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INUYASHA
by Takahashi Rumiko
Overview: Kagome is a modern student teamed up with the strange boy Inuyasha in
15th or 16th century Japan, seeking to retrieve
the fragments of the magical Shikon No Tama, and trying to stay one step ahead of the evil
Naraku.
This Issue: A little village has been assaulted by bandits whose leader
Gatenmaru turns out to be not human. Inuyasha fights with his sword (which the leader
covets), and damages the other's giant axe. By hurling a young woman in Inuyasha's way,
however, Gatenmaru manages to poison Inuyasha and then cover him in a toxic coating. Miroku
protects Inuyasha by putting up a barrier, but Inuyasha can't move from the poison, and now
the two are trapped in the deadly cocoon. Gatenmaru tries to take Inuyasha's sword, but the
sword won't let him touch it. Kagome and Sango are on their way....
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MAJOR
by Mitsuda Takuya
Overview: Honda (Shigeno) Gorou, from his early years in grade school, has been striving
to become a professional baseball player like his deceased father. Now, in Kaidou high school,
he is facing new challenges.
This Issue: Gorou has left baseball-lord Kaidou high school, in his dream to
defeat them through his own strength. But now, he has discovered he cannot transfer into any
high schools. He meets with Shizuka, who tells him that Kaidou (mainly Egashira, of course)
has threatened to complain to the baseball federation that the other school is trying to
"steal" him as a player. To avoid the threat, no school with a baseball team would be willing
to take him, and Gorou might not be able to practice baseball at all. Shizuka stops him from
irrationally going out to beat up Egashira (that would do worse things for his reputation),
and finally suggests that he go to a high school with no baseball team. He will simply have
to create his own. Gorou winds up at a Seishuu Gakuin, a high school that just recently
converted from an all-girls school into co-ed. "As long as I'm challenging Kaidou, the bigger
my handicap the more exciting the battle!"
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TENSHI NA KONAMAIKI ("A CHEEKY ANGEL")
by Nishimori Hiroyuki
Overview: As a young boy, Amatsuka Megumi was magically transformed into a pretty girl.
Now a totally gorgeous high school student, she has been cursed with misfortune, and she and
her constant admirers must deal with the consequences.....
This Issue: Megumi is in a "competition" with rich Keiko to see who can best
help a little boy become a "real man." Keiko has just told him he's hopeless, and Megumi and
friends are now fighting over how best to strengthen the now depressed kid. Megumi, however,
is feeling awkward because she's not a guy and therefore not qualified (in her view) to
really teach manliness. One by one, Megumi's male admirers try their skewed and/or twisted
methods on the boy, ranging from encouraging perversion with pride, to applying tremendous
mental pressure to become disciplined. At the end, Megumi tells the child that he is a kind
boy, and that kindness is something that requires strength (therefore the boy has strength).
The others seem to like this approach, but Genzou interrupts and says that a true man should
not turn to kindness like that.
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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. Far away, their friend Narumi
is becoming embroiled in an ancient battle against evil living puppets.
This Issue: Narumi and company have defeated most of the puppets at the spring
of aqua vitae, and now Narumi's martial arts teacher, wounded and dying of Zonopha, is reunited
with his daughter and his number one apprentice. They also meet the mysterious dog who
apparently drank of the water long ago. Just as the teacher is about to hug his daughter for
the first time, one of the puppets attacks again. But the dying man has a plan—he is
sitting on a huge stash of dynamite, and the trigger is in his hand. "I have no regrets. I
have lived a true life," he says, and he detonates the dynamite. The explosion seals off the
spring, guarding its waters from the puppets that need it to reach their full potential.
Narumi senses the long, old story of the first Shirogane puppet-hunter has come to a close with
the sealing of the spring.
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TOTTEMO CHIISANA MIZU-SHIBUKI (A VERY SMALL SPLASH OF WATER) - a short story
by Nagayama Aiko, with help from Iwasaki Kyouko
This sort story follows a 6-page Olympics news section, and not
surprisingly serves as encouragement to try for the Olympics. Two little girls watch Iwasaki
Kyouko win the 1992 Olympics 200-meter
breaststroke. "Taeh-chan" declares she'll someday win the gold; Yukari declares that, in
that case, she'll take the silver. Now in high school, the two friends are both in the
swimming club. Yukari appears to be Taeh's sidekick, an attendant to a queen. Taeh is
extremely good at the breaststroke; Yukari appears to be slow. But gradually they discover
that Yukari is slow only because she enjoys following Taeh; in actuality she's a faster
swimmer. This revelation threatens to destroy their friendship, for "queen" Taeh is not used
to "attendant" Yukari being a threat, and even worse, is insulted when Yukari keeps on
following instead of using her full potential. At last they agree to a
50-meter swimming duel. During the contest, Yukari comes to terms
with her own desire to compete in the world and stop following Taeh in everything. She
wins. Although both still plan to aim for the gold medal, their friendship is
restored—though Yukari is gradually breaking away from being the "attendant." The story
ends with encouraging words for anyone thinking of competing on a world-wide level.
Published by Shogakukan
¥ 220
Where to buy
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