Progress has been made on the second 4Koma book! I've finished scanning all the pages today and now just need to get to editing which I'm still pretty sure it won't be too difficult of a task cause the pages aren't extended to the edges of the page and is much shorter in comparison to the sports manga series.

Hoping I can have the whole thing ready within the next couple of weeks?

I also found a listing for the 3rd volume of the 4Koma books, so if I end up getting that one in my hands then I'll be sure to start scanning that one as well. May be a little dicey with it's condition tho it came at a pretty cheap price so I was willing to take a gamble on it's quality.

I've been looking for that third volume of Four Panel Comics Kingdom series for years! Man I'm so jealous (JK)! I have volumes one and two (in fact I own two copies of volume two) but three has always eluded me... Anyway, all I do know is that it features Nekketsu Kakuto Densetsu and that's pretty cool because Nekketsu Kakuto Densetsu doesn't have much official artwork for the game or its characters (although my man Himeyama Soichiro is featured prominently on the box art). The cool thing that I like about the Four Panel Comics Kingdom series is the fact that it had the most involvement from Technos Japan, even featuring two of the company's artists (Ben'92 (SFC The Combatribes) and Kumiko "Manju Kowai" Mukai)!

Let's just say, I have a massive bias towards FPCK, as it doesn't go against any of the established intricate lore of the series (%90 of the time) and instead has fun with the series making some great jokes in the process and telling some entertaining stories within the format (as some span across an entire segment of the book). My personal favourite segments from the second volume are: Ganbare Hockey Bu (Do your best, Hockey Club) by Motoyama Risa (Risa Motoyama). It features some really cute artwork throughout the segment and has great moments with Shimada Mami (Mami Shimada, also very sorry in advance for going by Japanese name order, my muscle memory kicks in and I can't help it >～<). Bari2Kouha Kunio kun by Hanafuda Taro (Taro Hanafuda). It features a The Combatribes reference and one of the most accurate adaptations of pre-post Nekketsu Monogatari Riki. And Sports Yarouze!! Kunio kun by Takakuchi Masao (Masao Takakuchi). It features a lot of Soccer Hen (including some cute artwork of Misako) and even features some of the game that started it all, Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun.

If I had to rank all of the comics (well, the ones I've experienced) in order of best to weakest (IMO), it would be: FPCK, Hachamecha Special, Nekketsu Shobu and tied with it, Ore wa Otoko da! Kunio kun. Not that the ones I rank lowest are bad (I've enjoyed them tons!), it's just that I'm a stickler for accuracy and when I hear my favourite series has an adaptation, I kinda expect a lot from the adaptation. I'll never forget my first time reading Ore wa and finding out that the series stops introducing characters from the series after volume four (that actually made me stop reading my first time through. Well, that and what I had explained in a prior (3/11/23) comment). I felt the same way with the live-action series when it came to accuracy towards the ArcSys era, and I love that series a lot!

Anyway, I'm super glad that you've been preserving these comics! I couldn't be any more grateful, the work you're doing for the community is just... amazing! And I get a chance to talk about the series too whenever you post an update (I'm not too sure if I come across as bothersome or annoying in any way, so, sorry in advance if that's the case...!).

Lastly, sorry for this massive wall of text! >~<

I always learn some new niche history from every post of yours, so it's never a problem! Out of the 3 mangas I've seen I think the two sports ones were definitely my favourite. They all got such a cool look and stylish interpretation of the game's source material

As for the 3rd volume of the 4Koma books, I did end up purchasing it when I saw it though as I mentioned in my update post, I've got my fingers crossed that the condition is still scannable and not unreadable. I'll be on the prowl for the 1st volume too so I can eventually just have all 3 completed.

One thing I did want to ask you that I did recognize off an older blog post made here, what actually is this book about and was it official or endorsed by Technos? I got the feeling it's a guide book of sort, though I was interested in the art inside and may pick this one up as well. Quite a few listings exist for it with various prices so it's not too hard of a find.

All I really know about it is that it's a V Jump issue which was some magazine related to various media

This is THE Kunio kun Hacha Mecha Special that I was mentioning in these past comments. Released on 1/1/1994, it is the last guidebook in the Kunio kun series to be licensed by Technos Japan. One part Comic book, one part guide book, this is the ultimate Kunio kun book for entry-level fans (However, the way how Kunio is in the story is quite a bit different. More on that later)! It also includes as two-sided poster.

The book features artwork by Rinko Yano and the artwork is just... absolutely brilliant! All the characters featured look super on model (Well apart from Ryan from the Zenbei team, Michael from the NY Kids team in the comic portion and Sankichi in the comic portion. However, in the guidebook portion, Michael and Sankichi are super on model) and it really does evoke the classic Technos era of artwork.

The book's main event is the 60-page comic, "Nekketsu Sanbon Shobu (Nekketsu three round match)" which is an arranged retelling of Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari, Nekketsu Street Basket and Kunio kun no Jidaigeki (Game Boy) (Yes, Jidaigeki in this adaptation's canon is apart of the main storyline). It starts off as an adaptation of Jidaigeki only for us to find out that it is a stage play. After being humiliated in front of a live audience Todo Mamoru opens up the Nekketsu Baseball Tournament to finally crush Nekketsu High! In the midst of all this, Hasebe and Kunio are hanging out and they see that a quiz is being held locally, the Downtown Quiz (Hiroshi is one of the competitors in this quiz and the book even explains Hiroshi's character (briefly) to the readers)! Kunio competes in the quiz and wins, his prize... a 15 day trip to America. Kunio decides not to share his time with anyone (not Sonokawa or Hasebe) as he feels it's time for him to take a break from his crazy life in Japan. However, unbeknownst to Kunio he has a few followers...

I could go on, but I won't be spoiling the comic, as that's for you to find out! But, what I will say is that Kunio comes across as more selfish in this adaptation, especially when it comes to what he did to Sugata during the Nekketsu Baseball Tournament final (final in this comic that is). And Todo Mamoru still being a full on antagonistic bad guy and having the Todo Group be this antagonistic company is also not entirely accurate. Todo Mamoru (Mamoru Todo), is actually very nuanced in the lore and much like Yamada Taiki (Taiki Yamada) is very complicated to explain in a few short sentences.

But what I will say, is that I love the way how it explains Kunio's absence during the beginning half of the Nekketsu Baseball Tournament.

The second half of the book is the incredibly helpful guidebook segment, it features full walkthroughs and strategies for the three games featured in the comic book portion. After the comic and each of the games' guide, there is a segment called Nekketsu News (Nekketsu Shinbun), which features extra info and a four-panel comic.

If you couldn't tell, I absolutelly adore this book and it was my first ever piece of Kunio kun reading material.

I actually have a personal story with this book. Ages ago, when I was just starting my collection, I saw a listing for two Kunio kun books, one was this and the other was Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun Banchou Rengou wo Buttobase!. Now, Banchou Rengou wo Buttobase! is a chose your own adventure book (in the Famicom Game Book series) with fantastic artwork, but at the time, I wasn't all too familiar with Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun's cast (even though I had owned the original Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun on Famicom) lore wise, that is, so I opted to get this book instead.

However, I think I might of cursed myself, as I havent found another listing for Banchou Rengou wo Buttobase!. Anyway, I think my decision in the end was a good one, as I was able to play Baseball Monogatari with ease (as my copy didn't come with a manual, or a box for that matter) and I got to see the Iikanji cheat in Game Boy Jidaigeki (which is the Game Boy versions equivalent of the Koganemushi cheat from the Famicom version. Before I had gotten this book, I had to manually travel from place to place in Game Boy Jidaigeki!).

One last thing I'll mention about this book is that if the last few pages are torn at the side if ever you purchase a used copy, that's nothing to worry about, as originally, the hidden cheats segment of the book was sealed and you had to open it up (if you wanted to see the secrets that is)!

So yeah, even though this book is very common, I definitely recomend picking it up!

Lastly, congrats on getting the the third volume of FPCK! And I've also got my fingers crossed for it's condition.

Sweet, that's just what I wanted to know then. I'll be sure to pick up a copy sometime as it sounds like it'll be worth archiving online

An update on Vol 2 of the 4Koma book, that is now near completion as I've only got ~18 pages left to edit. I took a break from the book stuff for a couple of weeks though have since resumed a few days ago

When it's done I'll be linking it here and on it's wiki page like always, though I'll also put up a blog post for all the scans I've completed so far as I only found out recently that's something regular users can do. Some extra news, but I've now also gotten my hands on Vol 3 of the 4Koma books and the VJump magazine which I plan on starting when Vol 2 is complete! Condition came in great so there hopefully shouldn't be many problems, though the VJump one may be a bit harder as it's completely in colour.

While these aren't all manga, a few more books I wanted to work with arrived today, so here's what's now on my eventual to-do list:

• Shodai Manual

• Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun FC Guide Book

• 4Koma Vol 3

• VJump Magazine

• SNES Dodgeball Guide Book

I actually finished scanning all of Shodai's manual shortly after it arrived and cropped half of it's pages, so I should have that up n' available likely by tomorrow! Condition was a bit rough so it's not the best in the world, but perfectly viewable. Mostly wanted to get all the artwork from that since I couldn't really find it anywhere online.

The NKK guide book sounds like it'll be pretty easy as well given that it's mostly text with it's realllly cool illustrations spread out, so I may work on that before continuing 4Koma Vol 3. It came in a great condition! I did end up scanning the first segment of 4Koma, though had it on pause cause I felt like updating information on the wiki and also just to continue my own game dev work.