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Urasawa speaks!

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Rebecca Silverman gets the interview we all dream of, a sit-down with Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto, 20th Century Boys).

The latest Manga Out Loud podcast features guests MJ, Kate Dacey, William Flanagan, and Shaenon Garrity discussing CLAMP with host Ed Sizemore.

Matt Blind compiles the big list of manga best-sellers for the past week, and he looks forward to some new manga releases in the next six months in his Manga Radar column.

At Blog of the North Star, Milo kicks off a multi-part appreciation of Ken Ishikawa, who started his career as Go Nagai’s assistant.

Jeff Blagdon reports in from Comiket, in a story that makes me sorta glad I didn’t go but happy that he did.

The Asahi Shimbun reports on JManga’s translation contest—and quotes Deb Aoki.

News from Japan: Robotics;Notes – Rival Legacy, the fourth spin-off the visual Robotics;Notes visual novel, has launched in Ultra Jump. Manga-ka Azure Konno (Koe de Oshigoto) and Ayami Kazama (The World I Create) announced their marriage via Twitter yesterday.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lori Henderson on vol. 13 of Black Bird (Manga Village)
Kristin on vols. 38 and 39 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Milo on Doll the Hotel Detective (Blog of the North Star)
Ken Haley on Dolls Don’t Cry (Sequential Ink)
John Rose on vol. 6 of Kobato (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Metersarete Kya (Okazu)
Alex Hoffman on MW (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT (Kuriousity)
Kristin on vol. 11 of Toriko (Comic Attack)

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 5

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By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

As we get into Vol. 5 of Railgun, it strikes me how many sociopathic killers are really in this series. It’s a whole lot. Misaka has found out about the experiment where 20,000 of her clones are killed off in order to force a Level 5 to get even higher, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Academy City and its dedication to science clearly continues to have a dark and sordid underbelly, and I doubt that the enemies this time will be as misguided but ultimately likeable as in the Level Upper arc.

First we have Accelerator, this arc’s “Big Bad”, who just finished brutally murdering Misaka 9982 at the end of last volume. The real Misaka is understandably upset by this, and does her best to try to make Accelerator see reason, or at least beat the shit out of him. This is especially true when she hears his motives are simply power, thus making the killings even more appalling. There’s a short battle, but a) it becomes clear that Misaka is severely outclassed by her enemy, and b) the clones stop things fairly quickly, pointing out that if he defeats the real Railgun now, that sort of ruins the experiment.

So now Misaka knows about the experiment, and has to stop it. The clones are of no help at all, as they don’t value their own lives so can only point out how easy it 9is to build new ones. She briefly has the help of Shinobu, a scientist who is trying to fix things after realizing that the clones are more than just lab rats. But for the most part it’s just Misaka straightforwardly trying to destroy the experiment by destroying every single site where it takes place – all 10 of them, supposedly used to combat muscular dystrophy. Yes, it’s Misaka the terrorist. Given that the hero of the main series, Touma, tends to solve problems by simply punching them very hard, it’s somehow fitting that our heroine is cut from the same cloth – if there are no more labs, there will be no more experiment.

Of course, things aren’t made that easy, as we also meet ITEM, the anti-terrorist group sent off to take Misaka out. These are basically child soldiers, with a slightly older leader, and are, like Accelerator, rather blase about all the people they have killed. The team is actually balanced nicely between two hotheads who glory in killing and torture, and two cool stoics who seem more blase about the whole thing. Naturally, it’s the hotheads who get most of the focus, and as we see a 10-year-old girl brag about the number of people she’s killed, we are reminded again what kind of environment this is.

And so in the end Misaka thinks she’s won, but somehow I doubt it. Blow up 10 labs, and 10 more will spring up. This is about defeating an entire scientific culture, and that will take far more than electroshock therapy. Luckily, we have an exciting cliffhanger, where… she sees Touma at a vending machine! Gasp! (This is actually more exciting to those who have read or seen A Certain Magical Index, as the two stories now join up, all of the past two volumes having been prelude.) Will she ask Touma for help? Or just be tsundere at him? It’s been a while since we’ve seen that side of her…

It Came From the Sinosphere: Fated to Love You

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This drama has the distinction of having the highest TV ratings of any idol drama ever. Every Taiwanese person I have asked has seen at least part of this drama. I have gotten middle-aged Taiwanese men who claim that K-dramas are too feminine for them to admit that a) they have seen Fated to Love You and b) that it’s good.

Why is this drama so popular? Maybe this (abridged) scene will give you a clue…

Example Scene

Dylan is playing hide-and-seek with the kids at the church. He decides to hide in the confessional booth.

Chen Xinyi walks in to make a confession. She tells Dylan that she had sex with a stranger … and that it was the first time she ever had sex.

Dylan tells her to go home and tell God “sorry.”

Chen Xinyi then tells her about how she’s been throwing up a lot in the past few days.

Hearing this, Dylan urges her to go buy a pregnancy test – but to do it on the sly.

Chen Xinyi takes his suggestion to heart, and disguises herself so no one will recognize her when she buys the pregnancy test.

By sheer coincidence, there is a robber who disguises herself just like Xinyi, and appears on the news right before Xinyi walks into the store.

The store clerk tells her she doesn’t need to pay. As soon as she leaves, he calls the police.

The police corner her in the bathroom. There’s also a TV news reporter with them.

Right after Chen Xinyi has used the pregnancy test, the police open up the bathroom stall and point guns at her.

She is so startled that she loses hold of the pregnancy test-stick.

The TV news reporter picks up the pregnancy test-stick … and congratulates her. It is announced on television that Chen Xinyi in pregnant. So much for doing things on the sly.

Chen Xinyi’s mother just happens to be watching the news at that moment…

… and the stranger she had sex with notices the news on TV too.

Sara K. Loves Joe Chen

Joe Chen in my favorite actress working in Taiwanese idol dramas.

First of all, she’s versatile. For example, in Prince Turns Into Frog, she plays a girl from a poor fishing village, whereas in My Best Pals she plays a hip teenager from Ximending who jumps off buildings into cars (I am not kidding). Whereas her character in Prince Turns Into Frog dreams of gold-digging her way out of the boondocks, her character in My Best Pals would rather kick than kiss a rich guy’s ass. Joe Chen plays both roles very well.

Obviously, you can’t judge her acting based on the theme songs, but the theme songs of Prince Turns Into Frog and My Best Pals do offer a sense of how the two dramas feel different—and I assure you the characters Joe Chen plays in those dramas are just as different as the theme songs. In addition, Joe Chen has been cast as Dongfang Bubai in the new The Laughing Proud Wanderer TV series, which is a really different role from the others I have see her play (for starters, Dongfang Bubai, having been born with testicles, is not a cis female).

Her role as Chen Xinyi in Fated to Love You is quite different from all of the roles I mentioned above. Chen Xinyi is an office worker with low self-esteem. She is completely convincing in the role. She is extremely true to what Chen Xinyi is feeling, and skillfully demonstrates how Chen Xinyi changes during the course of the story. I think Fated to Love You would have moved me to tears a lot less if they had cast a lesser actress.

Messing With Idol Drama Tropes

If you have seen several other Taiwanese idol dramas, you already know what the story is because it’s the same as 90% of idol drama stories, and just when you are sure what’s going to happen next … Fated to Love You goes in the other direction.

Ha ha ha.

Sure, yes, it does follow the standard idol drama plot. It does so with irreverence. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but in a totally silly way. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but with a wink in its eye, telling the viewers “Yes, we know you have seen this in five other dramas, but we do it with more flair.” Sometimes it makes the viewers think it’s going to use the standard tropes, but pulls a fast one and does something completely different. And sometimes it uses the standard tropes in a totally straight way, so the viewer doesn’t get too used to the twists.

This is actually why, much as I love this drama, I’m not sure this should be somebody’s first Taiwanese idol drama. If you haven’t seen other Taiwanese idol dramas, you might not always notice it when Fated to Love You sticks out its tongue and makes funny faces. On the other hand, this is one of the best idol dramas ever made, so if you are only going to see one Taiwanese idol drama ever, this might be a good choice.

Let’s Get Serious

Before you get the idea that Fated to Love You is a spoof or a comedy (well, it is a comedy, yet it’s more than that…), I assure you that there is a totally serious story being told here. I probably cry as much laugh when I watch it (notice that I’m using present tense—I’ve seen this drama twice, and I am sure I will watch it again).

In particular, this is a story about Chen Xinyi, who has spent her entire life helping other people instead of herself. During the course of the story she discovers that she has her own distinctive artistic voice.

Actually, all of my favorite idol dramas are about women who are discovering their artistic voice. Maybe that’s a coincidence, or maybe that’s a reflection of my personal tastes, or maybe idol dramas about women discovering their artistic voice are inherently more awesome.

In fact, this is why I consider this idol drama to be feminist. Just as sexism says women are not as important as men, everybody (except her father, who is dead) says that Chen Xinyi is not important. After going through a lot of suffering, it is demonstrated that Chen Xinyi is just as important as every other character in the drama, and that she important purely on the basis of being herself.

Location, Location, Location

I realize that there is so much I want to say about the locations in this drama that it’s better off in a separate post.

Fun with Language

Once again, I realized there is so much I want to say about this that it’s better off in a separate post. (Read Fated to Love You -Special Post.)

Chen Xinyi Talks to Joe Chen

There are a couple scenes where Chen Xinyi talks to Joe Chen.

Wait a minute … isn’t Chen Xinyi played by Joe Chen?

In addition to being an actress, TV host, and writer, Joe Chen is also a model. In fact, right now there are ads featuring her in Taipei train station which say (in Chinese) “[brand name] loves Joe Chen”. Thus it is entirely believable that Chen Xinyi would encounter ads featuring Joe Chen in the hip Xinyi district (note: the “Xinyi” in “Xinyi district” uses different Chinese characters than the “Xinyi” in “Chen Xinyi”). However, the ads featuring Joe Chen have never talked to me.

Music

I generally don’t find the music created specifically for this drama that interesting, but the exception is the song “Wǒ de Kuài​lè​​” (My Happiness). In particular, I appreciate when they play the piano score without the singing. The song is played so much that, even without the singing, the viewer (at least a viewer who can understand Mandarin) can hear the words of the song. It contributes to the mood of the series, and the sadness of the song often counterbalances the sillier scenes.

Availability in English

The good news:

DRAMAFEVER HAS LICENSED FATED TO LOVE YOU.

The bad news:

None of the episodes are available yet. Also, this only helps people who are in North or South America.

Conclusion

Fated to Love You is one of my favorites. Just when I’m wondering why I keep on watching idol dramas, I stumble on a drama like Fated to Love You, and my interest in idol dramas is revived. Finding these dramas makes watching the mediocre ones worth it (and I’ve noticed that even the mediocre dramas are generally improved by the presence of Joe Chen).

I love Fated to Love You so much that there is going to be a special post about it, hopefully on Friday. The purpose of this post is to convince you all (in North and South America) to watch it (when Dramafever makes it available). The purpose of the next post will be to offer commentary for people who are not too familiar with Taiwan and/or the Chinese language. In fact, I suspect one reason why Dramafever is taking so long to release episodes is that some of the things the characters say are really difficult to translate into English. Hopefully, that means that when the episodes are available, the translation will be really good.

Read Fated to Love You (Special Post).

Next regular post: Xuanji Tu (novel)

Sara K. wishes to give whoever is translating Fated to Love You for Dramafever a pat on the back. She understands how frustrating it probably is. She would also like to see Dramafever (or somebody else) legally bring out some of her other favorite idol dramas into English.

CLAMP MMF: Postscript

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The CLAMP Manga Moveable Feast has been officially over for nearly a month. But at the time it was still in-progress, I received an invitation from Ed Sizemore to discuss CLAMP with some folks much, much smarter and more knowledgeable than I on his podcast, Manga Out Loud. The actual discussion took place about a week after the Feast, and it was just posted this past weekend.

Link: Episode #62- CLAMP MMF with Shaenon Garrity, William Flanagan, MJ, & Kate Dacey

The conversation was lively and very illuminating for me. I hope it will be for you, too!

A full archive for the CLAMP MMF may be found here.

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 19 August

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Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. ↔0 (1) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [425.0] ::
2. ↑2 (4) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [422.3] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [396.5] ::
4. ↓-2 (2) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [392.6] ::
5. ↔0 (5) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [378.3] ::
6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
8. ↓-1 (7) : Vampire Knight 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 [327.3] ::
9. ↔0 (9) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [325.5] ::
10. ↑1 (11) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [303.8] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 91
Yen Press 84
Viz Shojo Beat 58
Kodansha Comics 52
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 37
DMP Juné 31
Dark Horse 16
Seven Seas 16
Vertical 13
Viz Signature 11

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,102.8] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [762.9] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [686.7] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Highschool of the Dead – Yen Press [538.2] ::
5. ↑2 (7) : Yu-Gi-Oh! – Viz Shonen Jump [517.7] ::
6. ↓-1 (5) : Vampire Knight – Viz Shojo Beat [498.4] ::
7. ↑3 (10) : Black Butler – Yen Press [454.9] ::
8. ↓-2 (6) : Negima! – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [453.2] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : Ouran High School Host Club – Viz Shojo Beat [450.8] ::
10. ↑2 (12) : Death Note – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [433.0] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

1. ↔0 (1) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [425.0] ::
6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
8. ↓-1 (7) : Vampire Knight 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 [327.3] ::
11. ↑5 (16) : Bleach 44 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [292.1] ::
15. ↓-5 (10) : Negima! 35 – Kodansha Comics, Jul 2012 [279.6] ::
20. ↑4 (24) : Bleach 45 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [246.3] ::
22. ↓-5 (17) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 9 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jul 2012 [240.8] ::
23. ↑19 (42) : Omamori Himari 8 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 [233.0] ::
25. ↓-3 (22) : Highschool of the Dead 7 – Yen Press, Jul 2012 [230.2] ::

[more]

Preorders

12. ↑2 (14) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [288.8] ::
18. ↓-5 (13) : Sailor Moon 9 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [262.1] ::
19. ↑2 (21) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [246.9] ::
29. ↓-3 (26) : Sailor Moon 10 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2013 [204.3] ::
31. ↑10 (41) : Yotsuba&! 11 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 [194.8] ::
34. ↑3 (37) : Avatar: The Last Airbender The Promise 3 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [189.0] ::
53. ↑13 (66) : Naruto 58 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2012 [149.1] ::
75. ↓-6 (69) : Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [122.4] ::
97. ↓-5 (92) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 5 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [106.6] ::
102. ↑2 (104) : Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 2 vol hardcover box set [complete] – Viz Ghibli Library, Nov 2012 [103.6] ::

[more]

Manhwa

616. ↓-140 (476) : Time & Again 3 – Yen Press, Jul 2010 [15.5] ::
621. ↑21 (642) : Bride of the Water God 10 – Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [15.3] ::
622. ↑41 (663) : Bride of the Water God 11 – Dark Horse, May 2012 [15.3] ::
652. ↓-152 (500) : Time & Again 6 – Yen Press, Jul 2011 [14.3] ::
736. ↓-9 (727) : Time & Again 2 – Yen Press, Mar 2010 [10.6] ::
766. ↑180 (946) : Time & Again 5 – Yen Press, Mar 2011 [9.6] ::
799. ↓-167 (632) : Time & Again 1 – Yen Press, Dec 2009 [8.7] ::
895. ↑50 (945) : Let Dai 11 – Netcomics, Feb 2008 [6.2] ::
919. ↓-119 (800) : One Thousand & One Nights 7 – Yen Press, Apr 2009 [5.7] ::
1021. ↓-175 (846) : One Thousand & One Nights 11 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [4.1] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
67. ↓-2 (65) : Samejima-Kun & Sasahara-Kun – DMP Juné, May 2012 [127.7] ::
97. ↓-5 (92) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 5 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [106.6] ::
107. ↓-4 (103) : Ai no Kusabi (novel) 7 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [98.4] ::
118. ↓-8 (110) : In These Words – 801 Media, Jun 2012 [91.7] ::
188. ↑15 (203) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [65.0] ::
199. ↑57 (256) : His Arrogance – 801 Media, Dec 2008 [61.6] ::
210. ↔0 (210) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [60.5] ::
240. ↑73 (313) : The Day I Became a Butterfly – DMP Juné, Mar 2007 [52.5] ::
241. ↓-12 (229) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [51.9] ::

[more]

Ebooks

7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
24. ↓-1 (23) : Naruto 56 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2012 [230.4] ::
37. ↓-1 (36) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [185.6] ::
38. ↓-6 (32) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [185.5] ::
48. ↔0 (48) : Blue Exorcist 1 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Apr 2011 [160.8] ::
65. ↓-2 (63) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [131.9] ::
74. ↓-6 (68) : Maximum Ride 3 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [124.0] ::
79. ↑1 (80) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [120.6] ::
80. ↑10 (90) : Blue Exorcist 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Feb 2012 [118.7] ::
91. ↑45 (136) : Haruhi Suzumiya Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 13 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 [109.6] ::

[more]

Manga Radar, 12 August 2012

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[escape hatch: for those who care about manga, not process]
[blue portal: tl;dr – skip the boring bits AND the long lists and get to the final commentary]

So I had to go back 4 months to find my last couple of written columns about manga – and a lot has changed with my homebrew charts since then. The difficulty in keeping up with manga sales data has *always* been a matter of time: as the data is already out there. Anyone can visit Amazon & look at their hourly bestsellers at any time (or even multiple times a day). But to compile all the data from available sources was a rather painstaking process, especially since one cannot, for example, cut-n-paste the Amazon page into a spreadsheet to compile a composite chart. None of the sales sites use the same format or nomenclature, and it becomes not only a math exercise but also a translation problem; not comparing apples to oranges, but apples to softballs to aerogel to a cup of nonnewtonian fluid.

Most problems can be solved with the application of time. Compiling the manga bestsellers used to be very hands-on: overcoming differences in formats & listings with a lot of human-processing. By using _an actual person_ to read, analyze, & re-input the data from book sales sites into a single consistent format that could then be used in a spreadsheet, we bridge the machine-readable-to-human-readable gap: but the process is labor intensive. My small concern only has the one employee (me) and this same employee has to also hold down a 45hr. a week job (to pay the bills, as the data-analysis-stuff is still just a hobby). There weren’t enough hours in the week.

To compile one week’s worth of bestsellers I was spending 16 hours a week or more just clicking on websites & typing in data. It was a ‘brute force’ method: very easy to implement but not very efficient. It was also very easy to fall behind; I could always save pages for later data collection, but the actual data collection required me to sit in a chair, look at long lists, and type.

I started out a couple of weeks behind, but soon was starting at a backlog of two-and-a-half-month’s-worth of archived data and frankly, seeing no way out. I was tempted to just chuck the whole project, like I once did in 2009. I decided to keep at it though, thankless a task as this is, because no one else is tracking this data.

So obviously I needed a new approach. I had to teach myself a few new tricks.

##

Data collection for the manga charts is now handled by a set of programs — the technology is similar to web spiders or other big sites that seek to index the web (think Google) but my application is much, much smaller in scale. You could think of them as a type of ‘bot, programmed to love manga, crawl a very specific set of URLs and download just the rank & title of the manga volumes found there. I’ll admit to becoming fond of them, I call them my DRDs. Instead of manually loading websites & reading them myself (or archiving them for later) I just let the DRDs crawl the web for me and stash the results in a CSV file.

Problem One solved – but it introduces the second hurdle: One site will list Naruto 54, another Naruto vol. 54, and a third Naruto Volume 54 – and these are all the same book. You can see that, I can see that, but computers are a little particular and can’t make the connection right away. With my automatically collected raw data, I needed to then set up a filter to ‘translate’ each of the three listings into a single consistent format.

Luckily, I had a database of manga titles in my own indosyncratic format (compiled over the past 5 years) so it was merely a matter of teaching a spreadsheet to read the three Naruto 54s the same way. Merely. My kludge is yet another brute-force solution, though I’m letting my CPU be the brute in this case; my ‘filter’ takes the raw data provided by the DRDs and compares them to a set of 21558 definitions (as of 12 August 2012, and growing each week) to output a single set of data, while simultaneously kicking out the “non manga” [as defined] and returning a list, sorted by source & rank, and reformatted to my preferred title notation.

It sounds fancy, but it really just builds on the manga charts themselves: I’ve been teaching spreadsheets to compare-and-count “like” titles for years now, this is just a specific application. Still (as I am now finding in other hobby projects) this type of filter really does rely on a foundation of past data; this is a very hard process to recreate from scratch.

Source data is then weighted, scored, compiled, and run through the usual meat-grinder of a spreadsheet I’ve always used to output the charts. I’ve used this spreadsheet & format for a couple of years now; these are the charts that post weekly. This isn’t the part that’s new. What’s new is the new automated data collection process that pulls data from websites while I sleep & enables me to go from raw data to posted chart [with a couple rounds of manual error checking & correction] in under two hours. If you follow me on twitter you got to read my comments in real time while I worked on the charts just posted for 12 August.

##

Your takeaway from all the boring posted above is that it is now possible for my small datashop to process a whole week’s worth of online sales data and output the chart in a single day — even same day delivery, if I happen to get to it either before or after working at the bookstore.

But enough about process, let’s look at manga:

Wow. Months have passed since I last wrote a Manga Radar column, so I’m not even sure where to start. Obviously, I’ve added hundreds of title to the database in the intervening time, so a listing of just “what’s new” would be an overload. I’ll assume you know about new releases this month, and next (and I post each as it’s own chart so there are links for that) – so true to concept, let’s take a look at some of the titles fans are preordering that are even further out:

[the rankings listed are for the most recent chart posted, 12 August]

October Releases

2239. (new) : Angelic Layer Omnibus – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
37. ↑2 (39) : Avatar: The Last Airbender The Promise 3 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [188.0] ::
278. ↑9 (287) : Berserk 36 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [44.9] ::
234. ↑12 (246) : Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 4 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [51.9] ::

1796. ↓-510 (1286) : Bad Teacher’s Equation 5 – DMP Juné, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
1782. ↓-4 (1778) : Honey*Smile – DMP Juné, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
. ↑2536 (2536) : Secret Thorns – DMP Juné, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::

. (last ranked 10 Jun 12) : Love Hair – DMP Project H, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 17 Jun 12) : Love Infusion – DMP Project H, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
240. ↑374 (614) : My Good Boy – DMP Project H, Oct 2012 [50.7] ::
248. ↑214 (462) : With A Dictionary & No Skirt – DMP Project H, Oct 2012 [49.6] ::
< strong>274. ↓-23 (251) : Arisa 9 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [45.5] ::
. : Cage of Eden 8 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
. : Kitchen Princess Omnibus 2 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
164. ↑53 (217) : Mardock Scramble 6 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [70.0] ::
69. ↑3 (72) : Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [126.1] ::

342. ↓-33 (309) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 13 – Seven Seas, Oct 2012 [35.9] ::
157. ↑13 (170) : Girl Friends: Complete Collection 1 – Seven Seas, Oct 2012 [72.6] ::
270. ↓-26 (244) : Venus Versus Virus Omnibus 3 – Seven Seas, Oct 2012 [46.0] ::

1753. ↓-32 (1721) : Awkward Silence 2 – SuBLime, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 5 Aug 12) : His Favorite 2 – SuBLime, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Apr 12) : Punch Up! 2 – SuBLime, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::

. : Flowers of Evil 3 – Vertical, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 5 Aug 12) : GTO The Early Years: Shonan Junai Gumi 15 – Vertical, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::

1675. ↓-3 (1672) : Loveless vols 1-2 collection – Viz, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
2044. (new) : X vols 10-12 collection – Viz, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
2247. (new) : Dawn of the Arcana 6 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
. : Jiu Jiu 2 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::
341. ↑58 (399) : Skip Beat! 29 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [35.9] ::
1125. ↓-42 (1083) : Stepping on Roses 8 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [2.9] ::
1555. ↑41 (1596) : Story of Saiunkoku 8 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [0.2] ::
1321. ↑433 (1754) : Bakuman 15 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2012 [1.2] ::
1043. ↑117 (1160) : Bleach 48 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2012 [3.8] ::
996. ↓-28 (968) : Bleach 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2012 [4.5] ::
2163. (last ranked 15 Apr 12) : Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan 11 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
766. ↓-77 (689) : Case Closed 44 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Oct 2012 [9.6] ::
2230. ↓-331 (1899) : Tenjo Tenge: Full Contact Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2012 [0.1] ::
721. ↑191 (912) : Pokemon Black & White vols 1-8 box set – Vizkids, Oct 2012 [11.3] ::
1379. ↓-58 (1321) : Pokemon Diamond & Pearl/Platinum 6 – Vizkids, Oct 2012 [0.8] ::

325. ↑78 (403) : Black Butler 11 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [38.2] ::
751. ↑186 (937) : Durarara!! 4 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [10.3] ::
1076. ↑106 (1182) : Haruhi Suzumiya The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan 2 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [3.5] ::
552. ↑155 (707) : Pandora Hearts 12 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [19.1] ::
1351. ↑853 (2204) : Soul Eater NOT! 2 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [0.9] ::
. ↑ (last ranked 29 Jul 12) : Triage X 1 – Yen Press, Oct 2012 [0.0] ::

November Releases

1833. ↑246 (2079) : Bride of the Water God 12 – Dark Horse, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
833. ↑124 (957) : Deva Zan – Dark Horse, Nov 2012 [8.0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jul 12) : Gantz 25 – Dark Horse, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::

119. ↑99 (218) : Velvet Kiss 2 – DMP Project H, Nov 2012 [89.8] ::

1673. ↓-238 (1435) : Fairy Tail 22 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
338. ↑1003 (1341) : Missions of Love 1 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [36.5] ::
303. ↓-40 (263) : Phoenix Wright Miles Edgeworth 3 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [40.9] ::
21. ↓-2 (19) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [254.4] ::

666. ↑86 (752) : Alice in the Country of Clover Cheshire Cat Waltz 3 – Seven Seas, Nov 2012 [14.1] ::
2485. ↓-615 (1870) : Angel Para Bellum 2 – Seven Seas, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
680. ↑124 (804) : Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends 1 – Seven Seas, Nov 2012 [13.3] ::
. (last ranked 11 Mar 12) : Young Miss Holmes vols 3-4 collection – Seven Seas, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::

1906. ↓-130 (1776) : Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love 2 – SuBLime, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
1697. ↓-28 (1669) : Starting with a Kiss 2 – SuBLime, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::

. : GTO: 14 Days in Shonan 6 – Vertical, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
1200. ↓-29 (1171) : Message to Adolf 2 – Vertical, Nov 2012 [2.2] ::

. (last ranked 13 May 12) : Excel Saga 24 – Viz, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
1186. ↓-93 (1093) : Neon Genesis Evangelion 13 – Viz, Nov 2012 [2.3] ::
104. ↓-15 (89) : Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 2 vol hardcover box set [complete] – Viz Ghibli Library, Nov 2012 [100.1] ::
2486. (new) : Ai Ore! 7 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
1685. ↑8 (1693) : Kamisama Kiss 11 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
979. ↑97 (1076) : Kimi ni Todoke 15 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [4.8] ::
855. ↓-17 (838) : Ouran High School Host Club vols 1-18 box set – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [7.2] ::
215. ↑75 (290) : Vampire Knight 15 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [57.4] ::
2256. (new) : Bakuman 16 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
1829. ↓-10 (1819) : Bleach 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
1866. ↓-64 (1802) : Bleach 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::
318. ↓-22 (296) : Naruto 59 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [39.1] ::
881. ↑482 (1363) : One Piece 65 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [6.7] ::
. : Psyren 7 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
554. ↑50 (604) : Blue Exorcist 8 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2012 [18.8] ::
626. ↓-17 (609) : Claymore 21 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2012 [15.6] ::
264. ↓-42 (222) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 10 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2012 [46.4] ::

362. ↑596 (958) : Bunny Drop 7 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [32.8] ::
128. ↑29 (157) : Omamori Himari 9 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [85.5] ::
2499. ↓-346 (2153) : Soul Eater 11 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
. : Soulless 2 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [0.0] ::
1923. ↓-148 (1775) : Spice & Wolf (manga) 7 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [0.1] ::

December Releases

. (last ranked 5 Aug 12) : Neon Genesis Evangelion The Shinji Ikari Raising Project 12 – Dark Horse, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Jun 12) : Mizuki 1 – DMP, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Jun 12) : Mizuki 2 – DMP, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::

1053. ↓-235 (818) : Caramel – DMP Juné, Dec 2012 [3.7] ::
1854. ↓-120 (1734) : I’ve Seen It All 2 – DMP Juné, Dec 2012 [0.1] ::
1261. ↑40 (1301) : Love Makes Everything Right – DMP Juné, Dec 2012 [1.6] ::
1365. ↓-296 (1069) : Ninth Life Love – DMP Juné, Dec 2012 [0.8] ::

918. ↑238 (1156) : Love On The Job 1 – DMP Project H, Dec 2012 [6.0] ::

. : Attack on Titan 3 – Kodansha Comics, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
204. ↑76 (280) : Battle Angel Alita Last Order 16 – Kodansha Comics, Dec 2012 [60.6] ::

1184. ↑627 (1811) : A Certain Scientific Railgun 6 – Seven Seas, Dec 2012 [2.3] ::
1401. ↑517 (1918) : Mayo Chiki! 1 – Seven Seas, Dec 2012 [0.7] ::

306. ↓-5 (301) : Black Bird 15 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2012 [40.5] ::
1655. ↑62 (1717) : The Earl & The Fairy 4 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2012 [0.2] ::
. : Bakuman 17 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
1859. ↓-34 (1825) : Bleach 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2012 [0.1] ::
1511. ↑17 (1528) : Bleach 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2012 [0.3] ::
. (last ranked 15 Jul 12) : Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan 12 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
699. ↑615 (1314) : Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2012 [12.2] ::
. : Tenjo Tenge: Full Contact Edition 10 – Viz Signature, Dec 2012 [0.0] ::
2217. ↑ (last ranked 5 Aug 12) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 11 – Viz Signature, Dec 2012 [0.1] ::

1018. ↑433 (1451) : Alice in the Country of Hearts My Fanatic Rabbit 1 – Yen Press, Dec 2012 [4.2] ::
217. ↓-45 (172) : Haruhi Suzumiya Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 14 – Yen Press, Dec 2012 [57.3] ::
1305. ↑211 (1516) : Puella Magi Madoka Magica 3 – Yen Press, Dec 2012 [1.3] ::

January Releases

740. ↓-54 (686) : Ze 7 – 801 Media, Jan 2013 [10.6] ::

1924. ↑153 (2077) : Oh My Goddess! 43 – Dark Horse, Jan 2013 [0.1] ::

957. ↓-111 (846) : Ai no Kusabi (novel) 8 – DMP Juné, Jan 2013 [5.2] ::
456. ↓-13 (443) : The Tyrant Falls in Love 8 – DMP Juné, Jan 2013 [24.5] ::

. : Genshiken Omnibus 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
111. ↓-6 (105) : Negima! 37 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [94.4] ::

230. ↓-42 (188) : Phoenix Wright Miles Edgeworth 4 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [53.5] ::
13. ↔0 (13) : Sailor Moon 9 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [286.2] ::

736. ↑154 (890) : Girl Friends: Complete Collection 2 – Seven Seas, Jan 2013 [10.8] ::
. (last ranked 10 Jun 12) : Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 6 – Seven Seas, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 22 Jul 12) : I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother! vols 3-4 collection – Seven Seas, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::

. (last ranked 6 May 12) : Punch Up! 3 – SuBLime, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::

1598. ↑165 (1763) : Loveless 10 – Viz, Jan 2013 [0.2] ::
. : X vols 13-15 collection – Viz, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
1070. ↑128 (1198) : Dengeki Daisy 11 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2013 [3.5] ::
. : Jiu Jiu 3 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 15 Jul 12) : Otomen 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
2167. ↑377 (2544) : Bleach 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2013 [0.1] ::
877. ↓-120 (757) : Naruto 60 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2013 [6.8] ::
. : Case Closed 45 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
. : Jormungand 10 – Viz Signature, Jan 2013 [0.0] ::
1679. ↓-194 (1485) : A Bride’s Story 4 – Yen Press, Jan 2013 [0.1] ::
1491. ↓-206 (1285) : Black Butler 12 – Yen Press, Jan 2013 [0.3] ::

##

So what are the highlights? I think special mention should be made of the new Nausicaa Box (a two-volume hardcover set, isbn 9781421550640, rel. 6 November) and the Pokemon box sets: Red & Blue (isbn 9781421550060; should already be available) and Gold & Silver (isbn 9781421550077, rel. 4 September) which together collect the 14 volumes of the Pokemon “Adventures” series. Also, as if for my birthday, Viz is releasing an 18 volume box set of Ouran High School Host Club.

Additonally, there are a number of omnibuses from Dark Horse, Kodansha and Seven Seas (hit ctrl-F & search Omnibus) as well as additional 3-in-1 collections from Viz. For collectors, or for those of us who are coming late to these series (includes Angelic Layer, Cardcaptor Sakura from Clamp, plus Genshiken, Negima, and Gunslinger Girl; and various 2-in-1 print releases of other titles from Seven Seas). The omnibus format usually represents a cost savings, a ‘big-gulp’ opportunity – or a sub-$20 grand introduction to a new series.

I make no promises, but now that I’m finally caught up on the charts, I’ll try to give you a weekly or bi-weekly peek like this, as was previously promised. Welcome back.

Lazy Monday

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The Manga Village team gives their thoughts on the past week’s new releases, and the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss the relative merits of this week’s new manga.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss the end of 13th Boy in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri happenings in this week’s episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Tony Yao looks at the laziness of Nara Shikamaru (of Naruto) and how that can be a good thing.

Johanna Draper Carlson has a shopping tip that could save you money if you’re looking for vol. 1 of Wandering Son.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the monthly magazine Dengeki Bunko.

Congratulations to Ash Brown on two years of Experiments in Manga!

Reviews: New volumes of Ai Ore, Bunny Drop, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are among the short reviews in this week’s Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Bunny Drop (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Dragon Knights (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Hon no Sukoshi no Mizu (Brain Vs. Book)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Late Advent (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 10 of Oresama Teacher and vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 21 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Starting with a Kiss (I Reads You)

Pick of the Week: Ikigami, Gate 7, Itazura, Dorohedoro

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KATE: This week’s shipping list is heavy on Dark Horse and DMP titles, and light on just about everything else. I still have no idea what’s happening in Gate 7, and I lost patience with Itazura na Kiss several volumes ago, so my pick goes to one of Wednesday’s few VIZ releases: volume eight of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit. I have a hot-and-cold relationship with Ikigami: the artwork is terrific and expressive, and the premise is chilling in a good, thought-provoking way. At the same time, however, the stories are unrelentingly grim, and the tone so pessimistic that I can only read a few chapters at a time before needing a stiff drink. The other problem with Ikigami is that the overarching story — in which a “reaper” slowly begins to question his job — unfolds at what might be charitably described as a snail’s pace. Still, recent volumes have shown incremental progress in bringing Fujimoto’s crisis of conscience to the fore, giving me hope that the series is moving in a new and more dramatically satisfying direction.

MJ: It’s kind of an odd week for me, which is to say that there is a decent amount of new manga shipping in, with little of it to my taste. So I’ll make a rather optimistic choice this week and pick volume three of CLAMP’s Gate 7. While I joyfully declared volume one of this series to be “my kind of CLAMP,” its second volume’s onslaught of exposition and historical information left me a bit cold. However, having now discovered this tumblr full of guidance on Gate 7‘s historical matters, I’m ready to jump back in again for another try. If nothing else, Gate 7 offers me CLAMP’s latest take on their Watanuki-model character, which is pretty much bullet-proof for me, so that may get me through on its own. So, Gate 7 it is!

MICHELLE: Although I do intend to check out the latest volume of Ikigami and haven’t completely given up on Gate 7, I don’t feel enthusiastic enough about either to appoint one my pick of the week. I’m largely unfamiliar with most of the rest of the offerings on the list, though I confess to being slightly amused that I’ve Seen It All evidently involves love in a urology clinic. So, basically this is my exceedingly long-winded way of saying, yet again, that Itazura Na Kiss gets my vote.

SEAN: I have to know what happens! Will Caiman reunite with Nikaido? What about the new relationship between her and En, now that we know more about En’s past? I want to see more goofy humor between Noi and Shin as they casually kill people. I want more casual killing and gore from this cast of anti-heroes (or lovable villains). I want to be able to spot tiny little things in the background. I want more world-building and locations we haven’t seen before! I want to find out more about the head in Caiman’s mouth, who I think we finally have figured out. And I want more gyoza! Delicious gyoza! So yes, for all that and more, and to no one’s surprise, Dorohedoro is my pick this week.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/20/12

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This week, Sean, MJ, Kate, & Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, VIZ Media, and Kodansha Comics.

Ai Ore!, Vol. 6 | By Mayu Shinjo | VIZ Media – It really is astonishing what changing magazines/publishers has done for this title. It still has its issues, but the way that it handles them is more acceptable and more mature. This is not to say that the premise is completely different, however. Akira is still trying to prove that he’s a manly man for Mizuki, Mizuki is still getting embarrassed and misunderstanding everything, and Ran and Rui trade off between being comedic creepers and serious creepers. At one point, Rui tries to seduce Misaki, to the point almost of sexual assault. But Misaki doesn’t buy it, and neither do we – unlike Vol. 1 of this series, the danger doesn’t feel genuine. You can argue this makes the series fluffier and less electrically charged, but it also makes Akira and Mizuki’s relationship far sweeter and more tolerable. –Sean Gaffney

Bunny Drop, Vol. 6 | By Yumi Unita | Yen Press – As the series continues with its new switch to Rin as its primary POV character, the story begins to revolve around Rin’s increasingly awkward relationship with her childhood friend Kouki, whose (supposedly) ex-girlfriend deliberately alienates Rin. Fortunately, this plotline is more nuanced than it sounds, deftly avoiding most of the “evil rival” territory common in manga for female readers. Unfortunately, Unita seems less comfortable writing Rin’s voice than she was writing Daikichi’s—or maybe Daikichi is just infinitely more comfortable than Rin herself—which means that there is often a noticeable distance between the reader and the series’ protagonist. On the upside, Rin’s evolving balance between dependence and independence creates unexpected difficulties in Daikichi’s own personal life, allowing us back (however briefly) into his somewhat more forthcoming mind. Though the series’ new direction seems to still be settling in, there’s enough solid ground left for nearly any fan to stand on. Still recommended. – MJ

Cage of Eden, Vol. 6 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – This really is the perfect series for 12-year-old boys, though I would not recommend it to parents of those boys. There’s far too much casual nudity, casual violence, and general skeevy fanservice. But it also has bears vs. wolves, in which our hero teams up with the wolf because of their similar roles in their groups. It’s almost pure shonen at its finest. We meet two more regulars here. I suspect Rei is there entirely to be a large-breasted woman (you know, in case there weren’t enough of those), but Maya seems to be more of an action girl, and backs it up. She seems a bit *too* eager for battle, though, and I wonder if she’ll last long. Then again, the only people in this series who seem to be killed are the irredeemable ones, such as manipulative Kotomi or stalker Ryoichi.-Sean Gaffney

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 13 | By Gaku Tsugano and Nagaru Tanigawa | Yen Press – I haven’t reviewed this series for a while, but since it’s moved on to stories that aren’t animated, it has managed to improve – finally, it can be 2nd best, rather than 3rd! It has a difficult job here, as Editor in Chief, the short story adapted for this volume, does not lend itself well to the visual. Still, it manages pretty well, and also throws in an original short story chapter, featuring Miyoko, the girl from Kyon’s story, arriving to ask the SOS-Dan to help her investigate a haunted house. It shakes things up by having Taniguchi and Kunikida there rather than Yuki and Mikuru, and also has an ending that undercuts the tension but still is nicely sentimental. The art is still only fair, and I’d rather read the novels, but this is now an acceptable alternative. –Sean Gaffney

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 7 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | VIZ Media – Ever since the end of volume one, the latest Tokugawa Shogun, Yoshimune, has been reading Chronicle of a Dying Day, which tells the story of how women came to rule Japan. Readers have followed along, and here in volume seven we finally return to the “present,” but not before realizing just how much scheming Yoshimune—or perhaps simply her ever-faithful attendant, Hisamichi—has engaged in to become the next Shogun. It’s just another lesson that nearly everyone in this tale, no matter how likeable, has sinned in pursuit of power, sometimes inflicting misfortune upon the innocent. Maybe it’s because of this that Ooku, despite being interesting and boasting some impressive art, doesn’t stand a chance of becoming my favorite Yoshinaga manga. Oh, I’ll keep following it, but Antique Bakery‘s place in my heart is secure. – Michelle Smith

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 2 | Story by Magica Quartet, Art by Hanokage | Yen Press – If your chief aversion to magical-girl manga is its earnest, perky wholesomeness, then Puella Magi Madoka Magica is for you. The series is dark and violent, using the magical-girl concept as a metaphor for adolescence in all its ugliness. In volume two, for example, we see the corrosive influence of jealousy, as Sayaka begins to regret wishing for her friend Kamijou’s full recovery. Sayaka’s rapid descent into anger and self-pity is one of the most astonishing developments in the volume — and that’s saying something, given the healthy sprinkling of fight scenes, dramatic confrontations, and plot twists. As terrific as some of these scenes are, Puella often feels rushed. Most of the fight sequences are too brief and too busy to make much sense; one gets the sense that the writers were trying too hard to cover all the major plot points of the anime, rather than tailoring the story to a different medium. That said, Puella has consistently surprised me with its ability to both faithfully observe and thoroughly subvert magical-girl tropes, and continues to grow on me with each volume. -Katherine Dacey

I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!, Vol. 1-2

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By Kouichi Kusano. Released in Japan as “Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!!” by Futabasha, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Web Comic High!. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

People follow trends. It’s just a way of life. When something is popular, the first instinct of a business looking for profit, or writer looking for a surefire seller, is ‘what did it do and how can I use that to replicate it?’ And this is fine sometimes. I’ve known many derivative works that have been very good and sometimes even surpassed the original. But too often someone goes too far. Either they miss the original point that was being made, or they deviate in an unacceptable manner, or they add too many other, equally trendy things to make a giant stew of trends that all cancel each other out.

And incest as a sexual thrill is, god help us, popular these days. Especially in Japan. Naturally, *genuine* incest seems to be saved for the actual porn magazines, but there’s no end of manga and (more importantly) anime that feature guys crushing on their sisters, and girls worshiping their brothers. Usually at some point they find out they aren’t related after all. Other popular trends in anime these days include the tsundere type who says mean things and hits the object of her affection as she’s too embarrassed. And let’s not forget the pretty, reserved princess type who secretly turns out to be a stalker and pervert.

If all this sounds like a lot of moe animes seen in the past five years, it’s by design. I’ll be honest, I had initially confused this title with ‘My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute’, which comes out next month by Dark Horse, and has a somewhat better reputation. IDLYAA,BB!! features Nao, who loves her older brother a lot (the title may have given that away), despite his being a somewhat perverse non-entity in these two volumes. She goes to wake him up every day by hitting him (and giving him calculated panty flashes) and throws out anything in his porn doujinshi that it’s brother/sister incest. In fact, when told that she’s actually not related to him after all, this *depresses* her briefly, as it ruins the incest fantasy she’s been going for for so long.

This may seem rather hardcore for what’s meant to be a typical seinen title for horny guys, but rest assured there’s no actual sex, merely piles and piles of suggestion (though I note this is the author’s first ‘mainstream’ work after years of drawing adult titles). And to be fair, Nao’s obsession is treated in-story as immature and wrong. Then we meet our second heroine, Iroha, a long-lost childhood friend who meets Nao’s brother after all these years and proceeds to sexually assault him. This is actually one of the few interesting scenes in the book – it’s presented as incredibly disturbing (after all, we’re meant to root for Nao), and her brother’s horrified reaction to it, and realization that he may have led to her turning out this way, is a brief moment of soul searching that could be interesting… if it weren’t undone by Nao and Iroha’s determination to make sure that their man stays perverted and does not ‘turn over a new leaf’.

There’s a couple more things to like here – Nao’s two female friends are meant to function as a Greek chorus of sorts, and their reactions towards the end of the book at all the slapstick are well done – but to be honest, I have rarely seen a manga that seemed to calculated to hit as many fetishes as possible as this one. If you enjoy perverse moe harem comedies, well, I think you’ll get a big kick out of this, though even the most hardcore fan might finish the volume and say, “Erm, isn’t this a bit over the top?”