Service Wars: Research Notes

Tucker

Title: 

•  English title: Service Wars

• Japanese Title: Sekkyaku Musou 接客無双

  • Sek-kya-kɯ, Mɯ-soh

  • Directly translates to “customer service unparalleled,” but “musou” also has the connotation of mowing down your enemies a la the Dynasty Warriors video game series (that series and all of its ilk made by Koei have the same word “musou” in their Japanese titles)

Author

• Hatomune, Tsurun 鳩胸 つるん（はとむね つるん）

  • Hah-toe-mɯ-nay, Tsɯ-rɯn

  • Huh, is this a pen name? I’m not finding any reference to it, but it feels kinda made up. “Hato-mune” means “pigeon breast,” and Tsurun is very close to “tsuru,” which means “crane” (the bird you make in origami). The author’s first major work, I believe, was also titled “The Naked Swan,” so perhaps this is a pen name chosen to pair with that original work?

  • Maxy B has confirmed that it is a pen name, and his editor hates it, apparently

Characters

• Nasunosuke

  • Nah-sɯ-no-s’kay

  • Male names ending in “suke” in Japanese are almost always pronounced like “skay” when spoken at a normal speed due to the “whispered vowel” effect

  • “Nasu” means eggplant, because of course the protagonist needs an on-the-nose name! Altogether, Nasunosuke means something like “eggplant helper”

• Ajimaru, Renge

  • Ah-jee-mah-rɯ, Ren-gay

  • Family name consists of “aji” meaning “flavor” and “maru” meaning “circle/full/complete,” so together it suggests “full of flavor”

• Ajimaru, Iwa’o

  • Ah-jee-mah-rɯ, Ee-wah-oh

  • Remember, diphthong sounds like English “ow” are not possible in Japanese, so “Iwao” is pronounced with three syllables (which is why I inserted an apostrophe

• Stopwatch Sekiguchi

  • Seh-kee-gɯ-chee

  • I don’t have the Japanese spelling available for this right now, but “guchi” is almost certainly spelled with the kanji for “mouth”...you know, since the dude has a weird mouth

• Mikitani 三木谷

  • Mee-kee-tah-knee

• Dai’on 大音

  • Dye-own

  • Written as “big sound/noise” but is a homonym with 大恩 (debt of gratitude) 

• Akadanna 赤旦那 (localized as “Baby Boss”)

  • Ah-kah-dahn-nah

  • Written as “red master/lord” but is a play on “aka-chan,” meaning baby

  • English name used by translators is pretty good, in my opinion, since it also uses dumb wordplay (on the movie Boss Baby) 

• Kama-jin aka “Old Kama”

  • Kah-mah-jean 

  • Sounds very close to English “comma”

• Hagi

  • Hah-ghee

• Suzaku

  • Sɯ-zah-kɯ

• Hayato

  • Hah-yah-toe

• Tajima, Suguru

  • Tah-jee-mah, Sɯ-gɯ-rɯ

• Suzumoto

  • Sɯ-zɯ-moe-toe

• Kato, Morokoshi

  • Kah-toe, Mo-ro-ko-shee

  • They say “corn,” but morokoshi is more specifically Japanese for sorghum…which I’ve only ever seen in molasses form (my late uncle liked using it as a sweetener)

• Mochizuki 望月

  • Moe-chee-zɯ-kee

  • Means “full moon of the eighth lunar month,” but also sounds like the food mochi, because of course

• Fukushima

  • Fɯ-kɯ-shee-mah

Other

• “Aubergine eyes”

  • Oh-burr-zheen

  • Aubergine is the French word for eggplant and is also used in British English to refer to eggplants

• Maritozzo (plural form: Maritozzi)

  • Mah-ree-TOTE-tso

• Heaven and Eye Holdings

  • Play on words on “7&i Holdings,” the Japanese parent company that bought out 7-11. Unlike the US, in Japan the holding company’s branding is EVERYWHERE (not to mention their TV jingle…).

MaxyBee

• Tsurun Hatomune

  • Notable people they were an assistant for

    • None Known

  • Notable people they had as assistants

    • None Known

  • Other works

    • A Naked Swan (2017-2018, 4 volumes, Shonen Jump Plus)

      • Kakeru Shiratori is a beautiful high school student who excels at everything, but carries a dark secret: dude’s an exhibitionist. A comedic series of mishaps as Kakeru tries to get his nude on without getting caught and having his reputation ruined! Originally intended to be a one-volume work, but due to its positive reception it ran a full year.

    • Mitama Security: Spirit Busters (2019-2020, 5 volumes, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • The frequently haunted Rena Haze is in for the time of her life when Joh Mitama moves in next door, an exorcist who’s SCARED OF GHOSTS. Chaos and comedy ensues. Shonen Flop episode 11.

• Publishing

  • Magazine/Website:

    • Shonen Jump Plus (Manga Plus internationally)

  • Run Dates: 

    • March 26, 2023 to December 3rd, 2023

  • Series it replaced

• Not how Jump Plus works

• Series that replaced it

  •  Not how Jump Plus works

• Series that started around the same time as it

  • The Pension Life Vampire by Shoichi Taguchi (4 vols)

• Chapters/Volumes: 

  • 37 chapters/4 volumes
    

Manga Itself / Misc thoughts

• This is Hatomune’s first series without editor Junichi Tamada, who had been working alongside him since his first submission to the Akatsuka awards in 2011, but had to move on after being transferred to Shueisha’s Dash Books division.

• Hatomune is often mistaken for a woman because of his art style, as a major part of his study for A Naked Swan involved reading and learning from copies of Bessatsu Margaret.