is a

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Yuu Watase is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1989 at the age of 18 with the short story "Pajama de Ojama" (, "An Intrusion in Pajamas") and has since published more than 50 volumes of one-shots and long-running manga series. One of her most po ...

. Set in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, it follows the life of Yusura, who as a baby, was found under a cherry tree with the "Kongoumaru" (a staff that turns blue when people are sad) by her side. Now fifteen years later, Yusura has become the "hikeshiya" (or "extinguisher of sorrow") and uses the Kongoumaru to 'absorb' people's sadness and hit it back at the people that caused it.

Characters

; :As a child was abandoned by her birth-parents and found under a

cherry tree A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

. Now the "hikeshiya", she goes around healing people's sadness with her Kongoumaru (金剛丸). Although she loves her adoptive parents, Yusura is still trying to find her birth-parents. :Hot-headed and

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

-ish, she dresses like a boy and the inability of new characters to identify her gender serves as a running joke through the series. Later she falls in love with Samon. She is 15 years old. Kongomaru was her staff. ; :A member of the royal family, he is the son of the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

''. However, his mother was a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

and the Daimyo was not too happy to learn of his existence. Yusura met him after saving him from some

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

s. :Samon is practically blind and has difficulty seeing without his glasses, often mistaking other objects for Yusura. Then later he falls for Yusura. ; :He's Yusura's very funny foster brother who always teases her, and he helps her with all the sadness business. Then he came along on her journey to find her real parents. He also likes to play with skeleton puppets that scare people. ;Kazanosuke :A

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

whose special power is a bubble attack. After meeting Yusura and her gang, he is hired by Samon to become his

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

. However he is quite fond on hiding in Yusura's shadow instead. A Cola Ninja from the village of Coca. It is hinted that he loves Yusura. ;Yasura's Dad :Loves to invent random things. Much of the time they are more of a hindrance than a help but all are amusing. He is a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

. ;Oteru :One of Samon's servants.

Publication

Surprisingly, this manga was made around the time of one of her most popular works, ''

Ayashi no Ceres ''Ceres, Celestial Legend'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōgakukan's magazine ''Shōjo Comic'' from May 1996 to March 2000, with its chapters collect ...

''. In one of her "free talk pages," (where the

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

can talk to her fans about her daily life or things relating to the manga or promoting other works.) She said that the reason why there is such a big difference between the two manga's art is because ''Ayashi no Ceres'' is more "Dark and serious," so she gave it a more realistic art style. ''Appare'' is drawn with a more typical wide-eyed shōjo look. This manga had an unusual publishing schedule. In a shōjo manga magazine, there is a restricted number of pages that manga artist can only draw in (16 for weekly shōnen manga and 32–34 for typical monthly shōjo manga). ''Appare'' was licensed by ''

Flower Comics is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hi ...

'', but never ran in the magazine. Instead it was independent and immediately went out to the public in volumes. Watase stated that she did not want to go with the deadlines for the magazine because it was such a light-hearted story that she wanted to go at her own pace. As a result, there were huge gaps between volume publications. The series was published in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

by Glénat España as ''¡Viva Japón!''. A French version was published by

Editions Tonkam Tonkam is a prominent French publisher of manga and was one of the first publishers of manga in French, issuing its first titles in 1994. It was founded by Sylvie Chang and Dominique Véret with the financial assistance of a Parisian bookseller, ...

, but retained the title ''Appare Jipangu!'' It was also published in Italy by

Planet Manga Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hunga ...

References

External links

* {{Sho-Comi 1998 manga Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga Yuu Watase