Pick of the Week: Longshots

Shipping slows down a bit this week at Midtown Comics, but the Battle Robot finds ways to spend their money, as always.

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KATE: Though two of my all-time favorite shonen series appear on this week’s shipping list — those would be InuYasha and Kekkaishi, by the way — I’ll let another Battle Robot blogger sing their praises. My vote goes to The Art of The Secret World of Arrietty, a lovely coffee-table book featuring concept sketches, movie stills, and interviews with the creative team behind the Studio Ghibli film. Though the text is not as informative as it could be, the images are flat-out gorgeous; anyone who read Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, the book that inspired Arrietty, will be pleased at the way Studio Ghibli has brought her tiny characters to life. You’ll never look at a button or a thimble the same way again!

SEAN: This week seems to contain a lot of series that I’ve either never read or am so far behind on that a recommendation would be ridiculous. However, my own comic shop is getting a title that Midtown isn’t, the 3rd volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun. The second volume took a turn for the serious, which was greatly to its benefit, and I’m hoping that it will continue to keep up the pace. I’m also hoping for fewer tedious groping gags with the “lesbian” in the cast, but I’m fairly certain that I’ll be out of luck there. Still, give this Seven Seas series a try.

MICHELLE: I’m in a similar position to Sean this week: while I’ve been collecting Kekkaishi and 20th Century Boys, I am dreadfully far behind, and there’s no power on this earth that could induce me to read Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time. But there is one title on the list that I’ve read and loved, and that’s InuYasha. I can’t really comment on the VIZBIG editions themselves, having bought each volume of the series singly, but I love the warm, ensemble sitcom feeling of the series overall, and envy those who get to experience it through these editions for the first time, since the art is printed in its original orientation, which didn’t happen with the single-volume releases until some time in the late thirties. Notorious for meandering reptition, sure, but for me, InuYasha is manga comfort food at its finest.

MJ: I’m going to go off-list and into the digital only realm this week, to recommend volume one of Keiko Kinoshita’s You and Tonight, due out soon at eManga from the Digital Manga Guild. I was a big fan of Kiss Blue, a two-volume series from the same creator that was released on DMP’s Juné imprint, and I’m actually working on editing another of her short series for my reporter’s stint at the DMG. I’m consistently impressed by Kinoshita’s subtle humor and delicate touch (she’s even won me over to the dreaded BL Anthology), so when I saw that another group was working on You and Tonight, it immediately jumped to the top of my list of must-buy BL. I’ve always been a fan of the best-friends-turned-lovers trope, and given that this was also the premise for Kiss Blue, I’m gathering that it’s a favorite of Kinoshita’s as well. The first volume is already available for the Nook and Kindle, so I expect it’ll go live on eManga in just a day or two. Now the question is, will I be able to hold off until it appears for sale on the iPad? Only time will tell.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?