How time flies! Hitsuji Gondaira’s Mission: Yozakura Family is already celebrating its first anniversary, which means that it is close to one year since the series debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump. The fact that none of us noticed until now is a testament to the series’ quiet success, as well as the widely-held belief that it would be over sooner rather than later – something which won’t be going away anytime soon given the trajectory of the series.
As part of its first anniversary celebrations, Mission: Yozakura Family is asking fans to create their own “original spies” to send in and be part of the series. Giving a set formula, it asks fans to first think what kind of spy they want to submit (eg. a “king spy”, “pirate spy”), then outline any special abilities or powers they might have before drawing an illustration using one of three templates.
That all may sound rather simple, but these Yozakura Family first anniversary celebrations are clearly targeted towards young children. You don’t enter online, either – you have to send in a postcard, which seems quite old-fashioned. Even so, that could explain why the series has managed to stick around for so long: it has found an audience among a younger age bracket.
If any of the fan-created spies manage to make their way into a chapter of the series later down the line, that might not necessarily be a good thing. One of the biggest criticisms of Mission: Yozakura Family so far is the fact that it introduces so many characters for a handful of chapters before forgetting them entirely, thus making everything feel quite inconsequential. The series’ first anniversary celebrations, then, might not exactly be a cause for celebration.
In any case, if you’re interested in sending in an original spy for Mission: Yozakura Family’s first anniversary, don’t hesitate to check out the details via the official Shonen Jump website.