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Quick hits for a busy day

February 20, 2013 by Brigid Alverson

Sean Gaffney has some commentary on the new licenses announced over the past week by Seven Seas and Vertical, and I had a few things to say at MTV Geek as well.

The Manga Moveable Feast featuring Naoki Urasawa continues, with host blog Organization ASG posting on Music in 20th Century Boys and Hatred in Pluto as well as a roundup of the first two days’ worth of posts.

Tony Yao writes about the child prodigy Orochimaru (from Naruto) and the power of sorrow in Gintama at Manga Therapy.

No Starch Press is listing The Manga Guide to Regression Analysis among its books for next year. It may sound incongruous, but the books in this series that I have looked at have been pretty good.

Well, here’s an innovation: Something called “Manga 2.5,” which is a motion comic version of manga, with voices. ANN has the deets; it launches with The Mythical Detective LOKI (available in its original form on JManga) and Ouji Hiroi and Yuusuke Kozaki’s Karasuma Kyōko no Jikenbo.

The staff at the Embassy of Japan in London have announced the winners of this year’s Manga Jiman awards.

Reviews: Anna N. reviews a handful of Harlequin manga at Manga Report.

Lori Henderson on vols. 1-22 of 20th Century Boys (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Barrage (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Anna N. on vol. 11 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Manga Report)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kristin on vol. 10 of Jormungand (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Katherine Hanson on Love Flag Girls!! (Yuri no Boke)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Maximum Ride: The Manga (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: February 18, 2013

February 20, 2013 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

Sometimes being too much of a fanboy can make life difficult. For example, the lack of One Piece this week has me less than excited about writing this column. Sure, the chapters that were in this issue of Shonen Jump were all either quite good or passable, but I can’t help but be far less excited than I would any other week. But, perhaps the lack of One Piece to fanboy over will give me a chance to judge the other chapters just a little bit more fairly.

One-Punch Man Ch. 005
Not only is this the first story in One-Punch Man that isn’t over in one chapter, it’s also the first time when the joke is the exact opposite of of the past four chapters. Saitama, despite all his strength, finds himself helpless against his sole mosquito tormentor. That’s the sign of good comedy, establishing the status quo, and then breaking said status quo for the sake of laughs.

We also get introduced to another hero, a cyborg. We’re past the introductory chapters here, and it’s time for the world to be expanded. I look forward to seeing how Saitama and this new character interact, since the expanded cast will be crucial to the manga. There’s only so much one can do with variations on the same joke, so hopefully we’ll get a more expanded world after this upcoming story.

Naruto Ch. 620
I’ve done some thinking about last week’s chapter, and while I enjoyed reading it, I’ve come across opinions that the reveal of the source of the sharingan completely undermines what Naruto is all about. It shows how barely invested I am in the story when my analysis doesn’t extend beyond, “Ha, that was funny.”

As for this chapter, I’m liking the second Hokage a lot. I would have been saved a lot of grief were he still the leader of Konoha. Just imagine it, five minutes after Sasuke leaves the village for the first time Tobirama would have dragged him back in a body bag. It’s a shame that didn’t happen, but one can dream, and after all, that is what fanfiction is for.

A lot of not much happens this chapter, mostly we get the Hokage talking about how they need to go take care of Madara, and then we go into a flashback of the first Hokage and Madara fighting. The amount of flashbacks in this series of late has been rivaling the anime for quantity. Hopefully the quality will be somewhat improved.

World Trigger Ch. 002
Is anyone else tired of the old, “Oh hey, you bumped into me and broke something of mine, pay me for it”? Does this actually happen in Japan? Or has it happened maybe once or twice and manga artists can’t seem to let it go? Of course the scene where this happens makes me angry like it’s supposed to, but I’ve seen this kind of scene pulled dozens of times and by now it’s mostly just pissing me off because it keeps popping back up. Though I will say, I enjoyed how Yuma handled the situation. It’s probably what I’d do, though in my case I would be thinking something along the lines of, “Are you seriously trying to pull this old trope?”

Most of the chapter was focused around Yuma being the fish out of water, which may be an old trope, but if handled well it could be interesting enough. We do get to learn a little more about the Neighbors, I am moderately interested to see what the deal is with these two worlds, so for the moment World Trigger continues to have my interest.

Bleach Ch. 526
At least we got to see Unohana’s bankai (not that we know what exactly it does) before she apparently died. I’m of two minds about how this could go. On the one hand I would be disappointed if Unohana permanently dies so soon after becoming interesting. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kubo doesn’t go through with killing her. Perhaps Kenpachi’s shikai will be released next chapter and it has some kind of healing powers. Unlikely, but I would be amused by the idea of Kenpachi, whose entire being revolves around fighting, has a shikai that can’t cause any damage.

Unohana’s motivations for learning how to heal work for her characterization, though I have to wonder, if she’s so enamored with fighting, why haven’t we seen her actually fight until now? She may have learned how to heal so that she can keep fighting people, but how does that fit in with her doing nothing but healing for the entire series?

Nisekoi Ch. 062
While I prefer Nisekoi when it’s being funny, and not serious, I really liked this chapter. Granted the issue between Chitoge and her mother was resolved much faster than I’m used to with manga, but at least it provided a satisfying ending to this story without overstaying it’s welcome. That and seeing Hana almost run them over with her plane was priceless. This chapter was mostly touching, with just enough humor that it makes for a great resolution to this plot line.

Toriko Ch. 222
Setsuno vs Chiyo. Granted Chiyo hasn’t been around as long in this series, but when she made her entrance she made it in a big way. And to finally see her and Setsuno face off just goes to show how epic this story is going to be. Not only that but we finally get to see what Setsunos’ specific power is. Personally I could have done without the cooks having their own fighting powers, I thought the idea was that they were skilled in different ways than the Gourmet Hunters. BUt really I’m just amazed at how many creative powers can be built around cooking concepts. And Setsuno’s is possible one of the coolest, and overpowered ones that I’ve seen in a long while.

Cross Manage Ch. 021
Not much to say about this chapter, except that I look forward to next week. While most of this chapter focuses on Sakurai and Toyoguchi finally talking about their “confession” from last chapter, I am pleased to note that next chapter will give us some more character development with at least two more of the girls from the team.

Most of the time Cross Manage feels like it doesn’t know what to do. Having a large cast means that the girls should all get their time in the spotlight, but it seems like what this series was supposed to be was a romance, with little interest in the sport or the characters playing it. Which is a shame, because I don’t know how well adapted the current Shounen Jump is to dealing with romances. There are always a few in the lineup, but they never seem to last very long. Still, for now I’ll enjoy what I can get of the cast, and hope that somehow Cross Manage survives the next round of cuts.

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 003
Now we’re talking. Finally the big reveal that most likely caught readers of Dragon Ball in the day off guard. Not only is Goku an alien, but Raditz, the stranger confronting him, is his brother. I’ve always wondered what Dragon Ball would have been like, had Goku not lost his memory when he was a baby. It probably wouldn’t have been the hit that it is, and Goku probably would have been a lot smarter, but I would have loved to see some kind of “what if?” scenario. But, again, that’s what fanfiction is for.

Though, Raditz’s story has a bit of a flaw in it. Granted in general the earth population is weaker than even a Saiyan child. But Dragon Ball had plenty of strong characters that Goku had a hard time beating. Perhaps his transformation would have given him the strength to wreak havoc, but it isn’t like someone such as Master Roshi couldn’t handle it. Sure Goku was stronger in that form, but Roshi already knew what to do. Aka/ destroy the moon. So most likely Goku would have ultimately failed in his mission. Unless of course he was able to grow stronger with his memories intact, perhaps through some kind of Saiyan training. Or perhaps his viciousness as a child would have enhanced his strength. Either way, while this chapter may have been a shark jumping moment for some back in the day, by this point it holds up well enough and this was the first chapter so far that really caught my interest again.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 archives. For last week’s episode check out Episode 035 – February 11, 2013 – What is Shonen Manga? | Shinmai Fukei Kiruko-san.

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 1

February 20, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Tsutomo Nihei. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Afternoon. Released in the United States by Vertical, Inc.

I will admit to being one of the few people reviewing this title who has not read either Biomega or Blame, the author’s previous series released here. As a result, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into, except that the series looked vaguely Gundam-ey. And I have to admit, after finishing the first volume, I’m still not quite sure what’s going on. That said, it’s the sort of manga that rewards trying to find out, and there’s lots of little things here and there that make this well worth a read.

This takes place somewhere in the future on a World Spaceship, a la Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky. Much of the plot is not told to us via exposition or narrative, but simply by immersing us in our hero’s day-to-day life and expecting us to figure it out as we go along. Our hero, Nagate, has been living secretly underground for years with his grandfather (I think), practicing blowing things up in a flight simulator. When he runs out of food (is his grandfather dead? And for how long?), Nagate goes to find some, and accidentally falls into the processing machine (one of the more morbidly funny scenes in the entire volume). After being discovered, he’s quickly indoctrinated into the military and added to a team whose mission is to battle the Gaunas, alien life forces intent on destruction.

Our hero is not much for words (or indeed facial expressions), so getting some battle scenes almost feels like a relief. My favorite part of the entire manga is probably the cruelest: we meet a new girl, Eiko, who is standoffish and avoiding all the superstition that the other pilots perform. Given she’s in the chapter title, we naturally assume she’ll be like Izana and come to befriend our hero, though given how prickly she seems it may require him to show initiative. But no! They go out to battle Gaunas, and she’s not only killed off immediately but her form is used to become a hideous monstrosity that almost kills off Nagate too. This fakeout was well-played, and I applaud the author for it.

Towards the end of the volume we get a few more new characters, who are a bit too new to really grasp on to, as well as an indication that Izana seems to have fallen hard for our hero. Clearly this is meant to be a series with a few volumes to it, and I imagine all will become clearer as I go along. I’m left, however, with a sense of distance about the whole thing. Nagate has difficulty emoting due to his upbringing (at least, that’s what I imagine), Izana seems naturally repressed, and through most of the volume I kept wishing that I could get closer to our heroes’ mindset while being unable to. I did enjoy Nagate defending Izana against a hotshot egotistical jerk pilot (who then breaks Nagate’s arm), and hope that we’ll see more elements like this. Knights of Sidonia as a series is cool rather than warm, but it’s still fascinating, and I look forward to working out what’s going on in future volumes.

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 11

February 19, 2013 by Anna N

I am looking forward to the end of this series in an odd sort of way. The next volume will be the last and I’m looking forward to being able to reread the entire series in a couple sittings. There was quite the gap in publication between volumes, so I’m curious to see how the story plays out when I’m not waiting around for four years or so between volumes 9 and 10. Yuu Watase says in her author notes that her series tend to pick up towards the conclusion, and this is definitely true for this volume as Uruki confronts his family legacy, Teg and Urumiya deal with their celestial warrior destiny and the heroine Takiko continues to cough up blood while working bravely to save the country of Bei-Ja. There’s a good balance in the story as it presents plenty of emotional character arcs and action with a general feeling of impending tragedy.

Overall after reading this volume I was struck by how much self-sacrifice is a theme and how this contrasts with the somewhat lighter tone of the original series. Takiko’s devotion to her role as Priestess of Genbu is absolute, but her romance with Uruki does get a bittersweet type of resolution at the close of this volume. One of the things I’m going to miss about this series is the art. Watase’s distinct character designs never leave me confused about what’s going on, even with an extended cast and many subplots happening towards the end of the series. The action scenes are dynamic, and the costumes and setting are detailed enough to make me invested in the World of the Four Gods. I’m looking forward to the last volume, but I’m going to have a box of kleenex ready when I read it!

More New Licenses from Seven Seas and Vertical

February 18, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

OK, lesson learned. I will never go on vacation again. Sheesh.

Seven Seas snuck out a 4th license right after I made my post the other day. Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de is being released over here as World War Blue, and is nine volumes long. It runs in Micro Magazine, which is owned by… well, Micro Magazine, and is about a war between Sega and Nintendo with the serial numbers filed off, featuring various anthropomorphic consoles. Honestly, compared with the other three titles Seven Seas talked about the other day, I find this the most intriguing.

Vertical, meanwhile, has two new releases that are quite interesting. Satoshi Kon is better known for his anime productions, but in 1990 he did a short manga for Kodansha’s Young Magazine called Kaikisen, about a young man and the legend of a mermaid. It’s been re-released every few years or so in Japan, and Vertical will now be bringing it out over here, in one complete volume, as Tropic of the Sea.

The other announcement is, surprisingly (to me, at least), from Hakusensha, who seem to finally be getting back into licensing titles to North America after a long Tokyopop hangover. Shi ni Itaru Yamai is a two-volume series from Hikari Asada and Takahiro Seguchi. The author only has one other title (a short ecchi school series), but the artist is well known for his saucy series, including maid series Enmusu, which ADV briefly published before dying, and a very popular series in scanlation, Oretama, which I refuse to discuss. (And no, don’t discuss it in comments, either.) This series, Sickness Unto Death (as Vertical will release it), is about a clinical psychologist who lives at a boarding house while he gets his degree, and a girl who also lives there who has the worst case of despair this side of Zetsubou-sensei. It looks to be a psychological drama, and is probably the title of the three of these that I’m looking forward to the most, despite the reputation of the artist and the fact that it ran in Young Animal.

Harelequin Manga Quick Takes

February 18, 2013 by Anna N

I went on a .99 cent shopping spree in the Harlequin manga section of the Kindle store recently, so here are some quick takes on bargain romance manga.

Maddie’s Love Child

The Maddie in question in this title is an Australian headstrong leather-garbed interior designer, who enjoys making rich and remote men fall in love with her and then stomps on their hearts. She’s also longing for a baby but not a husband, so she is determined to track down the perfect sperm donor. Miles McMillan, remote and rich British businessman comes back into her life. Maddie and Miles met previously but he rejected her advances because he was engaged. Now that he’s broken things off with his fiancee, he decides to return to Australia for business…and something else. Maddie and Miles start to date, but will her baby making schemes and romantic foibles, combined with his emotional reticence and uptight British ways result in a romance or just a whole bunch of emotional trauma? Maddie’s internal dialogues sizing up Miles’ fatherhood prospects (“My child would never learn his arrogance or cold pride. And I could give it all of my love!”) were pretty hilarious. The art in this title was a little stilted, but generally attractive. Maddie’s personality and forthright nature was refreshing compared to other Harlequin heroines, so if reading about emotionally distant British businessmen falling in love is one of the romance novel tropes that you enjoy, this title was worth the .99 cents.

Expecting the Boss’ Baby

In Harlequin world billionaire bachelors with attractive secretaries end up accidentally impregnating them FAR TOO OFTEN! Michael is a rich emotionally distant man who accidentally celebrates a business deal with his capable secretary Kate a bit too much. She’s now secretly pregnant and harbors feelings of affection towards Michael the millionaire robot, but he is oblivious and doesn’t want any sort of emotional connection with Kate. When he makes his feelings known to her, she promptly quits. Michael is emotional remote because he grew up in an orphanage, his only friends are a couple of other millionaires who dispense warped advice about women and relationships. When Michael realizes that Kate is pregnant, he’s determined to ensure that his child won’t grow up without a father. This was very much a middle of the road title for me. Both the story and art were about average in terms of what one would expect from a Harlequin manga adaptation. This is part of a trilogy, as I’m sure Michael’s millionaire bachelor friends also find themselves promptly married off in later installments.

The Royal Marriage

This title had the vaguely retro art that I tend to enjoy most when reading Harlequin manga. There are plenty of big eyes and flowing hair abounds as Gabriella, the Brazilian heiress finds herself trapped in a marriage with Prince Ricardo. Ricardo has the reputation of a playboy, but when Gabriella’s father dies, leaving her with no family and a will with some very odd provisions, she decides to go through with the marriage. Gabriella settles into her new rule as princess, while trying to figure out her feelings towards her new husband. There’s a bit of palace intrigue, and Gabriella is a bit sassier than the usual Harlequin heroine. Along with Maddie’s Love Child, this was the title I enjoyed the most out of this batch of four manga.

Word of a Gentleman

I tend to take notice when I find a Harlequin title with decent art, because mostly I tend to expect somewhat lackluster art. Of the batch, this had the worst artistic adaptation, with stilted, out of proportion characters. The sub-par quality of the lettering was also distracting. This was a bit of a shame, because aspects of the story were a bit interesting. Clarissa decides that she’s going to hire herself a poor husband in order to get away from the machinations of her evil guardian Uncle and the loutish pawing of her cousin. She fixates on Hugh Richfield, who actually decides to take her up on her offer to pay him to elope with her. Hugh and Clarissa take off for Gretna Green and have some adventures along the way. Unfortunately the happy ending where everybody suddenly becomes rich strains even my willing suspension of disbelief.

New licenses from Viz, Vertical, and Seven Seas

February 18, 2013 by Brigid Alverson

There has been a flurry of activity on the licensing front: Viz announced five new Shojo Beat and Shonen Sunday licenses: Happy Marriage?!, Midnight Secretary, Voice Over!: Seiyuu Academy, Sweet Rein, and Magi. I dug up a bit more info on the last three at MTV Geek. Vertical announced Satoshi Kon’s Tropic of the Sea and Takahiro Seguchi’s Sickness Unto Death. And Seven Seas has three new licenses, all supernatural stories involving girls who aren’t human: A Centaur’s Life, Love in Hell, and Monster Musume. Sean Gaffney, who knows the Japanese side of things a lot better than I do, has more on the Viz and Seven Seas announcements at his blog.

Lissa Pattillo looks over the past week’s new manga in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and Sean Gaffney, MJ, and Michelle Smith discuss this week’s new manga at Manga Bookshelf.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has a fresh episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is hosted by Organization ASG, and Justin gets things rolling with an introductory post on this month’s creator, Naoki Urasawa and a discussion among the bloggers about how they first got into Urasawa.

Brian Hibbs looks at the BookScan numbers for 2012 and sees a grim picture for manga, as sales continue to decline.

Jason Thompson pays his respects to the uber-80s manga Cipher in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

News from Japan: Kaoru Mori brings back Shirley for a two-part story in Enterbrain’s Harta (formerly Fellows!) magazine.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on the past week in manga at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Awkward Silence (I Reads You)
Connie on vol. 14 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 18 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Collectors (Okazu)
Jocelyne Allen on Dame BL (Brain Vs. Book)
Connie on vol. 8 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sweetpea on Her Majesty’s Dog, Slam Dunk, and Papillon (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Message to Adolf (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 60 of Naruto (I Reads You)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Ohikkoshi, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and A Drunken Dream (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-8 of Pluto (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on last week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Connie on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (omnibus edition) (Poisoned Rationality)
Justin on vol. 11 of Yotsuba&! (Organization ASG)

Pick of the Week: Misanthropy & Other Stories

February 18, 2013 by Michelle Smith, Anna N, Sean Gaffney and MJ 2 Comments

MICHELLE: Wow, pickings sure are slim at Midtown this week. If you’re not interested in the latest Evangelion tie-in, volume 30 of Wallflower, or the paperback reprint of Ayako, you are out of luck. Of these, Ayako would be the one I’d choose (if I didn’t already own it in hardcover)—it may be misanthropic, but it’s definitely worth reading.

ANNA This is somewhat sad. So sad in fact that I’m going to pick something that isn’t even manga at all! It looks like the 10th issue of Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples’ Saga is coming out this week. I enjoyed the first trade paperback of this series very much, and it is nice to see more nifty titles coming out from Image Comics. I’m looking forward to the second volume of this adult space opera.

SEAN: Sheesh, I do all I can to expand Manga The Week Of, and everyone then proceeds to stick with Midtown’s paltry offerings. My pick this week is therefore the second Umineko omnibus, which wraps up the first arc. Less heartwarming than Higurashi so far, its grand guignol over-the-top style appealed to me, and you gotta love those screaming faces (from those still alive, that is).

MJ: I’ll admit that I feel hesitant about choosing from Sean’s lovely selection of Yen titles, as even online retailers list their release dates as yet a full week away, but I guess I’ll take this opportunity to highlight a series that rarely makes it into our Picks. That series would be Nabari no Ou—you know, the other ninja manga. I’ve been a fan of this series from the start and though I’ve fallen behind, now that its penultimate volume has arrived, I feel the time for a marathon is now. I’ll be setting up a “book club” marathon in the forums later today. Come join me?

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

New Licenses from Viz and Seven Seas

February 15, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

Well, I’m off on a few days vacation, so naturally everyone decides to pile on licenses the moment I leave. Taunting me with their interestingness. But this will not stop me from breaking everything down, and keeping you, the reader, informed.

magi I’ve spent quite a few posts discussing Shonen Sunday, and Viz’s lack of enthusiasm about the titles as opposed to Shonen Jump. Of course, this is a vicious circle, as SS series tend not to be among the best-sellers or ‘fan-obsessive’ series. That may change with this new license, however. If ever there was a series running in Sunday that cried out to be licensed, Magi was it. The author has been seen on these shores before with Yen Press’s Sumomomo Momomo, but Magi is a better, more mature work with a manga take on Aladdin and the Arabian Nights. This has the potential to be the first really big Sunday title over here since Inu Yasha, and comes highly recommended.

Viz’s Shojo Beat line also announced four new titles, two of which are actually Josei Beat. Yoroshiku Master is a Hakusensha series from the author of Penguin Revolution, one of the old CMX shoujo favorites. This ran in LaLa’s sister magazine DX, and at 3 volumes is a decent investment (and the third volume apparently has a Penguin Revolution short chapter to boot.) As for the plot, if you like bishie demons, bishie vampires, and bishie catboys, you’ll love bishie reindeer boys! Viz is releasing the series as Sweet Rein.

seiyuu-academy I was always a big fan of S.A. and its dense as lead heroine, so I’m quite happy to hear that they’ve licensed Maki Minami’s next series that ran in Hana to Yume, Seiyuu Kaa!, which will come out here as Voice Over! – Seiyuu Academy. The title describes the series – our heroine is enrolled in a voice actor’s high school, and not only has to deal with her less than stellar voice qualities, but also the usual high school shenanigans. This being a Hakusensha shoujo series, I’m certain that there will be a few pretty guys to help her out. The series should be 11 or 12 volumes.

Then there’s the two josei series. Viz must have been at least somewhat pleased with the performance of Butterflies, Flowers, as we have not one but two new titles from the pages of Petit Comic, Shogakukan’s josei romance manga for women who have outgrown the already saucy Shoujo Comic. Maki Enjouji’s Happy Marriage?! is 10 volumes, and has ‘Shogakukan’ written all over it: an office lady, trying desperately to pay off her parent’s debt, finds herself engaged to her company president – who she’s never met before! I have a feeling that this title will be just as compelling *and* frustrating as Butterflies, Flowers proved to be, but at least can be assured that it will be quite spicy.

midnight-secretary The last, and possibly biggest license from Shojo Beat is Midnight Secretary, Tomu Ohmi’s 7-volume story of a secretary who becomes the personal assistant – and so much more – of her company’s president. Unlike Happy Marriage?!, however, this president is a vampire as well! Despite not having the word Vampire actually in the title, I predict this is going to sell like hotcakes, if hotcakes that have to be shrinkwrapped due to content – this, like Happy Marriage?!, will definitely be an M for Mature title. That said, there’s more here than just put-upon heroine and abusive-yet-oh-so-hot boss, and I am very pleased we’ll get to see this.

Of course, Viz was not the only one to drop new licenses on us, as we have three new titles from Seven Seas. Centaur no Nayami (out over here as A Centaur’s Life), is sort of like Seiyuu Kaa!, only instead of voice actresses it’s monsters and other mythological creatures. The juxtaposition of ordinary high-school comedy with girls with centaur bodies and angel wings is what drives this title.

loveinhell Jigokuren – Love in Hell is from Futabasha’s Web Comic High, and features a guy who dies one day and finds himself in hell. But he has the chance to repent. Judging by the art and descriptions I’ve seen, however, this title seems to aim at the reader who enjoys seeing young-looking girls torturing guys in various ways. I’d put it in the I Don’t Like You At All Big Brother/Mayo Chiki category.

Lastly, we have another title from Tokuma Shoten’s Comic Ryu (where A Centaur’s Life also appears). Monster Musume is another harem title, regarding the integrations of mythological monsters (in the form of cute girls) into society. They all glom onto our hero, who I suspect is a nice yet unlucky guy, as these types usually are. Of course, the law prevents interspecies nookie, so the entire reason for this title’s existence would appear to be teasing but not delivering. Luckily, there’s a nice harem audience that this would appeal to. I also note that between Love in Hell‘s heroine and this series, we’re covering ‘breast fetishes’ at both ends – small and large.

As we get further into the year, more of the Fall 2013 licenses will become apparent, but this is already a great number of titles for all sorts of fans. Which of these excites you most?

Midnight Secretary!!!!!

February 14, 2013 by Anna N

I am often excited when Viz announces new series, but I am extra excited to see that they are going to be bringing out Midnight Secretary and also Happy Marriage. More mature shojo/josei manga is a category that I wish more US manga publishers would pursue because as much as I do enjoy high school romance, it is very nice to have titles featuring main characters who are not teenagers. I think these acquisitions would appeal to fans of more mature manga like Butterflies, Flowers.

Here’s the scoop from the Viz Press release about these titles:

HAPPY MARRIAGE?! • Rated “M” for Mature •
MSRP: $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN • Available August 6, 2013
In order to help her father, Chiwa Takanashi agrees to an arranged marriage with the company president Hokuto Mamiya – a man she doesn’t know – at the request of Hokuto’s grandfather. Chiwa believes the arrangement isn’t binding, but her new partner seems to think otherwise. Can two strangers living together find their way to a happy marriage?!

MIDNIGHT SECRETARY • Rated “M” for Mature •
MSRP: $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN • Available September 3, 2013
Kaya Satozuka is a brilliant secretary who excels at her job, which is why she doesn’t bat an eye when she’s assigned to be personal secretary to Kyohei Touma, the very difficult managing director of Touma Foods. It doesn’t faze her when her new boss seems determined to make her fail, and she even manages to take it in stride when she discovers the secret behind his prickly behavior…he’s a vampire! But while Kaya easily adapts to late nights and keeping a schedule of his “dinner dates,” will her ultra-competence help when Kyohei’s smoldering gaze starts turning her way?!