I haven’t done this for a while, and last month’s Previews had some tough choices for me, so I thought I’d talk about it a little.  There were a lot of titles I collect/want that were up for ordering last month.  It’s very hard to keep my numbers down when publishers do this to me.  (Yes, I do think they are all out to get me.)

It isn’t that publishers had a lot coming out.  There were just a lot of publishers that had titles I wanted.  Bandai, CMX, Del Rey, Tokyopop, Viz and Yen Press all had an average of 2 books.  Well, except Viz who always has at least 5-7 alone that I want.  Doing a quick tape of everything (less the Naruto wave I already said I would have to pass on), if I had ordered everything I read, it would have come to over $100, and that with my 30% discount!  Even in a good economy, that’s a lot for one month!  15 titles in all!

I ended up flip-flopping a lot on this list.  I could have run for office with the number of times I changed what I would order!  Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion Volume 4 was on there for a while, until I saw I wasn’t going to get a discount on it.  I don’t know why, the other Bandai title, a Code Geass Light Novel did.  But, with having to pinch every penny, that one had to get crossed off eventually.

Another factor that affected by decision making was whether I thought the titles might need help making Previews new minimum.  I’m really bummed that Seven Seas has already become one casualty of this change.  Inukami! is a series I want to follow, and since my new manga buying is done through Previews, not having the option to order it really sucks.  So, the two CMX titles I read that were available, King of Cards and Two Flowers for the Dragon, got an order.  They don’t get nearly the love they deserve.  Fairy Tail is a must buy no matter what now.  Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo got an order, but Sgt. Frog didn’t.  The Petshop before the pet.

In Viz, I had to get Dr. Slump and Black Cat.  These are the final volumes for both series, and I am determined to see them to the end.  The two Shonen Jump graduates had to take a pass.  This is the first Shaman King I’ve missed since it left, but Hikaru no Go, I only just realized I missed 14, so skipping 15 wasn’t as hard.  Nana I really struggled over, but eventually I gave up on.  Full Metal Alchemist is still a must have, so it got an order as well.

Yen Press threw me a conundrum.  Night School and Pig Bride both had their volumes 1’s for order.  I said I was going to get the volumes when they came out, but why did they have to pick this month to do it?  I really, REALLY wanted to order Pig Bride.  I really enjoyed the chapters I read in Yen Plus.  But, they also put out another volume of Spiral, another must follow series.  That put me right in the middle of my $50-60 range, though over what I really wanted to spend.  So much to my despair, I had to pass on Pig Bride.

With no bottom in sight for this bad economy, you can bet choices as illustrated here will just get worse.  I afforded myself on extra volume, because one volume I’d previously ordered, Tactics, got canceled, and I had a little extra.  I might push it through the next Previews, as it’s Manga Month, but even my $50-60 limit is going to have drop until things get better.

It would just be easier if publishers did the same with their releases so I wouldn’t have to make these choices.