Manga Village

The Manga Movable Feast for this month is talking about the manga we’re thankful for, the people who got until reading manga, those guilty pleasures we read and enjoy despite knowing better, and the companies that feed our soul. So, here are the Manga Villagers with what manga they are thankful for.

Every week, the Manga Villagers will go through the new releases for the week and pick out the titles they are most looking forward to reading. Whether it’s buying or just window shopping, check out what we’re looking at every week! Week Ending 11/10/2012 Amy: The complete box set release of Ouran High School Host Club is on my wish list. I’m hoping that Santa will be able to fit this shojo complete series under my tree this year. This box set includes all 18 volumes with some extra goodies. Also, coming from Viz this week, I’m anxious for the latest volume of Kamisama Kiss. As the anime series has rekindled my interest in this series I’m glad to see volumes still being released. Alex: Sekine’s Love from JManga seems right up my alley (okay, I admit, I bought and read the thing already), and I think there is a lot there for shojo and josei fans to like. Negima v. 36 is available from Kodansha and Heroman v. 1 is available from Vertical, all of which I will be picking up. I’m also interested in Strobe Edge, a new series from Viz. And, if you are hunting for manga…

Every week, the Manga Villagers will go through the new releases for the week and pick out the titles they are most looking forward to reading. Whether it’s buying or just window shopping, check out what we’re looking at every week!

Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The routine of class and endless stupidity in a provincial town is taking a toll on middle schooler Takao Kasuga. Though he gets along well enough with his peers, they’ll never begin to dig any of that reading business that’s his only true escape. What can he expect when he’s in love with foreign stuff like the poems of Charles Baudelaire? Yet, his life threatens to take a turn for the worse when he finds and takes home, in a moment of weakness, the gym clothes of pretty, sweet, and smart Nanako Saeki on whom he has a major crush. Witness to the theft is the oddest girl in class, who seems to consider the whole world a pile of excrement and to nurse a terribly sadistic streak… Rising star Shuzo Oshimi, the author of the hit apocalyptic series “Drifting Net Cafe“, finds his groove in an ever-so-slightly autobiographical work that grows more soulful with each volume. Nominated for the 2012 Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize). By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Shuzo Oshimi’s Flowers of Evil begins innocently in a school setting where the seemingly normal Takao…

Every week, the Manga Villagers will go through the new releases for the week and pick out the titles they are most looking forward to reading. Whether it’s buying or just window shopping, check out what we’re looking at every week!

Every week, the Manga Villagers will go through the new releases for the week and pick out the titles they are most looking forward to reading. Whether it’s buying or just window shopping, check out what we’re looking at every week!

Every week, the Manga Villagers will go through the new releases for the week and pick out the titles they are most looking forward to reading. Whether it’s buying or just window shopping, check out what we’re looking at every week!

With 2011 in the rear view mirror, the Villagers look back at some of the titles, publishers and events that made the past year good (or bad). What was your favorite new title(s) of the year? Connie: There are a lot of different titles, so picking, say, Lychee Light Club over Sakura Hime is tough, since I like them both, but one ran in Ribon (for little girls) and the other in Manga Erotics F.  Lychee Light Club was probably my favorite one-shot this year, a great and very shocking book full of violence and objectionable content, but with amazing art and a manic, intense plot.  Sakura Hime was probably my favorite general audience title, if general audience can mean people who read magical girl series.  I’m a fan of Arina Tanemura, and while I’m not an instant convert on all her books, Sakura Hime was quite good, and I’m enjoying the setting and mythological ties so far. But my favorite title this year was probably Wandering Son.  I have a hard time talking about Wandering Son, because I feel anything I say won’t do the story enough justice.  It’s simply a nice, quiet book about pre-teen classmates exploring their…

It’s a short but varied week filled with good last-minute gifts. One of Del Rey’s last titles, xxxHOLIC, releases its penultimate volume this week. Vertical releases the second volume of its vintner saga, Drops of God, while Viz shows it’s eclectic side a little something from its Signature and Media lines. Good reading all around. The List: DEL REY MANGA xxxHOLiC Volume 18 GN, $10.99 KODANSHA COMICS Mardock Scramble Volume 3 GN, $10.99 VERTICAL Drops Of God Volume 2 GN, $14.95  **Weekly Pick** VIZ MEDIA Dorohedoro Volume 5 GN, $12.99 Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 27 TP (Of 27), $9.99  **Weekly Pick** Tenjo Tenge Volume 4 GN (Full Contact Edition 2-In-1), $17.99 YEN PRESS Betrayal Knows My Name Volume 2 GN, $18.99 Kobato Volume 5 GN, $11.99 My Girlfriend’s A Geek Volume 5 GN, $11.99 Spice And Wolf Volume 5 GN, $11.99 The Picks: Justin’s Pick: Mardock Scramble has proved interesting, if not necessarily anything new, and Dorohedoro is still a powerhouse of a manga with terrific art-presence, but this week I’m picking up Drops of God, if only because I still can’t tell if it’s tongue in cheek or deadly serious when it comes to the world of wine (or both!);…

Hikaru’s evolution continues, now as the host to both Horizon and Maelstrom. A new cosmic entity has come to Earth, sensing a disturbance in its evolution. The Moderator sees a macro-evolution for the Earth, but with Horizon and Maelstrom not doing their jobs, it’s up to him to see it through, or else wipe all life from Earth, and let it start over. It’s up to Hikaru, Horizon and Maelstrom to find the solution, and the next step in the Earth’s evolution. By: Nobuaki Tadano Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Sci-fi Price: $10.95 Volume 3 starts by showing how much Hikaru has changed from the first 2 volumes. She is no longer a loner, nor does she try to shut out the world. She spends time with her friends Saya and Nao, and acts more like a normal girl. She also starts to notice their classmate Chika, a girl who seems to have the same problem Hikaru had, but reacts in the opposite direction. She doesn’t want to be alone. She is desperate for friends, and to have a place to belong. That no one really wants to be alone is a theme that runs throughout the…