Pick of the Week: Quick Pick

The Battle Robot is short-staffed today, but MJ, Michelle, and Sean grab a moment to make their picks from this week’s haul at Midtown Comics.

MJ: There’s quite a bit to choose from at Midtown Comics this week, but my choice is immediately clear. I’ll be picking up the fourteenth volume of Yuki Obata’s We Were There , and it really can’t arrive too soon. Volume thirteen had me teetering on the brink of finally losing faith in the series’ core relationship, and I’m anxious to see at this point where it’ll lead me next. Will I continue to feel that Nanami should let her first love go, once and for all, or will it convince me that there’s still something there to fight for? I simply must know! There aren’t many romance series that can still keep me on the hook the way this one does, and I’m grateful to see this volume in print after half a year’s wait.

MICHELLE: I, too, am happy about the arrival of We Were There‘s fourteenth volume, ‘cos it gives me the opportunity to finally get caught up on that series, once and for all, but I am going to have to award my pick to volume four of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s Psyren. After getting off to a hesitant start, this sci-fi series from Shonen Jump has really won me over. Possibly this is due to the fact that it’s very much like what Bokurano: Ours would be if it were shounen and involved spiky-haired boys trying to get stronger so that they can protect those they care about. Though Psyren may rely on a few shounen staples, it’s still genuinely interesting and intriguing. Look for my review of this volume in next week’s Bookshelf Briefs!

SEAN: My pick of the week is rather odd, as it’s more a pick that’s about perspective rather than enjoyment. But this week gives us the third Love Hina omnibus, aka the best thing out there for showing how far anime fandom has come in the last ten years. Almost everything that Love Hina brought to the art of ‘shonen harem manga’ has now been utterly run into the ground, even by its own creator. As a result, this manga that was revolutionary back in 2003 when it came out in North America now looks even more dated than K-On! will in 10 years. And sadly, the one influence on fandom it had that continues to exist today is Naru punching Keitaro, as fans argue about how abusive (vs. comedic) this is actually meant to be to this day. That said, this omnibus has Vol. 9, which has one of my favorite chapters, dealing with Seta and Haruka.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?