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Viz's Shonen Jump to Publish Yu-Gi-Oh!, Rurouni Kenshin Manga Shorts
posted on by Karen Ressler
Viz Media's digital manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump announced on Monday that it will publish the "Yu-Gi-Oh! Transcend Game" and "Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro" manga shorts beginning in next week's issue.
Kazuki Takahashi drew the two-part short "Yu-Gi-Oh! Transcend Game" to link the end of his original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga with the story of the Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions anime film. The manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump on April 11 and April 18.
The film opened in Japan on April 23 on 137 screens, and eventually earned over 1 billion yen (about US$9 million). The film will open in the United States and Canada on January 27 and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 1.
Nobuhiro Watsuki's "Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro" (Rurouni Kenshin Ibun: Ashitarō Zenka Ari) is a two-chapter spinoff off his Rurouni Kenshin manga. It ran in Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine on November 4 and December 2. Watsuki drew the manga and his wife Kaoru Kurosaki collaborated on the story.
The manga tells the story of a new character named Ashitarō Hasegawa, who had been held in a Tokyo prison for committing a certain crime. After being released, he encounters Aran Inoue, a boy his age, as well as a mysterious girl who had been waiting for Ashitarō's release.
The second chapter revealed that the manga's true name is "Rurouni Kenshin Hokkaido-hen Jomaku: Ashitarō Zenka Ari" (Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc Prologue: The Criminal Ashitaro), and it is a prequel to an upcoming new arc for Rurouni Kenshin.
