March 19, 2008 Compiled by Harley Acres & Dylan Acres
Wednesday in Japan
As webmasters who update constantly, Wednesday is perhaps the most important day of our week. Wednesday is the day that the Shonen Sunday hits newsstands in Japan. Even before the newest chapter summary of Inuyasha shows up on the site we put up the newest cover of Shonen Sunday. And so March 19th started out like any other Wednesday. Upon waking up, Dylan grabbed the newest cover, happily noted it was Detective Conan, and uploaded it to the site. It was only a few hours later, upon realizing that this week did indeed mark the beginning of Shonen Sunday's 50th Anniversary festivities did he take a second look. It seems as though Conan is reaching out for something... and there have been news stories about Shogakukan and Kodansha working together to celebrate their weekly shonen magazines mutual 50th birtdays. With that in mind, we did a bit of browsing only to discover that this was truly a very big day!
The two biggest stars of their companies magazine, Ippo Makunouchi of Hajime no Ippo and Conan Edogawa of Detective Conan shaking hands and beginning the year long run towards Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine's respective 50th anniversaries. Even though Rumic World is dedicated to the works of Rumiko Takahashi, we love manga in general, and Shonen Sunday is our favorite magazine, so we couldn't just let the celebration go by without being a part of it! With that, let's begin our coverage of Rumiko Takahashi and the other superstars of manga contributions to Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine's 50th Anniversary!
Titles Currently Running In Both Magazines
Shonen Sunday
Shonen Magazine
Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi
Hajime no Ippo by George Morikawa
Detective Conan by Gosho Aoyama
Godhand Teru by Kazuki Yamamoto
Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi
Ace of the Diamond by Yuji Terajima
MAJOR by Takuya Mitsuda
Fairy Tale by Hiro Mashima
Kekkaishi by Yellow Tanabe
Negima! by Ken Akamatsu
Hayate the Combat Butler by Kenjiro Hata
Bloody Monday by Ryu Ryuumon & Yoshiyuki Muragami
Shijo Saikyo no Deshi Kenichi by Shun Matsuena
Area no Kishi by Yoshiya Yamamoto
Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina
Smash! by Kaori Saki
Saijo no Meii by Takashi Hashiguchi
School Rumble by Jin Kobayashi
Darren Shan by Takahiro Arai
Yankee-kun and Megane-chan by Miki Yoshikawa
Ocha ni Gosu. by Hiroyuki Nishimori
Air Gear by Oh! Great
Ifrit: Danzai no Enjin by Masanori Yoshida
Ace of the Diamond by Yuji Terajima
Kongo Bancho by Nakaba Suzuki
Ahiru no Sora by Takeshi Hinata
Dive! by Masahiro Ikeno & Eto Mori
Tsubasa by CLAMP
Gamble by Mitsuru Kaga
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei by Koji Kumeta
Kunai Den by Iori Tabasa
Tokkyu! by Mitsuro Kubo and Yoichi Komori
Lost + Brain by Akira Ootani
Yokai no Oisha-san by Yuuki Sato
Maou: Juvenile Remix by Kotaro Isaka & Megumi Osuga
Over Drive by Yasuda Tsuyoshi
Marine Hunter by Shiro Otsuka
Kenko Zanrakei Suieibu Umisho by Mitsuru Hattori
Obo Samba by Kosuke Ijima
Mirai Chonaikai by Eiji Nonaka
Saikyo! Toritsu Aoizaka Koko Yakyubu by Motoyuki Tanaka
Mou, Shimasen Kara. by Hideo Nishimoto
Press Conference
On the morning of March 19th representatives from both Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday held a press conference in Tokyo to announce this historic event. IT Media covered the affair and the following is an overview of this special ceremony, dubbed "Team Wednesday."
"Team Wednesday" encompasses the the 50th anniversary of "Sunday" and "Magazine" and makes for an unprecedented tag team as the magazines showed their support for one another. Pictured at left is the unveiling of the 16th issue covers to the Japanese media. Amongst those standing on stage is gravure idol Satomi Ishihara and actor Shun Oguri.
The press conference featured a brief history of both magazines, which were launched on the same day and published on Wednesday of each week. It was then announced that Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine would unite as the tag team "Team Wednesday". Mitsuru Adachi, Rumiko Takahashi and other manga giants appeared on stage together in a show of support.
It seemed pre-destined that as Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) and Shonen Magazine (Kodansha) both launched on the same day and would both celebrate their 50th anniversaries next year it made perfect sense to do the unprecedented and team up. Both magazines will collaborate on a special issue by putting together their popular manga. Additionally Konami, Uniqlo as well as other companies, will also be invovled in the developing merchandise for the collaboration. The two long standing publishers agreed to the experiment of bringing their manga together amidst an overall decline in the manga market, enthusiastically saying "We want to reaffirm our interest in manga." As mentioned, both magazines have suffered a decline in readership over the years. Shonen Magazine currently averages 1,870,000 readers while Shonen Sunday trails with 935,000 (source). Both magazines trail rival Shonen Jump.
As previously mentioned both magazines launched on the same day, March 17, 1959. Which magazine was first has been a point of intense rivalry between the two companies, which each finally agreeing to say that they launched simultaneously. Since then series such as Oba Q, Touch, Kyojin no Hoshi, Ashita no Joe and many other masterpieces have been published in the magazines; series that have contributed to the manga culture of Japan in a big way.
With the 50th anniversary next year, each Wednesday both companies will start producing "Team Wednesday" products as a cohensive unit. "Why not celebrate our birthdays together" and keep collaborating on various projects the publishers said. Some of those projects will include:
Detective Conan & Kindaichi Case Files Manga
Exclusive Anniversary Clothing Line
Joint Video Game Release by Konami
Giveaways Within the Magazines
More detailed information and images on each of these topics can be found further down the page.
At the press conference , mangaka Mitsuru Adachi, Rumiko Takahashi, Tetsuya Chiba and Fujiko Fujio A all made an unexpected appearance together to cheer on both magazines. Pictured at right are Mitsuru Adachi, who currently publishes Cross Game and Rumiko Takahashi, who publishes Inuyasha in Shonen Sunday. Said Adachi, who has been appearing in Shonen Sunday weekly since 1981, "It's hard to imagine a shonen manga magazine running for fifty years." And with a wry smile he added, "Congratulations..." While Takahashi said, "Coming out every week for fifty years is really something. I think weekly manga will continue for a long time to come since it continually resonates with young audiences."
Their comments were followed by two legends of manga, Tetsuya Chiba (Ashita no Joe) and Fujiko Fujio A (Hattori-kun). Said Chiba, "When the magazines started I was still an 18 year old boy, and I left around the 40th anniversary, but it seems that we're going through life together."
Sunday's first issue featured Fujiko Fujio A's Umi no Ouji, who said, "In the first issue we had Osamu Tezuka (Dr. Thrill), Hiroo Terada (Sportsman Kintaro), Katsumi Masahiko (Nanban Kotengu), and Ryuuichi Yokoyama (Uchuu Shonen Tonda)... of the five original stories published there all of them are dead except for me. I hate to brag but... (laughs)." In those days, when you "dropped a request from a weekly magazine it was serious business". Fujiko F. Fujio agreed to do one, but then tried to pull out the next day. "We humbly apologized, but we never got another offer from Kodansha and after that we only drew for Shogakukan," he laughingly told the assembly.
With the press conference concluded, the magazines were in the hands of fans across Japan who were able to learn more details of what this unheard of team up would lead to.
Great Detective Team-up
Shogakukan and Kodansha will be releasing a bi-monthly book featuring stories of Detective Conan's Conan Edogawa and Kindaichi Case Files' Hajime Kindaichi. First, on April 10th, Sunday's Detective Conan and Magazine's concluded Kindaichi Case Files will come together for a special issue retailing for 380 yen. The new magazine will be released twice monthly on the 10th and 25th, with Shogakukan selling it in April and Kodansha taking over in May. Each publisher will continue to alternate in subsequent months through October. It is unclear at this time if the magazine will feature new stories from each manga, but with Gosho Aoyama continuing to publish Detective Conan weekly in Shonen Sunday and Kindaichi Casefiles well publicized single chapter reappearance in the 18th issue of Shonen Magazine.
Uniqlo's Unique Fashions
As mentioned above, Japanese retailer Uniqlo will be releasing a series of shirts over 53 weeks leading up to both magazines 50th anniversaries. This week kicked off with some very big names from both titles, including Rumiko Takahashi's own Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½ as well as Detective Conan and Mobile Police Patlabor from Shonen Sunday. Shonen Magazine's initial offering isn't too shabby either with Cromartie High School, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Kyojin no Hoshi, Hajime no Ippo, and Tiger Mask getting their own shirts. This being Rumic World, of course we have to show off the shirts for Ranma ½ and Urusei Yatsura! Click on the image for a larger view of both shirts.
Games, Games, Games!
Other companies are getting in on the collaboration too. Software developer Konami is creating a video game featuring characters from both Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday. Additionally there are also plans for a card game and other prizes yet to be announced. Game developer Epoch is releasing a handheld baseball game featuring a showdown between Tatsuya Uesugi of Touch and Mitsuru Hanagata of Kyojin no Hoshi that should be on store shelves this summer.
Other Goodies
Included in each of the next few issues of Shonen Sunday will be a supplemental feature entitled "My Sweet Sunday" which will take a look back at the history of the magazine in ten year increments. Each week the magazine will give away different prizes from famous series that have been featured in Shonen Sunday's fifty year history. The first contest fans can enter features a solid gold, 24 karat Lum from Urusei Yatsura valued at 200,000 yen. Future prizes and giveaways include clearfiles for Touch and Urusei Yatsura, a Zettai Karen Children coin, a Hayate the Combat Butler Shirao Academy school ID, and a Detective Conan postcard.
Needless to say today was a huge news day, not only for fans of series featured in Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine but manga fans in general. In the weeks to come there are sure to be more announcements from Shogakukan and Kodansha regarding the collaboration, and with our favorite mangaka, Rumiko Takahashi wrapping up Inuyasha in the coming weeks, exciting news on her next series may not be far behind as the March 19, 2009 date of Shonen Sunday's 50th anniversary approaches.
March 23, 2008
Sega Crane Game
The "Team Wednesday" Crane Game manufactured by Sega will be released this year in two editions. The summer version will be released in August 2008, while the Winter version will be released in November 2008.
Prizes will include a figure set, jumbo folding fan, bath towel, soccer ball, commemorative mahjong tile, and LED light keychain.
Series that will appear in the game include: Idejuu!, Inuyasha, Law of Ueki, Ushio & Tora, Urusei Yatsura, Osomatsu-kun, Obi o Gyutto Ne!, Oretachi no Field, Ore wa Chokkaku, Katte ni Kaizo, Karakuri Circus, Ganbare Genki, Mobile Police Unit Patlabor, The Ultimate Superman R, Kyo Kara Ore wa!!, Gu-Gu Ganmo, Cross Game, Kekkaishi, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Zatch Bell!!, Sasuke, Survival, Shijo Saikyo no Deshi Kenichi, Ja Ja Uma Grooming*Up!, Shinsei Motemote Oukoku, Touch, Dandoh!!, Tensai Bakabon, Dororon Enma-kun, Neko Navi, Pa-man, Hayate the Combat Butler!, B.B., Drifting Classroom, Pro-golfer Saru, Blazing Transfer Student, Makoto-chan, Musashi no Ken, Detective Conan, Firefighter Daigo of Fire Company M, MAJOR, Moretsu Ataro, Monkey Turn, Yakitate Japan, Ranma ½, Flame of Recca, and others...
For Shonen Magazine the series include: A.I. Love You, Akuma-kun, Ashita Tenki Ni Naare, Ashita no Joe, 1.2 no Sanshiro, Air Gear, 8-Man, MMR, Over Drive, Offside, Ore wa Teppei, Kaze no Sylpheed, Chameleon, Karate Baka Ichidai, Kyojin no Hoshi, Kindaichi Case Files, Geki Retsu, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Getbackers, Kotaro Makari To-oru!, Godhand Teru, Psychometrer Eiji, Cyborg 009, The Kabocha Wine, Cromartie High School, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, Shoot!, Shota no Sushi, Super Doctor K, School Rumble, Tiger Mask, Detective Academy Q, Chuuka Ichiban!, Tsuri Kichi Sanpei, Devilman, Tokkyu!!, Donda Couple, Harlem Beat, Hakai Ouno Ritaka, Hajime no Ippo, Batsu & Terry, Baribari Densetsu, Fairy Tail, Boys Be..., Negima!, Mr. Ajikko, Mou Shimasen Kara., Love Hina, and others...
Footage from March 19th
Footage from the initial press conference has begun surfacing on the internet. Unfortunately the subject of this particular piece is the hosts of the event, Shun Oguri and Satomi Ishihara, but fans can enjoy seeing their favorite mangaka, including Rumiko Takahashi in a rare live appearance.
(The You Tube link is now down, but you can watch the video here on Yahoo Japan)
During the interview Ishihara relates discusses Shonen Sunday's photoshoot with her in New Caledonia, while Shonen Magazine used her in a photo session in Milan, Italy. Oguri compared the Conan-Ippo handshake to George Lucas and Steven Spielberg coming together, and stated that Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday taught values like love, friendship and courage. When asked if he still reads manga, Oguri, who plays Shinichi Kudo in the Detective Conan live-action drama, stated that he has continued to read shonen manga since his childhood, and has a particular affinity for the works of Mitsuru Adachi, and while in junior high school being very influenced by the Shonen Magazine series "Boys Be". When asked if there are any characters he'd like to play, he states that he's very pleased to be playing Shonen Sunday's Shinichi Kudo (Detective Conan), but would love to star in an adaptation of Shonen Magazine's "Over Drive" and date Minami from "Touch".
April 1, 2008
Tokyo Animation Fair 2008
The Tokyo Animation Fair took place from March 26th through March 30th, and had a number of exclusive items related to the Team Wednesday event. For Rumic World's complete coverage, click here.
"Team Wednesday" encompasses the the 50th anniversary of "Sunday" and "Magazine" and makes for an unprecedented tag team as the magazines showed their support for one another. Pictured at left is the unveiling of the 16th issue covers to the Japanese media. Amongst those standing on stage is gravure idol Satomi Ishihara and actor Shun Oguri.
It seemed pre-destined that as Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) and Shonen Magazine (Kodansha) both launched on the same day and would both celebrate their 50th anniversaries next year it made perfect sense to do the unprecedented and team up. Both magazines will collaborate on a special issue by putting together their popular manga. Additionally Konami, Uniqlo as well as other companies, will also be invovled in the developing merchandise for the collaboration. The two long standing publishers agreed to the experiment of bringing their manga together amidst an overall decline in the manga market, enthusiastically saying "We want to reaffirm our interest in manga." As mentioned, both magazines have suffered a decline in readership over the years. Shonen Magazine currently averages 1,870,000 readers while Shonen Sunday trails with 935,000 (
At the press conference , mangaka Mitsuru Adachi, Rumiko Takahashi, Tetsuya Chiba and Fujiko Fujio A all made an unexpected appearance together to cheer on both magazines. Pictured at right are Mitsuru Adachi, who currently publishes Cross Game and Rumiko Takahashi, who publishes Inuyasha in Shonen Sunday. Said Adachi, who has been appearing in Shonen Sunday weekly since 1981, "It's hard to imagine a shonen manga magazine running for fifty years." And with a wry smile he added, "Congratulations..." While Takahashi said, "Coming out every week for fifty years is really something. I think weekly manga will continue for a long time to come since it continually resonates with young audiences."
Their comments were followed by two legends of manga, Tetsuya Chiba (Ashita no Joe) and Fujiko Fujio A (Hattori-kun). Said Chiba, "When the magazines started I was still an 18 year old boy, and I left around the 40th anniversary, but it seems that we're going through life together."
Shogakukan and Kodansha will be releasing a bi-monthly book featuring stories of Detective Conan's Conan Edogawa and Kindaichi Case Files' Hajime Kindaichi. First, on April 10th, Sunday's Detective Conan and Magazine's concluded Kindaichi Case Files will come together for a special issue retailing for 380 yen. The new magazine will be released twice monthly on the 10th and 25th, with Shogakukan selling it in April and Kodansha taking over in May. Each publisher will continue to alternate in subsequent months through October. It is unclear at this time if the magazine will feature new stories from each manga, but with Gosho Aoyama continuing to publish Detective Conan weekly in Shonen Sunday and Kindaichi Casefiles well publicized single chapter reappearance in the 18th issue of Shonen Magazine. 
