MICHELLE: Ordinarily next week would be one of those impossible-to-choose weeks for me, featuring as it does series like Bakuman, Slam Dunk, Kimi ni Todoke, and Dawn of the Arcana, all of which are terrific. However, they’re all also still being released in English, which means I have plenty of time to recommend them in future. The same cannot be said for Ouran High School Host Club, which reaches its eighteenth and final volume at long last. I’ve followed this series for six years, throughout various ups and downs—I loved some of it, I liked some of it, and I grew frustrated by some of it—but I am really looking forward to its conclusion. I hope it’s as satisfying as it has the potential to be!
SEAN: What Michelle said. Ouran 18 for me as well. (Hey, sometimes even I have little to say.)
KATE: I’ve never been an Ouran gal, so my pick goes to another Shojo Beat title: volume three of A Devil and Her Love Song. I thought the first two volumes showed promise, but felt that the author sometimes didn’t quite know what to do with her prickly, truth-telling heroine. In the third volume, however, the story really clicks: the characters are fully realized, and the storyline begins moving more briskly. Though there are some melodramatic flourishes, A Devil and Her Love Song remains squarely focused on real teenage concerns: fitting in, staying true to one’s beliefs, and rejecting phoniness in all guises. Surely Holden Caulfield would approve.
MJ: While there are quite a few favorites of mine on the list this week, I’ll give my vote to volume three of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan. From my write-up at Off the Shelf: “What I found pretty spectacular about 14 Days in Shonan, is that it features a main character who spends a lot of time telling other people just how much of a badass he is, while actually being a badass … I enjoyed these volumes so much more than I expected, I find myself wishing I had some kind of award to give out for it, or something. It’s been a while since my expectations were so neatly trounced.” I realize that simply repeating myself is a lazy way to make my pick, but really, that gets to the crux of it. I (very unexpectedly) loved the first two volumes of this manga, and I can’t wait to read more!
Readers, what looks good to you this week?
Aaron says
June 4, 2012 at 9:16 amSecond the recommend for Devil and Her Love Song continues to be one of the strongest Shojo titles currently on the market.
Noura says
June 4, 2012 at 10:37 amMy pick of the week is definitely volume 14 of Karuho Shiina’s Kimi ni Todoke. I really would love to know where this is going especially when it concerns the secondary characters. What I like about this series is that the mangaka is developing and focusing on the secondary characters as much as the main ones, which is something we do not see often.
This may be one of my favorite volumes. There are some interactions and scenes that cannot be interpreted easily, which is not something bad at all. It actually makes me more eager and anticipating what is coming next or what is it that the mangaka is really intending. Cannot wait for more volumes to come out.
CJ says
June 4, 2012 at 4:53 pmSadly, I will not be buying any more manga until Otakon. On the plus side, I am going to drop a lot of money right in Vertical’s face and get all of the GTO released thus far :3 And a lot of other stuff :3 It will be glorious! I’m seriously considering cosplaying as Fry from Futurama just so I can go “Just shut up and take my money!” at the Vertical booth.