Author: Daimuro Kishi
Manga-ka: Tamao Ichinose
Publisher: CMX Manga
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: June 2007

Synopsis: “Is the Time Shop closing for good?! In this eries finale, Miu tries to stop two former sweethearts from trading in their memories in order to forget their past relationship. Then Mr. Kusaka announces he’s selling all the Time Shop’s assets and closing up for good. Can Miu and Ginzo change his mind?”

A romantic entanglement becomes Time Guardian Miu’s first big job of volume two, taking her on an emotional journey as go between for two struggling lovers. But their waffling relationship proves only the tip of the book’s real iceberg as Miu is thrown for a loop when she learns what all the memories the shops’ been collecting are really for, then finds herself traveling to another world to see that the Time Shop isn’t closed for good.

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Manga-ka: Kaoru Mori
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2008

Synopsis: “From the acclaimed author of Emma, this collection of short stories presents further exploration into the stratified world of English society, portrayed through the experiences of young maids. Miss Bennett lives alone and keeps busy running the pub she inherited. Needing some help, she posts a notice for a maid. Along comes Shirley, a girl who can clean and cook as well as any maid – even if she’s only 13 years old!”

After a long day’s work, Miss Bennett returns home only to find a quiet young girl waiting patiently on her doorstep. In her hand she has the ad that Miss Bennett has placed in the paper only recently, an ad seeking a healthy young girl to be hired as a live in maid. Though her patience is admirable, the young girl is just that, very young. But faith is rewarded as Miss Bennett takes in the thirteen year old and gains both a dedicated maid and kind company.

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Author: K-Ske Hasegawa
Manga-ka: Asuka Izumi
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2009

Synopsis: “Shinigamis are usually thought of as dark and scary, but not Momo. She’s the beautiful and sympathetic messenger of death who helps people transition to the other side, prevents others from ending their own lives, and carries messages from the dead to the living. Based on the Japanese light novel series that later became an anime, Ballad of a Shinigami is a collection of stories about people coming to terms with death that alternately sad, funny, and heart-warming.”

The first book to win me over to a purchase after reading a short sampler in CMX’s recent SDCC sampler, Ballad of a Shinigami is a collection of episodic chapters that are all strung together with the appearance of a mysterious Shinigami fully clad in white. Instead of leading humans towards death, she subtly steers them back on the road to life.

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Manga-ka: Kaoru Mori
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2006

Synopsis: “William Jones regards Emma as a beautiful, charming young woman, not merely a servant. After their first real date, things seem to be going in a positive direction for them. But the leisurely pace of the growing relationship between Emma and William ends when tragedy strikes at home, forcing Emma to leave the house she shared with Mrs. Stownar. Meanwhile, when the rest of William’s brothers and sisters show up, they discover their brother’s budding relationship and try to bring it to a screeching halt.”

In this second volume the dynamics of Emma’s world are shifted when she loses the woman who helped her begin the life she’s come to be so content with. Now left tending to the affairs of her estate, and preparing herself for her seemingly empty future, Emma struggles with her own profound loneliness. Despite the fact that I still find myself unable to connect much with Emma because of her overtly docile personality, it’s impossible not to feel sympathy for her during such an emotionally trying time, even if the impact is quickly lost after the fact.

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Author: Daimuro Kishi
Manga-ka: Tamao Ichinose
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: March 2007

Synopsis: “High school student Miu Asahina stumbles upon a shop where time is loaned to anyone who needs it. But the price is a memory one risks losing forever. Miu gets hired by the manager to help other people manage their time… too bad she can’t handle her own!”

With a bit of accidental dumb-luck, Miu Asahina finds herself a guest in a magical shop run by a man who exchanges time for people’s memories. Intrigued by her mistaken entry into the store, the shop-owner hires her on as an assistant of sorts, there to help be a bridge between his entrepreneurial prowess and his customer’s emotional needs.

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Manga-ka: Kaoru Mori
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: September 2006

Synopsis: “The saga begins. In Victorian England, a young girl named Emma is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. When she meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, their love seems destined. But in this world, even matters of the heart are ruled by class distinctions.”

As far as we’ve gone here in volume one, Emma is the story of a maid of the title name who works under the charge of a stubborn, yet kind, older woman. A previous student of the older woman comes to call one day and is immediately smitten with Emma, something that is no uncommon occurrence for the timid but attractive young woman. Though she has long since become accustomed to politely declining the advances of men, in this case Emma can’t help but be rather charmed in return.

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