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Good ‘ol Wednesday, a day of new comics and once it’s over you’ve survived the hub of the work week (if you work the Mon-Fri beat anyway). My manga highlights of the week seemed to err on the dark side but rest assured there are some happy gems in the batch. Of course dark manga doesn’t mean it isn’t still highly entertaining. But enough of my ramblings -you can read the list of manga volumes shipping this week over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article.
LEAP INTO THE FANTASY AND ROMANTIC INTRIGUE OF A TEENAGE GIRL’S DEEPENING BOND WITH TWO WOLF SHAPESHIFTERS, IN JIU JIU
High School Gets Complicated For A Girl From A Family of Demon Hunters In A New Shojo Series From VIZ Media
San Francisco, CA, June 19, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, unleashes the demon-hunting romantic fantasy of Touya Tobina’s shojo manga series, JIU JIU, on July 3rd. The new series will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.
Born into a family of “Hunters,” Takamichi’s destiny is to pursue and slay demons. When her twin brother is killed, she is saved from despair by a pair of Jiu Jiu – shape-shifting familiars – in the form of two wolf pups named Snow and Night. Now Takamichi is in high school and an active Hunter. Snow and Night can’t wait to attend school in their human form to “protect” her. But are they ready to go off leash…?
“JIU JIU is an intriguing new series that offers a strong combination of romantic drama, supernatural action, and humor centering on the deepening bonds between a girl and two wolf shapeshifters,” says Annette Roman, Editor. “Growing up in a family of demon hunters isn’t easy. Things become more complicated when the pair of cute wolf pups grow up into her bodyguards, learn to shift into (hot!) human form, and decide to follow their mistress to school. Don’t miss this new rhapsody of swords, fangs and romance from Shojo Beat this summer!”
VIZ MANGA ANNOUNCES BLEACH PRINT MANGA ‘SPEED UP’
2 New Volumes Of Hit Action Manga Debut Each Month Thru The End of 2012 To Synchronize Series With Japanese Counterpart
VIZ Media kicks the Soul Reaping drama of BLEACH into high gear as it announces a special speed up of the print editions of Tite Kubo’s hit supernatural action manga (graphic novel) series. Beginning this month and continuing through December 2012, two new BLEACH manga editions will debut every month.
BLEACH is published by VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and carries an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. The accelerated schedule is designed to synchronize the series with its digital counterpart on VIZManga.com by the end of the year.
Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts – he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow – a malevolent lost soul—Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace. Find out why Tite Kubo’s BLEACH has become an international manga smash-hit!
Swag Bag time! Below are some of my thoughts of books I’ve purchased in the past two weeks (and love very, very much). As always these books were purchased at my local comic shop, Strange Adventures.
My favourite buy of recent weeks was the final volume of Ouran High School Host Club (Vol.18). I couldn’t even wait to get home to read it so I was quick to find a place to sit down and enjoy. It was a fantastic ending, probably one of the best I’ve ever actually read in manga series, especially a shoujo. I plan to go into it in more detail in an upcoming review, but in summary – yay! Though I’m really sad there’s no more to read.
Also from Viz Media this week were the first two volumes of their Bleach speed-up. Despite some pleadings from my wallet, I simply couldn’t leave volume 41 on the shelf when I was walking away with volume 40, so both it was! I enjoyed these together more than I have Bleach in a while and having two volumes at once I think played a big role in that. You can read more of my thoughts in my recent duo-review of the volumes.
Hopping back on a different shonen train, I purchased Toriko (Vol.09). It’s still one of my favourite on-going series right now which I never would have expected when I first came across it. It feels so reminiscent of Dragonball, including Komatsu who ups his adorable and toughing-it-out points in this new volume. On the flipside, I bought Dawn of the Arcana (Vol.04) which is a series I thought I would really like but it has yet to click with me. Volume four is it! If I don’t get into it after this, then I’m done with this iffy shoujo series.
With one series over and three others continuing, I sought something brand new by buying Puella Nagi Magica Madoka (Vol.01) from Yen Press. I haven’t seen the anime but heard the story was really good. The manga didn’t live up to my expectations, but I can see it being worth exploring further in some format at least. I wrote and posted a review on my Madoka thoughts last week.
Catching my eye was an older title from UDON Entertainment – Evyione Ocean Fantasy (Vol.01). Even knowing their track record for continuing manhwa past a first volume is horrendous, I couldn’t help but buy it. It’s a retelling of the Little Mermaid story except the mermaid is a gorgeous mysterious merman and the prince is instead, you guessed it, a princess. I really like what I read here but I won’t hold my breath for getting volume two.
And then it was boys’ love time! Two new Digital Manga titles arrived in-store, which is always a surprise since you never know for sure when their books will ship. Both titles were by Kazuma Kadoka – Kizuna (Vol.06) and Bad Teacher’s Equation (Vol.04). I was a little disappointed to see that the Kizuna volume was only a single, where all the others released by DMP were omnibus. Nothing that can be done when that’s all that’s left though. I’ll miss the series now that it’s over – it’s a true BL classic. Bad Teacher’s Equation as a series is so silly – I have fun reading it so I’m glad there are still a few volumes left to go.
And in non-manga buying news, but something that still overlaps a lot with the fandom, I purchased the second Avatar the Last Airbender: The Promise graphic novel from Dark Horse. As a big fan of ATLA, I adore these graphic novels for reading so much like the original series (very amusing dialogue, for one) and for being drawn by the very talented, GuruHiru.
Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: June 2011
Synopsis: “While the Soul Reaper captains deal with Aizen’s forces in Karakura Town, Ichigo faces Ulquiorra in Hueco Mundo. To match the powerful Espada, Ichigo will have to rely on his hollow powers. But will the darkness overwhelm him? Pushed to the verge of death by Ulquiorra, Ichigo releases his Hollow powers. But can Ichigo control his powers long enough to claim victory against his rival, or will he lose everything he’s been fighting for…?”
While my wallet may not agree with me, I love that Bleach volumes are now coming out two at a time. With volumes consisting of on-going fight scenes, I breeze though singles of Bleach in a third of the time most other manga volumes with the same page count would take me. Two volumes felt just right, and as I finished reading them, I felt I had actually experienced a decent chunk of story as a big fight came to a close.
Ouran High School Host Club – that is all.
Okay, not all but it sure is my most anticipated release this week. The last volume was fantastic, though the fact today’s release of Ouran is also the final volume makes this follow-up pretty sad. I shall certainly miss the series quite a bit!
The full list of titles shipping this week – a combo of books from Viz Media and Seven Seas – are listed and briefly chatted about over on my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.
It is raining so hard outside! While this has left me soaked during my early morning treck home, it at least provides the perfect opportunity to curl up in a warm, dry set of blankets with a good book. My past two weekly trips to the comic store has alloted me plenty to choose from (but where to begin!?):
I stocked up on shoujo with the second volume of A Devil and Her Love Song (which I loved as much as the first) and volume one of The Earl & The Fairy (which really could’ve used more fairies). Both were from Viz Media.
From Kodansha Comics, Sailor Moon (Vol.05) was a big given. This particular volume is extra hefty with pages and a lot happens, finishing up the entire Dark Moon arc. It’s been so long since I’ve read the story so a lot of little elements of the plot are fresh surprises, which is awesome! I love these original versions of the characters so much, Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa in particular. Everyone is super classy.
Speaking of another type of classy, I bought a few new seinen titles all of which are continutations of series I’m collecting – Saturn Apartments (Vol.05), Blood Alone (Vol.06) and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Vol.12). The first two are really relaxing reads, very laid back and mellow, even when things get dramatic. In some series I’d find it boring, but in these two it’s their greatest charm. Kurosagi is still fun to read, what with all the corpses, murders and creepy endings. The wait between each book is rough! I do hope we see a return to the connecting stories earlier books had though. I miss those…
Last, but certainly not least, comes some new boys’ love! Digital Manga served up another action-packed and sex-filled time with the fourth and fifth volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder series. So much gun-touting melodrama as the hunter is now the hero – it’s the sort of kinda-trash you can’t help but love. It was all fluff, feelings and a little physical-fun, however, in the sixth volume of Hinako Takanaga’s Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). I really like this series because of the characters but it’s tough watching their relationship dragged on so long. In this volume the cast of the prequel series, Challengers, show up too – bonus!
Those were my recent purchases – feel free to share some of their own! Anything you’d recommend? Loved? Despised? Share the contents of your own swag bag!
VIZ MEDIA DELIVERS THE LATEST YU-GI-OH! ADVENTURES WITH THE LAUNCH OF NEW YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL MANGA SERIES IN JUNE
Brand New Action Adventure Series Follows A Young Boy’s Quest To Fulfill His Destiny And Become A Dueling Champion; Vol. 1 First Editions Include Limited Edition YU-GI-OH! Trading Card
San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, notably expands its bestselling YU-GI-OH! manga (graphic novel) brand with the forthcoming release of the newest series in the popular franchise. YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL launches on June 5th under the company’s SHONEN JUMP imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. Volume 1 First Editions will also contain a limited edition collectable YU-GI-OH! trading card.
YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL is based on an original concept by Kazuki Takahashi with story by Shin Yoshida and artwork created by Naohito Miyoshi. The new series takes place in a futuristic city where augmented reality Duels are all the rage. Duelists, using devices called D-Gazers, can interact with their environment and their opponents as never before. With more awesome monsters and unbelievable cards, the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! starts right here! No one loves Dueling more than Yuma Tsukumo, but unfortunately for him, no one is worse at it! This isn’t going to stop Yuma from trying though. When Yuma calls on the memory of his parents during the Duel, a strange being called Astral appears, and the encounter is the start of Yuma’s amazing Duel journey!
Life’s been a bit of a blur since I came back from TCAF, but aside from a horribly messy post-trip bedroom, things are finally smoothing back over. This means – new comics! Before I take my weekly trip down to my favourite comic store, I had to do my usual romp-through of the new books available to buy once I get there.
My most-eager-to-buy books of the week are Sailor Moon (Vol.05) and Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). You can see the complete list over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. Buy and enjoy manga lovers!
I’m packing my bags and getting ready for TCAF but time was still made to make it to my comic shop of choice and stock up some new manga. Always time for new manga!
If looking for some new manga of your own, you can check out the most recent On The Shelf article over at Otaku USA for the list of what’s fresh in the bookstores this week.
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