Thank you for buying the 27th volume!
It’s normal not to have a single day of rest due to work between the end of the year and the beginning of the new one, but it was during that busy period that I worsened the situation by catching a cold. So I had to go through a bloody experience, surpassing that of the famous curse and the hell of making a self-contained work for Jump SQ. For a fortnight straight I had a fever of forty? I couldn’t think of anything funny. I even started thinking about my own funeral, afraid it might be covered on the news, and thought, “Maybe he’d read the Ayapan* news…”. Work wasn’t progressing and the deadline was looming, and my assistants also came down with a fever. With no other choice, I took antipyretic suppositories over and over again. Taking advantage of the short time when the fever broke, I proceeded with the storyboard and gave instructions to my assistants. Then, when the fever came back up, another suppository and off to storyboard. In short, it was like being in hell, my anus was slimy… I, Sorachi sensei, have been working since New Year’s Eve in tears, with a slimy anus, in order to give a smile to you who now hold this book in your hands. Seriously, I find it strange that the staff of Jonetsu Tairiku do not interview me. If I don’t have passion, who else? Who can better represent the continent? It would be enough to consider me a slimy continent! It would be enough to frame my slimy condition for thirty minutes, and insert Mr. Taro Hakase’s violin performance for the last suppository! What do you say, gentlemen of TBS?
*Nickname of journalist Aya Takashima.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 70
QUESTION FROM MISS NATSU, SAITAMA PROVINCE
Good morning, Sorachi sensei! The dog in my house eats its own p_op. How can I make him stop? I’m seriously troubled by this problem.
ANSWER:
There could be many causes: stress, education, environment… but whether you throw it away immediately or not is less important. Furthermore, you must always take him for a walk, at least once a day. Usually the dog will poop during a walk, so just have him do it then. Let the dog learn the pattern. Walk = poop! And of course you have to pick it up. If this doesn’t work either, ask a vet for advice. By the way… when did the pet advice corner start?
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 71
QUESTION FROM MR. PALE PINK SAMURAI OF KANAGAWA PROVINCE
Sorachi sensei, I’m writing to you for the first time. I can’t draw Gin-san’s eyes when he has them like a dead fish. Tell me if there’s any secret!
ANSWER:
You should leave some distance between the eyebrows and the eyes. Then you draw the eyelids heavy, and the irises only showing for the lower half.
When you shorten the distance between the eyebrows and the eyes, making the eyelids narrow…
It becomes Gin-san with a serious look.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 72
QUESTION FROM MR ‘UH AH AH AH! I’LL MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A STRAW DOLL!(S)”, FROM GUNMA PROVINCE
Happy New Year, Sorachi sensei! Despite the fact that I’m a damn brat who doesn’t know you personally, I ask you a question! Why does Yamazaki speak as an equal to Unosuke Harada, the commander of Team 10?
ANSWER:
BECAUSE THEY’RE FRIENDS.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 73
QUESTION FROM MR. “HUH? IS SPONGEBOB A SPONGE?”, FROM THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA
Sorachi sensei! What’s the point of the sash wrapped around Kagura’s older brother’s face? Does he have some kind of inferiority complex?
ANSWER:
It’s to protect themselves from the sun. When they don’t feel safe with an umbrella, the Yato use it to cover their skin. When he first appeared, Umibozu also wore it.
Having said that, just because I realized that Shueisha won’t even give me a day off even if I get a forty-degree fever, I realized one thing from this time’s bloody experience… next time I’m going to try hard to get a forty-one-degree fever! Until the next volume!
New topic: “Despite the author’s efforts despite a fever of 40 degrees, editor Saito, with a fever of 38 degrees, did not go to pick up the plates”.
Yorozuya Shinigami 