Yen Press takes the spotlight this week with the majority of releases, including Yen Plus launch titles Higurashi: When They Cry, Sumomomo Momomo, and Soul Eater. Digital Manga keeps their fujoshi fans happy with more BL releases, while Viz brings out the second of its Death Note omnibuses.
Watch this anime and let Viz know how much you want to read the manga. This is a great series and really needs to come over here! Supernatural mysteries, a demon detective and his puppet high school girl who can out eat Goku. How can you go wrong?
It’s another short list, just like this month is turning out to be. There’s not a lot to choose from for the long weekend, but for the very patient fan there’s a new volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion, a title that been around forever, and may take just as long to finish. Hats off to you NGE fans! If you’re feeling really brave or you’re a fan, you can check out Penguin’s newest title, Ayn Rand’s Anthem. The List: PENGUIN GROUP Ayn Rand Anthem GN, $15.00 VIZ MEDIA Bokurano Ours Volume 3 GN, $12.99 Naoki Urasawas 20th Century Boys Volume 13 TP, $12.99 **Weekly Picks** Neon Genesis Evangelion Volume 12 TP, $9.99 Shonen Jump Volume 9 #3 (March 2011), $4.99 **Weekly Picks** YEN PRESS Laon Volume 4 GN, $11.99 The Picks: Alex’s Pick: My pick this week is the thirteenth volume of 20th Century Boys. The series is smart and well paced, and avoids all the pitfalls of bad suspense. Urasawa is good at what he does, and I was a big fan of Monster, so this is one series I am determined to see through to the end. Justin’s Pick: Yep, 20th Century Boys is, for me, the pick…
Another good volume of more medical mysteries, just not a great one.
Sachiko’s trials continues in volume 5 as Hikaru moves into his final year in elementary school that comes with changes in both his teacher and classmates, neither of which he takes well, causing problems at home. Things only get harder when school administrators disagree with the family’s choice of junior high. In volume 6, Sachiko must deal with changes in Hikaru’s behavior, getting Kanon ready for elementary school, her mother-in-law who still doesn’t understand Hikaru, and her own mother’s falling ill. It’s a lot of stress for one woman to take.
And the list shrinks down again. Thank goodness for Viz’s spread out release schedule. This week it’s the Shonen Sunday and Signature lines. And Dark Horse keeps itself in the manga publishing game, even with it’s unpreditable schedule. No one’s complaining though. We’re happy to get our manga no matter how long it takes!
A decent read, but not the fun ride volume 4 was.
Go back to the beginning, when the owner Lorenzo was just opening Casetta dell’Orso. His wife Olga’s particular preference for a certain bartender inspires Lorenzo to hire an entire staff of gentlemen in glasses. Watch the cranky-but-kind Luciano juggle babysitting duty and the advances of an amorous customer. Witness handsome playboy Vito meet a healthy young college student who will eventually become his wife. All this and more awaits you, just beyond that discreet restaurant door… By Natsume Ono Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Drama Price: $12.99 Most of the men you see in manga are young and good-looking, almost to the point of being beautiful, in order to appeal to girls and young women. But what if your tastes run toward the older, more “distinguished” looking man? Then this is the title you’ve been waiting for. Gente is a sort of prequel/sequel to Ono’s previous work, Ristorante Paradiso. Gente tells the story of how the bespectacled, older gentlemen came to work at Casetta dell’Orso. It starts with Lorenzo finding and bringing the men together to work at his restaurant, and then each successive chapter tells a tale feature one of the gentlemen, inside and out of…
Leaving her internship at Sushi Hyuga to go on her family’s annual trip to France is the last thing Hanayu wants to do. On the other hand, a pastry-research trip in Europe is Hayato’s idea of a dream come true–can the two aspiring chefs ever catch a break? Plus, Hayato has become suspicious of patisserie assistant Maezawa, who has expressed an interest in Hanayu. As it turns out, both Hanayu and Hayato may have their wires crossed about what Maezawa is really after! By: Ayumi Komura Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Food Price: $9.99 I read the first 2 preview chapters for this series back when Shojo Beat was still around, and wasn’t impressed. Further reviews from fellow reviewers didn’t inspire me to look further into the series, and I’m not a foodie, so this volume had three strikes against it going in. But it actually wasn’t so bad. There wasn’t anything great about it. It’s a fairly average title, but I didn’t regret the time I spent reading it. Hanaya and Hayato, the leads that I found so annoying in the preview chapters of volume 1, aren’t so bad by this volume. Hanaya no longer has to…
Amidst the chaos of World War II, two Japanese soldiers hear of Zephyrus, an utterly captivating woman rumored to exist on an island in the South Pacific. The tales of this bold enchantress seducing men to their dooms are both chilling and fascinating. Over twenty years pass, and Zephyrus resurfaces in Japan, seemingly unchanged, to wield her mysterious power over men once more. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Genre: Action/Mystery Price: $24.95 The one man immune to Zephyrus’ charms is simple drunkard, Gohonmatsu Seki, son of one of the wartime soldiers. Employed to spy on Zephyrus, what will Gohonmatsu uncover about her ultimate plot to create international discord and consume the world of men? What brought this woman to conspire for decades against patriarchal society-against an entire gender-and can anything be done to stop her plans? Swallowing the Earth is a strange tale of revenge as a few women start a war against the entire male gender for the wrongs done to the female gender. It takes a long and meandering path to come to a simple conclusion; true happiness is only attainable if one is free of lust, power and greed. Or, as…