Because of the holidays.. everything with this topic is starting a bit late… But the good news is… the news will be coming in very quickly over the next few days! So join into the discussion below!
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[notice]Spoilers begin now![/notice]
Added on 1/6:
Should have some more info soon… but here’s the cover! Looks like Anna is on the cover, for the first time (by herself). Takei always liked her… so it makes some sense.
(Click for a bigger version)
Added on 1/8:
So it appears that the story isn’t about Anna, even though she is on the cover. Well maybe the story is partly about Anna? I’m not really sure. We’ll find out in a day or two. Horohoro is taking the lead, with Damuko (see Chapter 288 from KZB for more details on who she is). Horohoro didn’t really need anymore backstory… so Takei, show us why this really matters.
Added on 1/9
Gotta love these Christmas-ish outfits :3
So thanks Takei for making us feel like fools again, you little troll!
I’m happy about the change, though. Anna is one of my favorite characters of all times, but there’s a lot more things about Horohoro I’d like to know. I loved Damuko’s story, and had been expecting more about these two ever since I read the KZB. So… yay!
Character Summaries regarding this issue:
Anna Kyoyama
Yoh’s fiancée, a young itako. Her dream is to become the Shaman King’s wife. Whoever defies her will be severely punished, but she has a gentle side as well. Her “legendary left” is lethal.
Horohoro
His real name is Horokeu Usui, descendant of a legendary clan born between a goddess and a wolf. He aims to become the Shaman King to be able to grow vast butterbur fields. He believes in the ideas of “the survival of the fittest” and “the feeling of gratitude.”
Tamiko Kurabe
A transfer student attending Horohoro’s elementary school. Since her father was the contractor in charge of building the new dam, everyone started calling her “Damuko”.
Added on 1/10
Ok, so it’s official: this guy’s crazy the troll God of trolling. Kind of … (o__ò; )?
There’s kind of a tiny crossover in this chapter, but I think it’s more of a wink. If you ask me, everything that’s been released after KZB Vol 27/Mentalité could be considered AU in some way, so don’t take it too seriously.
Also don’t take this wrong… I LOVED the chapter. Horo and Damu are so damn cute! (>////<
I can say without any doubt that this has been my favorite SKZ chapter so far. He really made up for last month’s chapter.
And here’s the little summary/review with some pics, in case you’re curious:
SSSPOILERRR
[spoiler]Hokkaido, summer of 1995. The story starts with them arguing about nicknames, since Horohoro doesn’t like his. Then we have Pirika telling his brother to quit hanging out with a Japanese human girl, because, you know, that’s not something an Ainu shaman should do. He basically asks her to leave him alone, since he doesn’t actually care about the tribe or the Ainu gods. We also learn in this chapter that the reason we never saw Horo’s mother is that she left when they were younger (why do all the main characters of this manga have such crappy families I wonder? Horo was my last hope!)
One day he goes to the mountains with his snowboard and Damuko follows him. It seems that one of his dreams when he was a kid was to become a professional snowboarder (cute!). After some practice Horo takes her to a huge fuki/butterbur field, where they spend time together until she ask him for a date = going to the city to look for snowboards together.
So to the city they go… with Pirika and her father stalking them because they don’t approve it. But aren’t they cute? Once the date’s over they start talking about their families and the differences between both (remember that Horo’s family protect nature, while Damu’s construct dams) then everything gets angsty. Before getting home she gives him a present, but we don’t get to see what’s inside until the very end of the oneshot.
The next day, Horo goes to the fields just to find that the place has been totally destroyed by a horde of excavators. He then realizes that Damuko took him to the city in order to move him away from the fields while the constructors were working. Obvioulsy he gets mad and stops talking to her. In the next scene we have a flashback of their fight and Damuko’s death in chapter 288. Finally we see Horo sitting on the dam, that’s already finished, feeling so guilty about what happened to her that he starts crying desperately. In the last pages, already year 1999, we can see him getting ready to leave for Tokyo with Kororo, wearing Damuko’s present for the first time ^^
~The End~
And in case you’re wondering about the crossover I was talking about… well, this chapter’s all about the construction of a dam, and do we know someone with a construction team? Exactly! Though it’s just a half-page cameo, I loled at this so hard.
[/spoiler]
Added 1/9/12
HoroHoro, I can care more about. I don’t like Anna since she reminds me too much of myself （；￣Д￣） Still, WHY?? WHY 44 PAGES? TAKEIIIIIII! HE’S HAD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT UP THE WHAZOO! AJKDGHAKLGH GIVE REN A BETTER STORY (´；д；`)
FINE I’LL MAKE MYSELF USEFUL. Want this non-Ren issue? Check here:
Amazon.co.jp (Forced EMS)
HMV.co.jp (Forced EMS – SHIPPING ISN’T ¥1200!)
Added 1/6/12
/still really fucking bitter and pissed over Ren’s 20-page chapter and will have nothing to add to this discussion
