Kyokuto Necromance: Research Notes

Tucker

Title: 

•  (極東ネクロマンス, Kyokutō Nekuromansu)

  • Kyo-kɯ-toe

  • “Kyokutou” means “Far East”

  • This title suggests something like “necromancy in the Far East.” Sounds like it’s either referring to an Eastern style of necromancy or it’s a company or it’s a company/organization name

Author

• Naba, Fusai 那波 歩才（なば ふさい)

  • Nah-bah, Fɯ-sah-ee

Characters

• Uno, Ka’oru 宇野薫 

  • Ɯ-no, Kah-oh-rɯ

  • Family name pronounced like the card game/Spanish word, but remember that it sounds a little different since the “u” is actually ɯ (same as Spanish “u” but pronounced with unrounded lips)

• Amane, Youji 天涅耀司

  • Ah-mah-nay, Yo-jee

• Chitari チタリ 

  • Chee-tah-ree

• Shishi シシ

  • Shee-shee (though in fast speech the second syllable may be reduced, making the full word sound like the English word “sheesh”)

  • Native Japanese word for lion (often used for the guardian lion-dogs of Buddhist temples…the animal in nature is often referred to with the English word). 

• Azuchi, Fuku

  • Ah-zɯ-chee, Fɯ-kɯ

• Uno, Itsuki 宇野樹

  • Ɯ-no, Eats-key

  • The “tsu” gets reduced to mostly sounding like “ts” due to the whispered vowel effect 

• Mezu, Touru 馬頭亨

  • Meh-zɯ, Toe-rɯ

• Yuko 夕子

• Ryuu 龍

  • It’s only one syllable in Japanese, but you’ll never be able to pronounce it that way if you’re using the English “R” sound! Look at the R section of the general Japanese notes

  • Just means “dragon.” 

• Kurashiki, Midori 倉敷翠

  • Kɯ-rah’sh-kee, Mee-doe-ree

  • Due to the whispered vowel effect, the “shi” in Kurashiki in normal speech would sound just like a “sh” consonant that takes up one beat of rhythm

• Terashima, Teru

  • Tay-rah’sh-mah, Tay-rɯ

  • Again, the “shi” is reduced in normal speech like in Kurashiki above

• Soyogi, Manson 梵万尊

  • So-yo-ghee, Mahn-soan

  • The author was obviously trying to evoke Marlyn Manson, but it’s also a native Japanese name: the family name comes before the personal name and is written with Kanji: “ten thousand” + “precious/noble/valuable.” I don’t think the kanji choice means much other than the author wanted to have an excuse to have a character named “Manson” but be Japanese

• Uno, Shigeru 宇野茂

  • Ɯ-no, Shee-gay-rɯ

Other

• Shiryo 死霊

  • Shee-ryo

  • Literally written as dead + ghost/spirit

  • Forms the first two characters of the Japanese word for “necromancer”: 死霊術師 (shiryojutsushi)

  • If you’re having difficulty pronouncing the “ryo” as a single syllable, check out the “R (aka [ɾ])” section below. 

• Reika 霊菓

  • Ray-kah

  • Literally written as “ghost fruit,” but is a homophone with 冷菓 reika, which is a term for a chilled/frozen dessert (it looks like a frozen fruit, right?)

• Kyou’en 饗苑

  • Kyo-en

  • Just written as “banquet park/garden”

• Chouyuukai 蝶遊会

  • Cho-yɯɯ-kai

  • Written as “butterfly” + “play” + “meeting.” Together, it has a feeling of something like “gathering of the fluttering butterflies”

MaxyBee

Manga Details

• Fusai Naba

  • Notable people they were an assistant for

    • None known

  • Notable people they had as assistants

    • None known

  • Other works

    • TAOTAO (2017, 3 chapters, Jump GIGA)

      • A short series that ran in Jump GIGA.

    • Harakiri Gomen (2020, 4 chapters, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • A short series exclusive to the Japanese digital version of Weekly Shonen Jump.

    • ALIENS AREA (2022, 3 vols, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • Aliens Arena? Aligns Areola? Allies Arrears? Alan’s Are Ears? Alice’s Aria? Whatever it is, this supernatural bureaucracy manga was previously covered in Shonen Flop episode 66.

• Publishing

  • Run Dates: 

    • April 21st, 2024 to September, 1st 2024

  • Series it replaced

• Two On Ice by Elck Itsumo (4 vols, flop, SHONEN FLOP EPISODE 113)

• Series that replaced it

  •  Ichi the Witch by Osamu Nishi and Shiro Usazaki (1+ vol, looking good)

• Series that started at the same time as it

  • Astro Royale by Ken Wakui (2+ vols, doing okay)

  • Psych House by Omusuke Kobayashi (2 volumes, flop)

• Chapters/Volumes: 

  • 18 chapters/2 volumes

Manga Itself / Misc thoughts

Not much for this one (because it’s very blah, only one volume is out, and I ain’t buying it), but let me tell you about how Fusai Naba failing again in Weekly Shonen Jump is probably okay, because he is almost definitely also Nabana Naba, author of The Vermillion Mask, a relatively popular series from Young King OURS that is 6 volumes deep and growing, and even licensed and readable on AI translation company Orange Inc.’s new subscription service Emaqi. It’s just about the worst possible way to get licensed, but hopefully made a little bank for Naba.