On the Table of Contents page for every issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, the authors of the currently serialized manga series can list a small message to the readers. There is typically only enough space for a sentence or two, but it allows for a little insight into the author’s daily life.
Starting in 2024, we will be creating a huge database of these author comments, as often these older comments are never republished outside of the original issues of Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. While we work on this extensive project, we will occasionally post individual articles such as this to highlight some manga series and provide some additional background information related to the comments.
The Smoky B.B. (スモーキーB.B.) manga series ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from the 26th issue through the 41st issue in 2013. It had a total of 15 chapters that were published in Weekly Shonen Jump. The series was written by Kenta Komiyama (小宮山健太) and the art was by Yuya Kawada (河田悠冶). Both of them previously worked on Kikai-banashi Hanasaka Ikkyu (奇怪噺 花咲一休) in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2011, which ran for 15 chapters. With the conclusion of Smoky B.B., neither of them had a serialization in the magazine since.
The following is a listing of their comments from the Table of Contents page in Weekly Shonen Jump. A rough English translation is also provided below along with some additional background information.
| wdt_ID | Chapter # | Issue # | Comment (Japanese) | Comment (English) | Comment Author | Release Date | Background Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 26 | 王道野球漫画目指して頑張ります! ど真ん中直球投げ込みます! ツーシームで! | I'll do my best to strive for a classic baseball manga! I'll throw a straight ball, right down the middle! Two-seams! | Kenta Komiyama | 05/27/2013 | |
| 2 | 1 | 26 | 初めまして、お久しぶりです! 全力で頑張りますので何卒よろしくお願いします。 | Nice to meet you, it's been a while! I'll do my best, so thank you in advance. | Yuya Kawada | 05/27/2013 | |
| 3 | 2 | 27 | やりたかった野球漫画。何か多い人公ですが、煙爾郎共々よろしくです。 | This is a baseball manga I wanted to create. There are a lot of characters, but I'm looking forward to seeing them all. | Kenta Komiyama | 06/03/2013 | |
| 4 | 3 | 28 | 選くにバッティングセンターがあると知りました。筋肉痛覚悟でも行きたいです | I found out that there is a batting center nearby. I want to go, even if I know I'll get some muscle pains. | Yuya Kawada | 06/10/2013 | |
| 5 | 4 | 29 | 野球あるあるを一つ。スタンド応援部員、アトムを歌うと後半キー苦しみがち。 | One thing about baseball. The cheerleaders in the stands tend to struggle with key in the second half when singing Atom. | Kenta Komiyama | 06/17/2013 | |
| 6 | 5 | 30 | 地元の祖母祖父から地元のジュースが届きました。懐かしくてそして美味いです | I received some locally-made juice from my grandmother and grandfather while they were nearby. It was nostalgic and delicious | Yuya Kawada | 06/24/2013 | |
| 7 | 6 | 31 | 久々の筋肉痛に。原因は長時間の散歩なんですが、なんかちょっとショックです | I've had muscle pain for a while. It started with a long walk, so I'm a little shocked. | Kenta Komiyama | 07/01/2013 | |
| 8 | 7 | 32 | 気がつけば7月で夏が来ようとしてます。連載中の時の流れの早さ凄まじいです･･･ | Before I knew it, it's July and summer is here. It's amazing how fast time flies during serialization… | Yuya Kawada | 07/08/2013 | |
| 9 | 8 | 33 | 保土ヶ谷球場へ行く時に通る坂が険しすぎて困ります。もうあれは修業の域です | I'm having trouble when going past Hodogaya Stadium since the hill is so steep. This is already a training ground. | Kenta Komiyama | 07/13/2013 | The full name is the "Kanagawa Prefectural Hodogaya Park Baseball Stadium" located in Yokohama City, and has undergone some name changes since this comment's publication. |
| 10 | 9 | 34 | よく目次コメントのメ切を忘れてしまいます。小学生から忘れ物は多かったです | I've forgotten to save the Table of Contents comments. There is so many things I've forgot since elementary school. | Yuya Kawada | 07/22/2013 | |
| 11 | 10 | 35 | 今更ながら俳優の堺雅人さんにハマる。リーガル・ハイの続編も楽しみです。 | I'm still hooked on Masato Sakai-san's work even now. I'm looking forward to the sequel to Legal High. | Kenta Komiyama | 07/29/2013 | "Legal High" was a Japanese TV drama airing started in April 2012 featuring Masato Sakai on the cast. The 2nd season aired starting on October 9, 2013. |
| 12 | 11 | 36 | 友人の結婚が度重なってます。遅れながらもWB(ウェディングボード)は描く!おめでとう石田上田!! | Another one of my friend is getting married. I'm late drawing the Wedding Board! Congratulations Ueda Ishida! | Yuya Kawada | 08/05/2013 | |
| 13 | 12 | 37-38 | 神奈川の贔屓は東海大相模。監督のキャラ、チーム、応援、全て好き!来年こそは! | My favorite team in Kanagawa is the Tokai University Sagami. I love the coach's personality, the team, the cheering, everything about it! Next year! | Kenta Komiyama | 08/12/2013 | Tokai University Sagami is a Junior and Senior High School which features a Baseball club that has won at the Koshien multiple times. |
| 14 | 13 | 39 | 37・38合併号の佐伯先生のヒロインポスター見て感激!!ありがとうございます! | I was so amazed by Saeki-sensei's heroine poster in the 37-38 combined issue!! Thank you very much! | Yuya Kawada | 08/26/2013 | Shun Saeki, creator of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, drew the promotional poster featuring many characters from the currently running manga series in the previous issue. |
| 15 | 14 | 40 | 爬虫類を可愛いと思った事は無いけど、ちっさい赤ちゃんヤモリは可愛すぎる。 | I've never thought of reptiles as cute, but little baby geckos are just too cute. | Kenta Komiyama | 09/02/2013 | |
| 16 | 15 | 41 | 支えて下さった皆さんありがとうございます! また来れるように頑張ります!! | Thank you to everyone who supported us! We will do out best to return again!! | Yuya Kawada | 09/09/2013 | |
| Comment (Japanese) | Comment (English) | Comment Author | Release Date | Background Information |
