Kodansha pleases male gaze fans this week with new releases of Air Gear, Cage of Eden and UQ Holder. I wish there were more female gaze, non-YAOI titles available, but few to no publishers seem to appreciate us female gaze, non-YAOI inclined readers. Viz Media releases new volumes 07-Ghost and Rin-Ne. Remember Rin-Ne, the Shonen Sunday series that started as a simultaneous release, that just faded away without a word? It’s up to volume 16! What on earth keeps this series going? It’s not really that funny, and is only mildly entertaining at best, and what irks me most; no digital releases available. People are actually paying full price for this series. Amazing!

Omnibuses have really taken off with manga publishers, as is evident on this week’s list. All three publishers with releases this week have at least one omnibus of an older series coming out. Dark Horse’s only release is an omnibus of Samurai Executioner. Kodansha has two with Air Gear and  Tsubasa, and Viz Media has Fullmetal Alchemist and Ranma 1/2. I think omnibuses are a great idea, especially for older titles with a lot of volumes. What would make them better is if they were also available digitally. The low-cost of digital and space economy + fewer volumes over all would make them perfect for the manga fan trying to catch up on classics like Ranma 1/2. Actually, I’d take any Takahashi series digitally.

The full list per Diamond Distributors:

DARK HORSE COMICS
Samurai Executioner Omnibus Volume 3 TP, $19.99

KODANSHA COMICS
Air Gear Volume 32 GN, $10.99
Air Gear Omnibus Volume 4 GN, $19.99
Cage Of Eden Volume 16 GN, $10.99
Seven Deadly Sins Volume 5 GN, $10.99
Tsubasa Omnibus Volume 2 GN, $19.99
UQ Holder Volume 3 GN, $10.99

VIZ MEDIA
07-Ghost Volume 13 GN, $9.99
Fullmetal Alchemist 3-In-1 Volume 9 TP, $14.99
Ranma 1/2 2-In-1 Volume 5 TP, $14.99
Rin-Ne Volume 16 GN, $9.99