Rin (HAROLD Sakuishi) 37

Rin 37



p1: ==========================
<no text>

p2: ==========================
[sign]: Shinjuku Subnade

p3: ==========================
Hah hah hah! Rewarding him with a trip to gather materials? Doesn’t that beat all!

Well, I still haven’t talked it over with the Editor-in-Chief, but…
And do understand, we’d be taking the trip seriously.
How many volumes of Presence are out now?

The third volume comes out next month.
And as for the first two volumes, we can’t print enough of them.

But don’t think you’ll be taking first place that easily, Chouno.
There’s a powerhouse sitting at the top.
[sfx]: Turn

p4: ==========================
[sfx]: Hah hah hah
Sensei, draw Lumina~
On my thigh.

When is Ozu-sensei going to sleep?
Didn’t he just pull an all-nighter?
I guess a manga artist has to have that stiff a constitution to survive.

[sfx]: Lay

That said, the magazine needs fresh faces.
Editor-in-Chief!

p5: ==========================
[sfx]: Scratch x3
[sfx, in the panel]: Whoosh

[sfx]: Whoosh

p6: ==========================
[sfx, over the three panels]: Whoosh

p7: ==========================
[sfx]: Kabang!

p8: ==========================
[sfx]: Step x2

Ooh.
Hey. Nose-dick.
[sfx]: Step x2
Where’s your boss?

p9: ==========================
I-I ain’t got no clue.
And I ain’t tellin’ ya even if I did.
[sfx]: Heh heh heh
And hey, you’re callin’ me “Nose-dick”?

“Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.”
[sfx]: Click

“He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down:”
“he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”

p10: ==========================
[sfx]: Kabang

Whoa. First, a Mexican standoff…
and then she finishes the guy off while chanting a verse from the Bible.
So cool~
Mirai-san really is attractive, huh.

[sfx]: Scratch x4

p11: ==========================
My editor told me the other day that,
if I came in first in the survey, he’d treat me to a research trip.

Wow. That sounds amazing!

Ishidou-san,
would you like to come with?

[sfx]: Rush!
Fushimi-kun,
if you don’t want Ishidou-san to go on a trip with me,

[sfx]: Clickety-clack
Then snag first place before I do!

[sfx]: Clickety-clack x2

[sfx]: Scratch x6

p12: ==========================
Fushimi-kun! I just finished doing research down at the gym;
mind if I stop by?

I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.

*Ding-dong!*

Nishiguch-san, long time no see!
I bought you a present.
In the midst of this sudden downpour.

p13: ==========================
You guys looks busy. I bought you some hot dogs, so please dig in!

Oh! Thanks, dude!
Thank you very much!

Umm, I always read Money Boxer!
It’s super funny!

p14: ==========================
[sfx]: Giggle
But man, the protagonist really is just like you, Nishiguchi-san!

Kazuya! Take this round, and you’ve got yourself five thousand yen!!

[sfx]: Kapow!

Really? He is?
No, my story is just a work of fiction; there are absolutely no similarities with any specific organizations or individuals.
500 yen if you eat all those hot dogs!

p15: ==========================
[sfx]: Twitch

[sfx]: Splash

[sfx]: Munch x4

[sfx]: Wow!
He devoured four people’s worth in five minutes…
And heck, weren’t those supposed to be a gift?

p16: ==========================
[sfx]: Cackle
Nishiguchi-san, maybe you should aim for the hot dog speed-eating contests in New York.
You’re hilarious.

Fushimi-kun, isn’t she cute?
You mean Furukawa-san?
I’m pretty sure she lives near your place, Nishiguchi-san.

SERIOUSLY?!

By the way, she does have a boyfriend.

[sfx]: Slump
Oh… Of course she would.
Incidentally, Nishiguchi-san,
over here I’ve got…

p17: ==========================
[book in three places: big horizontal on back and front, top of the spine]: Re:Member
[book in two places: horizontal under title on front, bottom of the spine]: Fushimi Norito

Wh-Whoa! The design for your first volume?!!
Mutou-san just had a deliveryboy bike it over.

AWESOME!
/ Publishing a full volume’s the dream of every manga artist out there!!
Right?!

Fushimi-kun!

Nishiguchi-san!

p18: ==========================
500 yen!
Yeah, I knew it.

The dream of every manga artist out there, huh?

[sfx]: Rumble

p19: ==========================
[sfx]: Bwohhhhhhh

[sfx]: Crash!

p20: ==========================
Kiou…!

Lord Bun’ou…
You’re the one Lady Yuri needs by her side.

p21: ==========================
[sfx]: Doh!

p22: ==========================
Huff.

Huff.
Huff.
Huff.

What’s the matter, Fushimi?

Is it because of you
that I had that strange dream?

p23: ==========================
A dream? You would think that a dream?

p24: ==========================
[sfx]: Be-be-beep! x2

…

[sfx]: Ahhhhhh.

[phone, main]: Re:Member vol. 1 goes on sale this month, right? :D
[phone, buttons]: Close / Display

p25: ==========================
Ishidou-san!!

[phone, outside the bubble]: Read
[grey bubble]: If you want, I’ll send you a free copy!
[next bubble]: No. I’ll buy my own.
[next bubble]: Will you sign it?
[outside bubbles]: Read

O-Okay… I’ll put in some practice. <sweatdrop>

Chirrrrp.
/ Chikachika chirrrp.

p26: ==========================
Man, it’s suddenly gotten so hot.

Just coming here from the office has left me covered in sweat.
Thanks for coming here.

Now then, first, let me give you this.
?

Here you go, hot off the press.

[book]: Re:Member / Fushimi Norito
!!

p27: ==========================
[back and spine of book]: Re:Member
Wh-Whoa…

Fushimi Norito, this is your first volume!

M-Mutou-san…

Now, while you bask in the joy of the moment, hand me your manuscript.
Also, can you turn up the AC?
S-Sure.

p28: ==========================
How long you gonna keep playin’ follow-the-leader?

I’m searching for the same man you are.
/ I have to kill him, whatever it takes.

…
Please, make me your disciple.
/ I want to be an ace gunslinger, just like you.

Hmm.

…I’n teach ya the basics,
[sfx]: Flick
But’re you willin’ to keep my three rules?
Huh?

p29: ==========================
First, I ain’t your master. Don’t go callin’ me that.

Second, don’t go shootin’ your gun blindly.
Third, things ever go south on me, you don’t come tryin’ to save my ass.

Keep them three rules,
and you’re free to follow along.
Yes, ma’am!!

p30: ==========================
Hmm. This truly is good.
Next, the two begin their travels in a bizarre master/pupil relationship.
Yeah. All while searching for the polycoriac man, who’s got a bounty on his head.

And where is the polycoriac man?

In Mexico.
After the train robbery in Texas, he crossed the international border and joined up with the Federales.

Whoa! That sounds pretty good. Reminds me of The Wild Bunch!!

Could you read this?
/ I’ve actually got a new storyboard ready right now.
HUH?!!

p31: ==========================
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath the Lord cast into the sea.
“The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.”

[sfx]: Click

[sfx]: KABOOM!

p32: ==========================
Whoa! During their journey, they help a group of revolutionary guerillas blow up a bridge as the Mexican Federales cross it…
This is pretty good!

This scene is going to make for some amazing art.
P-Please don’t add to the pressure.

[sign]: Ibushi Bookstore

p33: ==========================
[sfx]: Kah x5

[sign]: Presence / Recommended / Current best-seller!!

Gunners
[bottom strip on the Gunners volume]: Now, to the world!!

Re:Member?
We just sold our last copy a minute ago.

p34: ==========================
Norito, I’ve tried three shops, but I can’t find a copy of Re:Member.
Lu-san!!

There’s no need to buy one yourself. I’ll give you one as a gift!

A signed copy, please.

p35: ==========================
[sfx]: Cheep x2

Sorry I’m late!!
My bad.

Oh, no no no!
[book]: To my dear Lu-san

p36: ==========================
It’s not for me, but for a relative of mine.
Oh, I didn’t realize.
Sorry. I have another copy, so…

I’m heading back to my parent’s for Obon.
Make it out to Shuuhei-kun, please.

They live in Amami, right?
[sfx]: Scribble
Nice. The ocean must be beautiful there.

[sfx]: Huff

Can you swim?
Yes. I might not look it, but I can manage every major stroke but the butterfly.

p37: ==========================
Oh…

But these past few days,
I’ve kept having these dreams of drowning…
right after I save some guy I know.

p38: ==========================
Heavy rains,
a flooded river,
/ driftwood.

That was you, in some other era.

In other words, a past life.

[sfx]: Tap
Now, why did you see that?

…I mean, I was shown it.

p39: ==========================
By this guy, who shows up in my dreams!

The Yatagarasu…

…Perhaps he’s trying to beckon you.

p40: ==========================
Ah.

After this, I was going to give Ishidou-san a copy, too…
/ The plan was for us to meet up near here.
*Ring*

I just happened to be walking by. ;_;
Sorry to intrude.
See you later! <hand wave>
[buttons]: Close / Display

p41: ==========================
The choice has been made, I take it…

Choose one, and hell awaits.
Choose one, and you will be saved.

And Ishidou-san is the one who leads to hell?

p42: ==========================
On the contrary:
she is unequivocally your muse!

However, things aren’t as simple as I once thought.

In this unpurified world, beings such as her…

are like shadows cast on the walls.
/ Not even I know
/ what price you’ll have to pay.

p43: ==========================
The day may one day come
when you wish you had never met her.

Maybe the lukewarm hell would be better.
/ Though there, you would grow stagnate, frozen in time, no longer able to advance.
No, I can’t do that!

p44: ==========================
I’m not living just for myself anymore.

Then take care.
Yeah. Give my regards to Shuuhei-kun.

p45: ==========================
Huh…?

I just wanted to try doing that.

See ya!

p46: ==========================
Was Lu-san doing well?
[upper-left]: Oh, yeah, same as always.
[bottom-right]: You and her have a pretty weird relationship, huh.
Y-Yeah, I guess we do.

[book]: To my dear Ishidou-san.

p47: ==========================
Wow, this is awesome!

Wait, you’re signing it like this?
[upper-left]: Well, I couldn’t really think of a cool way to do it.
[bottom-right]: Can you make one out to Akane-chan, too?
Of course.

I wonder why Lu-san gave me that hug…

p48: ==========================
[sfx]: Chirrrrp chikachika chirrrp chikachika / Jwah jwah

It’s so hot, I’m gonna melt…
[sfx]: Unsteady

There anyone around selling shaved ice?
Lemme search around the neighborhood.

p49: ==========================
[sfx]: Cheeeep x3

[plaque]: Kumano Shrine

p50: ==========================
There was also one near my family home…
[plaque]: Kumano Shrine

And on Ishidou-san’s island…
[plaque]: Kumano Shrine

Oh, here’s the sign of the Yatagarasu.
It’s super cute~.

It was the Yatagarasu who led Emperor Jinmu through the Kumano Mountains.

p51: ==========================
[sfx]: Jwah x2

[sfx]: Chikachika chirrrp chikachika chirrrrp

I get it. Yassan’s…
trying to beckon me towards…

p52: ==========================
Huh?!
S-She’s gone!!

p53: ==========================
I simply ain’t gonna keep dragging you ‘long with me.
So go back to the simple life of rubbing one out every night ‘fore you go to bed.

Mirai!!

Whoa. Looks like next chapter, we’re finally getting the climax.
A duel with the Polycoriac Man in a town under the control of the Mexican Federales.
I can’t wait to read what happens next.
When Shun charges in, he’ll find Mirai-san captured.

p54: ==========================
Wow. And then they’ll be torturing her in the sexiest style you can get away with in a shounen magazine!

W-Well, within the bounds of necessity.
Please stop it with that glint in your eyes.

Oh yeah. That Chouno jerk,
he went straight to the Editor-in-Chief and asked if he’d take him on an overseas research trip if Presence came in first in a survey.
And he got the plan OK’d.

p55: ==========================
Fushimi-kun, we can’t lose either!
Huh?!

Come in first, and we’ll go to Italy, eat awesome food, drink great wine, buy brand-name goods and go to San Siro!
And while we’re there, we can get some quick looks at the ruins.
Uh, I’m pretty sure they’re aiming for a serious research trip.

Aren’t you yourself getting sick of this chain-store Italian pasta?
Nah, it’s plenty tasty.

Is there anywhere you want to go?

Huh?
Me? I…

p56: ==========================
…If I could get some time off…

[sign]: Selflessness

Having topped the surveys for a full year and a half,
Magical Girl ? Lumina is doubtlessly the greatest hit in Taurus’s history.

p57: ==========================
Volume sales have reached a cumulative total of 160 million.
It’s fair to call it the most famous work currently being published by the Japanese manga industry.

[sfx]: Clink
And talks with Hollywood for a live-action version finally feel like they’re getting somewhere.

Between meetings with the film people and various events across the globe,
Lumina will likely skip a number of issues starting in the fall.
And as the Editor-in-Chief, I’ll be busy, too.

Ozu-sensei’s really amazing!
He’s practically on top of the world.

However…
[sfx]: Lay

p58: ==========================
To be blunt, I’ve never once thought his work was interesting!

H-Hey, Taki-kun!
It started out better,
but now? Momentum’s all that’s carrying it along.

I’ll surpass Lumina within the year.
I’ll be upset with myself if I don’t.

p59: ==========================
This is somewhat hasty,
but it’s traditional for the manga that’s currently the face of Taurus to adorn its first issue of the year.

For the past four years, the cover has been Lumina’s.
[book]: <top>: Taurus <vertical>: Mahou Shoujo ? Lumina

However, for this new year, I’ve been considering going with the manga…
that comes in first in the most surveys from September through November.

Huh?!

So many works have grown in strength.
Taurus has never had so many exemplary works filling its lineup.

p60: ==========================
That includes Presence, of course…
but also Gunners, Juice…
Even Sanada, now that it’s entering the Osaka Winter Campaign, is growing by leaps and bounds.

And of course, Re:Member!
Lately, its vote totals have skyrocketed!

p61: ==========================
I wasn’t expecting much out of this meeting, but I got a pretty big shock.
After all, I hate to lose.

[sfx]: Vroom

I’m sorry. He can be cheeky at times.
I kept breaking out into cold sweats.
It’s fine. The young and talented should be like that.
…I’m jealous.

It’s like he has the vigor to seize anything and everything he desires!

p62: ==========================
MASTER!!

You idiot…

Who’s he?
He just call her “master”?
[sfx]: Murmur
That make him the woman’s friend?!

p63: ==========================
Oh? I done seen that brat somewhere before…

[sfx]: Da-da-da!
?!

EAT LEAD!!

[sfx]: Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

p64: ==========================
Whoa… In a rage-fueled barrage, he broke all three of the initial promises he made with his master!!

It brings tears to my eyes!!

Every page is filled with gun-battle action.
I bet the ones dying here are Fushimi-kun himself and his staff.
Is Furukawa-san hanging in there?

p65: ==========================
Ugh…

…

Out o’ all them pastors you killed,
one of them’s the guy what raised me, the daughter of a whore. Saved my life, he did.

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”

[sfx]: Kabang!

p66: ==========================
[sfx]: Spin! x2

Hmmm.
We really do have an exemplary lineup right now.

Huh?

Lumina’s still fixed in the top spot,
but this time, coming in second…

p67: ==========================
is the work you’re editing, Re:Member!

[sfx]: Boom!

[sfx]: Thwump

[sfx]: Scratch x2

p68: ==========================
[sidebar]: He’s finally overtaken Taki! Keep making Re:Member shine even brighter, and reach the apex of Taurus!

[bottom box]: To be continued in the February issue.