Promotional artwork
Original Hinatazaka (げんさく ひなたざか Gensaku Hinatazaka) is a manga miniseries, a collaboration between Aka Akasaka as artist and Hinatazaka46 members Nao Kosaka, Hinano Kamimura, and Miho Watanabe as writers. It was serialized in Weekly Young Jump from March 25 to April 8, 2021.
Each writer contributes one chapter:
- Nao: A Trapped in Another World story starring Shiho Kato and Kumi Sasaki, and Nao as the Big Bad.
- Hinano: Hinano is the Soup Detective, whose analytic powers are enhanced by making soup. Hiyori Hamagishi and Hina Kawata also appear.
- Miho: Miho and her friends Konoka Matsuda and Suzuka Tomita face a Zombie Apocalypse in her hometown of Saitama.
Gensaku Hinatazaka contains examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Theft: Hiyori's golden tomato was taken by Hinano herself, who then made soup from it. However, Phantom Thief Kawata actually switched it with a normal tomato before Hinano cooked it.
- Adorable Evil Minions: Daimaou Kosakana's minions are the Ninja Maids Thirde Generae Scions, based on the four Hinatazaka46 third generation members: Hinano, Mikuni, Marie, and Haruyo.
- All There in the Manual: The reader is expected to already know the names of Hinatazaka46 members, and there are also various reference to their many gimmicks.
- And the Adventure Continues: The first story ends with the protagonists and main antagonist meeting for the first time, implying more battles to come.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Hinano's personal mascot Mochimaruko appears as her detective sidekick, as well as her assistant at the mochi soup diner, ironically.
- Actor Allusion: The characters are mostly based on their Hinatazaka46 characters.
- Bloody Murder: Miho obtains the power to manipulate her blood as a weapon.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Hinano goes to crime scenes with an anthropomorphic mochi sidekick and cooks soup there to help herself focus.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Shiho and Kumi are known to be good at baseball, and this probably helps them quickly master tossing fireballs and wielding a war hammer. Shiho can also hit Kumi's fireballs to supercharge them in combat.
- Darker and Edgier: While the first two stories are lighthearted and whimsical, Miho's depicts her as the angsty hero, has more realistic violence and ends with her killing her best friends.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Kumi becomes a dark mage.
- Gold-Colored Superiority: Hinano's story has her looking for Hiyori's stolen golden tomato.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Miho is concerned about her weak mentality, which "crumbles easier than a block of tofu".
- Kill the Ones You Love: Miho's best friends Konoka and Suzuka have been infected by the zombie virus and beg Miho to Mercy Kill them while they still have their self-awareness. It's implied that they are Killed Offscreen.
- Maou the Demon King: Nao is the evil Daimaou Kosakana, a play on the other stage name of "PPAP" singer Pikotaro, Daimaou Kosaka (his real name is Kazuhito Kosaka).
- Mundane Wish: With her immense power, Daimaou Kosakana's aim is to turn the world into Jurassic Park (which it pretty much already is), make strawberry jam the world's staple food, and gather young girls for her Meido harem.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Shiho becomes the wielder of the sword in the stone because she figures out that it's actually a hammer, the stone is the head, and others have been standing on it while trying to pull it out for 400 years.
- Phantom Thief: Hina Kawata is the Phantom Thief Kawata.
- Private Detective: Hinano is the Soup Detective, who runs a soup diner between cases.
- Real-Person Fic: Almost all the named characters are based on real Hinatazaka46 members.
- Running Over the Plot: Shiho and Kumi are transported into another world after being hit by a truck.
- Set Behind the Scenes: Each story begins with a discussion between Akasaka and the writer.
- Short-Runners: It's an anthology of only three chapters.
- To Serve Man: Daimaou Kosakana's minions' special move is trapping opponents in giant Mason jars with strawberries to ferment them into strawberry jam (probably a reference to the group's song "Let's Make Jam Out of This Summer").
- Trapped in Another World: The first story is set in another world where medieval humans, magic, and dinosaurs coexist.
- Troperiffic: The stories unapologetically borrow and lampshade various tropes.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Miho's story is set in one.
