Shonen Sunday

Copyright © 2000 Shogakukan Last Issue's Update [2000 Issue 42]		2000 Issue 49 Published by Shogakukan Update by Eri Izawa What is 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. Here are some of the more recently begun series in SHONEN SUNDAY that are not featured in the regular updates: TOGARI by Natsume Yoshinori Overview: Toubeh was a murderous criminal, beheaded 300 years ago and sent to Hell. Now, given a sword called Togari, he has returned to Earth to collect 108 sins in 108 days, all without committing any crimes himself (or else his head will fall off). The sins he seeks are "toga," those that have taken on monstrous and intelligent form, invisibly controlling the humans that do their bidding. Ose, his effective jailguard, takes on a dog shape to watch over him. This Issue: Although this story has already been running occasionally in fits and starts, Sunday Issue 49 marks the first "official" Episode 1. We see Toubeh given his sword from a buxom Ema (one of Hell's bosses), and we see him finding the seventh sin on his third day on Earth: the toga of a murderer about to kill a hapless witness and her little boy. Toubeh succeeds in dispatching the toga, stunning the murderer, and earning a chocolate from the small child (who thinks he's a superhero). Toubeh, having been dead 300 years, is shocked by the chocolate's flavor, remembers he's hungry, and winds up in the yard of a mysterious and powerful old man, where Toubeh also runs into the girl who first befriended him (in a previous episode).
		NAZMI @ (NAZUMI AT-MARK) by Kishi Mikio Overview: Kawazu Hiroshi's main interests are boxing and his online-only girlfriend Usagi. One day a strange, scantily clad, overly friendly and naive girl (actually an AI program) named Nazumi (Nazmi) comes out of his computer (strongly reminiscent of VIDEO GIRL AI all around). She gains information by kissing people, and eventually finds out that Usagi is actually his classmate Uzaki Miyu. This Issue: Uzaki Miyu somehow manages to hide the fact that she's Usagi, but is concerned about Nazmi's relationship to Hiroshi. Later, Nazmi is feeling left out of things because Hiroshi is busy pursuing Usagi via email and won't take her to the zoo. Hiroshi's also busy preparing for his next boxing match (he thinks winning will give him the "right" to meet Usagi in person) which doesn't thrill Nazmi. But his mention of taking her to the zoo does excite her into kissing him, which lets her pick up boxing knowledge, and thus allows her to become a super boxing trainer. Hiroshi becomes concerned when Usagi doesn't reply to his email asking to meet her should he win. He runs into Usagi / Uzaki later, and knowing only that she also is in love with someone, encourages her. Usagi sends him a positive reply soon after.
		PUNYARIN by Koujii Jyoukura Overview: Omata Yama, called Punyarin, is a rotund 18-year-old ohzeki-rank sumo wrestler out for the title of Yokozuna. He has a strange weakness against good-looking sumo wrestlers. This Issue: Punyarin doesn't like the standard "chanko" fare, and goes for the peperoncino spaghetti from Sachiko's mother. Sachiko, his "chanko"-promoting father and their dog all get involved. Later, Punyarin finds an abandoned dog that looks just like him (as well as just like Sachiko's mother). Though Sachiko's mother refuses to have the dog around, it looks like it's here to stay...
		DAITOURYOU by Saijyou Shinji Overview: Toraichi is a young carpenter in a competitive carpentry field. This Issue: Toraichi, part of the Sengoku-Gumi, is in the bi-annual carpentry contest at the Tokyo Tower (think "Iron Chef," except this time "Iron Carpenter"). After a late start thanks to his need to take a dump, he's off and "running"—using paint on his creation, which subjects him to ridicule. The current judging category is "children's toys." Some competitors have made everything from Go sets to Rubik's Cubes to trick boxes. What has Toraichi created?