To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha ran a creator spotlight called “Great Jump!!” (すごい ジャン!!) to get some thoughts of their current artists about Jump. The creator spotlight started in the 1998 Weekly Shonen Jump issue 29 and continued through issues 33 with various different creators being highlighted.
The final part of this spotlight series continued with the 33rd Weekly Shonen Jump issue in 1998 with the following creators:
- Osamu Akimoto (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen Mae Hashutsujo, “Kochikame”)
- Haruto Umezawa (Hareluya II Boy)
- Kazushi Hagiwara (Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy)
- Daisuke Higuchi (Whistle!)
- Yoshihiro Togashi (Hunter x Hunter)
In this 4th interview in issue #33, Daisuke Higuchi (樋口大輔) was the focus, who was currently serializing her Whistle! (ホイッスル!) manga in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Prior to the serialization, she worked on a series of oneshot stories that were published in Weekly Shonen Jump and the seasonal Jump Special issues:
| Title | Year | Magazine |
|---|---|---|
| Itaru (イタル) | 1992 | Weekly Shonen Jump Spring Special |
| 24 Hours (24時間) | 1994 | Weekly Shonen Jump Autumn Special |
| X-Connection (X-コネクション) | 1995 | Weekly Shonen Jump (Issue #20) |
| BREAK FREE | 1997 | Weekly Shonen Jump (Issue #46) |
She also received the Tezuka Award Honorable Mention in 1992 for her Singing Flame oneshot. Her first serialization was Whistle!, which at the time of this interview was published was on its 20th chapter. The series would run until its conclusion in 2002 with a total of 216 chapters.
The article begins with asking Daisuke Higuchi about her memories of Weekly Shonen Jump, which have been roughly translated below:
はじめて読んだのは『硬派銀次郎』なんです。いとこのお兄さんに借りて読んだんです。だからコミックスからですね、私のはじめてのジャンプは。あと思い出というと『バホ―来訪者』を立ち読みしながら泣いてしまったこと･･･ですかね(笑)。他にもアニメとかゲームとかジャンプにはいろいろ思い出があります!
The first series I read was “Koha Ginjiro.” I borrowed it from my cousin’s older brother. So my first Jump series was actually from the manga volumes. Another memory I have is when I cried reading “Baoh” (laughs). I have a lot of good memories from Jump, including the anime and videogames!
Koha Ginjiro (硬派銀次郎), by Hiroshi Motomiya (星野之宣) was a manga series that first ran in Monthly Shonen Jump from 1975 through 1978. It then had a sequel/continuation in Monthly Shonen Jump which ran for 3 chapters starting with issue #7 in 1978, but has never been released in volume editions. Then in 1980, another sequel is created in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine called Yamazauki Ginjiro (山崎銀次郎). This sequel ignores the previous sequel/continuation and ran in the magazine for 44 chapters and concluding in 1981.
Baoh (バオー来訪者) ran in Weekly Shonen Jump for 17 chapters between 1984 issue 45 and 1985 issue 11 and was created by Hirohiko Araki (荒木 飛呂彦). Hirohiko Araki would then later create Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure starting in 1987.
Next in the article, Daisuke Higuchi then provides her comments on her top 3 Jump manga, which have been roughly translated below:
Baoh
身体が寄生虫によって変化するとこが恐ろしく、異形の姿がまたかっこいい･･･。主人公が少女を思ってポロポロ泣くシーンが切なく、胸に来た。ストイックな主人公の決定版。
It was terrifying watching their bodies undergo changes with the parasites, yet the strange appearance is still cool… The scene where the protagonist bursts into tears when thinking about the girl was heartbreaking and very touching. This is the ultimate stoic protagonist.
Koha Ginjiro
銀ちゃんの男らしさ、かっこよさに、ただただほれて読んでました。銀ちゃんがテニスのダブルスを組む女の子と、一夜を過ごすシーンがよかった。
I adored Gin-chan’s masculinity and coolness when I read the series. I also liked that scene where Gin-chan spends the night with the girl who was his tennis doubles partner.
Commander 0
ふたつの顔を持つゼロがかっこよかった。ふたつの顔の落差がおもしろかったですね。
The two-faced Zero was very cool. The contrast between the two faces was very interesting.
Commander 0 (コマンダー0), by Jun Tomizawa (富沢順) ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1981 and 1982 for a total of 15 chapters and was his debut series. He would later return to Weekly Shonen Jump in 1984 with the manga series Gakuen Johobu H.I.P. (学園情報部HIP).
The half-page article concludes with Daisuke Higuchi providing a comment about her on-going serialization which have been roughly translated below:
Whistle!
「私の初の連載作品。いろんな意味で毎回チャレンジして、毎回勉強になってます。自分と主人公の生きかたがダブるのがつらくておもしろい」
“This is my first serialization. Every chapter I challenge myself and learn something new from each one. While painful, it’s interesting to see the parallels between my life and the protagonist’s.”
The Whistle! manga is available in English from Viz Media in both print and digital editions.
