Manga the Week of 6/4

SEAN: Are we ready? Deep breaths, everyone. Here we go. BUY ALL THE THINGS!

Dark Horse gives you the first volume of New Lone Wolf & Cub, in case you had finished all of the Old Lone Wolf & Cub.

ASH: I’m certainly interested in this one! (Confession: I actually haven’t finished reading the original yet…)

ANNA: I’m glad this is being translated! I only read a few volumes of the original series!

MJ: Count me in!

SEAN: Drawn & Quarterly is releasing the 2nd volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa, this one covering the Pacific War (Japan’s term for WWII), 1939-1944. Ending with a major cliffhanger, it’s amazing how so much dry description of battle and history can be so riveting and involving. I reviewed it here.

ASH: Showa is excellent! The second volume covers history that I’m more familiar with, so I’m curious to see what Mizuki does with the material.

ANNA: I feel like I should read this but I’m too distracted by the piles of shoujo manga I need to read to invest the time in it.

MJ: I wish I’d read the first volume. I need to make a commitment here.

SEAN: DMP has the fourth volume of Private Teacher, which I like to imagine has its own USA Up All Night-esque tag lines. “He’ll give you tutoring… in gay.”

Given we’re being buried in Alice spinoffs, it’s always nice to see a new volume of Circus and Liar’s Game, which I consider to be the best of the sequels. Vol. 5 lands next week.

A Centaur’s Life has been getting more slice-of-lifey and less creepy, which is a good thing, as its weird worldbuilding is the main reason to get it. Vol. 3 is out next week.

ASH: The worldbuilding in A Centaur’s Life really is interesting.

SEAN: If you like girls and tanks, then Girls Und Panzer is the series for you. Set in a universe where tank warfare is a martial art and done at high schools, it looks to be in the Strike Witches tradition, but with less anthropomorphism and I am hoping fewer panty shots.

MJ: Is it weird that I might consider reading this?

SEAN: Vertical has the 9th Knights of Sidonia volume, and I hope will not be killing off another likeable cast member.

MICHELLE: I have fallen a few volumes behind on this one, somehow. Must catch up!

ASH: Yes, you must!

ANNA: Me too! I will catch up! I do enjoy this series!

MJ: I’m always happy to see a new volume of this series!

SEAN: Everything else is Viz. Dengeki Daisy continues to try to balance thrilling suspense and its odd February/May romance. It’s top-of-the-line shoujo in my book.

MICHELLE: Or not-so-thrilling suspense, as the case may be. But the Teru/Kurosaki stuff is good!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but Dengeki Daisy is a series I really enjoy.

ANNA: Dengeki Daisy is the best.

SEAN: There is the 5th Dragon Ball 3-in-1 omnibus, because why not?

We also have the 3rd Dragon Ball Full Color book, which I think is actually Z, but I’m still not sure. In any case, want some color in your manga? Here you go.

We’re halfway through Happy Marriage?!, so things are bound to get fluffier and more lovey-dovey for our lead couple. Right?

ANNA: Viz is a champ for bringing out more commercial josei romance. That’s all I have to say.

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: We’re almost halfway through this list, by the way. How’s everyone doing? Need a break?

ASH: A break from manga? Never!

MJ: Maybe a small one? Hold on… okay, I’m good.

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss 15 is likely to stay stuck in the past, but that’s not a bad thing with this series, as it’s giving us tons of backstory.

ANNA: I love the character designs and the wandering yet interesting storyline in this series. I’m actually looking forward to a binge reread of this series. I tend to read each volume as it comes out, but I think it might be more fun to read 3 or 4 at a time.

SEAN: Kimi ni Todoke remains completely adorable and heartwarming, and I do not expect that to change merely because we’ve gotten to Vol. 19.

MICHELLE: Seriously, is basically EVERY Shojo Beat series (except Skip Beat!, alas) releasing a volume on June 3rd?!

ANNA: So adorable. So much blushing and teenage awkwardness.

SEAN: It’s been so long since the last volume of Millennium Snow, which got sidelined by the huge success that was Ouran High School Host Club, that Viz has decided to re-release the first two volumes as an omnibus, followed by the 3rd volume (which is new). Find out why we enjoyed the series when it first appeared 7 years ago!

MICHELLE: I look forward to seeing how this series is different now.

ANNA: I liked the first two volumes back in the day!

MJ: I missed this series originally, so I’m looking forward to going back for the first two volumes.

SEAN: Natsume’s Book of Friends is doing its best to make me very happy with its 16th volume, as my OT3 is on the cover! I wonder if they’ll be in the actual volume as well…

MICHELLE: <3

MJ: Here’s hoping!

SEAN: Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan continues to attempt to kill absolutely everybody we care about in horrible ways, and luckily has been failing so far. Will Vol. 21 be different?

One Piece is at Vol. 71. Really, what more is there to say? Only that it’s still one of the best shonen titles out there.

MICHELLE: Yep.

ANNA: I’ve only read the first 6 or so volumes and it was great, but I’m sort of terrified of a 70+ volume long shonen series. If only Glass Mask was this universally popular.

SEAN: In case you were unaware of this, here’s the 9th One Piece 3-in-1, which I think is up to the Skypeia volumes.

And let’s have another shonen manga debut! Seraph of the End, I feel I should tell everyone, has vampires in it. But it’s in Jump Square, so I’m not sure how pretty they will be.

ASH: I’m not sure either, but I have heard good things about the manga.

MJ: After reading Derek’s columns, I’m looking forward to seeing this for myself.

SEAN: After all this manga, I’m feeling very hungry, so I am gratified that we are now at the 22nd volume of Toriko.

And at last, we are done, as Viz has the 5th volume of Voice Over: Seiyu Academy, which has far less denseness than the author’s previous series S.A., but there’s still enough denseness to satisfy.

MJ: Denseness ftw?

SEAN: Buy *all* the things? :/