SEAN: Hey, for a first week of the month, this isn’t too bad! It’s under 20 titles! That’s practically nothing!
Kodansha brings us the 30th volume of Air Gear, which I haven’t read in about 27 volumes, but I seem to recall this may be around the point that they introduced President Obama as a character. Sadly, I doubt this hits the highs of the unlicensable Legend of Koizumi, but it tries.
MICHELLE: Man, it seems like Air Gear has been coming out forever.
ASH: Oh, Legend of Koizumi! I would totally read that.
SEAN: Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game has been hands down my favorite of the innumerable Alice spinoffs we’ve seen over the past 3 years. Volume 4 is out from Seven Seas this week, and I can’t wait.
ANNA: I enjoyed the first two volumes of this series!
SEAN: A Centaur’s Life turned out to be a bit less creepy than I was expecting, and seems very interested in its world building. We’ll see how much in can build in Vol. 2.
ASH: So far, the world building has been great in this series.
MJ: I’m trying to figure out whether “less creepy than I was expecting” is an actionable recommendation.
SEAN: New Seven Seas debuts always fill me with a combination of delight and dread, which resolves into one or the other once the title is read, like a Schrodinger’s Box. Light novel series, fantasy, loser protagonist, tsundere lead girl… we’ve seen these elements before – indeed, more than once – from Seven Seas licenses. We’ll see how Dragonar Academy goes.
On the other hand, a new volume of Toradora! cannot possibly make me happier. This is a great story with a top notch adaptation, funny characters and knows when to use humor and heart. An absolute must read.
Bleach. It’s Volume 59. It’s running through its final arc. Which may actually take 15 years. Recommended for Bleach fans.
A Devil and Her Love Song has only hit Volume 13, and yet this is its finale. I enjoyed this series with its blunt and broken lead couple and a good deal of humor with its darkness. An excellent Shojo Beat title.
MICHELLE: I’m definitely looking forward to reading the conclusion of this series.
ANNA: Me too. This was a great, slightly edgy Shojo Beat series.
SEAN: If you enjoyed Dragon Ball, and then enjoyed it again in the huge VIZBIG editions, well then why not buy it again in full color? Dragon Ball Full Color 1 actually appears to be Dragon Ball Z, meaning I’ve no interest in it. (I like my Goku goofy). But DBZ fans should greatly enjoy seeing it again with bright colors.
Happy Marriage?! 4 would appear to be the volume that reminds us this is a Petit Comic title, and earns its M rating. Good to see the couple finally getting close.
ANNA: Yay for shrinkwrapped josei!
MJ: Agreed!
SEAN: I somehow missed High School Debut when it first appeared, so am delighted that there is a 3-in-1 release so I can appreciate it again. Its heroine is apparently dense enough to rival Special A and Voice Over. I like cute but dense in my fictional manga heroines.
MICHELLE: I love, love, love High School Debut. I’d definitely rank its heroine about the one in Voice Over!.
ANNA: This is a wonderful series. It deserves to be reissued!
MJ: I adored this series and its heroine!
SEAN: Kamisama Kiss 14 takes us back to the past, as a new crisis forces Nanami to go back and find out how Tomoe got to be the way he is.
MICHELLE: It is my goal to get caught up on this soon!
ANNA: Another series from Shojo Beat that I adore.
SEAN: Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan keeps chugging right along. Here’s Vol. 19.
One Piece’s 3-in-1 finally hits the end of Alabasta with Vol. 8.
Sakura Hime comes to an end with Volume 12. Does this mean we are in some strange world with no ongoing Tanemura manga? Well, next month should take care of that problem.
MICHELLE: What, is there a new one? I do not keep up with Tanemura.
ANNA: Is that the reissue of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne!? My favorite Tanemura series EVER!!!!!!
MICHELLE: Oh! Right! I still have my CMX volumes, so the VIZ version wasn’t really on my radar. I have very fond memories of the anime, too.
SEAN: Toriko also keeps chugging right along. Here is Vol. 20.
And Voice Over: Seiyu Academy is at Vol. 3, and I have a sneaking suspicion will continue to have its heroine want to sound cute and adorable.
Anything here tickle your fancy?
AshLynx says
January 30, 2014 at 11:10 pmI already have Kamisama Kiss, my comic shop got it in early! I still am way behind and haven’t read it since v 7-ish. I have this nice list of “things I plan to catch up on” once I am caught up on: Skip Beat omnibuses I just bought, Berserk, and Kaze Hikaru. Gah, I’m soooo behind! How do you guys do it? You guys all seem behind on various things, but not as behind as me.
For me, part of Dragon Ball’s charm is that 1) It’s not DBZ, which takes itself way too seriously and 2) Akira Toriyama’s black and white artwork is a ton of fun, I don’t have a huge desire to buy it again in color. And 3), It’s not DBZ Abridged, which is awesome, and 4) Original Dragon Ball is far more comedic, and I like that.
Ehhhh, I’ll debate on High School Debut I suppose. I’m iffy on high school shojo series, if it’s fantasy, I’m pretty much there, but high school? I need to be selective. I remember that time I tried LoveCom, no thank you.
And I love the comparison of new Seven Seas titles to Shrodinger’s Boxes, that’s just so damn true.
Anna N says
January 31, 2014 at 2:18 amI liked High School Debut much more than LoveCom! The heroine is so enthusiastic, and the hero of the series always looks like he’s incredibly sleep deprived, it makes for an interesting combination.
Aaron says
January 31, 2014 at 9:36 amI read evry volume of High School Debut through my local Library an dI still like it even though it has what I consider the perfect example of the “save the imparelied heroine from the threat of rape” trope”, wich is a trope I loath.
Travis says
January 31, 2014 at 1:10 pmMelinda, The Centaur’s Worries is great! You really should give it a try. The thing is, it was adapted from a doujinshi and the first chapter really shows that. Chapter one was really off-putting to me, chapter two was better but still a little shakey, but after that it really finds its footing.
AshLynx says
January 31, 2014 at 4:38 pmI’ll probably be looking into Centaur’s Life myself soon. But I remember I was in B&N the other day, and was flipping through Monster Musume and could only think “…is this a softcore porn or something?” because I couldn’t think of anything else it could be. On a side note, I rented From the New World v1 from the library and it’d suddenly go from fantasy scifi to softcore lesbian porn for several pages at a time before snapping back. Sure, the anime has tons of evidence that the main character is a lesbian and it doesn’t exactly try to hide it, but it never went into having a naked bathing/groping/makeout fest scene randomly, let alone twice in one volume.
Callum says
February 1, 2014 at 10:29 amOnly Toriko vol. 20 for me; my favourite shounen action series at the minute. Although after seeing you all recommend A Devil and Her Love Song, I am considering starting that now the series is finished. Also had my interest in Toradora! piqued but it comes out so slowly that I’m not in a hurry to start it.