Kurosagi The Black Swindler 4, A Spirit of the Sun 1 premier edition, Tokyo Juliet 1 (Level Comics 25 November 2008 manga)

(Cover images provided by Level Comics no Aryaguna-san)

A Spirit of the Sun and Tokyo Juliet premiere this coming Tuesday from Level Comics, the Indonesian imprint that releases manga for the "Dewasa" or over 17 only crowd. If you've been looking for a bit more information than what's available from Elex's 26 November STO, you've lucked in.

A Spirit of the Sun
Originally Taiyou no Mokushiroku, the seinen manga by Kawaguchi Kaiji-sensei (Eagle, Zipang) shared the Best General Category prize with Rainbow (another Level-published series) in the 51st Shogakukan Manga Awards honoring 2005's peerless. I like to think its nabbing this trophy that encouraged Level to release the first Spirit of the Sun volume as a premier edition—inserting within four color pages and six extra flap pages. [Inserts after the manga list]

Level Comics manga (2008.11.25)

Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details and cover scans.

1. Basara 10 of 27 by Tamura Yumi

Basara 「 ＢＡＳＡＲＡ 」 by Tamura Yumi Shogakukan Flowers, shoujo Volume 10 first published in Japan 1993.11 Published in English by VIZ Media (27 volumes, complete)

2. The Black Swindler (Kurosagi) 4 of 20+ by Kuromaru, Natsuhara Takeshi

Kurosagi 「 クロサギ 」 by Kuromaru, Natsuhara Takeshi Shogakukan Young Sunday, seinen Volume 4 first published in Japan 2004.12

3. Fight!! Ippo (Hajime no Ippo) 58 of 85+ by Morikawa Joji

Hajime no Ippo 「 はじめの一歩 」 by Morikawa Joji Kodansha Weekly Shounen Magazine, shounen Volume 58 first published in Japan 2001.09

4. Over Rev 3 of 31 by Yamaguchi Katsumi

Over Rev! 「 オーバーレブ！ 」 by Yamaguchi Katsumi Shogakukan Young Sunday, seinen Volume 3 first published in Japan 1997.10

5. [Premiere] A Spirit of The Sun (Taiyou no Mokushiroku) 1 of 17+ by Kawaguchi Kaiji - Premier edition

Taiyou no Mokushiroku 「 太陽の黙示録 」 by Kawaguchi Kaiji Shogakukan Big Comic, seinen Volume 1 first published in Japan 2003.05

6. [Premiere] Tokyo Juliet 1 of 13 by Kitagawa Miyuki

Tokyo Juliet 「 東京ジュリエット 」 by Kitagawa Miyuki Shogakukan Sho-Comi, shōjo Volume 1 first published in Japan 1996.05 Series re-released in six volumes in 2002

Source: Elex Media STO 26 Nov-08

mangazines (2008.11.25)

Shonen Star 47/2008 (Indonesian version of Shogakukan Shonen Sunday)
In serialization:

• Comic Bomber (Hoero Pen) by Shimamoto Kazuhiko
• Detektif Conan (Meitantei Conan) by Aoyama Gosho
• D-LIVE!! by Minagawa Ryouji
• Dr. Koto (Dr. Koto Shinryoujo) by Yamada Takatoshi
• InuYasha by Takahashi Rumiko
• KATSU! by Adachi Mitsuru
• Kekkaishi by Tanabe Yellow
• Kurozakuro by Natsume Yoshinori
• Look Up! (Miagete Goran) by Kusaba Michiteru
• MAR by Anzai Nobuyuki
• Wild Life by Fujisaki Masato
• Yakitate!! Japan by Hashiguchi Takashi

A Spirit of the Sun - continued
A Spirit of the Sun tells of Above the clouds and ash, the sun still shines and the sky is still blue optimism in the aftermath of natural disasters that rent Japan in twain, leaving millions dead and a country occupied by U.S. and Chinese aid forces. (From the ANN encyclopedia entry.)

(Image provided by Level Comics no Aryaguna-san)

Madhouse adapted the series into a 77-minute special that aired for two consecutive days in September 2006.

Tokyo Juliet
Tokyo Juliet also went through adaptation in the same year, incarnating as the Taiwanese dorama Dong Fang Zhu Li Ye (東方茱麗葉) starring Ariel Lin and Fahrenheit's Wu Zun (telecast on GTV from June through September).

First published in 1996 and re-released in six volumes in 2002, Kitagawa Miyuki-sensei's shōjo manga originally saw serialization in Sho-Comi.

ASIDE | That it is Level and not Elex publishing Tokyo Juliet would seem to add weight to the contention that Sho-Comi is not really for impressionable girls. How does this connect with TJ? I don't know yet, but I doubt censorship, if any, will even come close to brushing against the excessive sexual content criticism of Sho-Comi. Furthermore, if required, any blue-penciling would most probably be limited to sanitizing liplocks, like what HanaLaLa does.

In any case, props to Elex for placing TJ under the Level aegis because, as can be seen from my second attempt at a synopsis, we're in for mature themes:

Fashion design student Ayase Minori swears not to fall in love until she wreaks vengeance on top designer Hinagata Eiji who allegedly filched her design and passed it off as his. Her vow unravels when she meets (and loses her heart to?) the designer's only son, Akira.

the rest of the releases

By popularity
The continuing saga of the swindler of swindlers Kurosagi in The Black Swinder captures the most Get! votes this release, followed by the third legend of the ultimate hot rodder volume of Over Rev. The chime-ins might be explained by the fact that both were last seen installing in August. Meanwhile, Basara 10, Tokyo Juliet 1, and Hajime no Ippo 58 tie for third place.

(Hopefully, after this post or from browsing Gramedia, you might be persuaded to give Spirit of the Sun a spin. Even with the colorful omake, it's reportedly priced normal (IDR 16,000 according to the Elex STO); The Black Swinder at IDR 17,000 costs more. And nooo, I'm not being paid by Level to promote this title nor do I grab a commission if you do buy.)

UP NEXT
Elex Media 26 November 2008 manga

~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03), with help from Aryaguna-san (Thank you again! Please don't get tired of me constantly pestering you...)

disclaimer Cover images and source summaries here are © their respective intellectual rights holders. No infringement intended. A Spirit of the Sun and Tokyo Juliet images from the Indonesian editions used with permission.

Technorati tags (click to unhide)

manga, seinen, shoujo, Level Comics, Shonen Star, Basara, Hajime no Ippo, Kurosagi, Over Rev, A Spirit of the Sun, Tokyo Juliet

Other invaluable resources (click to unhide)

7&Y | Amazon JP | Baka-Updates Manga | Ubook | ANN | DramaWiki