasn't
expecting this was the way he would die. Taikoubou, who was rushing towards the castle atop
Suupuushan, arrives at the castle to find two still bodies... 
Published by Shueisha
¥ 220
Where to buy
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