With Kate out of town, we’re a trio this week, perusing the expected arrivals at Midtown Comics. Check out our picks below!
DAVID: I’m not quite sure what the deal is with my pick. Shigeru Mizuki’s Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Drawn & Quarterly) came out months ago via Diamond, but it’s apparently just hitting Midtown on Wednesday. As I noted in my review, it strikes me as a little odd to go deep and dark before giving Mizuki’s best-known work a proper English-language release, but it’s certainly better than no Mizuki at all. This autobiographical tale of ill-used soldiers serving in the Pacific at the end of World War II isn’t quite as grim as it sounds, but it’s hardly a beach read. It’s deeply heartfelt, though, and it’s fascinating to see Mizuki apply his distinctive style to this kind of material. For those interested in the full scope of how manga can be used, this is essential reading. And if it succeeds commercially, maybe we’ll get GeGeGe no Kitaro.
MICHELLE: My pick is about as far from David’s as possible. It’s probably going to be exceedingly silly, but I am looking forward to the first volume of Bad Teacher’s Equation. It’s by Kazuma Kodaka, whose Kizuna I’ve really begun to enjoy, and is an older series, originally started in 1993. It’s a longer series, too, with its original ten volumes condensed to five for the bunko edition, which is what DMP has licensed. I admit the plot doesn’t sound thrilling—a high schooler enrolls in a particular school in order to reunite with his crush, the school nurse, but it seems the fellow is no longer as friendly as he once was and is maybe someone else altogether—but I suspect it will be a fun read anyway.
MJ: Probably my real choice would be to agree with David, whose review of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths has made me quite anxious to pick it up, but I noticed another item on the list that intrigues me at least a little, so I’ll give it a spotlight here. I quite enjoyed Tooko Miyagi’s angsty BL melodrama, Il Gatto sul G when I first took a look at it, and even picked up a couple of its volumes in print. Its sequel, Butterfly Of The Distant Day ships this week, and I admit I’m quite interested in checking it out. After all, how often do you get to read yaoi about a “schizophrenic genius violinist”? Truth be told, I can’t resist!
Readers, what are your picks this week?
Noura says
June 13, 2011 at 11:02 amMy pick of the week is the sixth volume of Yuu Watase’s Arata: The Legend. This series is just getting better and better with each volume.
A lot of great BL releases this week. I loved Kazuma Kodaka’s Border. Bad Teacher’s Equation is hilarious but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Border.
Jenn says
June 13, 2011 at 6:10 pmI’m going with you on the Arata 6 pick. Glad to hear Border is good – think I’m off to order that right now….
Kris says
June 13, 2011 at 11:11 amBad Teacher’s Equation is pretty amusing, but I wasn’t fond of the complete 180 the main character does with his personality.
Butterfly of the Distant Day is really good, but I was disappointed in the plot split between the characters. I wanted more time with the initial couple, but they don’t get much time at all. Still the second couple has a complex relationship that makes a good read. Though it seems I COMPLETELY forgot it’s a sequel to Il Gato…in which case the story’s switch in focus makes TOTAL sense. :)
I’m definitely becoming a Tooko Miyagi fan.
Travis says
June 13, 2011 at 12:30 pmI liked Bad Teacher a lot back in the day. No idea how much I would like it now if I reread it, though.