Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams (Japanese: 夢印, French: Mujirushi – Le signe des rêves) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was serialized in the magazine Big Comic Original from October 20, 2017, to February 20, 2018, with the chapters collected into a single volume by publisher Shogakukan. It was licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams
Standard edition cover of the Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams collected volume, featuring Kasumi.
夢印
GenreMystery[1]
Manga
Written byNaoki Urasawa
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
MagazineBig Comic Original
DemographicSeinen
Original runOctober 20, 2017 – February 20, 2018
Volumes1

Plot summary

Young businessman Kamoda decides to cheat on his taxes in order to save money to take his wife on a luxury cruise. After a surprise audit, he loses both his business and his wife. On the verge of suicide, Kamoda and his daughter Kasumi are led by a crow and a mysterious symbol to the France Research Institute, where they meet the flamboyant Director, a man who claims he can change Kamoda's fate with a daring painting heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Production

About four years earlier, Naoki Urasawa was approached by the Louvre Museum in France with a request to write a series. He could not immediately respond due to his work load at the time, but the project came to realization in 2017.[2] Mujirushi features the character Iyami from Fujio Akatsuka's classic comedy manga Osomatsu-kun.[2] The series credits Akatsuka's Fujio Productions Ltd. with cooperation, while the Louvre is credited with "special cooperation."

In 2019, Urasawa stated that he had slight concerns about Mujirushi being published in English because "major animation or film studios could take offence, or maybe draw some non-existent similarities between my work and their work."[3] He also said that there is a presidential candidate in the series who looks very similar to the then-president of the United States (Donald Trump) "for some strange reason, but I have no intention, that's not really how I wrote it!"[3]

Publication
External video
Promotional video for the series

Written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, Mujirushi was serialized in Big Comic Original from October 20, 2017, to February 20, 2018.[4][5] Its chapters were collected and published into a single volume by publisher Shogakukan on July 30, 2018. Two different editions were released, standard and deluxe, with the latter being the same size as the magazine run and including the color pages.[2] In France, the series was published in two volumes by Futuropolis on August 23 and October 11, 2018 as part of their Musée du Louvre collection.[6][7] They later published it in a single volume on June 26, 2019.[8]

At New York Comic Con 2019, Viz Media announced that they licensed the manga for an English release in North America.[9] They published the single volume under the Viz Signature imprint with the color pages on July 21, 2020.

Chapter list
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 July 30, 2018978-4-09-860042-7 (standard)[10]
978-4-09-179258-7 (deluxe)[11]		July 21, 2020[12]978-1-9747-1523-7
  • 1er Sheeh! : "Research Institute"
  • 2ème Sheeh! : "City of Flowers"
  • 3ème Sheeh! : "A Single Painting
  • 4ème Sheeh! : "Round Stone"
  • 5ème Sheeh! : "Packages"
  • 6ème Sheeh! : "Maria"
  • 7ème Sheeh! : "Dragnet"
  • 8ème Sheeh! : "Vuvuzela"
  • Sheeh Final! : "Distant Dreams"

Reception

According to Oricon, the Mujirushi collected volume sold 63,602 copies in its first week of release, and 114,489 by its third week.[13][14]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network reviewed the series as "part caper, part drama, and part theatre of the absurd" and "an impressive feat of storytelling".[15] Reuben Baron of Comic Book Resources called it "Naoki Urasawa at his silliest",[16] and Morgana Santilli of Comics Beat praised the production over the plot: "Though perhaps not as engrossing or complex as some of Urasawa's other offerings, Mujirushi does leave the reader with that familiar feeling of awe at a master's manipulation of line, panel, and story."[17]

References
  1. "The Official Website for Mujirushi". Viz Media. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  2. "世界騒然！浦沢直樹氏『夢印－MUJIRUSHI－』通常版＆豪華版発売" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. July 30, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  3. "Interview: Naoki Urasawa". All the Anime. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  4. "Naoki Urasawa's New Manga Title Revealed as Mujirushi". Anime News Network. October 5, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. "Naoki Urasawa's Mujirushi Manga Ends on February 20". Anime News Network. February 5, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. "Mujirushi ou Le signe des rêves - 1" (in French). Futuropolis. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  7. "Mujirushi ou Le signe des rêves - 2" (in French). Futuropolis. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  8. "Mujirushi ou Le signe des rêves" (in French). Futuropolis. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  9. "Viz Media Licences Fushigi Yūgi: Byakko Senki, How Do We Relationship?, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams Manga". Anime News Network. October 4, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  10. "夢印" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  11. "夢印　豪華版" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. "Mujirushi". Viz Media. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  13. "Japanese Comic Ranking, July 30-August 5". Anime News Network. August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  14. "Japanese Comic Ranking, August 13–19". Anime News Network. August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  15. "Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams GN". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  16. "REVIEW: Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams is Naoki Urasawa at His Silliest". CBR. July 18, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  17. Santilli, Morgana (July 27, 2020). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
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