Toriko

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Posts Tagged SIG Ikki

On The Shelf: August 14, 2013

On The Shelf: August 14, 2013

MAGI is here! I’ve been eager to read this manga ever since I started watching the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll. I really love the characters, and hope the manga is as much fun. I’m still in shock it’s by the creator of Sumomomo, Momomo though. If curious, you can read Andre’s review of Sumomomo (Vol. 02).

Other exciting titles for me this week include the new editions of Embracing Love, courtesy of SuBLime, and volume one of the Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology from Viz Media.

Blue Morning (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dorohedoro (Vol. 10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Embracing Love 2-in-1 (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Excel Saga (Vol. 26) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Inu Yasha VizBIG (Vol. 16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Itsuwaribito (Vol. 09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Knights of Sidonia (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
MAGI (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Swag Bag: Creepy Stares, Deadly Gates and Sailor Moon’s Finale

Swag Bag: Creepy Stares, Deadly Gates and Sailor Moon's Finale

It often happens that I don’t realize how many books I’ve bought recently until I write one of these Swag Bag posts. While my buying habits of today can be a pretty far cry from the look-at-all-my-disposable-income days of yester-year, I’m still ever grateful I can afford to fill one of these columns in a month. And this past month had some real gems that I hope many readers are able to fit into the budget as well.

Vertical Inc.’s books were the cream of the crop this past July. After spending Animaritime drooling over every copy I saw lucky buyers walking around with, I was quick to come home and buy my own copy of Gundam the Origin (Vol. 02). I never thought I’d be so invested in one of the classic Gundam stories, but I fell in love with this one right away. Vertical’s hardcover, colour-page insert editions definitely help too. This volume even came with a bonus illustration by CLAMP.

Next I went for something new and bought a copy of Vertical’s one-shot, Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist. There was something very reminiscent of Tezuka’s darker works reading Utsubora. This twisted tale of plagiarism, lust and suicide-mystery nestles well into Vertical’s library and I quite enjoyed it. Then I had to try Wolfsmund (Vol. 01), which really surprised me. Both of these series are for adults only, and Wolfsmund greatly so for the violent content. But that didn’t surprise me as much as how the book took a story-convention I’m really used to (and enjoy) and turned it on its head. Episodic stories with one reoccurring common character but instead of running a magical shop or granting wishes, in Wolfsmund it’s a gatekeeper who won’t let anyone pass. I rounded out my mini Vertical binge with a copy of Limit (Vol. 01) as well.

Black Butler (Vol. 14)I took a trip to my Yen Press list next to visit some continuing series. First was Blood Lad (Vol. 02) and then Drrrr!’s sequel series, Drrrr! Saika Arc (Vol. 01). My favourite new book out from Yen though was easily Black Butler (Vol. 14). Every volume since the book hit double-digits has been a real step up in the story and art; enough so to take it from a series I considered dropping, to one of my most anticipated. Warning, very mild spoiler ahead – Sebastian getting his butt handed to him? Much more interesting than Mr. Perfect-Butler.

Next up were some sad farewells to two series. The first, from Viz Media, was Children of the Sea (Vol. 05). I still don’t fully understand what happened in this series, but I think that’s the point. The slightly confused yet tranquil feeling I had finishing it just made me miss it more. That melancholy couldn’t hold a candle to my sadness at completing Sailor Moon (Vol. 12), however. Wow, what a series. It’s dramatic, beautiful, detailed, universe-encompassing in its scope, and totally inspiring to read as a woman. I’m really looking forward to the two collections of Sailor Moon short stories due out from Kodansha Comics in the Fall.

Gate 7 (Vol. 04) is another book I bought recently that desperately wants to be as pretty and epic, but unfortunately only succeeds at the first. This is one of CLAMP’s most recent works, and while the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and the characters are kinda fun, the story itself is completely underwhelming. I really hope something big and interesting happens soon or else it could be the first CLAMP series I’m tempted to drop.

That does it for this week’s Swag Bag. As always, feel more than free to share what purchases you’ve made recently and if you’d recommend them!


On The Shelf: July 17th, 2013

On The Shelf: July 17th, 2013

The last volume of Sailor Moon is out this week! Noooooo… … Well, at least until the two volumes of short story extras come out. But still, very sad.

Another classic is getting a new go, fresh from the start – Lone Wolf and Cub. The length and odd format of this series has always been a deterrent to me, but now at a larger trim size and in omnibus format, I may finally read one of the longest running manga series in North America.

07-Ghost (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Limit (Vol.06) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Missions of Love (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Sailor Moon (Vol.12) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Swag Bag: Girls, Guys and Thermae Romae

Swag Bag

It’s a new Swag Bag post! And as the last was a month ago, we have some catching up to do.

Seven Seas’ omnibus edition of Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink was one of my favourite purchases as of late. Yuri is uncommon enough, but after this release and Girlfriends, I won’t ever pass up an opportunity for more of Milk Morniaga’s work. I found this book tricky to get through. I related to these characters more than most in manga, so the book took considerable more emotional toll on me than I’m accustomed. It only speaks to their quality when in the right hands, however, and while it means I’ll likely never be able to write a full review for them, I have all the hopes in the world they continue to do well so we can get more.

Yen Press continues to make clever power plays for room on my bookshelves with a new set of shiny re-editions. This time it’s Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (Vol. 01-02) and Chain of Memories. Both are adaptations of the video games of the same name, products near and dear to my fangirl heart, and titles that Tokyopop originally published. While I already own the Tokyopop books, Yen Press’s new collected editions look and read great, plus have that new book smell. How could anyone resist? For more thoughts, you can read my review of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.

A Devil and Her Love Song (Vol. 09) began my Viz Media purchases and was an enjoyable romp of beach time fun and character development. I reviewed another recent shoujo purchase, Dawn of the Arcana (Vol. 10), last weekend. Always the Queen of the crop, Sailor Moon (Vol. 11) was quick to enter the swag bag and carries us into the final, and possibly most emotionally intense, arc of the series.

Completing it’s final arc is Saturn Apartments (Vol. 07), which really surprised me with how dark it got for a while. I honestly didn’t know how it was going to turn out, which is always the best way to read something. All surprises! Much less of a surprise were Attack on Titan (Vol.01) and No. 6 (Vol. 01) from Kodansha Comics, since I’ve already seen the anime versions. But I love them both, Attack on Titan in particular, so I had to buy the manga of each.

Thermae Romae (Vol. 02)It was super shonen time with the newest volume of Toriko (Vol. 16). It’s continuing to be a little disorienting following the series both in the collected form and as new chapters come out via Shonen Jump. The two haven’t overlapped yet, but it is neat seeing what comes, what’s been and wondering what could possibly fill the gap. Less suspenseful is Pokemon Black & White (Vol. 10) but it’s always cute and fun.

Speaking of cute and fun, though in entirely different ways, I was thrilled to finally pick up a copy of Thermae Romae (Vol. 02). This series is amazing, both in the surprise of something with this plot simply existing, but also in how well it’s executed. This series continues to be hilarious and educational, not to mention brilliantly packaged by Yen Press. If you haven’t already, make sure you buy these gems while you can!

And I finished this month’s purchases off with some boys’ love – Bonds of Dreams, Bonds of Love (Vol. 04) and Blue Morning (Vol. 01). Bonds of Dreams, Bonds of Love is now over and went out the same way in came in – funny and full of enjoyably horny hijinks. Blue Morning starts a brand new series and one that’s pretty much the polar opposite in tone. I found Blue Morning a bit dull as it’s dark mood almost suffocated it, but now with the characters set-up, I’m looking forward to seeing more plot progress in volume two.

That does it for this week’s Swag Bag. As always, feel more than free to share what purchases you’ve made recently and if you’d recommend them!


On The Shelf: June 19, 2013

On The Shelf - June 19, 2013

June showers bring summer… manga? I wish, because with all the rain here this summer I’d be drowning in manga instead.

Much more summery is this week’s release of Viz Media‘s Children of the Sea (Vol. 05). It’s also the last volume of the series that exists so far. While I’ll be sad to see it go, I’m really eager to see where the story ends up and hope it has a satisfying finish.

The other must-have book for me this week is Vertical Inc‘s Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin (Vol. 02). I loved the first book; and the hard copy treatment with the high quality paper is a great added bonus.

Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Children of the Sea (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kitchen Princess Omnibus (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – May 22, 2013

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - May 15, 2013

And now it’s time for this week’s new manga! And last week’s manga!  Last week’s On The Shelf article wasn’t posted, but this week’s is up so you can head over to read my thoughts on the new manga released today.

This week’s quick-list below also includes last’s week releases:

07 Ghost (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Disgaea 3: School of Devils (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
InuYasha VizBIG (Vol.15) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Jormungand (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Negiho [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame  [Amazon CANAmazon US]
Saturn Apartments (Vol.07) [Amazon CANAmazon USRightStuf]
Sunny (Vol.01) [Amazon CANAmazon USRightStuf]


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – April 17, 2013

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - April 17, 2013

It’s that time again! New manga day, a beautiful thing. Some may notice the absence of a couple Vertical and Kodansha Books on this week’s shipping list, which were sadly a bit late being sent out by distributors. Booooo! Never fear for they will arrive in time, and for now enjoy what Seven Seas and Viz Media has for us this week!

My thoughts on the new books can be read at the usual place – Otaku USA’s weekly On The Shelf article.

Bokurano Ours (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dorohedoro (Vol.09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kanokon Omnibus (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Swag Bag: Prequel, Vampires and Caramel Pudding

Swag Bag:  Prequels, Vampires and Caramel Pudding

Swag Bag time! I had a little shopping hiatus the past month, but, believe me, I’ve made up for it in the last couple weeks. So, without further ado, here’s the first of a few Swag Bag posts to cover it all!

To start things off with a dose of boys’ love, I bought the Digital Manga oneshot, Caramel. My first impression was that the little guy has really silly looking hair. Second impression was it looks adorable. Both were correct – the little guy had silly hair and the story was super sweet, albeit a little sad being so short.

My impulse purchase of the day was Dark Horse‘s Blood-C (Vol.01). I don’t have any real interest in the Blood franchise, and my knowledge of this anime stops at CLAMP’s involvement. Still, the cover was really nice and the interior artwork looked good too. It looks very CLAMP-like actually, I’d say very likely inspired by their more recent works such as Tsubasa. We’ll see how the monster hunting itself entertains as I read it.

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Vol.11)

Something that is never impulse and always a must-have-right-now is Naoki Urasawa’s work. This week that was 21st Century Boys (Vol.02). It’s the last volume in the 20th Century Boys story. It’s so weird knowing this series is now done after all these years. I’ve already read this final volume and I’ve gotta say… I can’t remember who ‘that’ is. Oops. Time to re-read!

It never stops being weird buying a new volume of Fushigi Yugi though, such as this week’s Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Vol.11). Now this is a series I’ve been reading a long time. It was one of my first manga from back in the Animerica Extra days of serialization. This prequel series only has one volume left, however, and the downside to it being a prequel is we all know how it’s going to end. So sad! But it’s so good.

Then it was meta territory with Bakuman (Vol. 18) – manga about making manga! This series is fantastic; I adore every volume, even with the awkward romantic subplots. This volume addresses the intensity of manga deadlines when the two leads launch yet another series. How many pages a month!? Freaky.

I finished off my Viz Media purchases with Pokemon Adventures (Vol.15) and Afterschool Charisma (Vol.07). There was quite a wait since the last volumes of each but fortunately neither are especially complicated in the plot department (though telling the clones apart in Afterschool Charisma isn’t always easy).

And then what’s a week without an omnibus? I’m a few months late on this one but I was pleased to buy Young Miss Holmes (Casebook 3-4). The first volume was cute with this precocious niece of Sherlock Holmes solving mysteries. I loved the short cameo from the dowdy Sherlock and Watson as well.

And then lastly for manga I had to nab a digital copy of Sword and Mist, released by SuBLime. It’s a digital only release but I’ve made my peace with these as an occasional thing, and I can’t deny that SuBLime puts out a great product. This title was a must have because it’s by Hayate Kuku. She’s only had one other series released in English – Love Sickness by Digital Manga – but I really loved it. Her masculine characters and sense of humor reminds me a lot of one of my BL favorites, Naono Bohra, who unfortunately hasn’t been as embraced by English publishers as I’d like. In any case, Sword and Mist! It’s got manly men, assassins, feudal China and cross-dressing – how could I resist?

The Adventures of Superhero GirlAnd then finally was a new book by a friend of mine, Faith Erin Hicks. Out now from Dark Horse is a hardcover, full color compilation of her web comic, The Adventures of Superhero Girl. It’s been a while since I read these comic strips so it’s been fun re-experiencing all the funny in-jokes about comics and super heroes. It’s an entertaining and worthwhile purchase for sure, and I’m looking forward to finishing it cover to cover again.


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