Splatoon (manga)

Splatoon is a manga series available through the CoroCoro Comic (コロコロコミック) Magazines, made by Sankichi Hinodeya.

Summary
The manga stars Goggles and his three friends: Headphones, Specs, and Bobble Hat. This kid-friendly manga uses the rules and world and the action on the arena, developing on Turf Wars.

CoroCoro Cup arc
Most plots in the CoroCoro Cup arc focus primarily on the Blue Team, a team of idiotic Inklings.

Fan made issue (Issue 0)
The introduction to the Blue Team, where they face off the Yellow Team.

While Super Jumping, Specs can be seen flying over Octo Valley. The match takes place in Urchin Underpass

Released in June's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2015.

Issue 1
The start of the CoroCoro Cup, a tournament with Turf War as its only game mode. The four main squids Goggles, Headphones, Bobble Hat and Specs enter the tournament, but their first opponent ends up being the Yellow-Green Team, consisting of the S+ ranked Rider that had Goggles pranked earlier on.

Specs, Bobble, and Headphones are walking around the Plaza seeing everyone participating for the Corocoro Cup, Headphones and Bobble are anxious about the competition but Specs is angry that Goggles is late. Goggles arrives but ends up being naked upon going into kid form, after he shortly puts on some clothes, the team are noticed by other Inklings. They all think that they're famous until it's seen that they're known as famously idiotic, unbeknownst to them. A crowd of Inklings then catch their attention and shows Rider, an S+ rank Inkling that hates teamwork and is only with three other Inklings to compete. Specs is scared of such an opponent but Goggles is already telling Rider that even if he's S+, he won't lose. Rider ignores Goggles which prompts Goggles to pants him, angering Rider. Specs and Headphones yell at Goggles for doing that which Goggles says that it doesn't matter since they don't don't know who they'll be competing against. Specs then reminds him that all of them are in low ranks with three of them being in the C ranks, except for Headphones who was in rank B- and if they lose the first round, they'll be immediately disqualified. They shortly laugh it off as they know that'll never happen until much to Specs and Headphones's horror that their first opponent is the Yellow-Green Team, Rider's team. Rider then intimidates the two but Goggles reassures as they do their best, they'll be fine.

The Turf War in Arowana Mall then starts, Goggles tries to get to the center point first but shortly falls into the water. As three remaining members of the Blue Team get to the center, they're all splatted by Rider with his Dynamo Roller. Goggles respawns to see his whole team splatted so he tries to take the high road up, Rider tries to put a stop to it with an Inkstrike but Goggles dodges it by landing on the grated pathway in front of it but is shortly attacked by a Triple Inkstrike by Rider's team. The rest of the Blue Team try to cover back turf but Rider keeps them from moving while his team charge back up their specials, Rider then gives the Blue Team that the strongest will win and that teamwork will get them nowhere only to be pantsed by Goggles from behind and splatted. Goggles reveal to the team that he fell and hid in the ink on the side of the ramp. Without Rider, the rest of the Yellow-Green Team don't know what to do and the Blue Team makes short work of them and start quickly inking back turf. Rider tries to do it on his own again until Goggles activates his special, the Inkzooka, splatting Rider and the match now ending declaring the Blue Team the winners.

The Blue Team celebrate and Rider asks them how they could work together without arguing, Goggles says that they know each other well since they're always practicing which teaches Rider that in impromptu team won't work and reassures the Blue Team that he won't lose again. Goggles then jumps up and tells his team to do their best for the second round, only to shortly fall into a manhole.

This is the first time we see Goggles attempt to swim in water. He dissolves and returns to the spawn point. The stage in which the match takes place is Arowana Mall.

Released in December's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2015.

Issue 2
The Blue Team learn that they will battle the Orange Team Army with S+ ranked Inklings. When the battle begins and the Orange Team takes the lead with ease, the Blue Team find an unexpected weakness with the Orange Team, which allows them to take the lead.

The manga begins with Rider chasing after Goggles in squid form (which he's like always naked when returning back to kid form) since he ended up losing the second round despite winning against him and starts beating him up. After getting dressed up, Goggles asks Rider what he and his team will be going up against, Rider says that they'll be against the Orange Team Army, one of the S4 which makes the whole team surprised. Goggles mistakes it as some kind of UFO and Specs says that the S4 are four S+ Inklings that are the highest among the rank. Despite their opponents' high ranks and their own low ranks, Specs reassures that they'll do their best and Goggles laughs it off as he doubts that they're actually an army. Only to Specs and Headphones's horror that they're are with all the members wearing Special Forces Berets. The leader, Army notices that they're the ones who beat Rider despite their weak looks which Goggles agrees with. Army then tells the Blue team that his team will always win as battles will have no purpose if you don't. Goggles questions Army's logic by saying that you should be battling because it's fun, which annoys Army.

The Turf War then begins in Flounder Heights, an apartment complex with Jellyfish living inside. As the Blue team start advancing, Goggles notices a dangerous smell in the air, annoying Specs. As they advance, Bobble and Headphones are quickly splatted by White Sailor and Forge Octarian along with Specs being splatted by Blue Sailor and Goggles splatted by Army. As they respawn, they see the Orange Team Army has blocked off their means of going any further. Army and Rider reveals that the Orange Team always has a manual with them to anticipate anything during Turf Wars. The Blue team try to advance by hiding in their ink through squid form until Army activates his special, the Echolocator, revealing the entire team's positions and getting splatted. With most of the ground covered by the Orange Team Army, Goggles notices the same smell again while respawning. As Army tells the Blue Team that nothing can't be anticipated by them, he shortly sees Goggles eating curry inside one of the apartments with two Jellyfishes as Goggles kept smelling it the whole time. The entire Orange Team Army are confused on what to do in such an unorthodox situation and gives the Blue team enough time for the Echolocator to wear off and soon they start advancing. The Blue team's unpredictable movements start making short work of the Orange Team Army, consisting of Specs scaring off White Sailor by constantly swinging his Octobrush, Headphones splatting Blue Sailor by getting in the range for her Classic Squiffer by going through the ink covered by Specs, and Bobble splatting Forge Octarian by using both her Burst Bombs and Slosher at the same time. Army is shocked of the Blue team's movement and is caught off guard by Goggles with a plate of curry still in his hand before getting out his Inkzooka and splatting Army and soon declaring the Blue team the winners.

Army then learns that the unknown is enjoyable but he and his team add in "Curry" in their manuals. Both teams soon celebrate with Curry and as Rider walks away, he notices the other members of the S4 watching.

Goggles is seen eating curry with Jellyfish in this issue. The battle takes place in Flounder Heights.

Released in April's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2016.

Issue 3
Taking a break from battling against S+ ranked squids, Goggles-Kun gets his clothes damaged during a Turf War and has to go shopping for new gear, but someone is watching him from afar: Aloha!

Pickled plums were seen in this issue. The stage is Blackbelly Skatepark.

Released in June's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2016.

Issue 4
The day has come for the Blue Team to face off against one of the S4 members, Aloha, and the rest of the Pink Team, but right before the match starts, Goggles gets in a fight with his friend Specs!

This is the first time we see Specs' special weapon: an, which is the wrong special weapon for an. Therefore, it is probably an.

This is the second time Inklings are seen attempting to swim in water, this time being the Blue Team. Unlike in the actual game, they do not dissolve in water, but rather sink to the bottom.

The stage in which this match takes place is Mahi-Mahi Resort.

Its original date of release was going to be August, but it was released on June 30th's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2016 instead.

Issue 5
Battle against the Dark Green Team.

This is the first time (and so far the only time) the manga shows Headphones' special weapon: the.

This is the first time the manga is seen on a regular CoroCoro magazine instead of a special one, being released on September 8th, 2016.

Issue 6
After defeating Aloha from the S4, Goggles is already eager for another exciting battle. Luckily there seems to be another squid who’s just as eager to take them on, Rider can’t help but wonder who are they (spoilers: it's Mask).

This is the first time the manga shows Bobble Hat's special weapon: an.

The manga starts with Goggles and Bobble happily asking who'd like to battle them, much to Specs and Headphones's embarrassment. Goggles finds Rider and pants him which gets him beaten up like always. Rider hears that the Blue Team beat the S4's Aloha and they tell him they have a Turf War today as well. Specs tells him that they received a very polite invitation for one but there was no name for it, so he and the others figured the sender forgot with Rider hoping that's the case.

The Blue Team soon arrive in Walleye Warehouse where the email asked them to come to where they meet Mask and his team: Full Moon, Designer, and Jersey, much to Specs and Headphones's horror like always. Goggles remains positive which Mask tells them that people like him who are happy with their lives that he despises, especially with Goggles and Bobble's constant smiling which scares Specs and Headphones even more. The Turf War soon starts and Specs has the team spread out so they can't get all of them. Headphones sees Full Moon aiming her Luna Blaster at her but she instead walks past her and tricks Headphones into getting splatted by an Ink Mine. Specs is then against Jersey but he's distracted by her that he doesn't notice that he's been splatted by a sprinkler placed by Jersey above from him. Designer then throws a Disruptor at Goggles which slows him down and Mask throws a Seeker splatting him. Mask introduces their tactic as Sub Weapon Hell which Bobble, the only one remaining, calls him a bully for an underhanded tactic before getting splatted by his Carbon Roller which Rider points out that he swung it despite being known for not having to. After they all respawn, the Blue Team try to watch out for any more traps only for Headphones and Specs to be splatted by Mask from the back (which he swings his Carbon Roller yet again). Mask then throws another Seeker at Goggles but he jumps over it, Mask then activates his special, a Seeker Bomb Rush and splats Goggles. With only Bobble left, Mask tries to intimidate her but she simply laughs it off, shocking him and bringing back the rest of her team smiling. Mask asks why she's still laughing where Bobble says because it's fun where he doesn't believe her, Bobble explains that even when the worst comes, she and her team are always together and that's what makes their Turf Wars fun, she asks if Mask feels the same way where he mumbles that he does enjoy being with his teammates before trying to intimidate her again. However, Bobble activates her special, the Inkstrike and sends it out to the middle, revealing Mask and the rest of his team out of their hiding places. With the Cyan Team now revealed, the Blue Team make a comeback by attacking head-on so they can find any of their traps. Goggles rides on Specs's Octobrush and launches off of it, splatting Full Moon and Designer. Jersey escapes from him only to be splatted by Headphones, leaving only Mask on the feel. Mask is shocked of their sudden push and Bobble and Goggles are now getting closer to him, scared, he swings his roller but Goggles dodges it and splats him just as the battle ends and declares Blue Team the winners.

The Cyan Team now defeated, try to think of different ways of beating the team by using more underhanded tactics. Goggles says the match was fun and asks if that's just enough which to the shock of the entire Cyan Team, they too actually had fun. Rider who watched the whole match, wondered if that's how they won their previous matches against the S4. Mask then warns the Blue Team about Skull, the last S4 member saying he's nothing like the others. Goggles stays positive that they'll do their best but in the next scene, they're utterly beaten by him. Soon, Skull and his team leaves before Goggles stops to ask for a rematch some other day, but Skull declines for battling someone as weak as him, leaving Goggles shocked before getting up and has the rest of his friends practice. Before they leave, Rider decides to give the Blue Team some "Special training".

This is the first time the Blue Team was defeated on-screen. The Blue Team are defeated in the CoroCoro Cup, there wasn't proof except for this being mentioned in Issue 2 by Goggles apologizing to Rider for losing and soon getting beaten up by him.

The matches against the Cyan Team and Purple Team both take place at Walleye Warehouse.

Released in October's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2016.

Issue 7
After the shocking loss against the Purple Team, the Blue Team, with the help of Rider, train so they could have a rematch with Skull. However, during a battle between the Blue and Yellow-Green teams, Goggles (due to drinking too much) has to go to pee.

During the training, Rider uses the and states that he always practices with other weapons in order to learn their how to counter them.

The training takes place at Moray Towers.

Released in December's CoroCoro Special Magazine with a colored issue color in 2016.

Issue 8
Battle against the Purple Team.

The stage is Moray Towers.

The manga begins with Goggles now asking Skull and his team: Aviators, Stitch, and Paisley for a rematch on Moray Towers, Aviators says that's the stage where he's best at but Skull accepts. Goggles soon seriously asks why Skull doesn't have eyebrows which he actually answers saying he was born like that. Aviators notices that Skull rarely accepts rematches but it's because he was killing time and suspects the whole match will be boring.

As the Turf War starts, the Blue Team rush to get to the center first while dodging Skull's E-liter. Goggles hears it charging up and pushes Specs down, only for Skull to not fire at them and instead splat Bobble and quickly the rest as well. The range of the E-liter 3k Scope with Skull's aiming is known as the tactic of Skull's Territory. As they respawn, Goggles tries to throw a Suction Bomb at Skull but he mistakenly throws his jar of pickled plums at him, throwing off Skull as he thinks it's a new type of bomb. Stitch tries to splat Goggles but Headphones takes her out from behind. Specs and Goggles starts advancing towards Skull but he soon unleashes his special on the two, the Kraken and splats both of them. Bobble is then splatted by Aviators, leaving only Headphones while the rest of the Purple Team start advancing onto the Blue Team's side as she's stuck by Skull's E-liter. Specs tries to swing his Inkbrush but he was actually swinging around Goggles, as he apologizes, Goggles decides to have Specs keep on swinging while he shoots and they quickly splat Aviators, Stitch, and Paisley (with Goggles's shorts now ripped). As they advance, Skull is now surprised on the Blue Team's advance, Specs swims up through a trail on the wall to try and splat Skull but Skull quickly splats him before he can. He is then hit with a Burst Bomb by Bobble and shortly hit with an Inkzooka by Headphones, but Skull super jumps back to his spawn before it can hit him. With him now gone, Skull's team now fights with the three of the Blue Team with only Aviators noticing that only three of them are there. As Skull lands back, he is confused of the feeling he's having battling the Blue Team, only to see Goggles now face to face with him. It's revealed by the rest of his team that Goggles swam up one of the towers of the Purple Team's side while they were busy and Bobble and Specs shortly splats them all by firing their Inkstrikes. Goggles then uses his technique of the Thundersquid Jet and dodges all of Skull's shots. Just as he gets close enough, Goggles falls off the stage but fires his Inkzooka as he does while the match ends, declaring the Blue Team the winners and finally the champions of the CoroCoro Cup.

As the Purple Team now leaves, Goggles stops them and says that their match was fun and reveals that he was worried with Skull bored from their last match, Skull agrees with their match being fun and returns Goggles's jar of pickled plums to him while seeing that the Blue Team's ability of making any match fun is what makes them so strong. Skull proposes another Turf War with Goggles again but Rider wants to battle Skull first since he's the one that trained Goggles, Aloha then arrives and wants a rematch with Goggles as well, Goggles proposes for all of them to battle only for the three to immediately say no to. Army then decides to celebrate with Blue Team's success with the S4 and Rider over curry in the plaza. As the manga ends, Cap'n Cuttlefish watches from afar and sees that Goggles is "the one"

The rest of Rider's team makes an appearance with watching the match with him.

The issue shows Headphones using an Inkzooka which isn't part of the Classic Squiffer's set, so she was probably using a New Squiffer during the match like how Specs used an Octobrush Nouveau during the battle with Aloha. Likewise, Specs is seen using an Inkstrike with an Inkbrush instead of an Octobrush.

This is the final issue that holds the CoroCoro Cup during the Splatoon era.

Released in February's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2017.

Hero Mode arc
The Hero Mode arc is based on Hero Mode from Splatoon.

Issue 9
Unlike the previous days, Goggles arrives for the meeting time early, only to remember today is a break from training, and he meets Rider instead. The two are shortly dragged by Cap'n Cuttlefish in order to save the Great Zapfish from the Octarians. They are assigned as Agents 3 and 3.5 (or "Agents 3") respectively.

Both Goggles and Rider wear the full Hero Suit while still keeping the gear they're named after, being the and  with Goggles wearing his goggles with his headset and Rider wearing his jacket over his Hero Jacket. They also use the Hero weapons, with Goggles having the Hero Shot and Rider having the  Hero Roller.

Released in April's CoroCoro Special Magazine in 2017.

Issue 10
Agents 3 and 3.5 and Cap'n Cuttlefish were taken by DJ Octavio and the fight begins to save the Great Zapfish. While all hope seems to be lost due to being outnumbered, Agents 1 and 2 come in time to assist them. After defeating DJ Octavio they decide to share the Zapfishes as the Octarians were running out of electricity.

Bonus issue 2
Goggles is heading for a train to Inkopolis to meet up with the rest of the team, where they plan to practice, but ends up arriving late. Goggles is the first to miss the train and sees Glasses inside, he turns into squid form to arrive just in time but he finds out that his clothes fell off as he got in. Both of them had to go back to the platform for Goggles's clothes until they miss the other train. Goggles notices Headphones and Bobble and he, against Glasses's wishes, try to Super Jump to them, only leading both of them to hit the side of the train with Headphones only noticing and Bobble distracted by her music. The boys catch the next train and Glasses yells at Goggles that they're still late. As they arrive at Inkopolis Plaza, Glasses gets out but Goggles is pushed in by a large tour group of jellyfish and ends up being yet again, the last one to arrive.

Released with Volume 2 in January 27, 2017

Bonus issue 3
Blue Team is having a strategy meeting at a café, but end up getting distracted by encountering Rider and the S4. Glasses tries to get the team to come up with strategies but Goggles and Bobble decide to get something to drink first, obviously angering both Glasses and Headphones. After they receive them, they notice Rider scolding them to be quiet and they notice that all of the S4 are there as well. The five S ranked Inklings say they were all by chance but Goggles says that they must all get along well which the all of them protest to. After Goggles pantses Rider as usual, Headphones wonders if Glasses's Glasses have lens in them since he's always comically popping his eyes out of them. Bobble decides to test it and pokes her fingers right through Glasses's lens, causing them to break and angering Glasses. Glasses decides to start the team's strategy meeting for once which the S4 decides to give them advice, however it's all for different subjects or otherwise unhelpful for the Blue Team. Skull tells the others to not bother him as he's eating a giant sundae, the Blue team thinks they'll see his face but Skull's so fast that he eats it in a blink of an eye. Rider then does the same and causes everyone to compete in eating until three hours later, they're all bloated with Goggles now angry with their strategy meeting going nowhere.

Released with Volume 3 in July 23 2017

Volumes
"コミックス1巻も7月28日頃に発売予定です！ (Volume 1 is also scheduled to be released around July 28!"

- ひのでや参吉 (Sankichi Hinodeya)

A part of the Splatoon manga featuring issues.

Characters
These are the characters in the manga series.

Tactics
The teams have tactics they can use in battle (ex: Blue Team's Idiotic Syncnitation Power)

Splatoon Ikasu Kids 4-Koma Fest
Splatoon Ikasu Kids 4-Koma Fest (Splatoon スプラトゥーン イカすキッズ4コマフェス / Splatoon Supuratūn Ikasu Kizzu 4-Koma Fesu) is another manga published by CoroCoro Comic and is based on, featuring a pink male Inkling as the main character. He wears the, , and uses the. He has the buzz cut hairstyle, dark blue eyes. A pink female Inkling appears alongside the main character, wearing, , and uses the. She sports the bob cut hairstyle and has pink eyes.

A volume containing the first set of issues released in December 27th 2017 in Japan.

A new issue of the manga appeared in CoroCoro's seperate August 2018 volume and focuses on Octo Expansion, with Agent 8 appearing as a male Octoling with pink ink and orange eyes.

Rating
Since the manga is published in the CoroCoro Magazines, it is child-friendly. However, there are some brief scenes of comical nudity in the comic. Furthermore, the manga is easy to read, even if the reader does not know Japanese. The manga itself has a good dose of comedy and a nice representation of the Splatoon rules, world, and action.

Prerelease elements
Differences between the fan-made issue and the official series.

Trivia

 * The fan-made issue of the Splatoon manga was published in June's CoroCoro Special issue in 2015.
 * In this issue, the main protagonists made their first appearance as unnamed characters.
 * The same issue depicts the main protagonists in the outfits seen in promos of the video game.
 * The first official issue was published in December 2015's CoroCoro Special issue.
 * Furthermore, Rider and the Squid Sisters made their first appearance in this issue.

Manga-exclusive ink color combinations
There are some color combinations that are depicted or mentioned that do not appear in Splatoon.

Seen

 * Blue vs. Green. This combination does not exist in the game, but there is a similarly-colored Blue vs. Lime color match.


 * Blue vs. Pink. This is supposed to be for the battle against Aloha, but there is a similarly-colored Turquoise vs. Pink match.
 * Blue vs. Turquoise. This is supposed to be for the battle against Mask.
 * Blue vs. Purple. This is supposed to be for the battle against Skull.

Mentioned

 * Lime vs. Orange. This was mentioned in Issue 2.
 * Lime vs. Pink. This was mentioned in Issue 2.
 * Lime vs. Turquoise. This was mentioned in Issue 2. This color combination is not possible to be matched in the actual game, despite the blue vs. lime color match.