MICHELLE: This week’s manga is full of tempting omnibus editions! I think I’ll cast my vote for the series that we haven’t talked about a great deal on Manga Bookshelf lately, since it finished its initial run in late 2011, and that would be Fullmetal Alchemist. Reading the series in multi-volume chunks really is best—I actually marathoned the whole thing for an Off the Shelf column celebrating the series—and I’m delighted that new audiences might be able to discover the series and keep us talking about it!
SEAN: I agree that my favorite out of this week’s group would be FMA, but since that’s been chosen, I am left with a few “huh, that’s not too shabby” picks. I suppose I will go with Vol. 2 of Tiger & Bunny, which interested me far more than I expected when I read it last. It’s Japan’s take on Marvel-style superheroes, but it’s also very fond of biting the corporate hand that feeds it. I expect things may get a little more serious with this second volume…
MJ: There are so many books for me to get excited about this week, including Fullmetal Alchemist, Flowers of Evil, and of course the latest Loveless omnibus! But I’ll give my vote this week to the second and final omnibus edition of CLAMP’s Tokyo Babylon, out this week from Dark Horse. Everyone knows by now that this is my favorite CLAMP series, and Dark Horse’s new editions with their refreshed English adaptation and big, fancy trim size have already impressed me quite a bit. I’ve had this on pre-order for months, and I can’t wait for it to arrive. It’s this week’s must-buy for me!
What looks good to you this week?