Psych House: Research Notes

Tucker

Title: Saikuru Biyori/Saiku-ru-Biyori さいくるびより

•  Sigh-kɯ-rɯ Bee-yo-ree

• Boy, I’m having some real difficulty figuring out what the author’s intention is with this title. It’s definitely some Japanese wordplay, but the title is just written out as a string of hiragana syllables, so it’s hard to tell where words are supposed to begin and end. I also can’t find anything useful about the topic on the internet. The one real hint is that the character る (“ru”) is a different color than the rest of the title on first volume cover.

• My best guess of what the title is going for is a play on psych (“saiku”) and cycle (“saikuru”). The “biyori” is likely 日和, which is a term for ideal weather for some sort of activity. “Cycle” is often used to refer to bicycles in Japanese (similar to how we use the term “cycling”). So all together, the title sounds like both “a perfect day to go cycling” and “a perfect day for using our psychs.”

• This is yet another case of a high-concept Japanese title that takes a whole paragraph to explain, almost like a puzzle. I don’t blame the translators one bit for not even attempting to find an English equivalent to it!   

Author

• Kobayashi, Omusuke 小林おむすけ

  • Ko-bah-yah-shee, Oh-mɯ-s’kay

Characters

• Suya, Nemuru 須谷ねむる

  • Sɯ-yah, neh-mɯ-rɯ

• Sayama, Kotone 佐山ことね

  • Sah-yah-mah, Ko-toe-neh

• Nanba, Kazu

  • Nahm-bah, Kah-zɯ

• Honne, Kyoko

  • Hone-nay, Kyo-ko

• Nanba, Moa

  • Nahm-bah, Moh-ah

• Takeda

  • Tah-keh-dah

• Ishii

  • Ee-shee

MaxyBee

Omusuke Kobayashi

• Notable people they were an assistant for

  • None known

• Notable people they had as assistants

  • None known

• Other works

  • This is Kobayashi’s debut serial, but they also created these one-shot works:

    • Yamabiko no Nichijo (2022, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • A high school rom-com of some description.

    • Hare Tokidoki Ame (2022, Shonen Jump Plus)

      • A high school rom-com of some description.

    • Ashita Akira no Tanagokoro (2022, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • A modern day exorcist story starring a young boy.

    • Houki no Kariudo (2023, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • Golden Future Cup entry. Did not win. A broomstick-riding cute little bounty hunter in a fantasy world.

Publishing

• Run Dates:

  • 12th May, 2024 to 8th September, 2024

• Series it replaced

  • Shadow Eliminators by Kento Amemiya (3 vols, flop, Shonen Flop episode 111)

• Series that replaced it

  • Shinobi Undercover by Ippon Takegushi & Santa Mitarashi (1+ vol, ongoing, same authors as Candy Flurry)

• Series that started at the same time as it

  • Astro Royale by Ken Wakui (2+ vols, doing okay)

  • Kyokuto Necromance by Fusai Naba (2 vols, flop, Shonen Flop episode 114)

• Chapters/Volumes:

  • 17 chapters/2 volumes
    

Manga Itself / Misc thoughts

• Omusuke Kobayashi’s favourite manga are ‘Onna no Sono no Hoshi’ by Yama Wayama, ‘Level E’ by Yoshihiro Togashi, ‘Golden Kamuy’ by Satoru Noda, and ‘Yotsuba&!’ by Kiyohiko Azuma. Based taste, and you see a couple of them reflected in Psych House. 

• The author has a problem with wasted effort. They came up with about 50 titles for the series, had a designer make almost 20 logo designs, had a 3d model of the house made of complex schematics, and had a ton of rejected cover designs. It shows a lack of focus that you can feel in the series itself.

• Volume extras include:

  • A page of FORTY NINE alternative titles that the series could have had, INCLUDING its English title ‘Psych House’ (in Japan it’s Saikuru Biyori)

  • A page of EIGHTEEN logo designs (handled by some poor designer rather than Kobayashi themself), including one with the English Title ‘Phycle Biyori” as a part of it. What could have been!

  • Various small strips and doodles

  • Rejected wraparound covers for both volumes (one for vol.1, SIX for vol.2)

  • Full schematics for the titular house

  • A thank you message