AnimeNewsNetwork reported that Kodansha Comics will be releasing the sequel to Genshiken – Genshiken: Second Season. A listing for volume one of the series appeared on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca earlier this week.

Kodansha Comics will be releasing the prequel series in omnibus format with the first volume coming out this May. There’s no indication in the retail listings that Genshiken: Second Season will be released in a similar fashion, though the shipping weight does match the Genshiken omnibus (observation only!). Genshiken: Second Season is currently two volumes in Japan and on-going.

The series is a direct continuation of the original story (unlike it’s several spin-off series), which resumes the story of the Genshiken school club and the activities of it’s ‘otaku’ members.

There was no On The Shelf article last Wednesday because of a week without any new manga releases on my schedule list – how depressing was that? Well I guess we’ll accept those mini lulls now and again, especially with big release days like today following it up.

It’s Viz Media‘s big shipment of the month with nineteen new volumes of manga, including the first volume of A Devil and Her Love Song. You can read the full list of titles out this week over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article this week. Along with a slew of new volumes of shonen and soujo series, there’s also new volume of the well-loved Finder series from Digital Manga and two new of their Project-H books. Hopefully something for everyone – enjoy!

New Wednesday! New comics! The shipment’s a bit light this week but three of the four titles are some of my favourite currently running series – Sailor Moon (Vol.03), Arisa (Vol.06) and Afterschool Charisma (Vol.05). Huzzah! You can see the full list of titles and read a bit about the volumes over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

This week some places also got shipments of Yen Press‘s big batch releases for the month. Diamond Comics is still behind on their shipments from Yen Press but you’ll see their slew of titles on next week’s list including the first volume of their new series, Durarara!. Look forward to it!

Diamond Comics is North America’s largest comic book distributor. If you have a local comic store in your area, it’s very likely they get their books from them. Every month Diamond releases a giant magazine, Previews, containing all the products they have – from comics, manga, DVDs and merchandise – that will be released starting in about two months’ time, giving retailers and buyers the chance to put their orders in before shipping dates.

I’ve been picking up the Previews magazines for years, oogling all the different books coming out from publishers and wondering how long until the stacks of Preview magazines I’ve yet to get rid of will crush me in my sleep. Starting now I’ll be writing about the different manga content published in Previews each month here on Kuriousity. This includes all the manga titles listed, the top Manga sellers as tracked by Diamond and mention of other things of interest I spot. With the small two month window, Diamond Previews has rarely been the source of new licenses but it’s a great reminder and showcase of all the books coming our way soon, plus the perfect time to get your orders in, whether through Diamond or at your online retailer of choice.

I’ll also be including with these monthly Preview posts a downloadable PDF that you can print off and check off the manga  you’d like to order. Then it’s as easy as bringing it into your local comic or book store – wherever in your area that orders in through Diamond Comics! Currently the list is just the names and does not include the Diamond order codes. I’ve never come across a store that requires them for ordering but if yours does, let me know and I’ll include them on subsequent files:

January 2012 Manga Previews Checklist (PDF)

You may continue reading at your own discretion for my thoughts, elaborations, random pictures and the Top 10 Selling Manga of November 2011!

With Free Comic Book Day 2012 coming up on May 5th, a handful of pages were dedicated to showcasing the comics created specifically for that day. For manga publishers, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Viz Media and Yen Press were all present. The only work strictly manga-related (though more specifically, manhwa-related) comes from Yen Press who are publishing a sample of their upcoming adapted book, The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel. Viz Media’s sampler is for their upcoming original comic based on the Voltron franchise – Voltron Force. Both books will be the FCBD standard of 32 pages. You can learn more about Free Comic Book Day (a gloriously annual event!) and the comics they’re offering this year on their website.

Next up is Dark Horse‘s section where the company traditionally has a batch of full-pages promoting their upcoming releases. This month they have a preview page of the second volume of their Avatar The Last Airbender sequel comic, The Promise. Volume one is due out this February and I can’t wait!

It’s been a while since I’ve read Adam Warren’s Empowered series but I was pleased to see it continues with volume seven on the way. The series is hilarious, chock full of pop culture jokes and super hero story spoofs. It follows a try-hard fails-bad super heroine named Empowered and her collection of allies, enemies and weird in-betweens. I was always impressed and extra entertained by the manga in-jokes including a healthy dash of playing around with boys’ love tropes and manga stereotypes to amusing, not offensive, effect. It’s a series I’ve got to get myself caught up on.

Dark Horse’s FLCL omnibus has a preview page and a May 16th release date for $19.99/US. “The complete FLCL manga adaptation – now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages!”. Also in their preview section was Bride of the Water God (Vol.11) which they promote as being a “Best-selling series in the United States and Korea!”. I guess that means it’s doing well? The second volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront is promoted a bit more humbly as “Sci-fi insanity from the creator of Trigun and Gungrave!”.

Here’s a fun piece of new Star Wars merchandise – a t-shirt with a coloured interior page from the Star Wars manga. It was released originally back in the late 90s with art by Toshiki Kudo. With the old-school manga take on the characters and the fun giant comic sound effects, I’m tempted to buy it!

Yen Press‘s manga-style adaptation of Soulless made the Previews’ featured section, as did Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Fallen Words being published by Drawn & Quarterly. Both are one-shots and definitely on my to-buy list. Soulless really caught my eye after I read the sampler they had at NYCC 2011. The art is fantastic! Fallen Words also earns the Preview magazines’ “Certified Cool” stamp, meaning books they note as being especially worth checking out.

Just like when Tokyopop shuttered their doors unexpectedly quick, it’s sad seeing ads for upcoming volumes of Bandai Entertainment books. Here they have Kannagi (Vol.04) promoted which would’ve been released in March. We know from Bandai’s PR that this book has been cancelled.

Digital Manga continues to buy full pages to promote select upcoming titles of theirs as well. It’s great to see the worth is there for publishers to advertise their manga to the direct market. In this month’s previews, they have full page ads for Itazura na Kiss (Vol. 08), Replica (Vol. 02), Countdown 7 Days (Vol. 02) and Moon & Blood (Vol. 03). Of the four, I’m most excited for Replica and Countdown 7 Days which are definitely hidden gems I think more would like if they came across copies. These ads may become posters on my wall after I’ve put my orders in.

Onwards Towards Our Noble Death – which was originally released in April 2011 by Drawn & Quarterly – is featured in this Preview edition as a Star of the Month title. It’s another distinction in the magazine for a notable title. Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (which is going to a new printing) is also a Star of the Month. I really loved A Drifting Life so I’m glad it needs a second edition.  The creator’s four other one-shots are also featured - The Push Man, Abandon The Old in Tokyo, Black Blizzard and Good-Bye – so they should all still be available for you to order into your local store.

Kodansha Comics‘ has eight new volumes listed – Air Gear (Vol.23), Arisa (Vol.07), Bloody Monday (Vol.05), Cage of Eden (Vol.05), Gon (Vol.05), Deltora Quest (Vol.05), Love Hina Omnibus (Vol.03) and Sayonara Zesubou-Sensei (Vol.14). Adding to my frustration with the company, every synopsis is one generic to the whole series, saying nothing specific for the volume itself. Most are those used for volume one. It’s the same thing the company does on retail sites and even their own KodanshaComics.com. Drives me batty! I’ve contacted the company about it but haven’t heard anything back. Gon earned a special Kid-Friendly stamp while Sailor Moon (Vol.01) is re-listed as another Star of the Month.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a listing for One Peace Book‘s Breathe Deeply. The book caught me off guard when it appeared fully published and ready for the market at NYCC when news of the license hadn’t even been promoted. It’s good to see the dark medical one-shot get some wider market advertising, even if it’s description does start with the often groan-worthy “…begs readers to forget what they know about manga.”

Next up in the alphabetical publisher listings is Seven Seas Entertainment. They’ve got listings for Blood Alone (Vol.06) and Toradora! (Vol.04). Both volumes are listed at $11.99 which is a one dollar increase from the original $10.99 that the first two volumes had – I hadn’t even noticed the increase when I bought the third books. Uneven as the singles look next to the omnibus volumes on my shelf (I can’t help it, must be even!), I’m really eager for the new Blood Alone volume as they come out.

UDON Entertainment has a full page promoting the first volume of their upcoming Captain Commando manga. It looks and sounds pretty hilarious, touted as “The Return of Gaming’s Greatest Hero!”. It stars a “fighting force” consisting of Ginzu the Ninja Commando, Mack the Mummy Commando, Baby Head the Baby Commando and their fearless leader, Captain Commando. UDON hasn’t updated their own website in a while with schedule info so places like Diamond and online retailers have been the only real source for release dates.

Next up comes the Viz Media section which is usually a hefty multi-page addition to Previews. This time is no exception but it’s sad to see that almost all the artwork used is really low quality. It looks all grainy and pixelated. This isn’t a norm from them so I can only assume something went wrong between Viz and Previews this month. They’ve got a full page for Pokemon Black & White (Vol.05) and Voltron Force, then two-per-page splits for Blue Excorcist (Vol.07), Bakuman (Vol.10), Bleach (Vol.39), Rosario+Vampire: Season II (Vol.08), Nura Rise of the Youkai Clan (Vol.08), 20th Century Boys (Vol.20), Tenjo Tenge (Vol.06) and X 3-in-1 (Vol.02). It’s nice seeing the Will Eisner stamp next to 20th Century Boys though I do wish Viz Media would mix quotes up a bit – it’s getting old seeing the same Junot Diaz quote in every book and ad. All their other titles due out in March are listed with cover images, info and mini synopsis’s on a single page at the end of the larger preview sections. So many books! You can see the complete list in this month’s Manga Previews PDF.

Vertical Inc has three books listed - Drops of God (Vol.03), GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Vol.02) and Twin Spica (Vol.12). This volume of Twin Spica is the last of the series and clocks in at a whopping 400 pages! The eleventh volume out this month also has 400 pages and while I’ll be sad to see the series end, it looks like it’ll be an experience to savour with two extra large books seeing it out.

Yen Press is the last-up with eight new books scheduled for March – Soulless, Bamboo Blade (Vol.12), A Bride’s Story (Vol.03), Bunny Drop (Vol.05), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan (Vol.05), Pandora Hearts (Vol.09), Spice and Wolf (Vol.06) and the newly begun, Is This A Zombie? (Vol.01). Is This A Zombie is listed as their Spotlight On title. Seeing the cover of Bunny Drop (Vol.05) with Rin now a teenager makes me fearful for that ending everyone is often complaining about. I’ve been assured it still sticks to its quality coming-of-age and family drama right up until the end though so I’ll be with it until the end! The synopsis for A Bride’s Story (Vol.03) also shows that the story will be shifting onto Mr. Smith for a while and his journeys away from the village we’ve be in so far.

Listed in the back of the Diamond Previews are the top selling titles from a variety of categories based on several months of sales tracking. This month they have the results for November 2011.

Top 10 Manga of November 2011:

1. Sailor Moon (Vol.02)
2. Codename Sailor V (Vo.02)
3. Negima! (Vol. 32)
4. Mega Manga Gigamiz (Vol.03)
5. MPD Psycho (Vol.10)
6. Claymore (Vol.19)
7. D. Gray Man (Vol.21)
8. Princess Knight (Vol.01)
9. Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Vol.10)
10. Fairy Tail (Vol.16)

Sailor Moon (Vol.02) also made spot 8/10 on the overall Top 10 Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks list. Nostalgic shoujo manga up there with the superheroes and zombies, and in the direct market as well. Great to see!

That’s it for the manga-content of Previews January 2012. If you’re interested in browsing through all the comics, anime, toys and games scheduled for March(-ish), I recommend going to your local comic store and picking up a copy. Until next month! Well… for a new Previews post anyway.

It’s the first manga shipment of 2012! Fantagraphics, Kodansha Comics, Seven Seas and Viz Media all have some goodies out this week. You can read all the titles over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

My top pick of the week is the long-awaited second volume of Wandering Son. I really enjoyed the first and it’s got great publishing quality too. A big hardcover book isn’t how I’d like all my books but for a special few it works beautifully. You can read Shannon’s thoughts on the first book in her review – Wandering Son (Vol. 01).

There are no shortage of ‘Best Of’ lists this time of year. While I like popping around to different peoples’ sites and seeing what they thought, it’s a bit of a frustration that I can’t seem to write one myself. How people choose a solid list containing five or ten favourites, from across different genres and subject matters, is just something I can’t seem to muster the brain power for. Not enough conviction I suppose? There’s just so much to love!

But I can’t overlook the perfect chance to look back at all the great titles a year had to offer and 2011 had some really fantastic ones. So then where is this going, oh rambling one, you ask? My semi-traditional equivalent to the yearly best of – the random Lissa’s favourites and best-ofs list! Which really just means you get a lot more titles broken into a lot more categories so I can remain a lot more loving to a lot more series. And in some cases not so loving… From the Best Release Quality to the Favourite Fan Service and even to the most Gag Worthy – here are a bunch of my favourite titles from 2011!

Best Release Quality

While we’re not getting the same amount of individual volumes of manga as years’ past, the quality of releases keeps getting better. This year I was really impressed with Yen Press‘s work on A Bride’s Story which was a hardcover book sporting a beautiful full-colour, matte finish cover slip. It compliments the work perfectly!

Another nice hardcover book was Wandering Son which was released by Fantagraphics. The book was also printed at a larger than normal size making for a book that’s a bit tricky to fit on the shelf but really enjoyable to read.

Viz Media‘s softcover omnibus of CLAMP’s X series was also a treat with lots of full-colour, glossy pages inside. The series is also released in its original visual format for the first time in English.

Best Boys’ Love

My boys’ love buying was a bit smaller than usual this year as much of Digital Manga’s attentions shifted to digital releases and I began running into a lot of supply issues trying to buy physical copies from them (a definite downer of 2011!). Of the titles I did read though, two really stood out. The number one was Only Serious About You (Vol.01) – a really charming story that felt like Future Lovers meets Bunny Drop. The art was nice and the story so sweet and romantic, even with things remaining mostly platonic in this introductory volume.

Another boys’ love title that I loved was Rabbit Man, Tiger Man. I couldn’t resist the visual contrast between the small, cute doctor and the tall, scary yakuza! The story itself was a lot funnier than I expected and I was entertained by every page. The English adaptation stood out to me as being really good too, I loved some of the word choices. I really hope the rest of the series gets licensed.

Favourite Fan Service

While neither are new series to this year, the continuing Black Butler (Yen Press) and XXXHolic (Del Rey) win again for best fan service (the kind that appeals to me)! The suedo-romantic(?) tension between it’s lead male characters and the gorgeous clothing design and dark inking make them immediate must owns, complete with the occasional squeals and swoons. XXXHolic has been a more consistent wow factor volume after volume so it’ll be bittersweet seeing it end early this new year.

Best Second Chances

Re-releases, omnibus and new editions have became a fairly regular occurrence and the chance to revisit something missed is great. This year I was pleasantly surprised by Seven Sea‘s Blood Alone (Vol.01), an omnibus edition of the original first three volumes. It’s a great vampire story that steers clear of most tropes and focuses more on a subtle but poignant relationship between a young girl and her protector.

One of my favourite series of 2011 was Full Metal Alchemist. Though it’s been coming out for a number of years, I’d only just started reading it thanks to borrowing a friends’ copies. Viz Media celebrated the last volume of the series coming out by releasing a box set of the entire thing – all twenty-seven volumes! It’s a fantastic value. I highly recommend it, while also suggesting you avoid the omnibus editions which only cover the first nine volumes then stop.

Digital Manga‘s continuing editions of Kizuna have been great as well. In 2011 we finally got to the point in the omnibus editions where the original English edition by BeBeautiful had stopped. New content! I love that we have a second chance to purchase it, and now the whole thing at that!

Best (Worst?) Good-Byes

While 2011 saw some great series start, it also saw some of my favourites come to an end. The biggest and saddest goodbye goes to Vertical Inc‘s edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. This is one of my favourite manga series of all time and to finish reading the last volume was a sad experience indeed. It’s such a fun series and Black Jack himself is an amazing character. I’ve no doubt I’ll be re-reading it again and again.

Viz Media’s English edition of Full Metal Alchemist also came to an end. The pain of it ending was dampened by how I’d read the whole thing within a month leading up to it and because the ending was so, so good. I’m also thankful we got to read the entire story. I wish I could say the same for things such as Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo and Shinobi Life which we’ve had to say farewell to early because of Tokyopop’s shutdown. That wasn’t an easy goodbye in itself either – so unfortunate!

Top Can’t-Look-Away-Titles

Like watching a train-wreck and being unable to look away (as they say…?), sometimes there are those titles that are just dark, depressing and sort of scary. Bleak as they may be, the emotional rollar-coasting of reading them makes every page turn worth it. Vertical delivered two series that fit the description, both by Usamaru Furuya. Lychee Light Club is a one-shot with plenty of violence, sex and crazy, crazy people. I read it, loved it and honestly may never read it again. It’s just one of those kind of titles, you know? My signed copy sits proudly on the shelf.

Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human has been an experience as well. It’s more grim and dark than violent and shocking but I’m definitely in for the whole messy journey. I look forward to seeing how it finishes in 2012 with volume three what was started in 2011 with volumes one and two.

Getting to meet Usamaru Furuya and hear him interviewed at TCAF 2012 was also a big highlight of the year for me. Hopefully in 2012 I’ll be able to meet an idol with fewer than twenty minutes of self-psyching to work up the nerve to say hello – it could happen, right?

Most Long Awaited

Of all the English manga titles and trends started in 2011, I think it’ll be most known for bringing about two of the most long-awaited manga series of all time – Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon and Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Kodansha Comics released the two volume prequel series, Sailor V, and the first two volumes of Sailor Moon – both are must haves for the magical-girl fans out there! Talk about a trip down nostalgia lane too. While Sailor Moon is one of the most well-known manga titles, Vertical Inc took the honour of releasing one of the very first. The company released both omnibus volumes of Princess Knight in 2011 so you can now buy the whole thing – prepare to enjoy!

As a big CLAMP fan, I was also thrilled to finally get the first volume of their new Gate 7 in my hands. With the title first announced years ago by Dark Horse, it’s been a much longer wait than any anticipated.

Hidden Gems of 2011

Two titles published by Digital Manga that I really enjoyed were Replica and Countdown 7 Days. Both are by Kemuri Karakara and are series it’s tricky to really nail down genre-wise. They’re very shonen in nature but more character-oriented with really nice artwork, less focus on stuff like fighting and ‘The power of friendship!’. Sort of like… D.Grayman, Arata the Legend, and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles – to name a few that come to mind first.

I really enjoyed both the series so far – great art, fun characters and some interesting stories. I heard little mention of either from the manga blogosphere or social media outlets though but I hope a lot of readers still got to check them out. I’m sure a lot of readers out where would enjoy them. Volume one of each were released in 2011 and I’m eager for the follow-ups in 2012.

Must-Own One-Shots

I love a good one-shot! When done well they’re a really satisfying experience, having either a nice collection of short stories or one solid piece planned for a one-go read. They’re also the easiest thing to suggest to new readers – short but sweet, without the commitment of multi-volume series. Of the one-shots published in 2011, my favourites were Natsume Ono’s Tesoro (Viz Media) and Taniguchi Jiro ‘s A Zoo in Winter (Ponent Mon). I’ve read works by both the artist’s before but these easily became my favourites of each. Both are high quality releases and have stories full of sincerity and compelling human drama – I highly recommend both!

Top Tear-Jerkers

I don’t consider myself quick to tears but sometimes a volume of manga manages to get me there. Goes to show you should always be ready with a hanky or two because you never know what tears a story may bring. Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 17) was such a fun, high-energy and very satisfying read that I found myself tearing up from joy. That was a new one for me. I enjoyed it so much, seeing how far the series and characters have come. You can bet the last volume, due out in June 2012, will be one hard to say good-bye to.

My feelings were similar reading the last volume of Genkaku Picasso, also released by Viz Media. Picasso’s growth and acceptance of his new friends and their support for him was so touching. I never thought it’d be a series that would move me that much but, by the end of volume three, I was definitely wiping at my eyes to be able to see the pages.

Lastly, when it came to just downright heart-breakingly sad, Stargazing Dog from NBM Publishing won hands down. What made me cry wasn’t even always the sad parts, sometimes it was those bittersweet moments that predate them. It was no surprise to me that a book about the love and loyalty of a pet dog would be an emotional trip though. It’s a great read but definitely have your tissues ready for this one.

Yay-For-More-Coming Titles

We saw series start and end in 2011 but many others were just trekking their way through with more to come. My top-wanted series (because goodness knows there’re dozens of ‘em) that began in years past and have continued through 2011 and onward to 2012 are Kamisama Kiss, Bunny Drop, 20th Century Boys, Pokemon Adventures and The Tyrant Falls in Love. Saying good-bye to a year comes with a lot of good-byes in general but at least there are none for these yet!

Alas-Only-One Titles

Some continuing titles however, made their way through 2011 with unfortunately minimal appearances. A number of my favourite series only had one volume released over the entire year. While the books were great, the long wait is always tough. I’ve got my fingers crossed for more of Kaze Hikaru, Yotsuba&!, Berserk and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in 2012.

Most Redeemed

Along with the series that I already loved going into 2011, I also went into the year with a few series I was on the fence about. With several volumes of each throughout the year though, I was made a believer! While they each had some rough starts – be it too predictable, too slow or just painfully sexist, 2011 was a redeeming year for Rumiko Takahashi’s Rin-Ne (Viz Media), Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica (Vertical) and Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman (Viz Media). Now I’ll be spending 2012 eagerly awaiting every new volume of these three.

Top I’m-Not-Sure-Why Reads

Most people have these kinds of reads – the ones where you really like them but you’re not really sure why. I went into 2011 not able to pinpoint why I love Viz Media’s Toriko and Kodansha Comics’ Air Gear so much and a year later I’m still not sure why. Both had several volumes out in 2011 and still the answer eludes me. One thing I do know though is I love Toriko more for the story, less for the art, and with Air Gear it’s the opposite. I guess as long as I still love reading them, it’s okay that 2011 held tight to their secrets!

Could’ve-Done-Withouts

Enjoyable as many reads were this year, there were some that I could have done without. They weren’t bad, per say, but I was left feeling so underwhelmed upon finishing that I felt my time and money could have been much better spent elsewhere. Blood Blockade Battlefront (Dark Horse), Drifters (Dark Horse) and Drops of God (Vertical) were all series newly started in 2011. While I usually give a series two volumes to impress, I think I’ll leave any future copies of these ones on the shelves for other more interested readers. Not necessarily bad, just not for me.

Most Gag Worthy

Alas where there is good and meh, there is also just outright bad. Thankfully I didn’t read too many stinkers this year but yikes, did the bad ever stand out when they did show themselves. While I don’t often regret reading a book, I got to that point with Ai Ore! (Vol. 01). With some of the most hateable characters I’ve ever read in a manga title, and the end of this first volume nearly earned the title a chuck at the wall. Why, Viz Media? Why?! Digital Manga’s The Beautiful Skies of Houou High was pretty bad also, but erred on the side of just being painful to read and falling short of being rage-inducing.

… and that’s it folks! My thanks to all the manga publishers, local retailers, fellow manga supporters and of course manga creators for a great 2011!

So it’s that time of year again. Yes, the “everyone makes lists about the best/worst things of the year.” And you know what? I love it. Yes, love it. And so, I decided to put together my own list of my top five best manga of 2011.

To be eligible for this list, all a series had to do was have one book this year that I have read. Some (most actually) began in earlier years but they were the titles I looked forward to reading the most in these last twelve months. And so, without further ado, here are my top picks of the year.

5. Codename: Sailor V by Naoko Takeuchi (Kodansha Comics)

I will admit, nostalgia goggles are on pretty tight for this one, though from what I’ve read online about this series, I’m not alone. Along with the re-release of Sailor Moon (which likely could have made the list, if the two released volumes weren’t still sitting in my to-be-read pile), 2011 saw the first English release of the series which started it all, Codename Sailor V, featuring Aino Minako, aka Sailor Venus, in her early adventures. This series is just a really fun read and also interesting from a storytelling perspective as you can see the parts of the world that we know and love from Sailor Moon really start to come together. And it doesn’t hurt that the book itself is a lovely release, complete with colour pictures which I think really show how great the series’ art is.

4. Gunslinger Girl by Yu Aida (Yen Press)

This one I’ve talked about here before (in my last review, actually) so I’ll be brief. I love this series and could not be happier to see it finally getting released again. The world here is just so beautiful and unnerving and thought-provoking, which are three things I love in a story, manga or otherwise.

3. Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino (Viz Media)

I often describe Vampire Knight as my guilty pleasure manga (and anime, for the record). While it definitely is a guilty pleasure, I also think it’s a very well put together series as well, which is what puts it above more “quality” series like Gunslinger Girl. It is full of melodrama but this is melodrama done to perfection, that always has at least a ring of truth. It makes you laugh and cry with the characters – in particular my beloved Zero, who is just an incredibly interesting and well-developed character. I also really love the world that the manga has created for its vampires to exist in and the volumes released this year have really begin to delve into it more. Of course, there is the epic love triangle that also contains one of the most intense (and sometimes homoerotic) rivalries I’ve ever seen. While I was initially worried that the series might be dragging as it started an entirely new arc, I have thankfully been proven wrong and am eagerly anticipating the story continuing in 2012.

2. Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga (Viz Media)

I first encountered Ooku last year when I wrote a review for it for the now defunct Manga Life (you can read the review for vol 3 on my blog, here) and the series was my pick for best series of 2010. The political intrigue of this story is just incredible and, like Gunslinger Girl, also very thought-provoking as it plays with gender issues. The art also is beautiful (though admittedly it can be difficult at times to tell some characters apart) and the story is wonderfully epic, giving an alternate history to the entire Tokugawa shogunate period. I personally love the archaic language which I became used to after reading a volume or two, though I do see why some would have issues with it. Still, the story is good enough to overcome the few flaws it has and makes it a solid runner-up for 2011.

And my pick for best manga of 2011 is …

1. Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita (Yen Press)

I was introduced to this series first through the anime, which aired in Japan over the summer. I was immediately in love. The series is just so different from anything else I’ve read, as it shows the challenges of a single man suddenly being thrown into a “father” role for the illegitimate daughter of his late grandfather. Yes, the blood relationship is as complicated as it sounds but what comes out is one of the most feelgood stories I have ever watched or read. Every moment that I am experiencing Bunny Drop I am smiling and just having a great time, and that’s really something that’s a bit too rare in today’s entertainment. This series also features fantastic art and writing, which includes some of the best portrayals of children in fiction that I have ever seen. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone who likes kids, whether or not they are a manga fan. It’s just that good.

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So that’s my top five. All great series that I love reading and highly recommend. I also would like to take a moment to name two runners-up who are only not on the list because they did not have new volumes come out this year. The first is NANA, which is sadly on indefinite hiatus due to Ai Yazawa’s health issues. This is definitely one of my favourite series period and I am heartbroken at the idea there’s a chance it will never be finished. I wish Ai Yazawa all the best in her recovery because losing her as a mangaka would be a truly terrible thing.

My second sadly missed series is Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, by my favourite mangaka, Yuu Watase. I am a big fan of hers, particular of the original Fushigi Yuugi series, and I constantly look to see if there is a new volume of this being released … and sadly am often disappointed. However, it looks as though volume ten has been released in Japan, so hopefully it will soon get released in English and this series can be a contender for a proper place on next year’s list. (Editor’s note: Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Vol. 10) is due out from Viz Media in September 2012!)

Finally, just in case anyone is interested, the worst manga I read this year was March Story. I also reviewed it for Manga Life and you can read that review (for vol 1) here but needless to say, while it did have wonderful art, the story was just really unoriginal and not at all compelling. But I definitely read much more good than bad this year and have high hopes for 2012.

Get your holiday gift cards ready, it’s back to business for manga releases! It’s a pretty slow week as far as quantity goes but who can blame them when it’s right in the middle of the holidays? Still more than I honestly expected though so huzzah! The list of titles out can be read over at Otaku USA.

My top buys of the week are Air Gear (Vol.21) and Tokyo Mew Mew (Vol.02) – ironically both series I’m not entirely sure I like that much but I apparently like them both enough to buy. Air Gear is just really visually awesome and Tokyo Mew Mew is… well, it’s magical shoujo girls and I always give a series at least two volumes. In this case it’s an omnibus so that’s technically four volumes now I guess? Ah well, it gets bonus patience for having Kish as the villain.

It’s the last comic shipping day before Christmas! The next couple of weeks are typically a little wonky in regards to shipping. While the manga load is light this week it sports some especially ‘NEED NOW!’ titles to make the trip to your local comic or book store just as worthwhile. You can see the list over at my On The Shelf article at OtakuUSA.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Vol. 27) is the big one – the final volume of the series! I’ve had the book for about a month now thanks to Viz Media’s FMA boxset released in November. I’m so eager for manga fans to get a hold of this book and to hear their thoughts of the end. It’s one of my favourite manga titles and I think it ended near-perfectly. Faith Erin Hicks – awesome artist, friend and the woman responsible for introducing me to the glories of Fullmetal Alchemist – wrote a great post about the importance of stories ending after she read volume twenty-seven.

I’m also really eager to buy the newest volume of XXXHolic – still one of my favourite CLAMP titles. The last couple of volumes in particular have been chockful of so much extra eye-candy that it’ll be hard to not just stand there at Strange Adventures and oogle every page.

It’s like Christmas come early with release weeks like this – a whole bunch of must-have manga titles! My top pick goes to Princess Knight (Vol. 02) but Blood Alone (Vol. 05) and a slew of Viz Media titles aren’t far behind it.

You can read the full list of titles shipping out this week, along with my usual random synopsis and price-noting, over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

Author: Reiko Yoshida
Manga-ka: Mia Ikumi
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: October 2011

Synopsis: “On her first date with the cutest boy in school, Ichigo is exposed to a mysterious ray that meshes her DNA with that of the endangered Iriomote wildcat. She soon discovers that she has developed super-human abilities and enhanced agility. Her new powers are put to the rest when she leads a team with four other girls, each endowed with special abilities of their own. Together, they must now protect the Earth from an alien menace known as Deep Blue.”

Tokyo Mew Mew comes on the coat tails of Kodansha’s release of Sailor Moon, offering another magical girl story for those eager for another fix. The premises between the series are similar – five girls are all granted special powers that transform them into warriors sporting cute little short-skirt outfits and oddly worded attack names. They’re charged with the duty of protecting the Earth from evil, which in Tokyo Mew Mew‘s case is a group of aliens out to destroy the Earth’s environment by possessing animals.

The story’s main character is Ichigo – a spirited young girl whose mind is reeling with her crush on classmate, and environmental activist, Aoyama. While visiting a museum with him, a sudden earthquake-like event infuses (though unbeknownst to her at the time) her with the DNA of an animal in a scene that looks a lot like an artistic rendition of losing her virginity. It’s the next day when she starts realizing something is weird. Suddenly she’s more agile, really enjoys naps and has cravings for fish. When a giant monster attacks, a young man appears and bippity-boppity-boo! She transforms for the first time.

Ichigo’s personality is ripe (no pun intended…?) for the role of leadership for her so-to-be-together group of girls. She questions the sudden change but not enough to stop her from using her new magical attack bell to defeat the enemies with ease. – “What’s this all about? Ugh, I don’t even care anymore!” - Plus she immediately strikes a cute cat-pose and comes up with her own ‘I’ll defeat you’ catch phrase that she can use in every fight from then on.

Ichigo meets the rest of her group through episodic chapters. The first she meets is my favourite – Mint – a somewhat snobbish but cheeky young woman infused with the DNA of a blue Lorikeet (a type of bird). Her snide commentary throughout is amusing along with her ‘too-cool-for-you’ attitude that’s more mischievous than arrogant. I also liked how flustered she gets in front of girls she admires or finds pretty – it’s just so darn cute!

Unfortunately I’m not really a fan so far of the other three girls. You’ve got the waifey one, the childlike one and the older, actual-arrogant one. They all join the group with a little muss and fuss but it’s fleeting. Neither feels as distinct a character as Ichigo or Mint and I find myself more annoyed than entertained by them when present. As for side  characters, I’m pretty indifferent to the two young men who act as their guides and bosses but kudos to them I guess for having a way to make cute teenage girls fight their battles and dress as maids to staff their cafe. To the contrary, I do like the villain we’ve seen so far – Kish. He’s a cocky yet playful young man who’s taken a liking to Ichigo like she’s his newest toy.

Most of this omnibus book is the cast’s meet-and-greet so aside from the battles needed to spice up the drama of these scenes, there isn’t a whole lot of plot to absorb. There is some exposition near the book’s end, however, which preludes what sounds like a fetch quest to commence in volume two. To up the ante, the Mew Mew team are broadcast live on television during one of their confrontations so they’re front page news across the country. Fortunately for them their bizarre attack names (such as Ribbon Lettuce Rush) aren’t the only magic-girl powers they have so none of the group are recognizable outside their costumes.

While reading through I found Kodansha’s translation a little stiff. Even the opening line left me stumbling to read smoothly with its needless repetition – “Earth… this boundlessly beautiful planet, Earth.”. That attention was given to make them talk like girls their age was appreciated but I kept noticing odd punctuation choices that didn’t seem to match what was going on. Notably a lot of periods in place of explanation points where the picture clearly shows a character yelling. This could be something carried over from the original but either way it was disorienting.

While the content didn’t leave a big impact on me, I was really impressed with Kodansha Comics’ design work on the exterior cover. The logo is adorable, for one. It’s slick and simple, sporting a little set of kitty ears and whiskers that are cute when noticed while not being distracting. The most stand-out part of the design, however, is the use of two colours to distinguish the omnibus into two separate sections. The front of the book and left half of the spine is pink while the back of the book and right half of the spine is blue. While sitting on the shelf it immediately looks like an omnibus edition containing two standard length volumes instead of just an oversized book. I would love to see future series handled in the same fashion.

Continuing with visuals, I don’t have much to say on Tokyo Mew Mew‘s artwork. It compliments the story but doesn’t really stand out as something that will hook readers specifically. The art looks best for Ichigo who gets a lot of focused shots and poses, often more cleanly inked and detailed than everyone else. This is especially true for those ‘look at me!’ moments of speeches and transforming. I stopped on more than one occasion to stare at her panels as singular illustrations.

As far as magical girl series go, Tokyo Mew Mew has just about all the staples you’d expect. Cute girls, magic attacks, little outfits, fluffy sidekicks, love interests and aliens. Unfortunately there was nothing that really stood out to me about Tokyo Mew Mew that would make me consider it an above-average read. But, with a lack of the genre in English today, it’s still a solid buy for those hankering for more.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

It’s Wednesday! And the fifth Wednesday in the month too, that’s an extra week of new comics. You can see the list of new manga out over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

The big titles out today are the long-awaited new volume of MPD Psycho from Dark Horse, and the seventeenth and final volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical Inc. I may very well cry when I finish that one – it’s never easy when one of your favourites comes to an end!

Halifax is having its first snow of the year today and it’s hitting hard! Stores are closed and transit is slowed or stopped – not very good conditions for getting out to buy new manga. It is a great day to sit at home in a cozy pair of PJs and enjoy a stack of manga you already have though (you know, even more so than usual!).

Sailor Moon (Vol. 02) and Codename: Sailor V (Vol. 02) are the two big titles out this week, the latter of which comes to an end as the storyline merges with Sailor Moon. If you’re reading them both, be sure to read Sailor V first! I’m also really eager to pick up a copy of Saturn Apartments (Vol. 04) and see if I can finally find a copy of Project H’s first title, Shocking Pink! now that it’s on the open market.

You can read the complete list of titles out on the shelf this week at my (aptly named) On The Shelf article over at Otaku USA.

Manga-ka: Natsumi Ando
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2011

Synopsis: “Twin sisters, Arisa and Tsubasa, are separated by their parent’s divorce. But, after her sister’s suicide attempt, Tsubasa is determined to go undercover and unravel the conspiracy behind the elusive King. But, right now, the King’s wish granting abilities may have fallen into the wrong hands…. and the results may prove to be deadly to Tsubasa and Class 2B!”

I’d never found DelRey’s cover synopsis writing useful for determining what to expect in a particular volume. It’s one of the more frustrating attributes carried over to Kodansha Comics. Take this volume’s description, for example, which could be stuck on the back of almost any of the series’ books. Sure it keeps things vague for those who may not have read volumes one to four, but I think each subsequent book should really be for the readers reading them – don’t you? Class trips, stolen phones, a paralysed student, and Manabe’s past all await us in volume five of Arisa.

The opening scene takes off right where the previous volume left us. Tsubasa runs into Shizuka who she discovers now has all the phones that the King could allow a wish to be granted from. Shizuka is dead-set on getting revenge against Arisa who she believes is responsible for the events leading up to her legs being paralysed. A class trip to a mountain lodge proves the perfect backdrop to her first open act against Tsubasa, who she believes is Arisa. The King may continue to work from the shadows but the bluntness of his methods ensure things remain tense. Why bother over-complicating what a heavy rock to the skull can accomplish?

When you stop and look back, not a whole lot has happened considering we’ve read around 1000 pages. Volume five is a good example of how it manages to keep us interested by balancing events in the present with inklings of events from the past. It’s especially interesting seeing Tsubasa’s understanding of her sister come primarily from the bits and pieces she gleams from others. She has faith that her sister is another victim in this whole mess but even she can’t deny that Arisa played a great role in it all too.

We learn more about both Shizuka and Manabe in overlapping flashbacks. Where Manabe’s true alliance lies still seems a little shaky, but now we know why in better context. A character who bothers me though is Midori, Arisa’s boyfriend. He feels so flat whenever he comes on the page, like he’s only there to remind readers that under its simmering suspense plot, there’s the potential for a love quartet between Arisa, Tsubasa, Manabe and Midori. Or maybe he could be something more…? No character with a name has proven anything but relevant to the King’s plot eventually.

No one proves more trying than their peers though – a mostly nameless collective of classmates who’s fickle nature and occasional cruelty is hard to watch. The story may build a strong sympathetic angle for some but does little to alleviate my hope these background characters get what’s coming to them. Even Shizuka, a character who I was convinced I’d despise for her headstrong and selfish sadism, still managed to warm my heart. We learn more about her home life, plus see her open up to a new friend she finds in Tsubasa. I also like Tsubasa a lot more in these situations, both in attitude and appearance, where she’s being herself over trying to imitate her sister.

Talk about cliffhanger endings though. A grinning shadow, a kidnapped adversary and a lead character on the extreme offensive. It’s too bad that the short preview included of the next volume takes away the impact of this particular scene. Either way, the plot may not have progressed all that much but it’s certainly thickened. I’m still in it to see how and when the original mystery of the King is solved and Arisa (we presume) will suddenly awake at just that right moment to bring everything together.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

A rather small list of titles out this week but the book count remains about the same (if not more) if you account for two more big box sets out from Viz Media. This week’s releases are posted in my On The Shelf article over at Otaku USA.

After doing this article for a few months, it’s been interesting seeing the patterns that emerge when it comes to how and when books come out. The two biggest descrepencies in information, meaning those that vary the most between what the  sites says and my bookshelf indicates, are from Digital Manga and Kodansha, while Viz Media is often the most reliable (if you don’t include back orders anyway!).

Digital Manga lists release dates that only their own in-house supplier, Akadot, gets books for so they’re usually off by a month or two for anyone else (including Amazon and bookstores). Kodansha Comics predomiantly gets its books out to bookstores and online retailers on the days they indicate but Diamond Comics notoriously ships them from 2-3 weeks late from the release date. This differs a lot from Viz Media and Dark Horse titles, which always seem to be consistent between sources (excluding publisher push-backs).

Yen Press and Vertical Inc sit on the fence – usually on time but random titles arrive 1-2 weeks late from Diamond Comics. Oddly there rarely seems to be rhyme or reason to which titles arrive (or don’t) to individual stores despite ordering manifests and regardless of what titles are on the main Diamond Comics shipping list that week. Their titles do however have a tendency above others to arrive early sometimes.

Seven Seas hasn’t had enough physical releases in the past few months for me to notice a trend but that could change in 2012 based on the increase in titles we’re seeing.

Alas that at the end of the day noticing these trends doesn’t make coming up with a list that’s right for everyone any less difficult. Take this week for example, where online and chain store retailers have Sailor Moon (Vol.02) but Diamond Comics doesn’t yet have it listed as available. Frustrating both as a reader and an article writer. Patience, patience, patience…