manga the week of

So, which of this title will you be getting this week?

(It’s OK, wait till November, the Manga Avalanche Month.)

After a third week that was honestly pretty puny, this week brings a more robust group of titles.

Dark Horse has a new Bride of the Water God, one of those manwha titles that always makes me wish I had more money so I could give them a try. it also has the 25th volume of Gantz, which makes me wish that the author’s earlier series, HEN, was licensed instead.

Kodansha Comics has Volume 8 of Bloody Monday, its action thriller conspiracy title that sadly doesn’t lend itself well to jokes or puns.

Vertical has its new shoujo series, Limit, from the author of Life (if anyone remembers the old days of Tokyopop). If you read Life you know what we get here. Only even more intense. HOT HOT BULLYING ACTION.

And there’s a pile of stuff from Yen. Black Butler hits Volume 11, but is no match for Black God, which is at Volume 17 (and just ended in Japan this August) (yes, it runs in Young Gangan, but the creators are Korean. Think March Story or Sun-Ken Rock). Nagato Yuki is still adorable and Ryoko is still not insane in the 2nd volume of Disappearance. Durarara!! hits the end of its first arc, but don’t worry: Yen already has the Saika arc lined up. Pandora Hearts hits a dozen volumes, and there’s also the debut of Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel, a manga version of Cassandra Claire’s novel.

Lastly, there’s Triage X. Which runs in Dragon Age. And is by the artist who does High School of the Dead. The cover is presented here without comment.

So, what’s in your manga collection this week?

If you thought last week was tiny, wait till you get a load of this week. Tiny tiny tiny. (I blame Yen for shipping a week later than usual.)

Kodansha has the 2nd omnibus of the popular shoujo title Kitchen Princess.

Speaking of omnibuses, Viz has the 9th Tenjo Tenge omnibus, showing that we’re getting near the end. And they also have Vol. 4 of March Story, which has a Korean creator but runs in a Japanese magazine, so is manga in my opinion.

That’s it. Not even enough to make bad jokes about. Anything?

It’s a smaller week, Week #2, but it tries harder! What’s coming out right before New York Comic Con?

Kodansha has two titles that, as usual, came out yesterday via Amazon and bookstore-oriented places. (pats Diamond on the head) Arisa is in the homestretch with Vol. 9, and Cage of Eden is starting to gear up with Vol. 7. Cage of Eden’s cover is also only mildly socially unacceptable this time! (I make no guarantees about the inside, though. Expect boobs.)

Seven Seas has a troika of releases, many of which hit Diamond *and* bookstores this week. For some reason, the Northeast Corridor (including me) is getting these in next week. Dance in the Vampire Bund hits its penultimate volume (don’t panic: a sequel has already started in Japan), and still has Vampire in the title, in case you missed that. Venus Versus Virus has a 3rd omnibus out, which I think may be the last (total apathy about the series prevents me from verifying this). And Girl Friends, Morinaga Milk’s popular yuri manga, gets a print release with the first of two omnibuses. Girl Friends is sweet, likeable, funny, and does not end with dead lesbians (sorry for the spoilers).

Sublime, Viz’s BL imprint, has Vol. 2 of Punch Up. Which has a kitty on a hot guy’s head. I don’t think I need to say anything else, really. KITTY!

Speaking of kitties, or at least catboys, Viz is starting to re-release the fantasy manga Loveless, which runs in Comic Zero Sum and is… not *quite* BL, even though most of the fandom would disagree with you. It is extremely popular, though, and it’s nice to see Viz rescue it. They also have a new Case Closed and the penultimate volume (did I really use penultimate twice in one post?) of Kekkaishi, which is beloved by bloggers (and hence has mediocre sales, the usual fate of titles beloved by bloggers).

So what appeals to you guys? Also, would you buy a manga that has as a tag line ‘Beloved by bloggers!’?

It’s a first week of the month, folks. You know what that means. But let’s start with not-Viz stuff.

Kodansha has a new volume of Fairy Tail, continuing its alternate world journey. And they’ve got the oddly numbered Ghost in the Shell Volume 1.5, which is still 176 pages, in case folks were worried.

Vertical has the debut of its new re-release of Paradise Kiss, this one in larger trim, 3 omnibus volumes and a new translation. The manga is fantastic, anyone who hasn’t read it yet should go get it. And Arashi no longer speaks like a Brit. There’s also the new Drops of God, leaping ahead to discuss wines from ‘the new world’, and also possibly the last volume unless sales get really really good. And GTO is up to his 5th volume of 14 Days in Shonan, the halfway point.

Viz, of course, has its Viz blitz. On the Shonen Jump side we have Bakuman 15, Bleach 48 and 49 (which, hallelujah hallelujah, moves onto a new arc), Nura 11, Slam Dunk 24, Toriko 12, and Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds 3, which sounds like a RPG dice roll. Meanwhile, on the shoujo side, there’s Dawn of the Arcana 6, Devil and Her Love Song 5, Jiu Jiu 2, Skip Beat! 29, Stepping on Roses 8 (any shogi, let me know), and Story of Saiunkoku 8. There’s something for everyone, in other words. Well, unless you’re a hardcore ‘indie manga only’ person. In which case, look up for Vertical stuff.

So what are you getting? And can you finish it before New York Comic Con?

The last week of the month this year has always been rather sad and winsome, but that doesn’t mean all is lost! See what we have for you next week!

For those of you who were unable to kick in for DMP’s Kickstarter Project, Barbara is now here in comic shops to beguile you! This Osamu Tezuka manga is part of his ‘brilliant yet screwed up’ period, and is well worth a read. DMP is also releasing The Tyrant Falls in Love Vol. 7, which apparently does not need a Kickstarter in any way.

Kodansha Comcis has a trio of releases. Deltora Quest hits Volume 8 (are they still questing for Deltora, I wonder?), the 2nd Genshiken omnibus is out (with Vols. 4-6, and introducing Ogiue), and Miles Edgeworth shows us that he can investigate just as much as Phoenix Wright, even if his cast of silly characters continues to be just Gumshoe.

That’s it. What’s on your wallet’s mind?

First off, shut up all you Yotsuba fans. My blog, I get to choose the featured image. :)

Dark Horse is hitting us with a double dose of CLAMP – or should that be a quadruple dose, as both CLAMP books are omnibus volumes. First off, Card Captor Sakura finishes up with its fourth and final volume, and is as cute and fun as ever. Secondly, Angelic Layer arrives, CLAMP’s first big attempt at shonen, in the first of two big books. Angelic Layer is one of the few anime series where the anime is much better than the manga, but despite this, the manga is still worth checking out. And for those of you who want the polar opposite of these titles, there’s the 36th volume of Berserk. I’m pretty sure Guts is never going to be a Magical Girl. No, don’t send me fanart links.

Speaking of genuine Magical Girls, Kodansha brings us the 7th volume of Sailor Moon, still deep in the S arc. If you like Outers being aloof and Usagi wishing everyone could all just get along, you’ll love this! There’s also the second volume of Attack on Titan, which startled us all at the end of Volume 1 by killing off its hero. Can Mikasa succeed where he failed?

Viz Media has the 22nd and final volume of 20th Century Boys… though the series as a whole is not quite over yet. It’s been a long ride, and I’m glad they stuck it out.

And there’s a bevy of stuff from Yen Press! Higurashi returns from its summer break, and begins the penultimate arc, cheerfully called the Massacre Arc. This one was six volumes in Japan (and the final arc eight), so Yen has chosen to omnibus it, giving us the first two here. Speaking of omnibuses, there’s also the 2nd volume of action thriller Until Death Do Us Part, with Vol. 3 and 4 of the original Japanese series. Manwha gets a look in with new volumes of both Raiders and Jack Frost. BL fans will be pleased to know there’s a new Tale of the Waning Moon. Omamori Himari gets back to its prologue with a Volume Zero. And best of all, after a long wait we have the 4th volume of adorable art school manga GA Art Design Class. Which, unlike Sunshine Sketch, has actual art lessons in it!

Hrm, I know that I’m forgetting something, what could it be…

Oh right! That Yotsuba&! thing has reached its 11th volume somehow, be it via huge sales, amazing word of mouth, or just being really really sweet and adorable. Expect more of the same.

So, how many omnibus bricks are you all getting this week?

As always, Midtown, Diamond and Amazon can’t quite mesh together. My store and most Diamond shops have Hayate the Combat Butler, Arata the Legend, House of Five Leaves, and Loveless out on 9/12. On the other hand, my store got in the Seven Seas stuff on 9/5, but Midtown isn’t getting it till 9/12. Best to just smile and nod.

Kodansha debuts the new Genshiken volume. In Japan it’s just Genshiken 10, but Kodansha USA has made a break with the former series and started its sequel with a new subtitle and Vol. 1. Of course, you can’t get rid of the old cast that easily – Saki and Kousaka make cameos, and Madarame is still a large presence throughout. For the most part, though, this is Ogiue’s new club, with new members – and a shifting mindset, devoted less to typical guy porn and more to typical girl porn. It’s a must buy for fans of the series.

And Seven Seas has a troika of September releases. The 2nd volume of Boris spinoff Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz. A new omnibus of killer loli series Gunslinger Girl, containing the Japanese 11 and 12. (The end of the series was recently announced in Japan, possibly as they’d simply run out of cast members.) And the 5th volume of Toradora!, still the tsundere series to read if you don’t like tsunderes all that much.

And that’s about it, really. A nice quiet week. Any plans?

There is an awful lot of it, huh? I think Gon was annoyed at being by himself last week and called in his friends… and this isn’t even counting the Seven Seas titles my store is apparently getting in but Midtown isn’t.

Remember about a month ago when I said I’d heard good things about that long-titled quasi-incest thing? Turns out I was thinking of OreImo, out this week from Dark Horse, rather than Seven Seas’ Big Brother title. OreImo’s full title is Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, aka My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute! This title has far less incest but just as many tsunderes, if not more, and is rumored to be good. So I will check it out to see if this is the case.

Bloody Monday from Kodansha Comics has hit lucky Number Seven, though I’ve gotten so far behind on it I may never catch up. Is it still the Japanese 24?

Sublime, Viz’s BL line, has Volume 1 of His Favorite. It has the typical BL seme with his arms around his man and a smirk on his face, but the fact that the other’s guy’s face, instead of fear or uneasiness, or even arousal, reads like “must control fist of death” made me smile.

Tempted as I was to give Hayate the Combat Butler the cover image just to see how many folks I could annoy, the clear winner this week is Vertical’s new Tezuka tome, the first part of Message to Adolf. I never got the series back when Viz put it out ages ago, so this was a must-buy for me. And it’s nice to see some late-period Tezuka as well, as this is a 1980s title. Vertical is also releasing the underappreciated yet fantastic penultimate volume of GTO The Early Years, and the adorably cute 9th (and penultimate?) volume of Chi’s Sweet Home.

PILE O’ VIZ time. Including some stuff Midtown is listing that I had thought would be next week. This includes the 11th volume of Watase Yuu’s shonen series Arata the Legend, 20th volume of still not cancelled and funny as hell Hayate the Combat Butler (Greece Edition), a new House of Five Leaves for you Ono fans, and 9th volume of recent License Rescue Loveless.

There’s also a pile of Jump stuff, which I was expecting this week. There’s new Bakuman! Two more volumes of Bleach, which is still not done with Aizen, believe it or not. Hunter x Hunter, taking time from its busy hiatus to give us a new volume. Naruto! One Piece! Two great tastes that few fans enjoy together, for some reason (can’t the ninja and pirate fans just get along?). And of course Psyren, which should be at the ‘exposition’ part of its fight/exposition/fight trend.

Shojo Beat is the bigger winner here, though, with some of my favorites out next week. There’s new Library Wars, new Oresama Teacher *and* a new Otomen. Now admittedly the three series have flaws. Library Wars doesn’t have enough war for some people; Otomen continues to be a BL series with no BL; and Oresama Teacher is written by Izumi Tsubaki, who is the ‘oooooh, shiny thing!’ of Beat authors. This does not make the series less awesome. Other titles out this week include Earl and Fairy 3and a new Fushigi Yuugi Sequel Thingy volume. (It is possibly that the title does not actually have the word thingy in it.)

Lastly, Viz’s younger fans will be delighted to hear there are new Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamonroll *and* Winx Club titles out next week.

That’s a lot. What’re you getting?

That’s it. Remember when last week of the month brought Tokyopop stuff? In the meantime, enjoy Gon. He’s awesome.

There’s quite a variety of things coming out next week at Midtown from various sources. Let’s leap right in.

Dark Horse is ready to explode with new releases, which I think have only been delayed once or twice before hitting shops! We have Vol. 24 of Gantz, which you either avoid like the plague or automatically seek out. It’s a pretty polarizing title, but very good at providing what its fans want. There’s also a new Gate 7, CLAMP’s new gig, which continues to mix Japanese historical figures with pretty young men and women in a very CLAMP way. And there’s a new volume of Oh My Goddess, finally free of the reprints and ready to go forward! Unfortunately, in this volume everything’s gone to hell. No, wait, everyONE’s gone to Hell.

Digital Manga Publishing has Volume 9 of Itazura Na Kiss, which I’m hoping continues the excellent character development we saw in the previous chapters. Meanwhile, there’s also some new yaoi titles, including I’ve Seen It All, which I just wrote three different jokes about only to delete them all as being too pornographic, so I’ll just say it’s about a doctor and has one of THOSE covers. For those who like less creepy looking BL, there’s Man I Picked Up, whose title doesn’t do it many favors but whose cover and synopsis (man takes a vagrant guy home and gradually grows closer to him) sound a lot better. Meanwhile, in Countdown 7 Days 3, Onigawara is definitely dead. Well, mostly dead. And Replica hits is final volume, with an action packed finale.

It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that Dorohedoro 7 gets my cover image. I love this series and its complicated universe more with each volume, and can’t wait to see how much trouble Caiman will get into. There’s also Ikigami Vol. 8, much to the surprise of many folks who thought it had been cancelled, and the 8th volume of the Tenjo Tenge omnibus, which brings us full circle, as Gantz and Tenjo Tenge really serve the same audience.

So what appeals to you this week?

Sure, wait weeks for manga and then 38 turn up all at once. Midtown finally found all the Viz manga that most of us got this week. See my post on last week for that.

In titles I didn’t talk about last week, Kodansha has a new Air Gear and Cage of Eden, which both fight a war between entertaining folks with awesome shonen battles and pure blatant fanservice. Most of the time it tends to lean more towards the latter, but then they are Shonen Magazine titles. They also list Fairy Tail 12, but I think that’s part of the giant pile of reprints they’re doing this August – all of Fairy Tail, Ninja Girls, Shugo Chara, Wallflower and Parasyte are getting reprints.

It’s rare I use a Korean title for my featured image (in fact, it may have never happened before), but Lizzie Newton Mysteries has gotten a lot of good word of mouth, and might appeal to those who liked Young Miss Holmes. Meanwhile, the other debut from Seven Seas is I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!, which is being released in a 2-for-1 omnibus. The cover art, and blurb saying it’s for fans of He Is My Master, kind of make me want to pull away from my keyboard in horror, but I have been assured that this title is better than it sounds, so will trust in that. And in the title I’m most excited about from this publisher, A Certain Scientific Railgun 5 continues to throw sisters at Misaki. I’m hoping after the cliffhanger horror of the last volume, she won’t completely lose it.

The BL imprint Sublime has two new debuts. Bond of Dream, Bond of Love seems to continue the trend of huge grumpy guy paired with small happy guy, and also has a character from the Tea For Two BL manga (remember Blu?) that came out several years ago from the same artist. Starting with a Kiss has a much saucier cover, but seems to be about the same type of situation, except this time the happy guy is a hotheaded guy. Also, the Japanese imprint for this series was SUPER BBC, with a lightning bolt in between. That’s totally irrelevant to this North American release, but makes me happy, and also wonder if SubLime will ever license some Blake/Avon slash.

Viz is also putting out some titles this week, despite the majority of Midtown’s list appearing elsewhere 8/8. A new Inu Yasha VIZBIG Edition, covering volumes 34-36. Vol. 6 of Itsuwaribito… no, I’m sorry, that’s a lie, it’s not coming out. No wait, I’m lying again, it totally is! And the penultimate volume of Kekkaishi, which given it’s penultimate had better be resolving everything.

Lastly, we have a giant pile of Yen. Bamboo Blade has reached its final volume, and I will be very sorry to see it go. The Betrayal Knows My Name is up to Volume 4, but still has a long way to go – and is still running in Asuka. Bunny Drop 6 is out for what will I’m sure be a smaller but just as dedicated audience of fans who didn’t drop it cold after Volume 5. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has a non-spinoff manga, as Vol. 13 is out (and Midtown finally gets the Nagato Yuki the rest of us got last month). There’s new Nabari no Ou and Omamori Himari. There’s the 2nd volume of Magical Girl deconstruc… wait, it isn’t really. Anyway, new Madoka Magica. And Soul Eater hits Vol. 10, and will hopefully be creepier and more striking than Soul Eater Not was.

Even without the Viz blitz that hit Diamond this week, it’s a big week at Midtown. What’re you getting?

Midtown and Diamond are conspiring against me. Their list is wrong. It’s missing Viz. Perhaps they will add it later. In the meantime, I’m adding it to mine, as it makes up 3/4 of the list.

Gen manga has a collection of their manga Wolf, which seems to be a boxing manga? Intriguing, though I admit to knowing nothing about it.

Kodansha has the first volume of their new Phoenix wright spinoff manga, this one starring prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. They’ve also got a new Deltora Quest, as well as the 5th Negima omnibus. For those buying for updated translations, they apparently end with Vol. 4, so if you were just double dipping, I think you can safely stop.

Vertical has a power trio of manga finally hitting Diamond’s shops. Volume 2 of creepy high school mind game manga Flowers of Evil; and a 1-2 punch of Onizuka, as he struggles with high school in GTO Early Years 13 and then proves his badass qualities as a teacher in GTO 14 Days in Shonan 4. Be warned, though. There may be a dick joke. Or two.

Given Kaze Hikaru is on Viz’s once-per-year schedule now, I think its release deserves an image. Other shoujo and josei manga coming out includes Ai Ore!, Dawn of the Arcana, A Devil and Her Love Song, the final volume of Haruka Beyond the Stream of Time (sorry about not getting the image, Haruka, but hey), Kamisama Kiss, and La Corda D’oro.

On the shonen side, there’s also plenty to choose from. Two more volumes of Bleach, a new Nura, some Slam Dunk and Tegami Bachi. Toriko hopefully moves past that endless fight and back into food. Ultimo gives you your Stan Lee, manga-style. And Yu-Gi-Oh GX is… still about a card game, right?

Now, it’s possible Diamond won’t ship any of these, in which case I apologize. My shop is at least getting Kamisama Kiss and Nura, though, so maybe some will appear. In any case, I’m just tired of saying ‘another small week’. So, big week! What’re you getting?

It’s August 1st! Or, as Diamond likes to call it, July 32nd! In other words, expect another lean week for comic shops.

Dark Horse, which has been fairly quiet as of late, comes out with not one but two new titles! Vol. 25 of the perennial classic Blade of the Immortal, which not only features snow, but also dawn. Two separate things that make for great manga. There’s also Vol. 2 of Drifters, Hirano’s attempt to follow up on Hellsing. Those watching the current anime season will be saddened that, though this manga features Oda Nobunaga, he is not a cute young girl.

Sure it came out everywhere else two weeks ago, but Diamond is above such petty things as street dates! Vertical, however, is merely content with getting you some quality Moyoco Anno manga. This one in particular is a period piece examining a young woman’s rise as an Oiran, and how that’s not really as heartwarming and empowering as it may sound. It’s fantastic reading.

Lastly, and with perfect timing, we have some X hitting shops just in time to miss the Manga Moveable Feast. Vol. 3 of the omnibus contains the original Vols. 7-9, and things get even more apocalyptic. Well, I imagine they do, things got entirely too depressing for me around this point. But more on that tomorrow…

Another small week, but it’s got some quality. What appeals to you?