The arrivals list at Midtown Comics overflows with manga, making this week’s Pick a tough one for all. Take a look below to see what made the cut!
MICHELLE: It’s a bountiful week at Midtown Comics, with many Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat offerings from VIZ making their way onto the shelves. There’s an awful lot on this list that I am personally planning to buy, and singling out just one is pretty tough. New volumes of One Piece and Slam Dunk are serious contenders, but in the end, the fifth volume of Bakuman。 walks away with the honors. I’ve been catching up on the series this weekend, and it’s just utterly charming. The behind-the-scenes glimpses into manga production at Shueisha are fascinating, Mashiro and Takagi are finally achieving some success, and an interesting crop of friendly rivals has developed, including the endearingly weird Eiji Nizuma, who has been waiting for Mashiro and Takagi to come challenge him. Now, gee, what other Shonen Jump manga illustrated by Takeshi Obata does that remind me of?
MJ: We’re offered a wealth of choices this week, indeed. New volumes of Black Jack, Claymore, and Rasetsu call out to me in particular, but if I could only buy one volume of manga from this list, I’d have to choose the 25th installment of Fullmetal Alchemist. I doubt anybody needs me to go on and on again about why I love this series, but just in case you’ve missed it somehow, feel free to browse this tag. And for those who’ve never gotten around to starting this admittedly long series, now is the perfect time to start, with the first of Viz’s new 3-in-1 editions arriving in stores this week as well. If you’ve only watched the anime series, you don’t know what you’re missing. Time to pick up a volume and find out!
DAVID: Viz really could learn to pace itself. I’m quite eager to read the third volume of Kamisama Kiss and curious to see which way the pendulum will swing on Grand Guignol Orchestra, not to mention the previously mentioned books, but I’m going to have to cast my vote for the 14th volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical. Much as I love Tezuka’s crazed gekiga stories, I have such a weakness for this series and its totally reliable, often absurd servings of genre fiction. I have high hopes that this volume will offer a nice side dish of creepy, creepy Pinoko.
KATE: Tempted as I am by the second volume of Blue Exorcist, I’m also going old-school with my pick and choosing the fourteenth volume of Black Jack as this week’s must-buy manga. I’d be the first to admit that the series can be repetitive, especially when read in large chunks. But if you ration yourself to just one or two stories at a time, it’s easier to appreciate Tezuka’s storytelling gift; he manages to fit a whole volume’s worth of drama into twenty pages without sacrificing clarity or emotional intensity. The hero’s dark, brooding personality is another plus; Black Jack may share Dr. Gregory House’s ability to diagnose a rare illness from looking at a character’s fingernails or smelling his breath, but Jack isn’t nearly as smug and insufferable as his TV counterpart. I’m not sure how Tezuka will ever top the story in which Black Jack operates on himself in the Australian outback while fending off wild dingoes, but I’m happy to keep reading until Tezuka does.
Readers, what looks good to you this week?
Aaron says
June 6, 2011 at 9:38 amI gotta go with FMA also
Manga Therapy says
June 6, 2011 at 12:05 pmFMA all the way. It’s one of my all-time favorite mainstream shonen series ever. I’ve been anticipating the VIZ editions since the series ended last year in Japan. Arakawa is a genius!
Melinda Beasi says
June 6, 2011 at 1:07 pmArakawa is a genius!
YES SHE IS.
Noura says
June 6, 2011 at 12:32 pmA lot of great new releases but I will go with the fourth volume of Library Wars LOVE&WAR. I am falling in love with this series more and more with each volume. I love the interaction between the main characters and can’t wait for more developments to happen.
Other series I love are Natsume’s Book of Friends, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, Rasetsu, Bakuman, etc.
Jenn says
June 6, 2011 at 2:55 pmDitto on the FMA. I was hoping the omnibus was going to be a VizBig edition with color art, etc. because I would have definately repurchased the series. Also getting Bakuman and Natsume’s Book of Friends this week.
Melinda Beasi says
June 7, 2011 at 10:15 amYeah, I would have re-bought FMA in VizBig editions as well, but the price point on the smaller 3-in-1s is pretty hard to beat. So if that gets more new readers into the series, I give it my blessing. :)
Jenn says
June 7, 2011 at 1:43 pmOh definitely! Attracting new readers should always take priority. And I would also rather have a new license than a repackaging of something that is still in print.
Rij says
June 6, 2011 at 5:23 pmSince FMA is already finished here in Finland and I have all 27 volumes, my pick is Rasetsu 9. Lots of other good stuff on the way too but I’ve been eagerly anticipating this final volume since the previous one was published.