For all of this year, we’re taking a look at Shogakukan’s Weekly Big Comic Spirits (週刊ビッグコミックスピリッツ) magazine back in 2001. From these issues exactly 25 years ago from their releases helps give a bit of a insight into the creators and the magazine at the time. If you want to see more of these author comments and other articles about the magazine, check out our archive for Weekly Big Comic Spirits on this page.
The cover date on the issues are not the actual release dates for the magazine. As such, we will be posting the articles based on the calendar date when the magazine was actually available for readers to pick up in Japan. In the year 2001, this would typically be published on every Monday.
Every modern issue, the editorial staff would ask a single question to all of the published authors. While the magazine was released weekly, not every series in the magazine was published in each issue. Below is the listing of the manga series as they appear in the issue along with a rough English translation for the question and each response.
Issue Info
Release Date: 4/9/2001
Cover Date: 4/23/2001
Cover Design: Kiyono Ishikawa
- Naguruzo! by Sensha Yoshida started serialization in this issue
- Ai to Seishun no Naritachi by Burra Kawasaki and Manabu Akishige started serialization in this issue
- The final chapter of Otana-Bukuro was in this issue.
- Naoko finished it’s current story arc in this issue. The series was still on-going.
Question
Even an economic slump… Please share some good economic news that you’ve seen.
なんだか不景気ですが･･･ 身の回りの景気のいい話を聞かせてください。
| Series | Author | Answer (English) | Answer (Japanese) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naguruzo! 殴るぞ! | Sensha Yoshida 吉田戦車 | I can now color digitally. | パソコンで色を塗れるようになった。 |
| Subaru 昴スバル | Masahito Soda 曽田正人 | I spent 140,000 yen just buying Lancia Delta model cars. | ランチャ・デルタの模型ばっか14万円ぶん一気買い。 |
| 20th Century Boys 20世紀少年 | Naoki Urasawa 浦沢直樹 | My daughter is becoming famous at the park. | うちの娘が公園でモテモテらしいです。 |
| Aozora 青空 | Hidenori Hara 原秀則 | My friend has a cake shop called “Julian”. You can buy them in the Tarumi Ward in Kobe City. | 友人のお店の名前は「ジュリアン」。神戸市垂水区のおいしいケーキ屋さん。 |
| 365ho no RYUTA 365歩の竜太 | Story: Masao Yajima Art: Chihiro Tamaki 作:矢島正雄 画:環ちひろ | My assistant has a child on the way and suddenly married. (Tamaki) | アシスタントのできちゃった結婚。(環) |
| Fighting Sun Legend Gutch!! 格闘太陽伝 GUTCH!! | Hiromi Aoyama Supervision: Lou Thesz 青山広美 監修: ルー・テーズ | I found a great sushi restaurant in my neighborhood! (Aoyama) | 近所にうまい寿司屋を発見!(青山) |
| Senkousekka 電光石火 | Kenji Morita 盛田賢司 | There is none. | そんなもんない。 |
| The Two Oigawas Employment Diary ふたりの大井川 就職日誌 | Inosuke Rodriguez ロドリゲス井之介 | I bought a condo. With a 35-year mortgage. Maybe the economy isn’t doing so great…. | マンション買いました。35年ローンで。あんまり景気よくないか･･･。 |
| Oishinbo 美味しんぼ | Story: Tetsu Kariya Art: Akira Hanasaki 雁屋哲+花咲アキラ | My former editor has bought a house and now has a mortgage. | 元担当が、家を買ってローン持ち。 |
| Kaijuu Jinsei 怪獣人生 | Nobuyuki Hori ほりのぶゆき | Hanshin’s Cruz is currently the home run leader for the preseason games. | 阪神クルーズ、オープン戦で目下のところホームラン王。 |
| Jimihen じみへん | Tatsuya Nakazaki 中崎タツヤ | I ate Seki mackerel at a sushi restaurant. That was two years ago. | 寿司屋で関鯖食ってやった。二年前な。 |
| 8 8エイト | Atsushi Kamijo 上條淳士 | ……Sorry, I don’t have any. | ………ゴメン、マジない。 |
| Saikano 最終兵器彼女 | Shin Takahashi 高橋しん | We’ve reached “You can’t blame everything on the recession.” | 「なんでも不景気のせいにしちゃいけません」って話。 |
| Otana-Bukuro 大人袋 | Isami Nakagawa 中川いさみ | This is the finale for Otana-Bukuro. See you next time. | 今回で大人袋は終わりです。また会いましょう。 |
| Ai to Seishun no Naritachi 愛と青春の成り立ち | Burra Kawasaki Manabu Akishige 川崎ぶら+秋重学 | There’s no bulk waste fee for trashing the Mir space station!? (Akishige) | ミールは粗大ゴミで金とられねーの!? (秋重) |
| Nijikoshi Iinchou にじこしいいんちょう | Nobumi のぶみ | I would like to get 8 bottles of fruit-flavored milk for 100 yen still. | 100円で、フルーツ牛乳が8コでてきたってしつこいか。 |
| Sakuramachi Police Box Tales: Yumemizaka 桜町交番綺談~夢見坂~ | Hitoshi Furubayashi 古林仁史 | My friend’s book is selling fairly well. | 友人の単行本がそこそこ売れていること。 |
| The 3 Young Men THE3名様 | Makochin Ishihara 石原まこちん | I once saw a boy eating 5 or 6 Pocky sticks at the same time. | この前、ポッキーを5、6本まとめて食べてた少年を見ました。 |
| Boku 僕 BOKU | Yasuhito Yamamoto 山本康人 | I’ve been eating a lot recently. I can eat two servings at a time. | 最近、よく食う。二人前なんてへっちゃら。 |
| A Capricious Concept 気まぐれコンセプト | Hoichoi Productions ホイチョイ・プロ | I heard there’s a Japanese woman who married an Arab oil tycoon and gets 500 million yen a year from him. | アラブの石油王と結婚して、毎年5億円の仕送り受けている日本人女性がいるらしい。 |
| Naoko 奈緒子 | Story: Nobuhiro Sakata Art: Yuu Nakahara 坂田信弘+中原裕 | I wish I could win the TOTO lottery…. | TOTOが当たればなぁ･･･。 |
| Animal Mania アニマルマニア | Kiriko Kubo 玖保キリコ | The other day, I found five 1£ coins in my husband’s laundry so I kept them for myself. | この前、1£硬貨が5枚、夫の洗濯物の中にあったので頂いた。 |
