Yui Kamio: Research Notes

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Title:  Kamio Yui wa Kami wo Yui 神緒ゆいは髪を結い

•  Ka-mee-oh…Yɯ-ee…Wah…Kah-mee..[w]oh…Yɯ-ee

• Title literally translates to “Kamio Yui Has Her Hair Tied Up”

• The “w” sound in “wo” (the accusative particle) is dropped in most modern Japanese dialects, so “Kamio Yui” and “kami wo yui” (tied-up hair) will usually sound exactly the same 

Author

• Shi’ibashi Hiroshi 椎橋寛

  • Shee-ee-bah-shee, Hee-ro-she
    

Characters

• Kamio Yui 神緒 ゆい（かみお ゆい）

  • Kah-mee-oh, Yɯ-ee

  • Family name written as “god’s cord” or “sacred cord,” an obvious allusion to the chain bestowed by a monk

  • See notes on the title for the full wordplay in her name

• Ebisuno Na’o 恵比寿野 奈央（えびすの なお）

  • Eh-bee-sɯ-no Nah-oh

  • Naming doesn’t seem to have any special significance

• Sonomiya Kiito園宮 鍵斗（そのみや きぃと）

  • So-no-mee-yah, Kee-toe

  • Personal name Kiito begins with the character for key/lock and the unusual reading of “kii” to make it sound like the English word “key” (normally, the character would be expected to be read as “ken” or “kagi”). This is obviously reflects the character’s status as a foil to Kamio Yui (whose name and character reflect a chain/lock motif). 

• Mai-Nyun

  • Ma-ee-ñɯn

  • (I used ñ because it’s like the sound in jalapeño)

• Shouzou’in Kaara 松蔵院カーラ

  • Show-zo-een, Kah-rah

MaxyBee

• Hiroshi Shiibashi

  • Notable people they were an assistant for

    • Hirohiko Araki (of Cool Shock B.T. fame) on Steel Ball Run

      • (confirmed in author introduction page in Akamaru Jump Spring issue, 2006)

  • Notable people they had as assistants

    • Takuma Yokota (of ‘Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated’ fame) on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

      • (confirmed in an interview on Manga Reborn before that website died)

    • Kentaro Hidano (of Super Smartphone fame) on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

    • Kana Yoshimura (of Murciélago fame) on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

      • (confirmed in profile from a roundtable interview)

    • Hiroyuki Senda (of Weapon Girl fame) on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

  • Other works

    • Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (2008-2012, 25 vols, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • The grandson of the yokai Nurarihyon must prepare to take over his family’s clan, all while navigating his ¾ human blood making him an uneasy prospect to more traditional monsters. Excellent supernatural action romp that received multiple anime series, a drama cd, and a ps3/xbox 360 video game.

        • Read the manga on the Shonen Jump app and website!

    • Illegal Rare (2014, 4 vols, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • In a world where supernatural beings known as ‘rares’ live alongside humans, an organisation forms to protect the rares from those who would attack or exploit them. Experienced a slow decline over 29 chapters and died.

    • Tokyo Kigo Tanpou (2016, 1 volume, Jump GIGA)

      • A Jump GIGA miniseries about supernatural beings relating to the seasons and the boy who can see them. Had a volume release (rare for Jump GIGA miniseries), numbered as if there’s be more, but uh…. No.

    • Iwamoto-senpai’s Recommendation (2021-present, 9+ vols, Ultra Jump)

      • Kodo Iwamoto is a gifted boy working for the Japanese military in 1910, granted special permission to investigate supernatural mysteries and tackle them with his special sword. Doing pretty well in Ultra Jump, trying not to think about what the character might do if the series moves forward a couple decades.

    • Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: Kage (2023, 1 volume, Ultra Jump)

      • An anniversary sequel to Nura: Rise of the Yokai, mostly noted here to show the author's enduring popularity.

• Publishing

  • Run Dates: 

    • March 11th, 2019 to November 25th, 2019.

  • Series it replaced

• IT’S COMPLICATED! In late 2018, World Trigger had transferred to Jump SQ, Hunter x Hunter went on hiatus, and Alice & Taiyo, THE COMIQ, and Seiji Tanaka: Secretary to the Managing President, General Time Industries all ended. Five series were down, and were only replaced by three new series. So when Yui Kamio and The Last Saiyuki turned up, they were filling a 3-month long void in the magazine!

• Series that replaced it

  • Zipman!! by Yusaku Shibata (2 vols, flop, SHONEN FLOP EPISODE ONE AND ALSO EPISODE 27)

• Series that started at the same time as it

  • The Last Saiyuki by Daijiro Nonoue (3 vols, flop, SHONEN FLOP EPISODE 54)

• Chapters/Volumes: 

  • 36 chapters/4 volumes

Manga Itself / Misc thoughts

• Shiibashi originally came up with the bones of the series concept in 2012, but wasn’t able to turn it into anything until his editor saw a drawing of a delinquent girl he’s drawn and suggested building a series around that. The delinquent aspect was the missing piece, apparently, and so Yui Kamio Lets Loose was born.

• The series’ working title was The Legend of the Ultimate Girl Boss.

• Chapter 7: Battle Tendency is a motherfucking JoJo reference, a small tribute to Shiibashi’s former master.

• Chapter 10: Fracas! At the Station is a Panic! At the Disco reference, but doesn’t appear to have been in the original Japanese. The translator probably just saw the perfect opportunity presented by the title “激闘!! 駅前大戦” (Fierce battle!! War in front of the station) and ran with it.

• Chapter 11: the title page is a reference to the announcement of the Reiwa era, except in this case it is Ebi declaring it the ‘Kamio era’. Didn’t pan out, that.

• Ryuji Keikain, the monk and exorcist introduced in chapter 14 along with the HUGE PIVOT, is a popular character from Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, officially connecting the two series.

• The rom-com section of the manga has Shiibashi trying to adapt his art style to the genre, which is why characters start to look a bit different after chapter 14, as he slips back into his comfort zone.

• Three Corpses and Nine Worms is a concept in daoism (tao). The three corpse spirits sit in your head, torso, and abdomen, and observe you and ascend to heaven every 57 days to report, and if you suck they make you sick, morally impure, or unlucky. The idea is be good or they’ll fuck you up. The nine worms are bodily parasites, and each occupies a different part of the body and causes various health problems. It’s like a metaphor.

• Shiibashi treasures the time he spent on the back half of the series especially, saying the experience will serve him well.

• Volume extras include:

  • Sketches!

    • Sketches of the cast

    • Gag sketches

    • Character design sketches

    • Volume cover sketches

  • Yui in White in a few costumes (from Weekly Shonen Jump group covers)

  • Afterwords (vol.2, )

  • “Yui Kamio Lets Loose: Summer Special”, a baseball AU at the back of some volumes.

  • Profiles for the various delinquent girls of the series.

  • Girl Boss reports from Ebi, profiling mushi host girls who don’t appear in the series.