0
Yurara finds herself drawn to Mei, but her guardian spirit prefers Yako! Can Yurara sort out her true feelings?
When Yurara’s guardian spirit picks up a ghostly stalker, she vanishes, leaving Yurara to deal with the paranormal pervert on her own! By: Chika Shiomi Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Genre: Romance/Supernatural Rating: Teen + Price: $8.99 Not much of a volume description, is it? It doesn’t even come close to describing what’s going on in this volume. There is some serious character development going in here. The description only acts as a lead in. This volume starts off with two self-contained chapters that work to lead into the heart of the book; Yurara’s relationship with Mei. Mei is a serious flit, so Yurara doesn’t want to take his advances seriously, especially when it seems he’s really only interested in her spirit guardian. But when Yurara goes to the school rooftop to investigate the spirit that seems to be following her, Mei gets very upset with her. Yako explains to Yurara about Mei’s past and being in love with another woman who was killed by a spirit by pulling her off a rooftop. Yurara then meets that spirit when she possesses Mei and it’s up to Yurara to get rid of the spirit before it manipulates Mei into taking…
Something you should know about me: I like shiny new things. Given the choice between having something I know behind door number one and knowing what’s behind door number two? Curiosity wins. When my wife and I get ice cream, I’m the guy who has to taste like, 10 different flavors before I settle on something. And, if you regularly read our weekly picks, you’ll see I am always drawn to the new manga, even when it means overlooking incredible, established series. By: Gosho Aoyama Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Sunday Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Mystery Price: $9.99 When it comes to manga series, I’m not a distance runner. The longest I’ve kept with a series? 15 volumes, and even that was because I got a great deal on buying them all at once. Now, it’s not always a matter of choice—the incredible Dragonhead has wrapped up, but I haven’t read more than half of the books because bookstore and comics retailers in town don’t carry it except in spotty numbers(I know I could special order them or get them online from a place like Powell’s, but that—for some inexplicable reason—sticks in my craw. And I work in…
The Kokusen Academy Culture Festival is here and the Special A crew is making sure it runs smoothly. But chaos erupts when Kei’s grandfather tries to haul Kei off to London! Worse, when Hikari tries to intervene, she gets abducted! But the worst part of all is that amidst all the drama, Hikari is starting to realize her true feelings for Kei… By: Maki Minami Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 This is another series with female protagonist that’s as dense as a neutron star with a love interest that is cold yet popular with the girls. I suppose this isn’t bad if you don’t mind female protagonists that act like dumb blonds, but it really kept me from getting into the story. Kei’s grandfather sends his assistant Aoi Ogata to bring Kei back again. He kidnaps Hikari, thinking if he can get her out Kei’s life by seducing her. Hikari’s obtuseness makes it easy, but Kei runs to her rescue. Hikari then tries to get Aoi and Kei to be friends again, but throughout this, she finds it hard to look Kei in the eye and doesn’t know why. When she finally…
Journey back to the Jurassic…and sneak a peek at your favorite dinosaurs as you’ve never seen them! Dinosaur Hour is a collection of comics about dinos who are bullies and ghost-believers, pranksters and bungling little brothers. With such goofy antics, it’s no wonder these guys went extinct! By: Hitoshi Shioya Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Kids Age Rating: All Ages Genre: Comedy Price: $7.99 Starting this year, Viz has reinvigorated it’s VizKids line with many new titles. This title is among the first wave of books Viz is releases for younger readers. It also has the potential to reach beyond it’s intended audience by being just plain and funny and entertaining to anyone who likes a good laugh. Dinosaur Hour is a collection of stories, so there are no main characters or on-going stories, though it does seem that the mangaka had a thing for the Protocertops, as they appear several times throughout the book. Each story is about two or three dinosaurs interacting. When a new dinosaur is introduced, their name, length, and eating preference is given. You can learn things such as the power and stamina of different dinosaurs, or about the Stegosaurus’ unusual brain arrangement. But don’t…
“Do you like basketball, by any chance?” I have to admit that I have no interest in sports whatsoever, so I was a little dubious when I approached Slam Dunk. It’s a series that’s been greatly praised, from an artist with a formidable reputation, both for Slam Dunk itself and for his other series Vagabond and Real, so I was hopeful, but I was also leery of the possibility that it might be crammed with impenetrable jargon, or might depend on the reader being just as fascinated by basketball as the characters. By Takahiko Inoue Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Jump Genre: Shonen/sports Age rating: T/teen Price: $7.99 I needn’t have worried: no prior knowledge or liking for basketball is necessary. Slam Dunk follows the classic shonen manga formula of a cocky, talented boy determined to be the very best — but in this case, the cocky, talented boy, a fierce redhead by the name of Hanamichi, is also not very bright and doesn’t know the first thing about basketball, except that the girl he likes has a crush on a boy on his high school’s team. Hanamichi’s fiery determination to succeed at all costs (even if it means staying…
Junpei Manaka has a thing for film. So when a beautiful mystery girl in strawberry print panties falls on him on the roof and he gets a voyeuristic peek, what does he do? He decides to find out who she is, of course, so he can make a film of the act. By: Mizuki Kawashita Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Jump Advanced Age Rating: Teen Plus (16+) Genre: Comedy Price: $7.99 So begins the high school melodrama of Strawberry 100%; Junpei and his friends begin the hunt for the mystery girl and her strawberry panties, and everyone gets mixed up in a strange, all to familiar love circle where everyone is sure that two people are perfect for each other, but intervening relationships, arguments, and other such tomfoolery end up keeping them away from each other. Strawberry 100% is primarily a romantic comedy, and it’s got its bright moments. The slapstick and situational humor, along with well translated, witty dialog can make for some good laughs. On the downside, it’s got some unrealistic, harem-manga qualities that I hope get weeded out in the upcoming books. Focusing on the interplay between all the characters is what makes this kind of story…
Saving Kyoko from Reino’s attack has finally knocked some sense into Sho’s head, and he realizes how much he cares for her. But before he can declare his devotion, Ren shows up to ruin the moment. Both men realize that Kyoko has no idea of their true feelings for her and begin a secret battle for her affections! By: Yoshiki Yakamura Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $8.99 This volume is dedicated to the romance side of Skip Beat. Picking up the aftermath of a stalker attack on Kyoko from last volume, both Sho, Kyoko’s rival, and Ren, Kyoko’s mentor, realize their feelings for her. Kyoko, so wrapped up in her mission to become more famous than Sho, doesn’t see beyond the surface. This of course leads to a lot of melodrama. Kyoko didn’t tell Ren that Sho protected her from the stalker, Ren gets upset, Ren and Kyoko thinks they are hated by the other, and when they start to recover, Sho shows up and makes a challenge/declaration of love to Kyoko. But, all that drama isn’t so bad actually. It all plays as a natural progression as Ren has been working…
Hated by humans and demons alike, Cat Eyed Boy dwells in the shadows of the human world. Cat Eyed Boy continues his battle with the Band of One Hundred Monsters, a group seeking revenge upon the corrupt humans who have made them outcasts. By: Kazuo Umezu Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Genre: Horror Price: $24.99 Take Twilight Zone like stories about the human condition and combine them with a Tales From the Crypt horror factor and Crypt Keeper narrator, and you have Cat Eyed Boy in a nutshell. Even though Cat Eyed Boy is often a character in the stories, his outsider point of view allows him the luxury of commenting on the action as well as participating. I was skeptical of Cat Eyed Boy when I received it. I’m not a big horror fan, leaning more towards the supernatural (except in very rare cases, such as Hellsing). But, I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading that the horror element wasn’t repulsively horrific. Like most Japanese horror, the monsters were creepy and scary, but there wasn’t a lot of hack ‘n slash. I found reading it was easy for my weak-stomach to take. The only truly disturbing…
On Valentine’s Day, it’s no surprise that playboy Atsu gets plenty of chocolate from fawning girls. But everyone’s shocked when a heart-shaped box is found on Macharu’s desk-especially since it’s not from Haruna! Does Macharu have a secret admirer? By: Shouko Akira Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 It’s another collection of trial and error episodes for Haruna and Macharu. First, it’s Valentine’s Day, and a heart-shaped box of chocolate appears in Macharu’s desk. Does Haruna have some competition? Then it’s the end of the school year and the class of 1-2 want’s to have a party on the same day as Haruna’s birthday. School starts back up, and a girl Haruna knew from her old school has transferred in and can’t believe Haruna is going out with Macharu, which leads to a basketball competition between Macharu and Atsu. Finally, Haruna is asked to run for Student Body President. Will she? After 2 volumes, jaded Haruna and baby-monkey Macharu are still together. However, through these chapters we see Haruna is a little less jaded, and Macharu has grown some thanks to their relationship. There is still plenty of push and pull though. Even though Haruna…