Manga Bookshelf's Weekly Features

MJ: There’s a lot going on at Midtown Comics this week, and a lot to look forward to, including lots of new shoujo from VIZ Media (Strobe Edge, Dengeki Daisy) and some hot ticket items from Vertical (Message to Adolf, The Book of Human Insects), but I only have eyes for one thing. That thing, of course, is Moto Hagio’s The Heart of Thomas, produced in beautiful hardcover by Fantagraphics, and lovingly translated by Matt Thorn. I’ve read the advance digital copy and Hagio’s writing and artwork are both more beautiful and emotionally nuanced than I even expected, but I’ll admit I can’t wait to hold this hardcover in my hands. In fact, I’m pretty sure I said the words “I can’t wait” something like ten times in my holiday edition of My Week in Manga. Michelle and I will be talking about Heart of Thomas in this month’s BL Bookrack (Off the Shelf-style) so you can listen to me gush about it more then. Endless love and gratitude to Fantagraphics for bringing us a treasure like this.

ANNA: I agree that Heart of Thomas is the most exciting release this week. I haven’t read it yet, but I am really looking forward to it.

MICHELLE: While Heart of Thomas is the standout on this list for me, too, I don’t wanna just say “ditto,” so instead I’ll note that I’m really looking forward to reading the second volume of Strobe Edge. Okay, no, it’s not exactly a groundbreaking series (firmly in comfort-read territory), but I enjoyed it and liked all the characters, which is sometimes not the case in these high-school romance stories.

SEAN: Heart of Thomas is clearly the most important manga out this week, and I’m definitely looking forward to having it sit on my review pile staring at me balefully, like most important manga does. That said, my picks of the week are the Shojo Beat volumes I always read the moment they come out – Dengeki Daisy, Oresama Teacher and Otomen. I may not know much about art, but I know what I like.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

SEAN: Given that this last week is rather thin, I thought I’d briefly touch on the titles I enjoyed in 2012. It was hard to pick just one, and several series – Devil and Her Love Song, Young Miss Holmes, Fallen Words, Sakuran, GTO 14 Days – were on my shortlist. But really, 2012 has a surprising winner for me, a red-blooded American male, and it comes from a young girl in a magical Wonderland choosing between many men who seem designed to fall for her. Alice in the Country of Hearts was license rescued by Yen Press and put out in 3 huge omnibuses this May, and it brought with it a host of spinoffs from Seven Seas and Yen, all of which seem to be selling quite well. More to the point, with one or two exceptions, the manga adaptations are not straying too far from the game’s central tenet – this is a broken young girl trapped in a world full of men with loose grips on sanity who think nothing of death and violence. Maintaining that balance between psychological mystery and romantic drama is the key to the series’ success, and it’s why I still enjoy reading it, even if I don’t really care who Alice ends up with.

MJ: This year was filled with a number of surprising new favorites for me, including titles like GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, Soulless, The Flowers of Evil, and Loveless, as well as a number of shoo-ins like Sakuran, Paradise Kiss, and the awesome conclusion to long-time favorite 13th Boy. It was a strong year for BL as well, as Michelle and I have discussed previously (including a last-minute entry, The Scent of Apple Blossoms). But in the end, my Pick of the Year is a publisher rather than a single title, and that publisher is JManga. When I think about my favorite new titles of the year, a full half of them come from the pages of JManga—Pride, Crazy for You, Sweet Blue Flowers, Dousei Ai, My Darling Kitten Hair, Love My Life, Kyudo Boys—and the list goes on. If I had to pick just one, it’d be impossible. I’ve loved each one of these series and many more. Thanks, JManga, for making my year!

MICHELLE: I had to think about this for a while, because the title that first sprang to mine was not one that debuted in 2012. In fact, it started coming out here in 2010, but I so loved every single volume of it, most especially the final one, that I simply must award my pick to Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game. Okay, yeah, maybe it’s not pushing any envelopes, but it’s incredibly heartwarming and I just adore it to pieces.

Readers, what’s your favorite title of 2012?

SEAN: Not a lot to say. I tend to pick Dorohedoro every time a new volume comes out, because I love its art, its characters, its humor, its worldbuilding, and its plot. This love has only gotten stronger as the series progresses, so Vol. 8 is my pick this week. MJ: I’m going to take a real leap this week and put my money behind GEN Manga’s Good-bye Geist. Though the premise sounds a little sketchy (sexual assault and animal cruelty are not topics I’m a fan of), a quick flip through suggests that these aspects may be overstated, and I’ve long wanted to pay more attention to releases from GEN. So in the spirit of adventure, I’m jumping in! I’ll let you know how it goes. MICHELLE: Brave woman! I suppose I’m jumping in a little with my pick of Kaoru Mori: Anything & Something from Yen Press. I reluctantly admit that I’ve only managed to read a couple volumes of Emma so far, and none of A Bride’s Story, so this short story collection is a low-commitment way to get in and experience more of Mori’s storytelling skills. Look for it in next week’s Off the Shelf! ANNA: I will go for Vagabond VizBig volume 11, because Vagabond is one of my favorite series and being able to read three volumes at once is always a welcome treat.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MJ: Midtown’s list is pretty limited, and though Sean’s roundup includes more, I’m going to stray off of both lists and go with Amazon, who tells me we’ll get the second volume of Paradise Kiss this week, in its lovely new edition from Vertical. I had a few reservations about the English adaptation in Vertical’s first omnibus, but those are squashed by volume two, which is really just fantastic from start to finish. I’ve been a fan of this series for a long time, and have reread it more than once, yet this gorgeous edition still manages to bring out new highlights, especially in this volume. It’s well worth picking up, for old fans and new!

MICHELLE: I am sorry to say that there’s nothing on Midtown’s list that particularly appeals to me. However, Sean’s list provides some more likely offerings. Of them, I’m going to have to go with Kekkaishi, which finally reaches its 35th and final volume. I’ve been hoarding this series for some time, and look forward to using some holiday vacation time to immerse myself in it at long last!

SEAN: This week seems to feature a lot of series I pretty much enjoy, but nothing I’m absolutely over the moon over. Some decent Jump, some decent comedy, some decent horror. As a result, I’ll take my chance and pick a short story collection by Kaoru Mori, Anything and Something. I admit I have some trouble getting into Mori’s mild style a lot of the time, but then I have the same issues with Natsume Ono and like several of her series. I’m hoping that the switch to shorter stories will help me to appreciate what everyone else loves about this artist (aside from the gorgeous art, which trust me has already enraptured me.) and that this collection will be a winner.

ANNA: If we are veering off lists, I am going to veer even further and choose as my pick the anime adaptation of Rose of Versailles, now streaming on Viki. I long for the day that we have the manga translated here, but I will console myself with watching all the fencing, cross dressing, and aristocratic scheming in the anime.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MJ: There is an avalanche of new manga flooding Midtown Comics this week, including some regular favorites of mine like Pandora Hearts, Bakuman, and Natsume’s Book of Friends, but I only have eyes for one title, and that’s volume 8 of Chocolat, a girls’ manhwa series from Yen Press that has been on hiatus since 2008. This omnibus includes the series’ final three volumes, and I can’t wait to read it! Well, I admit I probably have to go back and read the rest of the series again first (it has been a while), but that doesn’t dampen my excitement in the slightest. Chocolat marathon, anyone?

SEAN: Midtown may be getting a pile, but my store is only getting a tiny amount, for some likely Diamond-related reason. And I already talked about Higurashi a couple of days ago. So for my pick, I’ll go with the 13th volume of Toriko, another Shonen Jump success story about food and manliness. After a lull where it fell into “3 volumes of fight,” Toriko has picked right back up again, and it always seems to find the right balance between fighting and food. And the food is getting more and more gloriously weird, with every menu item almost becoming a new character that has to be defeated. Like One Piece, which it resembles a bit, Toriko gives off an old-school Jump feeling of boys with their toys. And the toys are MEAT. (P.S. – Also get the 2nd Pogo volume from Fantagraphics, as Pogo is awesome. Sincerely, Sean.)

MICHELLE: I’d be up for that Chocolat marathon, but I’m going to award my pick to volume 13 of Natsume’s Book of Friends. Though episodic stories aren’t generally my preference, Natsume is consistently excellent and maintains a certain… ethereal air? I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s not quite gentle, it’s not quite wistful… But it’s entirely wonderful. If you haven’t checked this series out yet, you really should!

ANNA: My Pick of the week is the new Mayu Shinjo title, Demon Love Spell. This quite funny send-up of paranormal romance manga features a chibified incubus and a bumbling yet sassy shrine maiden. It should appeal to fans of Ai Ore, and for people who dropped Ai Ore due to some of the squicky gender issues in the first volume, I think that the humor in this manga is much easier to relate to.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MICHELLE: There’s not a very robust crop of new manga at Midtown this week, but there are some interesting items nonetheless. I’m tempted to call the second volume of Limit my pick, since it’s of a different breed of shoujo than is usually licensed here, but I just cannot deny the more feel-good pull of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, which has now reached its sixth volume. Okay, yeah, it can be a little crass, but it’s got a good heart!

MJ: Well, since Michelle took up the banner for GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, I’ll be the one to go for the second volume of Keiko Suenobu’s Limit. From my review of the first volume: “Limit‘s biggest asset at this point, in my opinion, is Konno, its difficult protagonist. I call her “difficult” because I think it’s really tricky to get an audience invested in a main character whose motives are so morally weak and self-serving, but when done well, this can be really freaking effective.” And effective this is. Also, the artwork is freaking awesome. Definitely a must-buy for me.

SEAN: I thank my colleagues for leaving me with the choice I was going to make anyway. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service has become another one of *those* Dark Horse titles. You know, the critically acclaimed ones that come out once every decade? As such, I cherish each volume, and volume 13 looks to be giving us more wry humor, more mystery, and more gore. And probably more of Sasaki’s nipples, which have almost appeared more than Makino by this point. With its mystery, horror, and fanservice, it could almost be like Higurashi… except that one would never, ever call Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service moe.

ANNA: I also lean towards Limit 2, but since that was already discussed I will note that the Sailor Moon Box Set is perfectly timed for anyone wanting to pick up the manga for the holidays! I’ve bought all the volumes as single issues already, but box sets are nice to give and get as presents! Plus, who wouldn’t be delighted by the chance to experience again all the sailor suits, battle cries, and swooshing cape of Tuxedo Mask?

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

SEAN: There’s a ton of stuff coming out next week—again—but one obvious Pick of the Week, which is Mari Yamazaki’s Thermae Romae. The artist is known for her comedies, and there’s lots to laugh about here. A Roman architect discovers the ability to time-travel via bath, and ends up in modern times. Though initially freaked out, he is able to use our own modern bathing ideas to transform his own spa back in his time. It may not sound like much, but the execution is what makes it a winner. The manga has won awards and spawned an anime and a live-action feature. Plus the artist lives in Chicago! If this sells well, maybe we can get Kodansha or Vertical to pick up her Sweet Home Chicago series, which runs in the josei magazine Kiss.

MJ: This really is a pretty incredible week, including the latest volume of Real, another installment of Viz’s X omnibus, and license rescue 07-Ghost. And though I absolutely agree with Sean that Thermae Romae trumps pretty much anything you could put on the list, since he’s already mentioned that, I’ll take the opportunity to give a shout-out to one of my surprise favorites of the year, Yen Press’ graphic novel adaptation of Gail Carriger’s Soulless. Its second volume comes out this week, and it’s a wild, tense ride. If you only buy one comic this week, go for Thermae Romae, but if you can manage two, Soulless is worth a look!

MICHELLE: … That really does just about sum it up, doesn’t it?

If, after buying Thermae Romae and Soulless you have room in your budget for more, then I absolutely recommend volume eleven of Takehiko Inoue’s Real. Saturn Apartments and Bokurano: Ours are good, too!

BRIGID: Yes, I want to jump in and put in the word for vol. 6 of Saturn Apartments. It’s a story with a great concept—the main character is a window-washer for a ring-shaped apartment complex that orbits around the earth, so he sees all strata of society—and an amazing visual sense. The cast of characters has been growing since volume 1, and there is an underlying plot anchoring it all, but it’s really a collection of self-contained stories so it isn’t hard to just jump in and start reading with this volume. So yes, Thermae Romae is my first pick too—it’s awesome—but this is my solid second choice.

ANNA: Thermae Romae is on my wish list for the holidays and any week that features a new volume of manga by Takehiko Inoue is a cause for celebration. I am going to go with 07-Ghost though, simply because it is next on my to-read list. I’m always a bit curious about license rescues, and I didn’t read the earlier version of the series which was published by the late lamented Go!Comi. I thought it was interesting that this manga came from the magazine Monthly Comic Zero Sum, home of Loveless and Saiyuki Reload. As I was quickly flipping through the volume I saw attractive art, plenty of action scenes, and weird religious iconography. I am always excited to read any manga featuring those three things!

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MJ: While there’s a lot to get excited about at Midtown Comics this week (and on Sean’s alternate list as well), including the latest (awesome) volume of Bunny Drop and one of my particular favorites, Nabari no Ou, I’m going to use my Pick this week to shine the spotlight on a lesser-known property—MiSun Kim’s Korean webtoon Aron’s Absurd Armada. I read this series’ first chapter back when I used to subscribe to Yen Plus, and after checking out its first full volume for this week’s Off the Shelf, I kinda wish I’d kept that subscription. Though there are certainly more profound comics on this week’s shipping list, and many more thoughtful, better-plotted, and carefully-crafted, too, there could hardly be any more fun. This week, I’m in the mood for a little fun.

SEAN: While the pick is obvious to those who know, me, one thing I find interesting is how far Excel Saga has moved beyond what everyone associated it with back in 2003 when it first debuted in North America. It was never as loud and manic as the anime it inspired—there was always a certain sardonic cynicism to the manga and its vision of a Japan broken by the economic bubble collapse—but when the manga revealed itself to have an actual backstory, as well as genuine characterization and depth for many of the characters, fans who were thinking ‘puns and violence’ were still taken by surprise. Now with Vol. 24 we’re getting to the climax of the story. Will Excel get her body back, or care enough to try? Is Iwata doomed? Will Misaki finally have that nervous breakdown that’s sort of been threatening for a while now? And just how low can Dr. Kabapu sink? There is a real reason I pimp this manga so often, you know. :)

MICHELLE: Man, there is a lot of good stuff on that list, including the debut volumes of a few different series. I’ll be checking out Strobe Edge and Umineko: When They Cry for sure, but, seriously, how could I resist this premise?

If you had 7 days to do whatever you wanted before your spirit is sent to heaven, what would you do? How about becoming a cat for 7 days..? Start With a Happy Ending is a heartfelt story about cats and the preciousness of life.

It’ll be Start with a Happy Ending for me!

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MJ: Though Midtown’s list hasn’t been updated since we put together our new roundtable-style Manga the Week of, I’m still going to pick from Sean’s extended list because I can’t contain my excitement over Viz’s new, lovely-looking box set of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I missed my opportunity to buy this series previously, and though I love the film, I’ve always wanted to read the manga. This is a no-brainer for me this week. I simply must have it. Sorry, We Were There. In any other week, you’d triumph easily.

MICHELLE: MJ, you will love it. Looking back at my 2008 reviews of the series, I see the conclusion prompted me to write: “Overall, reading this series has been an interesting and enjoyable experience. It has required a lot of brain power to digest ideas, events, and their significance, but it’s been worth it. It’s not every day a manga can make you put it down and stare contemplatively at your wall for a few minutes, after all.”

Actually, I was planning to step in here and champion We Were There, but my own words have convinced me to hop aboard the Nausicaä train, too.

SEAN: It’s been a while since I’ve had it as a pick of the week, so I think it’s a good time to champion Sailor Moon again. The 8th volume wraps up the S arc with mucho apocalypse, and our senshi team is now complete. Takeuchi’s plot is dense – this is a series that rewards multiple rereads – and the art in this one is particularly gorgeous, with quite a few double page spreads. And then Super S starts, and I know the appearance of a unicorn in front of Chibi-Usa will make folks twitch, but stay with me on this one. Still one of the premier magical girl shoujo mangas.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

KATE: Though I’m glad to see that Dark Horse is still releasing new volumes of Bride of the Water God—surely one of the most beautiful and confusing manhwa available in English—my vote goes to volume one of Keiko Suenobu’s Limit. The story focuses on a group of girls who survive a terrible bus accident. As they wait for help, the class pariah discovers she has the upper hand over her tormentors, and exploits that turn of events to its fullest. Suenobu sometimes tries too hard to make her story a parable about bullying and social dynamics, but on the whole, Limit manages to be thoughtful *and* entertaining — think Mean Girls with weapons.

MJ: I have to say, I’m with Kate this week. Though there are a number of my favorites on the list this week (I must continue to mention the ever-charming Pandora Hearts), Limit is really a must-buy.

MICHELLE: I’m going to have to chime in with a “ditto,” as well. It’s not too often that we get shoujo like this, and it’s definitely something worth checking out and supporting.

SEAN: Much as I do like the Nagato and DRRR!! spinoffs, I must chime in for Limit as well, which is simply a change of pace from ‘sweet young girl goes to high school and meets cool guy who likes her’ shoujo manga. Limit has its pacing issues, but is a gripping read with lots of high-tension emotion.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

SEAN: It’s a mild second week at Midtown, leading to a somewhat mild choice of picks for the week. I’ll go with the first omnibus volume of Girl Friends, which JManga released digitally last year. Seven Seas is doing its own edition with a different translation. I’m happy to buy it again, as I like reading paper volumes, but it’s also a fun story. One might argue that it’s a bit too cute and fluffy – this is a far cry from angsty 70s shoujo series where one girl always has to die – but honestly I’m happy to sacrifice that for some happy endings. Not that there isn’t a fair share of fretting to be found here, but this is seinen yuri, not shoujo—so the moe is ascendant. Good stuff.

MICHELLE: My vote’s going for the second volume of Punch Up!, which is actually by Shiuko Kano and not Hinako Takenaga (sic), as Midtown claims. This series from SuBLime isn’t really my usual cup of BL tea—nothing about it is sweet or adorable—and yet I am intrigued to see where it goes from here. Plus, there is a cat!

MJ: I’m making my pick a bit frantically today, as I prepare to travel for New York Comic Con, but the title that stands out for me most on the list this week is Viz’s omnibus release of Loveless, volumes one and two. I’m a fan of Yun Kouga in general, but this is a series I missed on its first go-around, so I’m grateful to have a chance to catch up to the newer volumes Viz is releasing as well! Definitely my must-buy of the week.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

KATE: It’s VIZ dump week, in which a large and random assortment of VIZ titles arrive at Midtown Comics. Although there are several great titles to choose from—Skip Beat!, Slam Dunk, A Devil and Her Love Song—my vote goes to volume eight of The Story of Saiunkoku. The volume is worth it just for the scene of Minister Ko’s unmasking, but there’s plenty more going on as well: sexual discrimination, clan intrigue, and romance. (Remember the emperor? He factors into the story in a more prominent way in this volume.) Frustratingly tidy as Saiunkoku can be, it’s still fun to read; I’m irresistibly reminded of Yentl and Mulan every time I sit down with a new volume.

MJ: While the VIZ dump certainly has a lot to offer, I admit I’m leaning in Vertical’s direction. Arrivals this week at Midtown include my pick from last week, Paradise Kiss, but also the fifth volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, one of my least expected current favorites. Though nothing about the premise suggests that this series would be something I’d fall in love with, the fact is, I have, and I can’t help looking forward to each new volume. It’s definitely a GTO week for me!

SEAN: I also went with ParaKiss last week, so I’ll dip into the Viz Blitz this week and pick Vol. 29 of Skip Beat!. First of all, that cover is pure Barbara Cartland, even if no actual hot hot seduction will be happening within the actual pages. What we’ll get instead, I suspect, is more acting angst, more of Ren brooding, Kyoko freaking out about something at least once, and hopefully a shot or two of humor. At 29 volumes and counting, this is one of the longest shoujo series to be published over here, and I’ glad that it still seems to sell well. Mostly as Kyoko is simply fun to read about.

MICHELLE: I think I am going to have to go with Skip Beat!, too. It’s a special series that still makes me go, “Oh, yay! New Skip Beat!” even when we’re talking about volume 29. I could probably love this series at volume 79, actually. It’s that good, and the characters that endearing.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

KATE: Once again, you could count this week’s new arrivals on one hand. But, oh, those arrivals! DMP’s long-awaited edition of Barbara is now available through traditional retail outlets. Like most of Osamu Tezuka’s mature fiction of the 1970s, it’s equally fascinating and infuriating, with passages of sublime beauty and passages of sheer, WTF?! ridiculousness. I’m not sure I “liked” it exactly; a simple “good/bad” rating really doesn’t capture Barbara‘s weirdness, or its ambition, or its compulsive readability. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay Barbara is to say that it elicited a very strong response from me every time I’ve read it—and that’s not something I can say about 98% of the manga I review.

MICHELLE: It’s not on Midtown’s list, but Amazon shows that the latest volume of Vertical’s wine-tasting/sports manga, Drops of God, is due out this Tuesday. Subtitled “New World,” this installment jumps ahead in the storyline to a segment focusing on Napa Valley wines, which should be pretty interesting and which will hopefully garner enough interest to fill in the missing volumes in the near future!

SEAN: If we’ve decided to go rogue and pick stuff in bookstores but not comic shops this week, I think I will go with the first omnibus edition of Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss. A semi-sequel to a shoujo manga from Ribon (as yet unlicensed), this features a young high school girl running into a group of eccentric young fashion designers and finding that she has talent as a model… but is the world of modeling really the safest choice? Pure soap opera, with riveting characters, this was most people’s introduction to Yazawa in North America back in the Tokyopop days, and paved the way for Nana to be an even bigger hit. Glad to see Vertical putting it back in print so it can get the attention it deserves.

MJ: I’ll just chime in here to say that I’m with Sean! I’m all about Paradise Kiss this week!

BRIGID: I never finished the first run of Genshiken, so I think I’d spring for the second volume of the Genshiken omnibus from Kodansha. It is an otaku’s otaku story, filled with all sorts of in-jokes, but the basic premise is universal, and I’ll learn a lot from the translator’s notes.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

MJ: This week’s list at Midtown Comics may look a bit short, but it’s got some pretty compelling offerings, including new volumes of popular favorites like 20th Century Boys, Sailor Moon, and Yotsuba&!, and the second volume of the relatively intriguing Attack On Titan. But my heart belongs to the Dark Horse’s final omnibus edition of CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura. Wanna know why? Well, I wrote a rather giddy essay about it for the CLAMP MMF. Dark Horse’s large-format editions are beautiful enough to make this a must-buy even for fans who already own the TOKYOPOP books, and it’s certainly a must-buy for me.

MICHELLE: I’m going to cast my vote for the second volume of Until Death Do Us Part, from Yen Press. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect from this story about a precognitive girl and the blind swordsman she enlists to protect her, but it turned out to be really interesting, especially the civilian vigilante network that funds the swordsman’s efforts. True, the premise is sustaining me more at this point than the characters, but I’m definitely eager to read more.

SEAN: If you’ve been following Higurashi‘s manga from arc to arc, you’ve begun to see how the lead characters are starting, almost unconsciously, to learn from their past mistakes, mistrust and paranoia and to rely on each other and the Power Of Friendship. We now start the penultimate arc, which is not going to solve everything (it is titled the Massacre Arc, after all), but is starting to have the heartwarming, feel-good moments outweigh the horror and despair. Plus, given it’s now in 2-volume omnibus volumes, it’s getting here faster!

KATE: And my vote goes to Berserk… not! Actually, I’m interested in another Dark Horse title: volume one of CLAMP’s Angelic Layer, a shonen tournament manga that was originally released by Tokyopop in 2002. I have vague memories of reading one or two volumes and judging them harshly against soap opera theatrics of X/1999 and Tokyo Babylon, so I’m curious to see how I feel about Angelic Layer now. Even if the story turns out to be a dud, I know the book itself will be handsomely produced and well translated, so I won’t feel quite so sore about spending the money on it.

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?