The Twin Empires

The manga centers on Hayabusa, a girl who is actually a god. The story begins when Hayabusa is looking intently at a man eating croquettes in a park. When the man gives her a croquette, she sprouts mechanical wings and flies away. When the man returns the next day, Hayabusa is there to thank him and offers him a ride in the sky, for which she turns into a Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter plane to do so.

Mariko Kazunori ("Nori") is a 28-year man who hated bicycles until he almost runs over road-racer Oda Rin. After meeting with her and her weird family, everything goes wrong for this pitiful hero. His license gets revoked and he is forced by his friends to start bicycling.

In a world where warships fly across the skies, Kou and Qing are at war. Gaw, a Kong Xia survivor whose people were exterminated by the Kou now travels with a girl named Fa, who has been cursed by a magician so that all who touch her lose their lives. They now journey together to find a magician who can lift Fa’s curse, though magicians are thought to have died out long ago.

A compilation of noteable submissions to the Afternoon Four Seasons Awards from 1987 to 2000 from major artists from when they were still newcomers. **Note:** Do not confuse this for the [Afternoon Four Seasons Awards CHRONICLE 1987-2000 Selections](https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/title?code=1000000684) from 2013, which cut 23 of the 48 oneshots but still spread the remaining 25 across 4 seasonal volumes. **Chapters:** **Spring:** 1​. Tsuchida Seiki - Miseinen (1987 Four Seasons Prize) 2. Takahashi Tsutomu - GOTAVOICE (1987 Spring Semi-Winner) 3. Matsumoto Taiyou - STRAIGHT (1987 Autumn Semi-Winner) 4. Irie Noriko - Neko no Te Kashimasu (1987 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize) 5. Ohtagaki Yasuo - Ronin Heartbreak! (1988 Summer Honorable Mention) 6. Sudou Masumi - Shounen-ou ni Shiroi Kumo (1988 Autumn Semi-Winner) 7. Akizuki Risu - Oku-sama Shinkaron (1988 Autumn Honorable Mention) 8. Nakayama Masaaki - Ridatsu (1988 Winter Semi-Winner) 9. Arai Hideki - 8-gatsu no Hikari (1989 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 10. Hiromoto Sinichi - Western Carnival (1989 Summer Honorable Mention) 11. Enomoto Shunji - Golden Lucky (1989 Autumn Honorable Mention) 12. King Gonta - A Mess on a Weekend (1989 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize) 13. Irie Kiwa - Haikibun! Sakanahime (1989 Winter Four Seasons Prize) 14. Hiramatsu Minoru - Ma, Ikka! (1989 Winter Honorable Mention) 15. Aoki Yuuji - Higan to Shigan no Ma De (1990 Semi-Winner) 16. Taguchi Masayuki - Shouteki Ningen (1990 Autumn Four Seasons Prize) 17. Sugawara Masayuki - Home Range (1991 Summer Semi-Winner) 18. Matoba Ken - Mei Tantei ni Hanarenai keredo (1991 Summer Semi-Winner) 19. Yasuda Hiroyuki - MOZOO (1991 Autumn Honorable Mention) 20. Oda Hideji - Sakana (1991 Winter Honorable Mention) **Summer:** 21. Matsunaga Toyokazu - Killing Paranoia (1992 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 22. Ohara Shinji - Boku wa Otouto (1993 Spring Four Seasons Grand Prize) 23. Kuwahara Shinya - YOKO vs (1993 Spring Four Seasons Prize) 24. Samura Hiroaki - Mugen no Juunin (1993 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 25. Kuroda Iou - Ka, Nanten, Kuma (1993 Autumn Four Seasons Grand Prize) 26. Toume Kei - KUROGANE (1993 Autumn Four Seasons Prize) 27. Igarashi Daisuke - Obayashi ga Hikoeru Hi & Imada Fuyu (1993 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize) 28. Yoshikai Kanji - Kodoku no Oto (1993 Winter Semi-Winner) 29. Ashinano Hitoshi - Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1994 Spring Four Seasons Prize) 30. Komai Yuu - Sonna Yatsua Inee!! (1994 Spring Honorable Mention) **Autumn:** 31. Aramaki Keiko - GENOMES (1994 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 32. Kio Shimoku - Ten no Ryouiki (1994 Summer Four Seasons Prize) 33. Abe Yoshitoshi - Ame no Furu Basho (1994 Summer Semi-Winner) 34. Kiba Kouichi - JAGUA (1995 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 35. Nihei Tsutomu - BLAME (1995 Summer Special Prize) 36. Endou Hiroki - Kitto Kawaii Onnanoko dakara (1995 Autumn Four Seasons Prize) 37. Kitoh Mohiro - Vendémiaire no Migite (1995 Autumn Semi-Winner) 38. Asada Torao - Spoonman 3.18 (1996 Autumn Four Seasons Grand Prize) 39. Wakana Shouhei - Kamen Tenshi (1996 Autumn Four Seasons Prize) 40. Shinemon - Lunch no B (1996 Summer Honorable Mention) **Winter:** 41. Hayashida Q - Sofa-chan (1997 Autumn Semi-Winner) 42. Kimura Kon - Koube Zaijuu (1997 Winter Four Seasons Prize) 43. Shinofusa Rokuro - Yasashii Kodomo no Tsukurikata (1997 Spring Honorable Mention) 44. Higuchi Asa - Yuku Tokoro (1998 Spring Four Seasons Prize) 45. Manabe Shohei - Yuuutsu Suberidai (1998 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize) 46. Urushibara Yuki - Mushishi (1998 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize) 47. Kumakura Takatoshi - Gurade (1999 Summer Semi-Winner) 48. Toyoda Minoru - Love Roma (2002 Spring Four Seasons Grand Prize) **Selected Descriptions:** Kio Shimoku - Ten no Ryouiki A brief insight into the life of a young graduate student looking for work who finds himself in bed with a mysterious girl he has never seen before. Abe Yoshitoshi - Ame no Furu Basho Eshikawa is a man who has lost sight of his life and stumbles through it, with no clear meaning or purpose. One day, he is informed that his ex-girlfriend committed suicide, which sets his brain on retrospect mode. He goes on a journey of self-revelation and contemplates upon the myriad of human emotions, the joys and sorrows of normalcy. Kiba Kouichi - JAGUAR As a woman is returning home one night, she runs into a man who was just in a car crash. As he's dying, he asks her to throw a certain package into the sea. Hayashida Q - Sofa-chan Hayashida Q's debut work about a female couch spirit. ___ **See Also:** - [MDList of Afternoon Four Seasons Award–winning oneshots](https://mangadex.org/list/d7b883be-732f-4d5b-8d92-818fa3c62555/afternoon-oneshot-four-seasons-award-winners) - [blog post covering this series](http://sportable.seesaa.net/article/246888518.html) - [Wikipedia article about this series](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%95%E3%82%BF%E3%83%8C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3%E8%B3%9ECHRONICLE) - [Wikipedia article about the contest, including a list of winners](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%95%E3%82%BF%E3%83%8C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3%E8%B3%9E)

The story takes place in a world that resembles 19th century Europe. When a carnival comes to town one day, Ray, the son of a bar owner, meets a girl with wings. The girl's name is Vendemiaire. She was given life by her Creator and tells Ray that she is not human. This is a series of short stories showing the kindness and cruelty of mankind. You can enjoy pictures drawn with a fine touch alongside the philosophic dialogue of the characters. This 2-volume series is the debut work of Mr. Kitoh. Hints for his next work, Narutaru can also be found in this story.

The story could basically be split into two halves. The main story is about Tamai Shiina, who is an energetic middle-school teenage girl. She visits her grandparent's over the summer where she runs into a very strange creature. Shiina has had lots of strange dreams as of late and also when she was younger, and this strange creature is somewhat related to her visions. She names the small cuddly star-shaped creature, Hoshimaru. Little did she know that this cuddly creature is really part of herself. After her vacation, Shiina goes back to her home, living with her father. She runs into other children with similar creatures the following days. However, these children have developed their creatures, and they have complete control over them. They mostly use these creatures for their own destructive pleasure and not for good. There is a group of teenagers that all have these strange creatures, and they plan to basically conquer the world, creating a utopia of whatever they desire. Will they succeed? Will Shiina ever develop Hoshimaru?

Set in a world where every object has its own spirit, the story follows Miles, a young woman who has the rare ability to communicate with those spirits. Working as a spirit medium, Miles helps people find the objects that are compatible to them. Assisting her is a mysterious man named Gikaku who’s literally not from this world. Dubbed as the “god of destruction” Gikaku wields a terrible power which, as it seems, only Miles can contain. But for how long?

In the casual days of the spring of his third year in middle school, Mitsuru Hibino meets transfer student Kouzou Issha, who develops his special power. Issha commands Hibino to use his lethal “power” to “correct the errors of this world”. Their first step is to “kill those who drive while using their cell phones”. While getting their hands dirty with what society considers “crime”, these boys use their “power” for their “ideal justice”! ***Spelling mistakes in alt title and chapter titles are intentional***

In his second collection of short stories, Mohiro Kitoh recounts the tragic fates of people living in a half-futuristic, half-fantasy city whose inexorable structural decay seems to be mirrored in its citizens’ hearts.