Pick of the Week

MICHELLE: This week’s manga is full of tempting omnibus editions! I think I’ll cast my vote for the series that we haven’t talked about a great deal on Manga Bookshelf lately, since it finished its initial run in late 2011, and that would be Fullmetal Alchemist. Reading the series in multi-volume chunks really is best—I actually marathoned the whole thing for an Off the Shelf column celebrating the series—and I’m delighted that new audiences might be able to discover the series and keep us talking about it!

SEAN: I agree that my favorite out of this week’s group would be FMA, but since that’s been chosen, I am left with a few “huh, that’s not too shabby” picks. I suppose I will go with Vol. 2 of Tiger & Bunny, which interested me far more than I expected when I read it last. It’s Japan’s take on Marvel-style superheroes, but it’s also very fond of biting the corporate hand that feeds it. I expect things may get a little more serious with this second volume…

MJ: There are so many books for me to get excited about this week, including Fullmetal Alchemist, Flowers of Evil, and of course the latest Loveless omnibus! But I’ll give my vote this week to the second and final omnibus edition of CLAMP’s Tokyo Babylon, out this week from Dark Horse. Everyone knows by now that this is my favorite CLAMP series, and Dark Horse’s new editions with their refreshed English adaptation and big, fancy trim size have already impressed me quite a bit. I’ve had this on pre-order for months, and I can’t wait for it to arrive. It’s this week’s must-buy for me!

What looks good to you this week?

MICHELLE: Calm but carnivorous giant space hippos. Fanciful and imaginative landscapes. Terrible carnage at a poodle ranch. A cute, fluffy, and cheerful alien protagonist who keeps falling for all the wrong girls. If any of these absurd notions appeal to you, then you need to be reading Junko Mizuno’s Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU, the second volume of which is due next week after a three-year hiatus. I really enjoyed the first volume and am positively asquee that volume two is here at last!

SEAN: For me it’s going to be Oresama Teacher 14. Only Excel Saga makes me laugh more than this ridiculous shoujo comedy, which actually could be shifted over to a shonen magazine without needing to change even one thing – it’s filled with goofy fights, wacky misunderstandings, and healing broken teenagers though the power of stupidity. Love it to bits.

MJ: Since Michelle has already given her pick to my likely first choice, PELU, I’ll take this opportunity to give a boost to this week’s other new offering from Last Gasp, The Strange Case of Panorama Island, Suehiro Maruo’s manga adaptation of the popular novel by Edogawa Rampo. I’ll be the first to admit that “underground” manga is pretty hit or miss with me—and most often miss. It seems so often that “underground,” at least what’s advertised as such here, translates to “obsessed with shock value for its own sake,” which usually ends up being empty in most other ways. But a look at this video about the book from Last Gasp is all it takes for me to put my money on “hit” this time around. That lush artwork is more than enough to lure me in. I’m sold!

What looks good to you this week?

SEAN: Um, Gundam the Origin, pretty much. As for why, see my Manga the Week of post.

MICHELLE: Yep, Gundam: The Origin for me, too. With the exception of Fairy Tail (and I’m so far behind on that), nothing else this week interests me.

ANNA: Gundam: The Origin forever!!!!!

MJ: I’m right there with you. This week, it’s all about Gundam, and really it’s not due to the lack of competition. Though I wish the series was a bit more character-driven rather than plot-driven, its stunning artwork is enough to keep me coming back for more.

What looks good to you this week?

MJ: My obvious pick this week would be volume 16 of Pandora Hearts, and I am sure that’s what everyone expects (you can read about how much I love this volume in today’s Bookshelf Briefs). But sometimes it’s the unknown that has the greatest allure, and I’ll admit that I’m most anxious to get a look at Asumiko Nakamura’s Utsubora: the Story of a Novelist, out this week from Vertical. I’ve had a shaky relationship with Vertical’s titles from Manga Erotics F—the magazine this title comes from—but Vertical’s track record with me overall is pretty stunning (and the magazine has housed some of my favorites as well), so I’m more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Familiar favorites are a wonderful thing, but nothing beats the mystery of the unknown. I can’t wait to see what this manga has in store!

MICHELLE: I was so sure that you were going to pick Pandora Hearts that I was all set to pick Utsubora myself. I’m definitely looking forward to checking it out, but I’ll go ahead and give Pandora Hearts my official love, as I’m really looking forward to getting caught up with that one.

SEAN: I’m deciding to go with the manga that’s down to a yearly release rather than the quarterly one, so despite my Higurashi obsession, my pick of the week is for GA Art Design Class. There’s an awful lot of 4-koma series about girls in high school out there, and this is one of the ones that makes me smile the most. The cast is amusing in just the right amount, it’s filled with cute, funny and heartwarming moments, and it’s taught me a hell of a lot about art. It’s likely not for you unless you enjoy moe 4-koma manga, but if you do it’s one of the best.

ANNA: I’m also going to have to throw in my vote for Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist simply because it is the only manga this week that I felt compelled to pre-order! The premise about an upcoming novelist who is suddenly found dead also sounds very intriguing. I think a bit of mystery will balance my usual shoujo and sci-fi manga reading habits.

What looks good to you this week?

SEAN: My pick of the week is definitely the omnibus edition of Morinaga Milk’s Kisses, Sighs and Cherry Blossom Pink, a collection of short stories (complete in one volume here) revolving around an all-girls’ school that the artist wrote for Yuri Hime magazine before moving on to the slightly more lucrative waters of Futabasha, where they created the similar Girl Friends. (Indeed, I think the 2nd half has Comic High! stories.) I seem to recall that, since it focuses on several young couples, this volume is allowed to have a more varied shape of story – including some where the ending isn’t so happy. For yuri fans, or even those who just like cute romance, this is a great pick up.

MJ: Wow, this is a tough week! With new volumes of such a wide variety of favorites tugging at my sleeves, from Knights of Sidonia to Demon Love Spell, it’s difficult to know what to choose! But in the end, I’ll go with Dark Horse’s new omnibus edition of the classic series Lone Wolf and Cub, which I’m experiencing now for the first time. Michelle and I both read it for yesterday’s Off the Shelf, and I was stunned by how quickly 700 pages could fly by. It’s tense, action-packed, and incredibly thought-provoking. I’ve become an instant fan!

ANNA: I’ll have to go with Skip Beat 31, it is my absolute favorite long-running shoujo series currently coming out. The Heel siblings storyline has really reinvigorated the book, placing Kyoko and Ren in some interesting and unexpected situations, showing how they continue to develop their acting and insight into each other.

MICHELLE: I really liked Lone Wolf and Cub and I’m looking forward to reading Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink and a bunch of the VIZ stuff, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And what my heart wants is Skip Beat!.

What looks good to you this week?

MJ: I’m sure this will come as no surprise, but pretty much regardless of whatever else is on the list this week, I’ve gotta go with the final volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan. I have loved this series more than I thought I could love a thing about a surprisingly badass sort-of-loser like Onizuka. He’s got my number, and as much as I’m mourning that this is the final volume, I really can’t wait to see how it ends. This little series has been my first exposure to the GTO universe, and I’m grateful to Vertical for picking it up. It’s absolutely this week’s must-buy!

SEAN: MJspeaks for me. Onizuka has my sword. And my bow, come to think of it.

MICHELLE: I feel sort of bad picking GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, seeing as how I’m so far behind on it, but the truth of the matter is that I have no interest in Air Gear or an erotic bookstore, have never read Mardock Scramble, and am even farther behind on Fairy Tail, so GTO it is! That may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but I really do enjoy the series. I’m just perhaps not the most qualified person to champion it at the moment.

What looks good to you this week?

SEAN: I feel bad not picking the elite, first of its kind groundbreaking gay manga, but I’m not going to be reading it, as I’m not an audience for explicit gay bondage no matter how well put together it is. So my pick of the week is the digital release of Twin Spica, which I discussed in “Manga the Week of” earlier. A sublime, subtle story about growing up, overcoming hardships and tragedies, and the allure of space. Will love to read it all over again.

MICHELLE: I’m going to have to agree with Sean on every point, this week.

ANNA: I also hope that Twin Spica gets some extra love, now that it is being released in digital format. This reminds me that I need to go back and read the print volumes I’ve been stockpiling.

MJ: Well, I guess I’ll make it unanimous. While I’m definitely planning to check out The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, I’m unreservedly enthusiastic about Twin Spica‘s move to digital. This is a series I named as a Best of the Year upon its debut, and then again as it concluded, and I’ve been very sad that low sales have forced it out of print. I hope very much that its digital venue can give it much-deserved new life!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?