manga the week of

SEAN: May, and the manga volumes coming out are not letting up in any way. Let’s see what we have in next week’s pile.

I’m not entirely sure if Dr. Makumakuran And Other Stories is coming out this first week – Amazon’s site says “May 2015” in an unhelpful way. But it’s from Bruno Gmunder Verlag, so you know what that means. Fans of Massive should check this out.

ASH: Definitely! Especially as Takeshi Matsu was one of the artists who was featured in Massive. This will be his second collection of manga released in English. I rather enjoyed his first, More and More of You and Other Stories, so I’m looking forward to it.

SEAN: Dark Horse brings out a 17th volume of popular manwha title Bride of the Water God.

And a second volume of Legal Drug continuation Drug & Drop, now with added plot and deeper characterization!

ASH: Woo!

MICHELLE: Huzzah!

ANNA: I haven’t checked out the first volume of this yet, but I intend to!

SEAN: Kodansha has a fourth omnibus of Tsubasa, still in its excellent period before its plot brambles became too strong.

Hopefully the 2nd volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches will give us some actual witches.

ASH: And more kissing.

SEAN: I admit I rarely talk Perfect Square books here, but the Legend of Zelda manga they have coming out next week looks awesome. Called A Link to the Past, it’s in full color and should appear to all LoZ fans.

ASH: This should be great.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a new Devils and Realist (Vol. 5) and a new Dragonar Academy (Vol. 6), both of which will interest their prospective audiences, which sadly are not me.

And Vertical has an 8th volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, which has lost me, but still enchants the rest of Manga Bookshelf.

ASH: It’s true!

MICHELLE: I’ve been so pleased with the speed with which this series has been coming out, but I’m already sad that we’ll soon be caught up with Japan.

SEAN: Viz, as always, has most of its releases this week. There’s a 4th volume of Black Rose Alice, the story of a touching romance between a body and the spiders within it.

ASH: Actually, that’s not entirely inaccurate.

MICHELLE: Heh. Here’s another series where I’m already dreading being caught up to Japan.

ANNA: I enjoy this series a bunch. Each volume is a bit of a surprise. Also, spiders.

SEAN: The 11th Bleach 3-in-1 omnibus finds the cast in the middle of the Hueco Mundo arc, one of the most beloved and uncontroversial arcs in all of Bleach.

If you thought that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure had reached peak ridiculousness with the first hardcover, be advised it only gets weirder from here. The 2nd hardcover ships next week.

ASH: Dioooooo!

ANNA: YAY!

SEAN: I haven’t enjoyed Kiss of the Rose Princess as much as He’s My Only Vampire, but it’s good enough, and a 4th volume should be decent reading.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’ll keep reading the former but actually keep the latter. There’s the distinction for me.

ANNA: I enjoy it for what it is.

SEAN: If you were waiting for the 2nd Millennium Snow omnibus to keep your shelves neat and tidy, here it is.

ANNA: I’ve been meaning to do a complete reread of this after only reading the first early volumes.

SEAN: Nisekoi’s ninth volume. The subtitle is still False Love, reminding those of us who enjoy the balanced harem aspect of it that there’s still one main heroine.

Ranma 1/2’s eighth omnibus gives us two of the series’ most memorable (and silliest) one-shot villains, The Gambling King and Picolette Chardin II.

Rosario + Vampire Season II Volume 14 still has too much punctuation and numbers in its title.

Spell of Desire continues to be edgy in ways I don’t like, as opposed to edgy in ways I like (which Midnight Secretary was).

MICHELLE: I had high hopes for Spell of Desire, possibly chiefly because the male lead was kind to a kitty, but now I find that I don’t like it as much as Midnight Secretary after all. I kind of can’t explain how that happened.

ANNA: I like it just as much, but I’m not a very critical paranormal romance manga reader.

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a second Yu-Gi-Oh! 3-in-1 omnibus. It’s based on a card game. Many people don’t know that bit of trivia.

ANNA: My kids have now moved on from Pokemon cards to Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and let me tell you how thrilled I am that there is yet another card game that they want to collect.

SEAN: Something for everyone? What’s for you?

SEAN: The last week of April is pretty much KODANSHA WEEK, with only two exceptions.

There’s a 3rd Attack on Titan Junior High omnibus, which is highly recommended for those who enjoy seeing how far an adaptation can go, those who enjoy seeing their favorite characters being very silly indeed, and those who like to quote one-liners on Tumblr.

Maria the Virgin Witch is a title I was very conflicted about after reading the first volume, but I’ve heard that it improves, and it’s a short series, so I will give Vol. 2 a try.

ASH: The series has a lot of potential, so I’m curious to see how it develops.

SEAN: There’s a 4th volume of supernatural comedy Noragami.

And a 7th of addictive shoujo potboiler Say “I Love You”. (I will never let go of those quote marks. It would be like leaving the ! out of Skip Beat!.)

MICHELLE: I have fallen behind on this one. Must rectify!

SEAN: Lastly, a 3rd volume of xxxHOLIC Rei, which I will continue to read as long as there’s a possibility of more Himawari/Doumeki/Watanuki OT3 shenanigans.

MICHELLE: I still have not managed to finish the original xxxHOLiC. Bad manga fan!

ASH: I was glad to see it recently announced that CLAMP is resuming work on this series after its hiatus.

MJ: This! I will be reading this.

ANNA: When will they finish X/1999? WHEN?

SEAN: In non-Kodansha news, there’s a new Alice in the Country of Clover from Seven Seas, this time focusing on Elliot: The March Hare’s Revolution.

And Vertical Comics gives us a 9th deluxe hardcover edition of Gundam The Origin.

ASH: There was a delay on this volume’s release to address some printing errors, so I’ll be happy to see it finally arrive!

ANNA: Need to get caught up on this!

SEAN: Still catching up from last week? Or does something here leap out at you?

SEAN: I feel that the “Yen Press” week of every month is just going to be like this now, and we will simply have to accept it.

Before Yen, though, there’s also enough from other publishers to make it a big week anyway. Gantz is still not over, as the 35th volume from Dark Horse will attest.

Kodansha debuts two new series. The first, Let’s Dance a Waltz, is from shoujo master Natsumi Ando, and I reviewed it here.

MICHELLE: This was not on my radar, but I think from your review that I might give it a pass. Thanks for the warning about the “overweight girl transforms to find love” trope.

MJ: Yeah, that’s a deal-breaker for me, too.

ANNA: And me as well.

SEAN: There’s also Your Lie in April, whose anime recently finished. Will folks pick up the manga even though they know how it ends? Come on, how can you resist those adorable faces on the cover?

ASH: I’m a fan of music manga, so I’ll be following it. In fact, I’ve already reviewed the first volume!

MJ: Now, this I’ll give a try!

SEAN: Seven Seas’ A Certain Scientific Railgun has reached double digits, but can it last much longer with Misaka in this much trouble? Or will a certain guy come to her rescue again? I think we know the answer to that, but read it anyway, it’s good.

Clay Lord: Master of Golems is probably the debut with the least buzz this month, but it’s a Zero-Sum title, so I know MJwill be interested if no one else. It’s about, unsurprisingly, a young man who can create golems.

MJ: Yes. Yes, yes. “Zero-Sum” is pretty much all it takes. And it’s interesting to see this coming from Seven Seas, whom I generally count on to publish manga I would not like at all. So I’m anxious to be proven wrong about that.

SEAN: Udon is putting out another “Manga Classics”, this time of Dickens’ Great Expectations. Pip pip, cheerio!

MJ: I could get interested in this.

ANNA: I need to check out a Manga Classics one day!

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 4th volume of Witchcraft Works, which I’ve fallen 3 volumes behind on, alas.

It has been almost 5 years since the last Black Lagoon volume, and the author insists that it was not “put on hiatus” or anything like that. (The author is notorious for not finishing his series, and may be worried he can’t do the same here.) In any case, for those who forget, the last volume ended with Rock being reminded how far his moral sense has fallen. Can he recover? I talk about that here.

MICHELLE: Wow. I kind of forgot about Black Lagoon.

ASH: It’s been a long time!

SEAN: Viz is re-releasing the manga Gyo in a 2-in-1 omnibus, and I recommend it for all seafood lovers.

MICHELLE: But will it still include the amazing short story, “The Enigma of Amigara Fault”?!

SEAN: And there’s also the 4th Perfect Edition of Monster, which is not quite as body horror as Gyo but is disturbing enough anyway.

There are two flavors of Vagabond next week. We have Volume 37 for regular readers, and the 12th VizBIG edition for newbies.

ASH: I’m a VizBIG reader myself, but either way this is a great series.

ANNA: I also like the VizBig editions of this series very much.

SEAN: Yen On has been trickling out new titles for some time now, but this is the biggest month yet, with 6 different novels all out next week. We start with The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, a comedic fantasy which seems to lean heavier on the comedy, at least so far.

ASH: The anime adaptation was surprisingly entertaining, so I’ll definitely be giving the original series a try.

SEAN: Just in time for the anime debut, we have the 2nd volume of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? The first volume wasn’t terrible, but also didn’t knock me out. We’ll see how the 2nd fares.

MJ: I’ve been considering giving this one a try.

SEAN: Log Horizon is another light novel whose manga made its debut last month, but I understand the plots aren’t too similar. I’m interested in seeing how different this experience is from Sword Art Online.

No Game No Life seems like one of those titles that I will do much better with as a novel – the manga intrigued me, but man that fanservice was rampant. It’s easier to ignore in textual format if nothing else. I want to read this for the codependent heroes, really.

Spice & Wolf has no truck with these newbie Vol. 1 novels. It’s already at Vol. 14, a mature, fully developed title.

Lastly, Sword Art Online wraps up its Fairy Dance arc, which I’m sure will relieve many of its readers. Will Kirito defeat the world’s smuggest villain? What do you think?

MJ: I suspect he will, and I’ll be there to find out.

SEAN: Now on to Yen proper. Akame Ga KILL! has its second volume out, and I suspect will get even darker than it already began.

And on a slightly milder note there’s also the 4th Barakamon.

MICHELLE: I plan to get caught up on this soon.

ASH: Barakamon grows on me a little more with each volume.

MJ: Same here.

SEAN: I’ve been enjoying Inu x Boku SS quite a bit, so am sad to see that its author passed away recently. We have a few volumes to go still, though. Here’s the 7th.

Kagerou Daze is another ‘release the manga a month before the novel’ title, and I believe may be tangentially tied into the Vocaloid franchise, being based off a series of songs that tie together. Its plot is far more serious than you’d expect from that description, though.

If you ever wondered whether Joan of Arc was a magical girl, why not try new Puella Magi spinoff, Tart Magica? (Spoiler: it won’t end well. Is that even a spoiler for this franchise? Or this historical figure?)

If you enjoy busty shinigami, lecherous leads who are prevented by plot circumstances from actually doing anything, and more harem comedy than you can shake a stick at, then you’re the right audience for So I Can’t Play H!. Unlike many other recent titles from Yen, only the manga is licensed at this time.

The second Sword Art Online: Progressive manga should wrap up the first ‘arc’ of the novel, and give Kirito and Asuna fans a lot to be happy about.

Lastly, we get the 7th Tena on S-String, much quicker than we got the 6th volume.

What in this giant mound of manga and novels makes you most excited?

SEAN: Welcome to a wonderful week of manga here on Manga the Week of. For those of you who don’t like variety, there’s variety!

Dark Horse has the first volume of Oreimo spinoff Kuroneko, for those remaining fans who weren’t completely put off by the ending of the main series.

Does anyone remember Aquarion? Anyone? Anime, around 2005? Well, for those who yearned for a sequel in manga form, One Peace is giving us Aquarion Evol. It’s a Comic Gene title, so expect weirdness.

ASH: I like weirdness!

ANNA: I think I watched the first episode of the show and thought that there were too many orgasms when the robots combined.

SEAN: 12 Beast is a new Seven Seas series. It runs in Dragon Age. It’s from the creator of Monster Musume. It sounds radioactive to me, but I know others love this.

Gakuen Polizi is more up my alley, though I wish it was a bit less inconsequential. The 2nd and final volume is next week.

And if you don’t like ecchi fantasy or fluffy lesbians, well, there’s a third Magical Girl Apocalypse, which should at least give you gore.

The title The World’s Greatest First Love may not mean much to BL fans, but if I said it was Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, I’m sure you’d know exactly the series I mean. SubLime has the long-awaited first volume.

MICHELLE: Ah, now this is one I’ve actually heard of!

ASH: As have I!

MJ: Count me in!

SEAN: I loved My Neighbor Seki even more than I thought I would, and am delighted to see a 2nd volume next week from Vertical.

MICHELLE: I regret to say I haven’t gotten around to reading the first volume, but I definitely will one of these days!

ASH: You definitely should, My Neighbor Seki is absolutely delightful.

ANNA: This is on my list of things I need to read!

MJ: Mine, too!

SEAN: Case Closed still has more mysteries, and Shinich… sorry, Jimmy is still a little kid, even as we hit the 54th volume.

We’ve passed the halfway point in Deadman Wonderland, and Vol. 8 comes out from Viz next week.

And Itsuwaribito, a series that has a much longer run than I really expected, has Vol. 14.

Lastly, a new volume of Magi is always welcome. Next week we have Vol. 11.

MICHELLE: <3

ANNA: I have been stockpiling stray volumes of this here and there. One day I shall read them!

SEAN: And for those of you who don’t like manga… well, why are you reading this?

SEAN: ‘Tis Spring, and a young man or woman’s thoughts naturally turn to manga. What pleasures await us next week?

Unlike Strike Witches (look, panties!), Arpeggio of Blue Steel is an honest to goodness spy thriller that just happens to feature girls who are battleships. This is likely why I’m looking forward to the fourth volume from Seven Seas.

And for those who prefer their manga with a bit more yuri, there’s the 2nd volume of school drama Citrus.

Vertical gives us a new volume of Ajin: Demi-Human.

ASH: If you don’t mind dark and violent, Ajin is shaping up to be a great series.

SEAN: The rest is Viz. We get a 3rd Assassination Classroom, one of my favorite new Jump licenses.

ANNA: I haven’t read the second volume yet, but I’m looking forward to catching up. This series is fun and quirky.

SEAN: And one of my absolute favorite Shojo Beat series comes to an end with the final volume of Dengeki Daisy. Will Kurosaki finally go bald? The most important question yet to be answered!

MICHELLE: There’s so much VIZ I am gonna be reading from this week, man. Definitely all the shoujo!

ASH: Wow, Viz really is releasing a bunch of great stuff next week! I’m due for a Dengeki Daisy marathon read.

ANNA: The main story wraps up pretty quickly, but there are a ton of side stories in this volume which I always like.

SEAN: Meanwhile, in Food Wars! 5, all our hero has to worry about is having his life ruined forever by not serving enough breakfasts.

MICHELLE: I fell a couple volumes behind on this one, and am looking forward to a Food Wars! binge.

SEAN: And there’s not only war among chefs, there’s also Library Wars, though I think its 13th volume may be a bit less serious than previous ones.

Meteor Prince also comes to an end, though with only two volumes it’s had less of a chance to addict us than Dengeki Daisy has.

ANNA: The first volume was adorable!

SEAN: If you aren’t picking up the 4th volume of My Love Story!! next week, there’s something terribly wrong with you. (Apologies to TMBG.)

MICHELLE: There certainly is.

ASH: Such an incredibly delightful series!

MJ: Agreed!

ANNA: Double Agreed!

SEAN: One Piece 74 promises to give us more action, intrigue, silliness, drama, and possibly fresh fruit as well.

Skip Beat! 34 once again asks the question “will this be the volume where the plot progresses?”.

MICHELLE: I don’t even mind if it isn’t.

ANNA: I don’t care either!

SEAN: Toriko hits Vol. 27, will it kill off its hero in a pitched battle? Unlikely.

Voice Over! is almost, but not quite, over as it hits double digits.

MICHELLE: I continue to be surprised I enjoy Voice Over! as much as I do, but I’m really fond of it. Maybe I like best the series with exclamation points.

SEAN: World Trigger 5 is a new volume of World Trigger.

Finally, there’s a 2nd Yukarism, a series that interested me more than I expected last time. Will Volume 2 keep it up?

MJ: I’m actually really interested in this. I think I liked this more than most critics, and I’m pretty happy to see more of it.

ANNA: The second volume delves more into the past live of the main character, and deals with some of the ramifications of reincarnation in the present. I’m enjoying it too.

SEAN: Manga over flowers? What’s your choice?

SEAN: No, this isn’t an April Fool, there’s actually quite a lot of manga out this week (not technically a ‘first week of the month’ as it’s the 1st – if that makes sense).

Another era passes, as Dark Horse puts out the final volume of Blade of the Immortal, about which I’m sure Ash can enthuse about much more than I can.

MICHELLE: Wow, how many long-running things have they finished recently? At least two, in my memory.

ASH: It’s finally here!! Nearly two decades after the first volume was released in English. I am indeed enthused.

SEAN: Dark Horse also has the 8th omnibus of Lone Wolf & Cub.

Kodansha has the 4th volume of Attack on Titan prequel Before The Fall, whose blurb makes it sound as if we’re in for more horrible things happening to good people, in the best prequel tradition.

And Fairy Tail 47 means I am now 10 volumes behind. Ah well.

The debut of the week is one I’m quite looking forward to: Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. I had, years ago, done a license request for the author’s prior Shonen Magazine title, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan. I never got that, but this has much of the same characteristics that made it a fan favorite. Delinquents, body swaps, humor… what’s not to like? Crunchyroll also has a digital version, if you want to binge-read.

MICHELLE: Hmm.

ASH: I’ve heard really good things about this series. (Also, are witches the new vampire?)

ANNA: I think mermaids and fairies are the new vampire!

SEAN: Udon is putting out another manga version of classic literature, with The Scarlet Letter.

Vertical’s Prophecy wraps up with its 3rd volume. Have the guys with paper bag masks considered crossing over with the animal mask folks from Doubt/Judge/etc?

What Did You Eat Yesterday? has a 7th volume, with more food and cooking, and perhaps also some plot as a side dish.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: Double yay!

MJ: Triple YAY!!!

ANNA: Quadruple YAY!!!

SEAN: Lastly, we have a 6th volume of Wolfsmund, which never fails to put a smile on the face and a song in the heart. I believe Vertical is seeing if they can sell the rights as a musical.

ASH: That would certainly be something.

SEAN: Are you buying manga on the 1st of April, or just avoiding the Internet as sensible people do?

SEAN: Oh dear.

First off, it may not be in stores yet, but Kickstarter backers have gotten their two volumes of Tezuka’s Captain Ken from DMP. One of his early 60s shonen series (though, as with most of his series for kids, there are darker undertones), it’s complete in 2 volumes.

Kodansha stuff next. Air Gear 33. Roller blading! Pretty girls! Um…

Genshiken 2nd Season has its 6th volume out. The old cast has been slowly infiltrating the new series, even after graduation. Will this continue to be the Madarame Harem Show?

ASH: I’m a bit behind in this series, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far.

SEAN: Sankarea comes to an end with its 11th volume. Will all end well, like a good romantic comedy? Or will everything go horribly wrong, like a good horror manga?

And Ken Akamatsu gives us a 4th volume of Negima sorta-sequel UQ Holder.

Ponent Mon has the 5th and final volume of Summit of the Gods, for those who enjoy manly seinen mountain climbing manga. As everyone should.

ASH: I am absolutely thrilled to have this entire series in English.

MJ: This, yes, this!

SEAN: Alice in the Country of Joker’s Nightmare Trilogy comes to an end with, appropriately, Vol. 3. Will Alice and Nightmare find happiness? Can they overcome obstacles? Can they overcome the poor artwork? Will this have half a volume of short stories and Crimson Empire at the end of it? Is Alice in the Country of Hearts the new vampires? Can Heironymus Merkin ever forget Mercy Humppe and find true happiness?

MICHELLE: I would be very proud of myself if I caught this reference, but alas.

SEAN: The rest of this list is Yen, despite us being nowhere near the end. Let’s start with the Yen On imprint, as they have the 3rd Accel World light novel.

MJ: I’ve fallen behind on this, but I’m looking forward to catching up.

SEAN: I tend to forget about all of Yen’s Kingdom Hearts manga releases, but they’re big hits, and now Yen On has Kingdom Hearts: The Novel.

Sword Art Online: Progressive is not just a reboot of the series with an added focus on the world of Aincrad and more POV for heroine Asuna, it’s also huge – this first volume is much longer than Yen On’s other SAO books.

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: Not only do we have the 3rd Accel World novel, but also the 3rd Accel World manga.

Did you like Olympos? Or at least think it was really pretty? The same author’s Angel of Elhamburg is out next week. I do enjoy josei, especially from Shodensha, but I have a feeling this will be a Depressing-O-Rama.

ASH: Pretty and depressing? I’m in.

MJ: Sounds like my cup of tea.

SEAN: Given we’ve had eight volumes of Are You Alice? and it’s still not over, I fear we’re asking the wrong question. Perhaps Why Is Alice? Or How Is Alice? Does Alice Live Here Anymore?

Big Hero 6 is not only an Oscar-winning film, it’s also a manga, with Kodansha putting out the first (only?) volume next week.

Bloody Cross has a 6th volume out as well.

MICHELLE: Already?! Man, time flies.

SEAN: I made fun of Demon From Afar’s first volume for pretending to be something other than a Kaori Yuki manga till the blood-filled cliffhanger when we see no, it is a Kaori Yuki manga. I anticipate Vol. 2 will be darker.

MJ: Aaaaah, hm.

SEAN: Finally… no, just kidding, we’re still nowhere near finally. Next, we have the debut of another light novel/manga combo license, with the manga coming first. The Devil Is A Part-Timer! has Satan working in a fast-food joint,so I suspect ‘lighthearted’ is the order of the day.

ASH: The anime adaptation was actually pretty entertaining; I’m looking forward to checking out the original novels.

SEAN: Just in time for the anime adaptation that starts in April, here’s a 7th volume of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan. Hope you like heartwarming!

I’ve been mocking the glut of vampire manga lately, so it’s only fair to say I quite enjoyed He’s My Only Vampire, and am looking forward to this 2nd volume.

Karneval is the omnibus release of the week for Yen, covering the first two volumes. It came out from Ichijinsha’s Zero-Sum, which is sort of the GFantasy of their company, i.e. a shonen/shoujo/josei/fantasy blend. It also features circus folks! Ha, bet you thought I’d say vampires.

MJ: You had me at “Zero-Sum.”

ANNA: Oh! This wasn’t on my radar before, but I am interested now!

SEAN: Another light novel/manga license where the manga comes a month early, Log Horizon features a group of MMORPG players startled to find themselves inside the game they’re playing. I would say it sounds like it’s for fans of Sword Art Online, but from what I hear the fandoms actually have a rivalry going on.

MJ: Heh, interesting.

SEAN: A second volume of Love at Fourteen is right up my alley after this influx of fantasy and supernatural titles we’re seeing.

MICHELLE: This is literally the one thing on this list that makes me personally go “Ooh!”

MJ: Yes, yes!

SEAN: If you wanted more from the spinoff Puella Magi Oriko Magica, then Yen has an Extra Story for you.

The end! The final volume of Soul Eater, one of my favorite recent shonen titles. I will miss your surreal art and exciting battles.

Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance has its manga reach its exciting conclusion, but, spoiler, still has the stupid birdcage.

Lastly (really this time), there’s a 9th volume of Triage X, which (checks cover art) is still Triage X.

Does something here excite you? Or are you seeing this pile, throwing up your hands, and going back to bed instead?

SEAN: Enjoy this last mild week of manga, before March 25’s apocalyptic deluge.

Starting off, we have not a manga per se, but something that deserves attention nonetheless. Just So Happens is coming out from Abrams as a graphic novel, and details a Japanese woman who lives in London but has to return to Japan for a funeral. Early reviews are excellent.

ASH: Oh, I’m glad you mentioned this! The previews I’ve seen look great.

MJ: Wow, this does look interesting.

SEAN: We’re at the 2nd to last volume of Oh My Goddess! from Dark Horse, and I still can’t quite believe I’m typing that.

Attack on Titan has its 15th volume come out from Kodansha, even as the first volume remains in the NYT bestseller lists.

And My Little Monster hits Vol. 7, even as it seems to have hit a sort of angst holding pattern.

ASH: I do like the quirky cast of characters, but I hope to see a bit more story development with this volume.

MICHELLE: I’ve fallen a few volumes behind on this one, I’m afraid.

SEAN: There’s also a 7th volume of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Kokoro Connect has rapidly developed into an excellent title for me, and I’m pleased to see Seven Seas has the third one out next week.

Servamp is the debut volume of the week. It runs in Media Factory’s oddball shoujo magazine Comic Gene and, obviously, has vampires – a whole pile of them. The artist is known for BL, but there’s not much tease in the first volume, which I reviewed here.

ASH: I know quite a few people who are excited for Servamp; I may have to give it a look despite being a little tired of vampires.

MICHELLE: I definitely have vampire fatigue. Especially vampires who fall in love with teenagers.

ANNA: Even I have a touch of vampire fatigue.

SEAN: And another Strike Witches spinoff comes to an end with the 2nd One-Winged Witches.

Viz has its second Master Keaton volume, with more exciting insurance action and inept interpersonal relations.

ASH: Hooray for more Urasawa (et al.)!

MICHELLE: Definitely looking forward to this one!

MJ: Same!

ANNA: I liked some chapters of the first volume better than others, but you really can’t go wrong with Urasawa.

SEAN: A 3rd Resident Evil will give you all your horror needs.

Unless your horror needs are filled by a 5th Terra Formars.

ASH: Still not a fan of the roach design, but the over-the-top fight sequences are pretty great.

SEAN: Any choice purchases next week?

SEAN: A small second week of the month, but with a lot of variety.

For comedy fans, we have the 4th volume of D-Frag! from Seven Seas.

And they’re also giving us the 2nd and final volume of Girls Und Panzer prequel Little Army.

Sublime has been fairly quiet lately. Are they playing hide and seek? Or just publishing Hide and Seek? Vol. 3 ships next week.

ASH: I reviewed the first volume just last week; I’ll be very happy to have the complete series on my shelves.

SEAN: I remain surprised, but not at all disappointed, that Knights of Sidonia is as long as it is. 13 volumes and counting from Vertical Comics!

ANNA: Ugh, I need to get caught up on this series! I do really like it!

MICHELLE: Yay, more Sidonia!

ASH: Should be a good time!

MJ: Add my voice to the chorus of “Yay!”

SEAN: We’re nearly at the end of 07-Ghost, but not quite. There is a 15th volume, though.

ANNA: Maybe I will read all of it in a marathon session when it is done.

MICHELLE: Yeah, despite good intentions I have not managed to resume this one.

SEAN: And a 21st of Arata the Legend, which surely has erased Fushigi Yuugi from everyone’s heads by now.

ANNA: Not to diss Arata, but I am super excited about the new Fushigi Yuugi series that was recently announced.

MICHELLE: Eh?!?!?! I missed it! Please tell me it’s Byakko Kaiden.

ANNA: It is!!! EEEE!!!!!!!

MICHELLE: !!!! I am all asquee!

MJ: WOOT!

SEAN: Ranma 1/2 is always at its best when Takahashi allows herself to stretch with a longer storyline, and the “Ranma Gets Weak” one stretches out over half this seventh omnibus. I review it here.

I also reviewed Aya Kanno’s Requiem of the Rose King, a new Shojo Beat series that is nothing like Otomen except its art is gorgeous. It’s her take on Shakespeare’s Henry VI and Richard III.

ANNA: I have this, haven’t read it yet, but it sounds great!

MICHELLE: Oooh. I’m kind of a Richard III fangirl.

ASH: This is actually one of the series I’m most looking forward to this year.

MJ: I’m definitely on board with this!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 17th volume of Rin-Ne, which is also at its best when Takahashi allows a longer storyline, but sadly we see that far less often.

MICHELLE: RIN-NE is pleasant. I have a few volumes here that I haven’t been dying to read, though.

SEAN: Oh manga’s heart wrapped in an obi’s hide! What are you getting next week? (Also, ten points to whoever gets that without googling it.)

SEAN: It feels like a smaller first week than usual, even with 15 titles. Viz has recently wrapped up a number of series, so it could just be I’m not getting as much stuff personally.

Before we get to Viz, Dark Horse has the 4th New Lone Wolf and Cub.

ASH: Confession: I still haven’t finished reading the Old Lone Wolf and Cub. But I still plan on picking up the New.

SEAN: Kodansha gives us its 5th xxxHOLIC omnibus. Here be dragons. And Syaorans. Honestly, I’d have preferred the dragons.

MJ: I’m good with both. :D

SEAN: Speaking of things I dislike but am in a minority as they are really, really popular, there’s a new Monster Musume due out from Seven Seas.

Seven Seas also has a 7th volume of The Sacred Blacksmith, which has just been confirmed to be ending soon.

D.Gray-Man may have its regular series coming out at a crawl these days, but the 6th 3-in-1 shows it’s still going strong omnibus-wise.

Another long-running series is coming to an end – but not just yet. This is the 2nd to last volume of Claymore. Is a happy ending in the cards?

MICHELLE: Someday, I need to read this. I own quite a large chunk of it.

MJ: I love this series, and I’m certainly anticipating this volume with much eagerness!

SEAN: Another 3-in-1 as we get the 8th Dragonball omnibus (not to be confused with the other omnibus release it’s had).

Kamisama Kiss may have finally ended its long time-travel arc, but the series is still trucking along at Vol. 17. (Did it end yet? We’ve caught up with Japan, so it’s been a while since 16…)

I keep waffling back and forth on Kiss of the Rose Princess, so we’ll see if a 3rd volume sways me one way or another.

ANNA: I ended up liking it more after the second volume. I don’t LOVE it, but I enjoy reading it.

MICHELLE: I’m not sure about this one either, since the second volume as so different than the first. But I *am* planning to check out volume three.

SEAN: Naruto is over, but the volumes still have more to go, so here’s the 69th.

I keep being surprised at how much I’m enjoying Nisekoi, a high school harem comedy with added yakuza. But I am enjoying it a whole lot. Vol. 8 is out in print next week.

It’s no surprise how much I love Oresama Teacher – in fact, the only surprise is that an even more popular series by the same author, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, hasn’t been licensed by Yen Press yet. But I still have Oresama 18.

ANNA: I have a deep and profound love for this series. Consistently hilarious.

ASH: I really need to get around to reading this.

SEAN: Seraph of the End has a 4th volume. Does it still have vampires?

ANNA: I feel like this is a safe assumption! I’m also happy to see that Vertical licensed the light novel series!

SEAN: Another 3-in-1 series, but I think with this 10th volume Skip Beat! may be caught up for the most part.

ANNA: Skip Beat! is great.

MICHELLE: Super great! They could do an eleventh omnibus, since 33 volumes of Skip Beat! have come out so far. This spurred me to look up when the next one comes out, and we’ve only to wait until April 7th for volume 34. This was met with much rejoicing!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds 7, another series that for the life of me I can’t think of anything clever to say about it except “Welp – there it is.”

So what are you getting next week?

SEAN: A fairly sedate last week of the month. Not much from Yen this month, oddly. What will we have to talk about—

DIO: HA! You thought this would be Manga the Week of, but it is I, Dio!

SEAN: Oh right.

Before we get to that, Dark Horse has a very interesting new title coming out: Seraphim 266613336 Wings. A collaboration between Mamoru Oshii and Satoshi Kon, I can only imagine how strange this is going to be. But also highly anticipated.

ASH: I know I’m looking forward to it!

SEAN: Kodansha has a 33rd Air Gear, which continues to be the model all other fanservice-laden roller blade manga aspire to be.

There’s the debut of Maria the Virgin Witch, which would surely have gotten more attention from me if it weren’t surrounded by Kon and Dio. The plot does not interest me, the fact that this is by the author of Moyasimon does.

ASH: That’s what interests me most, too, though I have been hearing good things about the series.

SEAN: And one of my favorite lost causes, The Wallflower, has its 34th volume. I believe the ending is actually coming soon!

This has been out digitally since September, when I think I featured it here, but man, it deserves to be featured again. One of the most influential, over the top manga of the 20th century, we’ve seen its 3rd arc here before, but now you can see it again for the first time, in deluxe hardcover edition. I refer, of course, to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and trust me, that title is not kidding around.

ASH: I am so excited for this!!

MICHELLE: I have to admit I have never read JoJo’s, even though I’ve had the first three volumes (or, rather, the first three volumes of whatever segment of the series VIZ released) for quite a while. Maybe I would love it.

ANNA: I liked it a ton. The hardcover release is very nice, and I enjoyed all the punching, blood, and references to Aztec sacrificial practices. Also, more punching!

MJ: This seems to be the only title on the list I’m really interested in this week, but I’m *really* interested.

SEAN: One of Yen On’s February releases had to be delayed, so the sole light novel this week is the 2nd A Certain Magical Index. I should mention… it has vampires! Well, sort of. Anti-vampires. Ish?

The 2nd Ani-Imo is out, and I suspect will continue to be as edgy as the first one was. A reminder: technically shoujo manga.

There’s also a 3rd Barakamon, which is also out digitally as of this volume, for those who love digital and were bummed it wasn’t available before.

I keep wishing BTOOOM! Added a new O for every volume it gets to, but to no avail, even at Vol. 9.

MICHELLE: Ugh. I didn’t set out wanting to say “ugh” about BTOOOM!, but now that is my reflexive reaction.

SEAN: The first volume of Gou-dere Sora Nagihara was so over the top in terms of its comedy, fanservice, and general attempts to offend that I’m almost tempted to read this second volume to see if it can keep up the pace. Almost. But not quite.

High School DxD has a 4th volume. I wonder if I’d enjoy it more if the light novel were licensed?

Lastly, we have the final volume of Judge, but don’t worry, more animal-headed survival games are coming soon.

Assuming you’re doing the obvious, what else are you buying besides JoJo’s this week?

ANNA: How could anyone want to NOT buy JoJo’s, is the question!

SEAN: A fairly subdued third week, with a lot of recurring series and one decidedly odd debut.

On the Kodansha side, Cage of Eden has another fanservice-tastic cover for its 17th volume, but hopefully will work in some more giant extinct animals and brushes with death as well.

And we get the final volume of over-the-top manga comedy Manga Dogs with Vol. 3.

Seven Seas has a fourth volume of Black Butl—sorry, of Devils & Realist. (Their plots aren’t all that alike, but they seem to share the same aesthetic.)

And we get a 2nd volume of superhero manga Lucifer & The Biscuit Hammer, with vols. 3 & 4. The end of the first omnibus got dark pretty fast – will we get new heroes?

ASH: I had no idea what to expect from the first omnibus, and I’m not sure where the second one will be going, but I’m rather enjoying the series’ quirkiness.

SEAN: Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary is a new Seven Seas series that looks to combine monsters from mythology and slapstick comedy. And given it runs in Comic Ryu, I expect a lot of fanservice as well.

Vertical has a 5th volume of shonen card-battle manga Cardfight!! Vanguard (the exclamation point placement is very important).

And a 3rd Witchcraft Works, with more witches and badass heroines.

ASH: Another delightfully quirky series that I’m enjoying. The artwork is quite nice, too.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has a 5th volume of dystopian action series Gangsta.

ASH: I’m actually behind in reading Gangsta, but I’ll definitely be picking up the new volume.

ANNA: I think I missed the fourth volume! I do really enjoy this series and am looking forward to catching up.

SEAN: Are you watching out for something this week?

MICHELLE: I am sad to say that literally nothing on this list particularly appeals to me. But! All hope is not lost, for there is more Boys Over Flowers on the horizon and that makes me cautiously happy!

MJ: I am sad to say the same. And I’m probably more skeptical about the Boys Over Flowers than Michelle is, so even that fills me with “meh.”

SEAN: Boys Over Flowers… so much influence, so many volumes, so much “WHY?!?!”

MICHELLE: I admit it has many flaws, but I love it anyway. I’m afraid season two will really suck, but that won’t keep me from checking it out anyway.

ANNA: I am super excited for this!

SEAN: It’s Velentine’s Day week at Manga the Week of, and I wonder how romantic these titles are?

Ze from 801 Media has hit double digits, and is still the most popular manga among titles with two letters in them. (Sorry, ES).

MICHELLE: Tezuka’s MW: *kicks a rock*.

SEAN: I feel ashamed for forgetting about MW. All right, sorry, Ze. I have no jokes to make about you at all. Hang your head.

ASH: I was actually just thinking about Eternal Sabbath the other day…

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us more manly manga with a 4th Samurai Executioner omnibus.

A 6th volume of Say “I Love You” from Kodansha gives us more shoujo angst.

MICHELLE: Woot!

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle omnibus as well.

MJ: I think there’s a general feeling of “ho hum” regarding this omnibus release, but I’m really happy to see it. I read this series by way of library copies and volumes borrowed from friends, and I’ve been eyeing it as a way to finally collect it for myself. So, yay!

SEAN: Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus & Liar’s Game has been my favorite Alice spinoff, and I am sad to see it come to an end with this 7th volume.

ASH: I recently finished reading Alice in the Country of Hearts and really enjoyed it; this might actually be the spinoff I tackle next.

ANNA: I liked the main series but have never been able to get more than a couple volumes into a spinoff.

MICHELLE: Same here.

SEAN: Dragonar Academy has a 5th volume.

And we get the final volume of I Am Alice: Bodyswap in Wonderland, making this a double-Alice week.

Vertical has the 3rd volume of Ajin, which has demi-humans (are there panhumans?).

ASH: Demi-humans, pan-humans, omni-humans, in-humans, etc., etc.

SEAN: And another gritty title from Vertical, the 2nd volume of Prophecy, which continues to not feature a giant mutated bear. I suppose that’s not technically a flaw.

ASH: No, no bears, but still one of the best manga series that I’ve read lately.

SEAN: Viz has a quartet of titles, beginning with the 7th volume of Deadman Wonderland.

I reviewed Hayate the Combat Butler 25 here. Can it follow up from its recent dramatic turn?

And Magi has Vol. 10 arrive, which I anticipate will be awesome. Just a guess.

MICHELLE: And woot again!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 6th volume of the Tiger & Bunny manga, which likely has far more BL fans than actual BL titles like Ze.

ASH: And you didn’t think you had any jokes about Ze to make!

MJ: Ha!

SEAN: That’s actually not that much romance. What looks good to you?

SEAN: Did you enjoy your quiet month? Good, cause February is back to business as usual, and every week has some chunky bites of manga. Let’s look at next week. FYI, Diamond Comics has every Viz title coming out 1-2 weeks earlier than usual, for some reason – I’m ignoring that. And JoJo’s was delayed.

ASH: Oh, no! JoJoooooo!

ANNA: I do not approve of this.

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 7th Blood Blockade Battlefront, which I understand has an anime coming out soon.

Seven Seas gives us a 5th volume of oddball slice-of-A Centaur’s Life.

And the 10th volume of Haganai, whose cast still doesn’t have many friends.

The rest is all Viz. We have a new Assassination Classroom, filled with attempted death and heartwarming lessons.

ANNA: Bring it on!

SEAN: We have a 3rd volume of Black Rose Alice, and I’d like to remind the Manga Bookshelf team that they can’t pick it two weeks in a row. :)

MICHELLE: I won’t, but I am still super happy to see it!

ASH: I’m happy to see it, too!

ANNA: I might pick it again! You can’t stop me!

MJ: Heh. I didn’t pick it last time, so it’s up for grabs!

SEAN: Bleach 63 features, I’m guessing, fights.

Food Wars 4 also features fights, but of a culinary kind. Save the Megumi!

MICHELLE: I have developed a serious fondness for Food Wars.

ANNA: I do not yet have a serious fondness, but I like it much more than I expected to.

SEAN: The 10th and final volume of Happy Marriage?! wraps up next week. It’s been a very up and down series, but overall I’ve enjoyed it.

MICHELLE: It’s not something I can picture myself rereading, but it has been entertaining.

ANNA: Me too. I’m glad to have read it, but I don’t think I’ll be rereading it.

SEAN: High School Debut has its 5th and final omnibus. The big news is that it has lots of material that never came out in print before – I believe Vols. 14 and 15 are unique to this volume! It’s also print-only, so go get it.

MICHELLE: !!!!!!!!!!!!1 (Heh, I swear that typing that 1 was legitimately an accident, but I’m leavin’ it!)

ANNA: Woah! I’ve got to pick this up!

MJ: Ooooooooooh.

SEAN: If you thought Honey Blood was over last time, well… it was. But Tale Zero is an epilogue, or prologue, or pilot. Or something? In any case, this is the last Honey Blood-related product.

MICHELLE: I have a vague memory of one of the author’s note sections during the series proper mentioning that this would contain the original oneshot. Not sure about that, though.

ANNA: I’d like to see more from this author eventually.

SEAN: We have the 25th and final volume of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. I enjoyed this a lot more than I’d expected, and probably more than it really deserved, but way to go, mid-range Shonen Jump title. You were licensed when many other 20-30 volume Jump series were not.

One Piece has its 11th omnibus. It’s in Water Seven now, one of its best arcs.

Spell of Desire hits Vol. 3, and I hope manages to resolve the rather icky cliffhanger Vol. 2 left us with.

Voice Over has its 9th volume, and seems to be slowly, very slowly, meandering towards its climax.

MICHELLE: Here’s another title I’ve grown to love unexpectedly.

MJ: I need to check back in with this series.

SEAN: World Trigger has Vol. 4, and is another on the list of ‘series I should know more about’.

Did you miss Yu-Gi-Oh! the first time around? Here’s an omnibus to catch up on.

And Yu-Go-Oh Zexal 6 gives you more Yu-Gi-Oh than human nature can possibly stand.

There’s a lot of ‘meat and potatoes’ shonen and shoujo here. What suits your fancy?

SEAN: The final week of January, and a quiet, peaceful time for books. After last week, that’s a relief.

(Note: Diamond Comics is shipping some Viz stuff to me 1-2 weeks early; I’m assuming that’s them and going with the official release dates, so they’ll be in upcoming posts. I’m also getting Soul Eater late. Diamond gonna Diamond.)

Dark Horse has the 34th volume of Gantz, which despite my occasional mockery has done very well for them, as can be seen by their license of another series by the same author. Still no HEN, though. Or even Hen.

Kodansha has a new Fairy Tail, the 46th. After this one, we go from monthly to bimonthly, so the Fairy Tail catchup seems to have finally slowed down. Kudos to all who stayed caught up.

MICHELLE: Which wasn’t me!

SEAN: I didn’t think Whispered Words’ 3rd omnibus was coming out from One Peace books till late March, but it was shipped to me last week, so yay for early bird releases. I’ve already reviewed it here.

ASH: My copy arrived early, too! I’m looking forward to finishing the series.

MJ: This is definitely something to look forward to!

MICHELLE: I haven’t checked back in with this title since the first omnibus, so an early conclusion is definitely an incentive.

SEAN: One Peace also has the 3rd through 5th volumes of Raqiya also coming out, which I believe completes the series.

ASH: It does indeed.

SEAN: Lastly, Diamond Comics has started shipping print copies of the final volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion, so even though I highlighted in in November when it came out digitally I will mention it again here.

Do you see something here you want? Or are you taking the week off?

ANNA: I’m taking the week off! More of an opportunity to make some headway with all the stacks of unread manga piled up in my house.