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Pick of the Week: Post-NYCC

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In the aftermath of New York Comic Con, we have no Bookshelf Briefs to offer this week, but we did manage to pull together a quick Pick of the Week! Check out our picks from this week’s haul at Midtown Comics below.

MICHELLE: Faced with yet another tough choice this week, I ultimately decided to award my pick to the seventh volume of Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts. Volume one introduced so many story elements at once that it left me baffled, but I’m glad I gave the story another chance because it has coalesced into an affecting tale with genuinely intriguing characters. True, volume six, wherein the gang heads off to visit the little sister of protagonist Oz—who, thanks to her brother’s stint in another dimension, is now older than him—at school and meets some new characters was not my favorite, but I have faith that it will lead somewhere interesting. That’s why I will most assuredly be picking up volume seven!

SEAN: I’m at NYCC, so this will be short. New Higurashi. Start of the Rena arc. Good stuff, go get it.

DAVID: There’s so much great stuff this week, with lots of new releases from Yen Press, a few choice items from Viz’s Signature line, and an always-welcome new volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical, but I have to go with the book that it feels like I’ve been waiting for the longest, and that would be the second volume of Kaoru Mori’s Bride’s Story from Yen. I thought the first volume was faultlessly beautiful, and I’m eager to learn more about its can-do heroine, Amir. As was the case with Mori’s Emma, the plot here is less interesting than the meticulously rendered trappings and the small but very lovely moments that reveal character. With Mori, it’s always more about the harmonic elements than a traditional, central melodic line, but the ultimate effect is always fascinating to me. I really enjoy spending time in the worlds she creates.

KATE: A Bride’s Story is at the top of my must-buy list, too, but since David has so eloquently described the series’ charms, I’ll recommend the first volume of CLAMP’s Gate 7 instead. This long-delayed project was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2007, and has undergone several transformations along the way. (Remember when it was going to be simultaneously released in Japan, Korea, and North America in “mangette” form?) The story is pure CLAMP: a shy teen is transported from modern-day Tokyo to a fantasy realm that’s under siege from ferocious monsters. Naturally, he discovers that he has skillz he didn’t know he had — would it be a manga if he didn’t have a few hidden talents? — and must decide whether to save the Earth or go home for dinner. If the cover art is any indication, Gate 7 will be a feast for the eyes, even if the plot mechanics are a little creaky. Kathryn Hemann, who blogs at Contemporary Japanese Literature, has a thoughtful early review that’s worth reading if you’re on the fence about buying it.

MJ: I’m a bit of a post-con zombie this morning, but since I see that my cohorts have already covered several of my top choices (Pandora Hearts, A Bride’s Story, and Gate 7), I’ll take a moment to put the spotlight on the penultimate volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. This series is always a winner with me, but I’m especially interested in this volume’s final chapter, which reportedly comes in at something like 70 pages. Though short, episodic storytelling served this series well, I admit I’m thrilled at the prospect of digging in to something so substantial. Definitely a must-buy!

Readers, what looks good to you?

Pick of the Week: Cross Game & More

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This week, Midtown Comics plays catch-up with several months’ worth of Kodansha Comics releases, giving the Battle Robot plenty to choose from. Check out our picks below!

KATE: Though I’m not sure why Kodansha felt it was necessary to release a third edition of Gon, I never miss an opportunity to recommend this beautifully illustrated series to new readers. Billed as “the tiny terror from the Jurassic era,” Gon is a little orange t-rex who has a talent for getting into trouble. He tangles with other predators; he eats psychedelic mushrooms; he swims with sharks; he builds a beaver dam. What makes Gon work are the illustrations: Masasahi Tanaka resists the urge to put words into his characters’ mouths, instead relying on his cartooning chops to convey what the participants are feeling and thinking. As a result, this animal-centric series is never too cute or saccharine, capturing the natural world in all its raw (and sometimes comic) glory.

MICHELLE: This week’s chart at Midtown Comics looks pretty bizarre, since they are finally getting in all those Kodansha releases they were missing before. I advocate strongly for quite a few of them—Sailor Moon, Arisa, Shugo Chara!…—but I am going to have to award my pick to the fifth volume of Cross Game, which comes out this week along with several other of VIZ’s Shonen Sunday titles. I enthused about this particular volume in a recent Off the Shelf column, where I concluded my remarks by saying, “If you like sports manga, you will like Cross Game. And if you don’t like sports manga, you will still like Cross Game.” And lo, MJsubsequently read the first volume and proved me right!

SEAN: I hate to duplicate, but I’m going with Cross Game as well. This volume introduces a new plot twist that at first seems like the most cliched thing a reader has ever seen, but Adachi is an expert, and the way things play out is fascinating. The reactions of all the characters are one of the best reasons to get it, as Adachi milks so much from his minimalistic faces. Best of all, there’s a promise of more baseball. After finishing off Eyeshield this week, I’m in the moon for some more sports, and Adachi’s baseball games are thrilling stuff.

MJ: Honestly, I’m really tempted to third Cross Game, but I guess in the interest of spreading the love, I’ll go with volume three of Kim Hyung-Min and Yang Kyung-Il’s March Story. This dark, whimsical series got off to a shaky start, but its third volume is really solid, making the most of Kim Hyung-Min’s episodic storytelling and Yang Kyung-Il’s intricate artwork. There is perhaps a little less through-story than usually suits my taste, but though this volume focuses less heavily on March and her history than either of the earlier volumes, there are enough little nuggets of new information to get me by. And the stories we do get here really work, with a level of consistency absent from the first two volumes. In the beginning, I stuck with this series for the beautiful artwork. Now I’m in for good.

DAVID: I’m going to surprise myself by not third-ing Cross Game (SECRET CODE: I’m totally actually third-ing Cross Game by claiming that I’m not) by giving a little leg-up to a new shônen series from Kodansha by Ryou Ryumon and Kouji Megumi, Bloody Monday. Now, I wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about this book in last week’s Bookshelf Briefs, but I have to say that there’s always room for another stylish mystery featuring super-smart teens, which Viz seems to realize, given the fact that they keep re-releasing Death Note over and over again. The creators do a nice job setting up their complicated story and making a persuasive case that the stakes are high, something not everyone manages in a first volume. I wasn’t precisely blown away by the series debut, but I like mysteries, and I like comics about smart kids who have unique skills, and Bloody Monday fits both bills.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Festival of Viz

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There’s a flood of Viz titles coming in to Midtown Comics this week. Check out the Battle Robot’s picks of the bunch below!

DAVID: It’s the first week of the month, so Viz follows its customary practice of flooding the shelves with new volumes of shônen and shôjo series. While they could certainly learn to pace themselves, I won’t complain if it means I can get my hands on the fifth volume of Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss. This series is turning into a fine example of Suzuki’s ability to balance antic comedy and nuanced emotion, which is always a good recipe for satisfying shôjo. One of the things I particularly like about Suzuki’s work is that she respects her readers’ intelligence and doesn’t need to underline every romantic beat, choosing instead to highlight unexpected moments rather than dwell on the ones we can all recite by heart. The result is a series that fluxes confidently between sweet, silly, urgent, sad, and suspenseful. I’m always happy to spend more time with these characters.

KATE: My vote goes to the fourth volume of Blue Exorcist. I’d be the first to admit that the series covers well-trod territory: it’s got combatants of the cloth, a magical academy where exorcists learn their trade, and a tortured hero who straddles the demon and human worlds. But Kazuo Kaito’s elegant art and quick wit bring this very tired premise to life, making it easy to forgive the frequent capitulations to shonen cliche: characters declaring they’ll “do their best,” sloppy but talented fighters winning the grudging respect of their more disciplined peers. I’m not convinced I want forty more volumes of Blue Exorcist, but what I’ve read so far is good, solid fun.

MICHELLE: There’s a lot on this week’s list—which includes the final volumes of both Eyeshield 21 and Seiho Boys’ High School—that I personally plan on purchasing, but the one I look forward to with the most glee is volume 25 of Yoshiki Nakamura’s Skip Beat!. Although our heroine Kyoko Mogami is still fueled largely by the desire for revenge, she gets more serious about the craft of acting every day while remaining believably oblivious to the romantic feelings of her biggest mentor, renowned actor Ren Tsuruga. Somehow, Nakamura is able to make all of this feel fresh and new, and in volume 24 revisited the well-trod shoujo territory of Valentine’s Day with truly amusing results. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

SEAN: As always with Viz blitz weeks, there’s any number of titles I could talk about, including the aforementioned final volume of Seiho (I love Eyeshield, but it should have ended 3 volumes before it did). And I really want to pick Hark! A Vagrant as well, but it manages to not be manga. So my pick this week goes to a new Weekly Shonen Jump series, the first from Viz in quite some time. PSYЯEN sounds like a standard battle manga, with the only difference being the tournament arc starts right away as opposed to 9-10 volumes in. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by many of the more recent Jump efforts (Nura, Blue Exorcist), and the art looks good. I’m hoping for another fun, exciting series that manages to have fights without letting the manga get overwhelmed by them. And Volume 1s are the best place for that!

MJ: Well, it’s been mentioned a few times, but I’ll be the one to come down firmly on the side of volume eight of Seiho Boys’ High School. This is the final volume of the series, which has managed to remain as brash and funny as ever, while also presenting one of the most moving, realistic portrayals of teen romance I’ve seen in a while. I’ll be discussing this more in this week’s off the shelf, but it’s not that often that shoujo manga successfully balances both the all-consuming heart-burst of young love right alongside its inevitable transience, without degenerating into serious melodrama. This fun, light-hearted series has turned out to be much more poignant than I ever expected, and at just eight volumes, it’s a nice, easy-to-collect length, too. Definitely recommended.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

PotW: Insects, Dogs, & Other Stories

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It’s a quiet week at Midtown Comics, but the battle robot’s choices are clear!

MJ: We’ve hit a slow week again at Midtown Comics, but there’s at least one standout in the mix. This week, we’ll see the release of Osamu Tezuka’s Book of Human Insects, which was announced in Vertical’s panel at last year’s New York Comic Con. There’s no way I’d be willing to miss this, though it’s an interesting pick for me. I have a feeling it’ll be one of those books that blows me away with its artistry while simultaneously killing me with its outlook on humanity. A bleak Tezuka can be hard on us optimistic types, but it’s impossible to reject his genius, and I’d be a fool to try. This is absolutely my must-buy manga for the week.

DAVID: I should try and spread the wealth, but I just have to second MJ’s choice. This is my very favorite kind of Tezuka: crazy plotting and intense social commentary, with some indelible characters. I found Ayako disappointing, but Book of Human Insects is right up my alley.

KATE: Since David and MJhave taken up the cause of Human Insects, I’m going to plug Stargazing Dog. I don’t know if Takahashi Murakami was inspired by Vittorio DeSica’s Umberto D., but like that 1951 film, Stargazing Dog features a down-on-his-luck man whose only companion is his dog. Yes, I know, that sounds horribly mawkish, but Murakami manages to tug on the heartstrings without being sentimental. More impressive still, he pulls off that feat while allowing us to be privy to the dog’s thoughts, something DeSica didn’t have the stones to try. Highly recommended for dog-fanciers, though be warned: have tissues handy, as you will need them.

MICHELLE: Aw man, I was going to pick Stargazing Dog! I guess I will just have to second what Kate says here, and note that despite the fact that I am a bona fide cat lover, I am totally weak against endearing canines in fictional form. One interesting thing to note is that at the same time that Stargazing Dog is coming out in print, courtesy of NBM Publishing (who’ve also released some quality manhwa), it’s also available on JManga.com as Star Protector Dog.

SEAN: If I had to rely on Midtown’s lists for my PotW, I’d never mention Kodansha at all. And I already mentioned Sailor Moon and Sailor V two weeks ago. So I will once again go to the Negima well. Last volume was rather depressing, with all sorts of horrible things happening to our heroes. Naturally, that means that this volume is the one where our heroes step up and start kicking ass. I feel I should note that Volume 31 features my favorite scene in all of Negima to date. A scene so awesome that the entire cast comments later on about how awesome it was. And yes, there will be more fanservicey nudity here too. It’s Negima, that’s how it rolls.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: FMA, Zoo in Winter, Arata

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The choices are meaty this week at Midtown Comics, and choosing just one has given most of us a bit of heartache. See what we settled on below!

SEAN: As I noted in my shipping post earlier in the week, Fullmetal Alchemist is up to its penultimate volume. And you know what that means. That means the apocalypse is upon us. I had missed this series for quite some time because of a plot point early on that frankly creeped me out so much that I never wanted to go near the thing again (you can probably guess which one), but I have caught up, and am glad I did. With lots of awesome moments (both for men and women alike – FMA has some of the most badass heroines in manga) and a plot that rarely gets sidetracked, we should be headed up to one hell of a finale. If everyone can survive this book, that is.

MJ: I’m really torn this week, because though I feel it’s urgent that someone choose the fourth volume of Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves, if I really could buy only one volume of manga this week, it would have to be Fullmetal Alchemist. One of this series’ biggest draws for me is the fact that Hiromu Arakawa has really never strayed from her heroes’ primary objective, which means that we’re truly reaching the climax of the entire series. And with so much work and planning put toward building this up, you better believe it’s a doozy. I decided a long while ago that I was in this series for the long haul, and I’ve never regretted it. There’s no way I’d give it up now, even for the likes of Ono. Thankfully, in the real world, I don’t actually have to choose.

DAVID: It is hard to pass up on either Fullmetal or Five Leaves, but I can never seem to resist throwing my support to boutique publisher Fanfare/Ponent Mon and its mainstay manga-ka, Jiro Taniguchi. Now, I unexpectedly find myself liking Taniguchi’s manly-man meditations, books like The Quest for the Missing Girl, just a little bit more than his more subdued pieces like A Distant Neighborhood. In my perfect world, we’d be getting a new volume of The Summit of the Gods before the debut of A Zoo in Winter, which is basically a portrait of the artist as a young assistant. That’s just splitting hairs, obviously, as anything by Taniguchi hovers near the top of my must-have list, and I know we’ll be getting more Summit before too long. Fans of Bakuman might appreciate this alternate take on the subject, which will probably be more Sundance Channel than Shonen Jump.

KATE: I second David’s recommendation! I, too, like Taniguchi’s manly-man manga, whether he’s paying tribute to film noir (Benkei in New York, Hotel Harbour View) or writing a man-against-nature saga (Summit of the Gods), but I think Taniguchi is at his best when writing about more prosaic subjects. A Distant Neighborhood, for example, was a lovely meditation on adolescent awkwardness, while A Zoo in Winter, his latest, is about joining the world of adult responsibility. There are a few overdetermined moments, but on the whole, it’s a thoughtful, semi-autobiographical story about a young man who discovers that being a manga-ka is a lot more work than he ever imagined. Taniguchi’s art is crisp and evocative, and the script heartfelt but never saccharine.

MICHELLE: I intend to buy every single book mentioned above, but I’m going to have to award my pick to volume seven of Yuu Watase’s Arata: The Legend. I dove into this series just recently and fell in love with it in a big way. It’s got all your shounen adventure trappings—a modern-day teen in a fantasy world who is chosen by the most awesomest sword-god around and tasked with saving the princess—but with a real shoujo flair, as romances gradually develop, past trauma plays a part in present conflicts, and handsome guys regularly walk around bearing their studly midriffs. While I like certain of Watase’s shoujo works—I steered clear of Absolute Boyfriend but positively adore Fushigi Yûgi—I’m starting to think that shounen is where she really belongs!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Magical Girls FTW

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Though Midtown Comics expects some real winners this week, much of the gang looks to other distribution sources for one of the most-anticipated releases of the year.

MICHELLE: While this week’s list over at Midtown Comics does include some real contenders—Bunny Drop and Goong especially—I simply must go off list this time and pick what has to be one of the most highly anticipated (if not the most, but we are in a situation where Princess Knight is also on its way!) releases of the year: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. It’s a classic and a nostalgic favorite for many, but also has an empowering message for young girls. They’ve got a duty, a mission, they can become strong, and it’s up to them to make the most of themselves and save the world. Don’t miss the prequel/companion series Codename: Sailor V, either!

SEAN: Yes, while I really should be trying to drive up Hayate the Combat Butler’s sales by talking about how enjoyable this current serious arc is, it’s got to be Sailor Moon this week. Or rather, I’ll talk about Code Name: Sailor V, the series whose popularity is what led to Sailor Moon in the first place. Many who are unaware of the series’ origins have noted the similarities between Usagi and Minako, and there’s a good reason for that – Moon is just V with an added sentai team, as requested by the author’s publisher. This does not make V any less awesome – Minako is more proactive (and impulsive) than Usagi, which leads to some fantastic humor. (As TV Tropes noted, trying to contrast the two heroines: “Usagi is a crybaby and Minako is a drama queen.”) So happy to see North America finally getting a chance to read this.

MJ: Though I’m loathe to pass up the chance to talk more about Goong, I simply can’t deny the spectacular nature of this week’s release of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and its prequel, Code Name: Sailor V. Though it’s yet unknown whether I will fall for the series as so many have, I am absolutely thrilled to finally have the opportunity to experience what was the initial point of entry for so many American manga fans, and especially for female fans. These are absolutely my must-read manga for the week.

DAVID: For whatever incomprehensible reason, neither of the Sailor debuts will be showing up at my local comic shop, which would have been enough to plant a seed of dark bitterness in my heart, were it not for the fact that I can look forward to the fourth volume of Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop from Yen Press. (Okay, there was also the intervention of a small squadron of Sailor Scouts who fired sparkly beams at me from their accessories.) I have a weakness for stories that unfold in something close to real time, and when you combine that with a thoughtful, slice-of-life examination of parenting, I’m pretty much undone. I love this book, and I’m looking forward to meeting more of better-than-he-expected adoptive father Daikichi’s extended family. Seeing a competent male parent, single or otherwise, is something that’s so rare in entertainment that Daikichi’s anxious, thoughtful efforts are particularly welcome.

KATE: Since MJ is singing the praises of Sailor Moon, I’ll bang the drum for volume 12 of Goong: The Royal Palace. This gorgeously illustrated manhwa isn’t just for monarchy watchers, though anyone who followed Kate and William’s nuptials will certainly adore this soap opera. It’s for folks who like a good old-fashioned drama, with a big, sprawling cast of characters, a plucky heroine, several handsome suitors, and the kind of meddling parents who make Queen Elizabeth look like the founder of the Free Range Kids movement. And if you’re the kind of person who keeps tabs on what Kate and Pippa wear around London, so much the better: no one in Goong ever, ever leaves their room without dressing to the nines. In short, it’s a stylish, compelling soap opera that makes the most of its royal trappings, and I’m totally addicted to it.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: All Viz, all the time

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It’s a Viz-heavy week at Midtown Comics. Check out picks from the Battle Robot below!

KATE: It’s time for the semi-monthly VIZ dump, which means new volumes of such long-running titles as Naruto and One Piece, as well as a random assortment of shojo and shonen series. My pick is the fourth volume of Oresama Teacher, a juvie-gone-straight comedy from the creator of Magic Touch. The fact that the same person is responsible for both series is nothing short of mind-blowing; I found Magic Touch tepid, tedious, and entirely too wholesome for its own good. Oresama, on the other hand, is fun and silly, with a great, feisty lead character and just enough edges that an old curmudgeon like me can enjoy it without needing an insulin injection.

MICHELLE: I actually thought the 58th volume of One Piece was coming out in October, so with Midtown’s list providing evidence to the contrary, how could I do otherwise than name this my pick of the week? It’s pretty special to be this excited about the 58th volume of a series, but mangaka Eiichiro Oda continues to do new and interesting things with the world and characters he’s created. In the current arc, for example, the simmering tensions between pirates and navy have finally come to a head in the form of an epic battle in the midst of which Luffy, and his kickass drag queen allies, strive to rescue his brother, Ace. Yes, I miss the other Straw Hats, but this is definitely going to be a volume I start reading immediately after coming into possession of it.

SEAN: First of all, I enjoyed The Magic Touch quite a bit, so neener neener neener. (Sorry, I had to respond, it’s contractual). For my pick of the week I will pick a final volume, the last of the josei experiment from our friends at Shojo Beat, Butterflies, Flowers. I have been back and forth about this title its entire run, generally depending on how much backbone its heroine is showing at the time. However, unlike some other shoujo series with bad reputations, Choko does show SOME backbone – when she puts her foot down it can be awesome. And the hero is of an over the top type we really haven’t seen over here – Tamaki from Ouran might match him for foolishness but is far too much of a gentleman to ever go as far into the gutter as Masayuki does throughout. Best of all, even if it’s offensive and wrong at times, it at least KNOWS it’s a comedy – which is more than one can say for Ai Ore half the time. I’ll miss it, and hope Viz tries more Josei Beat soon.

MJ: My choice is pretty surprising, or at least it is to me, but after reading the 36th volume of Bleach due out this week, I found myself more interested in the series than I have been for a long time. A long jump back in time might not be the most original storytelling convention ever, but it turns the focus away from battles and back to characterization, which is where I love Tite Kubo best. I don’t know for sure how long this backstory arc will last, but I’m grateful for it while it’s here. It’s nice to feel excited about reading Bleach again.

DAVID: I’m rather surprised to see myself type this, as I’m still on the fence about the series, but I’m going to go with the fourth volume of Kaori Yuki’s Grand Guignol Orchestra. My reaction to each volume so far has been mixed, but Yuki keeps bringing enough eye-popping weirdness and energy to the proceedings to keep me on the hook, even if consistency isn’t her watchword. Our band of zombie-fighting musicians has really put their collective feet in it as this volume begins, forcing Yuki to pay attention to her overarching plot. In my admittedly limited experience, her likelihood of success in this endeavor is about 50%, but I know there will at least be some freaky, “What the hell was that?” diversions.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Lotsa Kodansha

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Take a look at the Manga Bookshelf bloggers’ picks from this week’s new releases!

SEAN: There’s any number of interesting titles due out this week (hurricane permitting), but the one that most catches my eye is Bloody Monday. First off, it’s from the brother/sister writing team responsible, under various pen names, for Drops of God, Getbackers, Kindaichi Case Files, Remote and Psycho Busters. Secondly, it’s an intense psychological techno-thriller with terrorists, computer viruses, and a lot of difficulty knowing who to trust. It might definitely appeal to the Death Note crowd who liked the manga’s tense back-and-forth plotting – or heck, even Die Hard fans, though there’s no obvious John McClane figure here. It’s also spawned 2 sequels, the last of which is still running in Japan.

DAVID: After the last few weeks of relative scarcity, it’s nice to see a diverse list, even if it isn’t a particularly bountiful one. For me, the highlight is the 13th volume of Hiroki Endo’s Eden: It’s an Endless World! This paranoid, post-apocalyptic drama almost always has something intriguing to offer, even when Endo strays too long in pet subplots that don’t seem entirely specific to the world he’s been building. I’m glad that Dark Horse continues to release this series, however slowly, though I always have to go back and refresh my memory of what happened during the last couple of volumes, because I’m an old man, and some of my brain cells go into retirement over an 18-month period. Of course, a new volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service would make me even happier.

KATE: I normally loathe manga based on video games, but I was pleasantly surprised by Hiro Mashima’s Monster Hunter Orage: it’s funny, fast-paced, and smartly illustrated. Mashima does a fine job of adapting the source material, translating game play into an actual narrative and not just a series of monster-fighting set-pieces. Oh, and Mashima creates two awesome female leads, both of whom are smart, sensible, and handy with weapons. (Not surprisingly, they find the strong but dumb-as-toast hero a source of amusement and frustration.) No, it won’t change your life, or challenge your conceptions about what shonen manga is, but it’s a perfect read for a subway commute or a rainy afternoon.

MICHELLE: I agree with Kate’s assessment of Monster Hunger Orage 100%, but rather than simply say “ditto” I will cast my vote for Warning! Whispers of Love, a new one-volume title from Digital Manga Publishing. I admit that I am judging this one almost solely on its unconventional cover, but that strategy worked well for me with I Give to You, so why not employ it a second time? The blurb over at DMP’s site suggests that the hijinks might get a little too zany for my tastes—one of the boys seems to have an ear-swabbing fetish—but I’m willing to give it a shot, at least.

MJ: I’m going to stray from the usual Midtown list this week and pick out a title that became available at Boston’s Comicopia last week, Kodansha Comics’ re-release of Until the Full Moon from mangaka Sanami Matoh. Having completely missed the original English release from Broccoli Books, I admit I’m quite eager to give it a whirl, if for no other reason than my undying love affair with its brand of old-school shoujo artwork. I would be content with simply looking at this manga, but I’m hoping to find it enjoyable to read as well. Absolutely my must-read comic for the week.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: JManga

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With only one volume of new manga shipping to Midtown Comics, this week’s pick looked bleak. Fortunately, David came to the rescue, by suggesting a new way for us to spend our money. See below!

MICHELLE: The big news in the manga sphere this week was JManga‘s launch on 8/17. I have already spent more money than I’d intended snapping up first volumes of some intriguing-looking series. All look potentially great, but I am perhaps most interested to read Ekiben Hitoritabi, a seinen series from Futabasha in which a train-loving man receives a trip around Japan from his wife on their tenth wedding anniversary. He proceeds to travel around, sampling the bentos available at the various stations. Like Sean mentioned in his recent review of Urameshiya, what I was really looking for out of JManga was a title I’d never heard of before that probably wouldn’t have sold well in a print edition. Ekiben Hitoritabi seems to fit the bill perfectly, and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

SEAN: As has been noted, I’ve already reviewed a manga from Futabasha, Urameshiya. I therefore wanted to highlight something new by another company. Shonen Gahosha has only free previews (in Japanese) of its titles best known here in America – Excel Saga, Hellsing, and Trigun). But it does have Volume 1 in English of a title that has not been released here – Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, which translates approximately to ‘And Yet The Town Turns’ and is generally referred to as ‘Sore-Machi’. It’s about a maid cafe in a small town, and our plucky hero who tries to deal with events as best she can despite being not a particularly good maid. The manga also got an anime in Japan in late 2010, which might be why it’s available here, and is still running in Young King OURS, Shonen Gahosha’s best known magazine. In amongst all the worthy josei and seinen manga that my colleagues will no doubt be pushing, it’s nice to see a goofy, weird, slice-of-life maid comedy popping up as well to cater to slice-of-life fans and maid otaku (though I suspect this might be a bit too strange for the typical otaku).

MJ: With so much to choose from, I hardly know where to start! But I do have my eye on Hyakkiyakoushou, one of the site’s josei series from mangaka Ichiko Ima, previously licensed (but never published) by Aurora Publishing. I’m always a sucker for supernatural manga, and this one has lured me in with its free preview. There’s no new ground here, really, in terms of ghost stories, but it looks genuinely creepy and a little melancholy, both of which tend to appeal to me. It’s award-winning, according to the internet, with expressive artwork and some nice period details. The names of the first three chapters (“The Voice Calling from the Darkness”, “The Sea-Hare” and “Cherry Tree Sparrow”) appeal to my sensibilities as well. Looks like my kind of manga!

DAVID: One of my personal fascinations is fixated on comics that explore the way people work and the way that activity factors into their lives. I love just about any comic that’s set in a workplace in a meaningful way, and I think there are far too few of them. So the first offering to really grab my attention would have to be Anesthesiologist Hana by Nakao Hakua and Kabbei Matsumoto. The title is about as literal as you can expect from manga, offering a realistic depiction of the challenges of a young woman working as an anesthesiologist, an often-under-appreciated medical profession. The manga does not seem to offer a particularly realistic depiction of boobs, but you’re cutting out a lot of seinen if you use that as a limiting factor. I also find myself writing tag lines for the series: “She can put you to sleep, but her adventures will keep your pulse racing!”

Readers, have you checked out JManga? What looks good to you?

Pick of the Week: Short Stack

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With only five new manga releases shipping to Midown Comics this week, what will our bloggers pick? See below to find out!

SEAN: It’s a smaller week this time around, but even if there were tons of titles, my pick would likely be the same. I found the first volume of Q Hayashida’s Dorohedoro to be my favorite out of all the SigIkki titles, and subsequent volumes have only added to my enjoyment. Its grim and unforgiving fantasy dystopia is lovingly detailed (you can pore through the backgrounds for hours), and its plot straight out of anyone’s nightmares (ever wake up with your head replaced with a giant lizard’s?). The reason that I can deal with its sordid underbelly is the wicked (and equally violent) sense of humor it has, with its main cast never seeming to let the bad things that happen to them crush their spirits. In fact, Ciaman and Nikaido, and their ‘evil’ counterparts Shin and Noi, can be quite jovial! Give this quirky series a try (if you don’t mind blood, it’s quite violent.) Plus, female creator!

MJ: This is a tricky pick for me, with nothing I’m really excited about shipping into Midtown Comics this week. With that in mind, I’m going to go completely off the list and get into the spirit of this week’s Manga Moveable Feast by recommending that everyone pick up something by Fumi Yoshinaga. My rereads this week include favorite older series Flower of Life and Antique Bakery, but there is plenty of newer or current Yoshinaga to check out if those are hard to find. Both Yen Press (Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy) and Viz Media (Ooku, All My Darling Daughters) have served up recent helpings of Yoshinaga that should be relatively easy to acquire. I recommend keeping some snacks handy. Reading Yoshinaga always makes me hungry.

DAVID: It might have escaped your notice, but our long, national nightmare is finally over, and the Eisner Awards have finally given a prize to Naoki Urasawa. After an enormous number of nominations, he won a 2011 Eisner for 20th Century Boys. Conveniently enough, the 16th volume of this series arrives this Wednesday. Equally convenient is the fact that this is my favorite Urasawa title to be released in English, so I have no problem recommending it. One of my few complaints with Urasawa’s work is his inclination toward over-seriousness, so the generally wry tone of this series is especially welcome. It’s a great thriller that doesn’t neglect humor as it spins its various yarns. (Oh, and if you happen to have the Viz app on one of your various devices, you can now read Oishinbo in that format. This is something that bears repeating.)

KATE: After reading Bluewater’s unauthorized bio-comic of Lady Gaga, I’m morbidly curious about Fame: 50 Cent. The Lady Gaga comic was almost impossible to describe: it featured a middle-aged rock journalist who reluctantly agrees to write an article about Gaga, only to have a surreal experience when he listens to “Bad Romance.” (He actually imagines that he’s Lady Gaga; the sight of a balding, hairy man in one of Gaga’s most outre costumes was worth the cover price alone.) I don’t know that the 50 Cent story lends itself to such an avant-garde presentation, but given the sheer weirdness of Bluewater’s other Fame comics, I can’t imagine it will be boring.

MICHELLE Sometimes I feel like the only person who likes Bokurano: Ours. Indeed, it is very grim—there are quite a few similarities with Ikigami, actually—and somewhat repetitive, as members of a group of children sit quietly in the background until it is their turn to sacrifice their life piloting a giant robot that is ostensibly defending Earth. As you might expect, this is very depressing, but some creepy circumstances surrounding the arrival of the aliens makes me question is any of this even real? In addition to being cruel and horrible, is all of this just futile? Just a game? It’s this underlying mystery that keeps me coming back despite the need for a fluffy shoujo transfusion I typically feel afterwards.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: 13th Boy & More

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It’s a Yen-heavy week at Midtown Comics! See how the Manga Bookshelf blogger picks stack up below!

MICHELLE: Although VIZ Media and others make a decent showing on this week’s release list from Midtown Comics, the majority of the titles hail from Yen Press. Unfortunately, most of them are the latest volumes in series I don’t personally follow, but there is one shining gem, the eighth volume of the quirky and fun manhwa, 13th Boy. I recently indulged in a binge and got caught up on the series, so I’m looking forward to keeping current with new releases. When we left off, Beatrice, heroine Hee-So’s talking cactus, was stuck in his human form and living with his creator lest he burden his beloved owner with his troublesome presence. I never thought I’d be rooting for a cactus to win the girl of his dreams, but it’s to 13th Boy‘s credit that this seems like an entirely rational thing to do.

SEAN: I already pimped Book Girl and the Captive Fool on my Manga The Week Of post, so will stop myself doing so again, even though it’s a fantastic novel series that everyone should be getting. Instead, I’ll go for the 4th and last of Higurashi When They Cry: Eye Opening Arc, which concludes the ‘Shion’ arc of the manga based on visual game series. This particular arc has a reputation of being one of the bloodiest and most off-putting, and therefore I expect getting through the last volume will be quite a haul for me, as generally speaking I tend to avoid gore. As always, though, Higurashi’s intense plot and taut emotions pull me in, and if it upsets me too much, I’ll remind myself of the reset button and Rena’s arc beginning in October.

MJ: I’d like to say that I’m torn this week, with the latest volume of Blue Exorcist on the way, but I’m not. I’m with Michelle, all the way. 13th Boy is one of my favorite girls’ comic series being published today, and one of the few series I’ll put aside everything to read the moment it lands on my doorstep. It’s just that charming. SangEun Lee has managed to create a heroine who really is just an “ordinary” girl, while reminding us how idiosyncratic and genuinely relatable “ordinary” can be. Also, as Michelle mentioned, it’s the first time ever I can recall actively ‘shipping someone with a cactus. I wholeheartedly recommend 13th Boy.

DAVID: I’m going to be predictable and take up the Blue Exorcist mantle. You can see my specific opinion of the third volume in this week’s Bookshelf Briefs, but I will note that Kazue Kato becomes more assured with this material with each new volume. It’s not perfect fantasy adventure, but it’s certainly the best example to debut lately, and it’s got some great, root-worthy characters.

KATE: Though I also share the group’s enthusiasm for Blue Exorcist and 13th Boy, I’m going to recommend the latest omnibus of InuYasha. Readers familiar with the anime will want to pick us this particular volume, as it features the beginning of the series’ best-loved story arc: The Band of Seven. There’s also a plotline involving Sesshomaru — always a plus in my book — and a memorable showdown between InuYasha and a faceless demon. And if you still need persuading, let me praise VIZ for giving InuYasha the deluxe treatment it deserves, printing it on good quality, over-sized paper, retouching the artwork, and reproducing the original Japanese covers in full color.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

PotW: Kaze Hikaru, Gintama, Saiunkoku, Cardcaptor

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It’s another strong week at Midtown Comics! Check out the Manga Bookshelf bloggers’ picks below!

KATE: After last week’s meager offerings, this week’s new arrival list has something for everyone: robots, magical girls, hoop fanatics, mad surgeons, cross-dressing samurai. Though I’m looking forward to reading Tank Tankuro: The Pre-War Years, 1934-1935, my heart belongs to Kaze Hikaru, which returns to the VIZ publishing schedule after a one-year hiatus. Volume nineteen unfolds against the backdrop of Commodore Perry’s arrival in Tokyo Bay. Taeko Watanabe milks this political crisis for all its dramatic potential, but never loses sight of her story’s core: the relationship between Sei and Soji. Crisp artwork, memorable characters, and a sophisticated treatment of Edo-era history are the frosting on this delicious cake.

MICHELLE: There’s much on this week’s Midtown list that I will personally be buying—especially Cardcaptor Sakura and Slam Dunk—but nothing that I want more or care about more than volume nineteen of Kaze Hikaru, so I’m going to have to piggyback on Kate’s pick this week. The fact that the heroine is cross-dressing throughout may give one the impression that the series is a comedy, and certainly there are humorous elements, but mostly it’s an emotional story of one girl’s attempts to understand the other samurai and their notions about honor. It’s been a full year since the release of volume eighteen, which leaves me pretty worried for the fate of the series. This is not a case where releases have slowed down because we’ve caught up to Japan—volume 30 just came out there—but simply due to low sales. So, please check out Kaze Hikaru! Even if you think you don’t like shoujo.

SEAN: This saddens me, but I too must pick a doomed series as my Pick of the Week. The final volume of Gintama from Viz is not, of course, the final volume in Japan. There, the series is quite popular, and in no danger of ending soon. Sadly, that may be *why* Viz is ending it – mediocre sales don’t justify its constant release. A shame, as it’s not only one of Jump‘s funniest series, but also highly dramatic and battle-heavy at times, with great female characters to boot.

MJ: This really is a tough week, isn’t it? With new volumes of Black Jack and Cardcaptor Sakura shipping this week, not to mention a whole host of terrific options from Viz’s Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat lines, it’s incredibly difficult to choose just one. In the end, I think I’ll cast my vote for volume four of The Story of Saiunkoku, one of my favorite new shoujo titles from the past year. Quite a number of us have written glowingly about this series, and particularly about its smart, spunky, civic-minded heroine, but I think one of my favorite observations about her comes from Cathy Yan’s recent installment of Don’t Fear the Adaptation, ” Shoujo heroines often pay lip service to a life framed around something other than romance, but Shurei actually lives that life.” Yes, that. Definitely a must-buy.


DAVID: Good grief, it is an embarrassment of riches this week. I could easily pick Tezuka’s Black Jack or Saiunkoku, or I could branch out for Gajo Sakamoto’s Tank Tankuro. All of the reasonable arguments for these books are deafened by how much I loved Dark Horse’s first omnibus of CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura. Adorable, sly, funny, exciting, and beautifully produced, I’ve been counting the days to this release since about the minute I finished reading the first volume.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Boys, Girls, & Ghosts

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It’s a slow but not quite dismal week at Midtown Comics. Check out the Manga Bookshelf bloggers’ picks below!

DAVID: It’s a narrow but interesting selection at Midtown Comics. In one of my experiments in crowd-sourcing, I ended up pre-ordering Kikuko Kihuya’s Entangled Circumstances, which will consequently earn my Pick of the Week status. I admit that I’m shallow enough that part of this was because I really found the cover design to be striking. It’s also about grown-ups with jobs, which makes my heart flutter, though the protagonists also share a past of some degree of awkwardness tracking back to their university days. I’m really just that easy to please, though: make it look nifty, and make your protagonists old enough to drink or sign a lease.

KATE: Them’s some slim pickings at Midtown Comics this week! But if I had to pick something from the list, I’d choose the sixth and final volume of Time and Again (Yen Press). I admit that I found the first few volumes a bumpy ride, as the script abounded in slangy phrases and anachronistic jokes that detracted from the spooky atmosphere. By volume three, however, author JiUn Yun had a better handle on the material, and the series began to evolve into something more interesting: a character study about a troubled young exorcist. The final volume explores the family curse that doomed Baek-On to a life of lonely wandering, allowing us to fully appreciate the origins of his prickly, detached personality. Oh, and that flashback? It’s a heck of a ghost story, too.

MICHELLE: You’re not kidding about the paucity of options on Midtown’s list! Still, like David, I find myself intrigued by the new batch of DMP releases. Entangled Circumstances has the prettiest cover, it’s true, but some of the others fare pretty well, too, like This Night’s Everything, which definitely doesn’t look like your typical BL. It also involves grown up with jobs—apparently a politician and his bodyguard who coldly handles dirty work—and sounds like it has potential to be an interesting story.

SEAN: I am going to rebel against the Midtown list, as they are apparently involved in some giant Kodansha boycott or something, and make my pick the thirtieth volume of Ken Akamatsu’s Negima!, which Diamond will be shipping to all non-Midtown stores this week. The manga has been in its ‘Magical World’ for about 10 volumes now, and things are finally getting to a big action-packed climax, which will take several volumes and is still ongoing as of this writing. This is the start of it, where Negi finds out the truth about his mother’s so-called treachery and the enemy makes their move against his students. Also, I believe this volume is low on fanservice, so it’s a great one to pick up if you dislike that aspect of it.

MJ: Since Kate’s already put the spotlight on what would have been my pick from Midtown, the final volume of JiUn Yun’s Time and Again, I’ll follow Sean’s lead and go rebel against the list by naming volume eleven of Peach Pit’s Shugo Chara! from Kodansha Comics, which by all appearances should be arriving this week, but isn’t. Shugo Chara! is a long-time favorite of mine, thanks to its feisty, deeply-conflicted heroine, her idiosyncratic team of friends, heart-pounding tween-fantasy romance, adorable artwork, and identity-searching themes that resonate more personally with this forty-something reader than they probably should. This is the final volume of the original series, with volume 12 picking up the published chapters of its sequel, Shugo Chara! Encore!, thankfully continued by Kodansha Comics after being pulled from Del Rey Manga. So if you’ve never tried this thoughtful magical-girl series, this is the time to start!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Something for everyone

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It’s a relatively slow week at Midtown Comics, but what’s there is well worth reading, as the Manga Bookshelf bloggers reveal below!

MJ: I’m feeling pretty indecisive this week, with new volumes of a couple of my favorite series shipping into Midtown Comics, as well as new work from a favorite creator. Viz Media’s releases are few but fantastick, as they offer up the latest volume of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku as well as the older (but new to us!) La Quinta Camera from the ever-glorious Natsume Ono. Still, I’ll throw my vote to volume eight of Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica, just out from Vertical. Twin Spica contains everything I look for in a series, thoughtful characterization, carefully crafted plot, awesome female characters, and more than a dash of bittersweet whimsy. It’s one of my favorite series currently running, and I wouldn’t miss this volume for the world. Neither should you!

DAVID: Ono and Yoshinaga have become linked in my thinking, as they’re both creators who seem to tell precisely the kind of stories that please them, and if someone would like to publish those stories in their magazines, that’s lovely, but neither is inclined to accommodate the house style. And I love that in a creator. So, while it’s cruel of Viz to force me to pick just one of their works, circumstances demand it. As a result, I’ll go with Yoshinaga’s Ooku, as it’s been longer since I’ve read a new volume of her work than Ono’s. I’m looking forward to more mesmerizing period drama about women in power.

KATE: Tempting as it is to join the chorus of folks praising La Quinta Camera, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, or Twin Spica, I’m going a little further off the reservation with my Pick of the Week: Marvel Comics’ 15 Love. Anyone who’s read my site knows that I’m not a Big Two kinda gal; I’m not keen on superhero comics, and seldom find much outside of DC’s Vertigo imprint that appeals to me as a reader. But I’m genuinely excited to buy 15 Love, a three-issue mini-series about a teenage tennis player who’s juggling competition, school, and a modeling career. The series has an interesting history: originally commissioned in 2003, the project was completed but never published — until now. I’m not sure who Marvel hoped would read it, but the concept and preview art have a pleasant, shojo manga vibe. (You can view a few pages at The Beat.) Even if the story doesn’t live up to Sho Murase’s awesome cover, art 15 Love seems like the kind of comics project that deserves my support as a female reader.

MICHELLE: I am a huge fan of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, and though I must admit that I have yet to actually read his other VIZ series, Real and Vagabond, I have been buying them faithfully. I started picking up the Vagabond VIZBIG editions when I had a Border’s gift certificate to burn and, seeing the first one on the shelf, proceeded to flip through it, whereupon I encountered color illustrations so gorgeous I immediately, and without hesitation, proceeded to the checkout counter. My pick this week, therefore, is the tenth VIZBIG edition of Vagabond, collecting what I presume is volumes 28 to 30 of the series.

SEAN: I will be picking the latest Natsume Ono, La Quinta Camera. I didn’t really get into not simple, which I found a bit too depressing for my taste. This new one-shot seems to be more along the lines of Ristorante Paradiso and Gente, however, which is fantastic, as I loved those to death. Ono seems to be at her best when people are sitting around having a conversation, usually while not looking at each other. And this still isn’t quite all of her backlog, either, as we’re supposed to get the short-story collection Tesoro later in the year.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Pick of the Week: Cross Game & Others

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It’s another heavy release week at Midtown Comics. Join the Manga Bookshelf gang as they choose their week’s picks with new battle robot limb Sean Gaffney leading the way!

SEAN: My pick of the week is Cross Game Volume 4, which has now reached the halfway mark with this volume. Judging by what few sales numbers we see, Cross Game seems to do ‘OK, not great’. Therefore, we must continue to push it to everyone we know, as it really is a fantastic series, not only making baseball exciting even to non-fans, but also having a completely different mood and flow compared to both the typical shonen plot and the typical shonen lead couple. Plus it’s an omnibus, so you get two here! This will have the Japanese volumes 8 & 9.

MJ: I have a feeling Cross Game could be a popular choice this week, so I’ll take up the cause for one of my favorite shounen series, Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts. Yen Press releases volume six this week, and while it is probably the goofiest installment in the series so far, it still maintains the beautifully creepy vibe I’ve enjoyed all along. Currently running in Square Enix’s GFantasy, this series brings on the girl-friendly fanservice I’ve come to expect from that magazine, along with healthy portions of supernatural adventure, wry humor, and heart-wrenching human drama. And did I mention that it’s creepy? Throw in some really gorgeous costuming, and you’re pretty much got me hooked.

DAVID: MJ’s intuition is correct, as I’m going to second Sean’s recommendation of the fourth Cross Game collection. In spite of industry contractions, we’re still getting a ton of great new manga, and I would put this series right near the top of the list in terms of quality, inventive storytelling, and overall entertainment value.

KATE: Sean said everything that I would have said in support of Cross Game, so I’m going to recommend volume thirty-nine of Case Closed instead. Don’t be intimated by the sheer number of volumes; readers can jump into Case Closed at almost any point in its run and follow the action without difficulty, as the stories are generally short and self-contained. The latest volume pits kid sleuth Conan Edogawa against a serial arsonist whose likes to leave a small model horse at the scene of his fires. True, the story rehearses some familiar mystery/crime procedural tropes, but the brisk pace, smart-looking artwork, and snappy dialogue prevent the series from devolving into a manga re-hash of the Agatha Christie canon.

MICHELLE: Count me in as another voice in support of Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game, but I’m also personally looking forward to revisiting Rumiko Takahashi’s RIN-NE, which is now up to its sixth volume. I don’t love the series as ardently as I do some of Takahashi’s other creations, but I’m feeling in the mood to see what’s happening in the story since I last picked it up in volume four. Plus, with InuYasha wrapping up earlier this year, this is now the only Takahashi series with new releases to look forward to. I would probably continue to follow it just for that reason alone!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?