Shaman King, entered into it’s 2nd calendar year for serialization for Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999. Starting the year it only had 21 chapters published, 2 more than his previously cancelled Butsu Zone manga series. This year became the proving ground to ensure that the series can establish itself.
Within Weekly Shonen Jump, on the “Table of Contents” page located at the back of the magazine, each author can leave a short comment to their fans. Below is a transcription of the original Japanese text along with a rough English translation. For some of these comments, we are also providing some additional information/context. There may be some minor errors. The comments listed here are for the ones where the issue # for Weekly Shonen Jump was for 1999.
| Issue # | Release Date (MM/DD/YY) | Shaman King Chapter # | Author Comment (Japanese) | Author Comment (English) | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11/30/98 | 22 | シルバの「Sachi」という曲はどう考えてもサッちゃんのテーマだノ「仏」Ｆ必聴！！ | “Sachi” by SILVA is definitely Sachan’s theme song. “Butsu (Zone)” fans need to listen to it!! | Music video of “Sachi” by SILVA. |
| 2-3 | 12/7/98 | 23 | 今週は多厚科学館でしの宇宙休験。流皇辞も凄かったし、宇宙って秦敵だ。 | This week we are having a space vacation at the Tako Science Museum. The descriptions were easy to understand, and space is a difficult challenge. | |
| 4-5 | 12/19/98 | 24 | 約13年ぶりにガンダムのH・C・Mったよ。 仲々いい品なので驚いた。 揃えたいな | I haven’t bought a Gundam H.C.M. in about 13 years. I was surprised by it’s quality. I’ll get more of them. | The Gunpla model line of “High Complete Model” ran mostly between 1984 to 1988 |
| 6 | 1/4/99 | 25 | 今週のようたちの衣装は全て元・民宿「炎」(輪の家) にあったという設定で描いてます | All of the robes worn this week are from the former “En” (Flame) inn storage. | |
| 7 | 1/11/99 | 26 | 外に出ないとコメントすることかなくて困る。くっそ一っ、伊豆がオレを呼んでるぜ | If I don’t travel, then I don’t have any comments to give. Damn, Izu is calling for me! | The area of Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture |
| 8 | 1/18/99 | 27 | いよいよ新新展開ですが、皆様どうか暖かい目で見守って下さい。 かんばりますので。ところで「ゆず」の新しいプロモーションビデオって、阿弥陀丸の首塚の場所に似てるよ | We’re starting a new arc, so please keep a warm eye on us. I will do my best. By the way, the new promotional video of “Yuzu” looks similar to the location of Amidamaru’s grave site. | The music video was likely for Yuzu’s 4th single CD “Itsuka” (“Someday”), which does show a large tree on a hill in the last scene. |
| 9 | 1/25/99 | 28 | ついにぼくの理想郷・伊豆へ行ってきました。何週もかけて感想を書ってやろう！ | I finally went to my dream destination, Izu. Now I can write about my trip for the next few weeks! | |
| 10 | 2/1/99 | 29 | 熱海は既にこの世ではないのです (地元の方失礼！）。街全体が時をこえた案敵P！ | Atami is already out of this world (before even getting to the locals). The whole city is a place of timeless memories! | Atami is about a 40 minute drive from Izu. |
| 11 | 2/8/99 | 30 | 初めてジャンプの新年会に参加しました。作家さんはみんないい人達だったよ。 | I attended Jump’s New Year party for the first time. All of the creators are nice people. | |
| 12 | 2/15/99 | 31 | 念願の引越し ！ これでやっとPGガンダム が買える。 作るヒマはないけどね･･･。 | The long-awaited move! I can finally buy a PG Gundam. But I don’t have time to build it though…. | |
| 13 | 2/22/99 | 32 | 民生の兄貴がまたやってくれた！「月を超えろ」 ジャケット最高！ やっぱVは大事 | Tamio’s brother has done it again! The “Tsuki wo Koero” has a great jacket. The visual is important too. | “月を超えろ” (Go Beyond the Moon) by Tamio Okuda (奥田民生) |
| 14 | 3/1/99 | 33 | とりあえず引っ越し兄了。おかげで仕事は2日遅れで困った事に。どうつめようか！? | I just finished moving to a new house. Because of that, I’m in trouble for being 2 days late. How can I make up the time!? | |
| 15 | 3/8/99 | 34 | 中学の時訪ねたアイヌの二風谷コタンでの旅跡を、今表現できてとても嬉しいです | I’m happy that I’m able to present some of the Ainu history I first learned about from a Junior High School trip to the Nibutani Kotan. | |
| 16 | 3/15/99 | 35 | うおおおっ、行ってきました翼の北海道アイヌの里へ！ やっぱ広いのはいいぞ— | Woohoo, I went to the Hokkaido Ainu Village of Wings! I knew that it was going to be a big place… | |
| 17 | 3/20/99 | 36 | 誰をたおすとケツからタバコが出てくるロバの雑貨を買った。こいつはイイ奴だ。 | I bought a donkey trinket where you hit it and a cigarettte comes out his ass. He’s a good guy. | |
| 18 | 3/29/99 | 37 | Fの方から絶版のH・C・M(美品！！)が届いたがMがない。も、もらってもいいの? | F gave me an out-of-print HCM (in good condition!!), but it’s missing the M. C-Can I get that too? | |
| 19 | 4/5/99 | 38 | JAY&SILENT BOBのフィギュアがいい感じ。 見事ハメら(騙さ)れたしね | The Jay & Silent Bob figures are nice. The poses (deceptive) are done beautifully. | Jay and Silent Bob |
| 20 | 4/12/99 | 39 | 取材のため横浜へ行ってきました。 しかし中華街の雑貨屋巡りに気をとられ本来の目的を完全に忘れたので、来週また行きます | I went to Yokohama for an interview. However, I got so caught up in visiting the general stores in Chinatown I completely forgot to visit the stores I wanted to see, so I will go back next week. | |
| 21 | 4/19/99 | 40 | 横浜行くはずが勢い余って鎌倉の武器屋へ。FFで有名になるたG・B買ったよ。 | I wanted to go to Yokohama, but I instead went to the weapons shop in Kamakura. I bought a gun blade that was made famous in the Final Fantasy series. | |
| 22-23 | 4/26/99 | 41 | 「バグズライフ」観に行って「ターザン」の予こくヘんで泣く。うごく質中の筋肉かっこよすぎ | Go see “A Bug’s Life” and cry watching “Tarzan.” The quality of the body movements is just awesome. | Disney & Pixar’s A Bug’s Life movie was released in Japan on March 13, 1999 (US was November 20, 1998). Tarzan was released in the US on June 16, 1999, but wouldn’t release in Japan until December 1999, so he likely only saw a trailer for the upcoming movie. |
| 24 | 5/10/99 | 42 | P・S・B・C・Pなんと一発目でアタリ。当てる楽しみがいきなりなくなった。 | The “Pepsiman Sound Bottle Cap Present” was great with the first press. But the fun of pressing it disappears quickly. | |
| 25 | 5/17/99 | 43 | ふと気付いたら、うちの娘が「地獄のサラミちゃん」に似ていた。末おそろしい･･･ | I suddenly realized that my daughter resembles “Sarami – Princess From Hell” | |
| 26 | 5/24/99 | 44 | このGW. ついに彼の出雲へ。何故か！ フフフ…それはね (乞ご期待) | It’s Golden Week. Finally went back to Izumo. What for? Hehehe… That’s right (stay tuned) | |
| 27 | 5/31/99 | 45 | 僕の誕生祝いにスタッフの皆から一人一個ずつ∀のプラモもらった。 ∀祭り状態。 | For my birthday, every staff member gave me a ∀ plastic model. It became a ∀ festival. | ∀, was shorthand for Turn A Gundam |
| 28 | 6/7/99 | 46 | ドイツのブロック、プレイモービルは雰囲気がたまらない！！素敵だナイトシリーズ | The German block toy, Playmobil has a great style!! The Knight series is awesome. | |
| 29 | 6/14/99 | 47 | 誕生Pいろいる有難うございました。でもP・Gザクくれたあなた…すごすぎるよ。 | Thank you for the birthday presents. For the person who gave me a PG Zaku… You are too kind to me. | |
| 30 | 6/21/99 | 48 | 一周年かあ。この一年ばくもちょっとは成長したように思う。それもみんな応援のお陰だ。あありがとう／またかんばるよ。 | My one year anniversary already, huh? I think I’ve grown quite a bit this year, thanks to everyone’s support. Thaaank you / I’ll continue doing my best. | |
| 31 | 6/28/99 | 49 | あ一惜しいーい。 おいらルーカスとたん生日 1白違いだったかー。いやそんだけの話 | That’s a shame. I was born on the same day as Lucas. That’s all I have to say. | |
| 32 | 7/5/99 | 50 | 「ギリギリチョップ」 あの歌を本当に理解できるのは本気で闘っている奴だけだろう | “Giri Giri Chop” is a song that real fighters can understand. | Music Video for “ギリギリchop” by the B’z |
| 33 | 7/12/99 | 51 | カメラ始めました。 自分がイイと感じたその映像を残せるとは本当に素晴らしい。 将来は地方のモーテル写真集を出すのが夢。 | I’ve become a photographer. It’s really wonder to look back at images I felt good about. My dream is to publish a photo album of countryside motels in the future. | |
| 34 | 7/19/99 | 52 | 昼ドラ「はるちゃん」が終っちゃったので今度はこの足で山中温泉に行く。 金沢上等 | The daytime drama “Haru-chan” has ended, so now I need to visit the Yamanake Onsen. Kanazawa is the best! | Haru-chan was in it’s 3rd season, which ended on July 2, 1999 for a total of 65 episodes. Each episode was 30 minutes long and broadcasted on Tokai TV weekdays at 13:30. Based on the manga by Yusuke Aoyagi. Opening theme for the 3rd season. |
| 35 | 7/26/99 | 53 | 子供と遊ぶため、花火大量に買ったはいいが、東京って出来る場所少なくて大変だよ | I bought a lot of fireworks for my kids to play with, but it’s hard to find places in Tokyo to use them. | |
| 36 | 8/2/99 | 54 | 今年はなぜか若いアーチストの訃報が目立ちます。 ぼくもいろいろ気をつけよう。 | For some reason, there have been many deaths of young artists this year. I’ll try to be careful too. | |
| 37-38 | 8/9/99 | 55 | 先日仕事明けに那須H・Pへ。しまった、リバーアドベンチャーは次の日からか！！ | I went to the Nasu Highland Park after work the other day. Darn, the River Adventure opened the next day. | Nasu Highland Park website for the River Adventure ride. |
| 39 | 8/23/99 | 56 | うおおおっ、行ってきました翼の北海道アイヌの里へ！ やっぱ広いのはいいぞ— | Woohoo, I went to the wings of Hokkaido for the Ainu village. I knew it would be good since it’s so huge– | Tsuruga Wings website (in English) |
| 40 | 8/30/99 | 57 | 20年飼ってた田舎の犬がついに死んだ。でもこれだけ生きたら大往生だ。 さらば！ | My 20-year-old hometown dog has finally passed. But if you are able to live this long, it couldn’t be bad. Farewell! | |
| 41 | 9/6/99 | Break | This was the first break week for the Shaman King serialization. | ||
| 42 | 9/13/99 | 58 | 前回の続き。犬が死んだの久々の帰郷から帰京した次の日。待っててくれたのね。 | Continued from last time. My dog died the day after I got back to Tokyo from a long trip home. He was waiting for me. | |
| 43 | 9/20/99 | 59 | 真夜中のベストプレイス・ドンキホーテが近くに出来た。 もう買いものまくりだ！ | The Best Place for shopping at midnight, Don Quijote, has opened up nearby. I’m already shopping there! | Don Quijote is a popular discount store that has a wide variety of products and have late night hours. |
| 44 | 9/27/99 | 60 | 「るろうに」のっていない」はなんかさびしい 和月先生、長い間お疲れ様でした | It’s kind of sad to no longer see “Rurouni” listed. Thank you Watsuki-sensei for all of your hard work over the years. | Rurouni Kenshin ended the previous issue of Weekly Shonen Jump (#43) |
| 45 | 10/4/99 | 61 | 今週はアシスタントの田辺君の誕生会をやった。みんなでプレゼントをあげたよ。 | We had a birthday party for my assistant Tanabe-kun this week. We all gave him presents. | This is Yōichirō Tanabe (田辺君) who is also on Twitter. |
| 46 | 10/9/99 | 62 | 缶コーヒー「Fire」のCMちょーかっこいい。やっぱいいなあアメリカインディアン | The canned coffee commercial of “Fire” is really cool. I really like the American Indians. | TV Ad 1 & TV Ad 2 |
| 47 | 10/18/99 | 63 | UAの次のアルバムのジャケはぼくの好きな推相き”バレ”による物だそうで楽しみ | I’m looking forward to the cover art of UA’s next album, which is by my favorite artist “Bare.” | |
| 48 | 10/25/99 | 64 | メロディを奏でながら歩くパンダのおもちゃを買いました。 目が銀色に光るんです | I bought a toy panda that walks around while playing a melody. It’s eyes even glow silver. | |
| 49 | 11/1/99 | 65 | スタッフが風邪をひき大変。 仕事場全員マスクつけてます。 皆さんも気をつけて。 | The staff is having a hard time with the cold going around. So they are all wearing masks. Everyone be careful. | |
| 50 | 11/8/99 | 66 | 今年のハロウィンにも間に合わなかったな、カボチャ娘。くそう来年こそは必ず… | You didn’t make it in before Halloween this year Pumpkin Girl. Darn it, next year I’ll be sure to… | “Pumpkin Girl” is the working name for the Shaman King character later known as Matilda. |
| 51 | 11/15/99 | 67 | DVDでM・F・O・ T シリーズ買う。もうセルジュったらテレ屋さんなんだから | I bought MFOT on DVD. Serge is already a telemarketer. | |
| 52-53 | 11/22/99 | 68 | 今度の単行本におまけまんが描きました。 これからはちょくちょく描くつもりです | I drew an extra manga for the upcoming book. Going forward, I’ll draw some more. |
Contributions:
- The Grand Line for actual Weekly Shonen Jump release dates.
- 咲良さくら, Dit, 晴, Clover, Stacey, Elliot Têtedoie for Japanese transcription assistance