Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Manga-ka: Naoki Urasawa
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2011
Synopsis: “(Warning: Synopsis and review contains large spoilers.) The Friend is dead. As the news spreads around the world, the members of the Friends’ executive committee are faced with a dilemma: Is it all over, or will the events predicted in the New Book of Prophecy still be carried out? Otcho insists that things are not over at all, and that is exactly what his old nemesis tells the fractious Friends’ committee, where quite a few members are prepared to call it quits. Soon thereafter, certain members begin disappearing, one after another.”
Speaking of larger cut sizes, I bought the second volume of 
My other purchase of the week, and the one I had to read as soon as I was handed my reciept for buying it, was Black Jack (Vol. 13). It’s my favourite of Osamu Tezuka’s works that I’ve read and easily one of my favourite manga series ever. Black Jack’s such a fun character, the kind of person you wouldn’t really want to meet under most circumstances in real life but on the page he’s a well-rounded individual with crazy surgeon skills and the attitude to use them for his own means. There’s quite a bit of Pinoko in this volume and aliens, plus Black Jack’s jerkliness is at an all-time low – yup, low. Volume thirteen really feels like a collection reminding us he’s got a heart of gold when sometimes it’s easy to forget.
