A particularly busy week for Midtown, especially for a Week 5, traditionally a time when few titles drop. Tokyopop’s new end of month schedule, though, means we get a pile now that they’re back in the groove. (Bless them for this, by the way; 3 years ago, they shipped the same week Viz did. It was hell.)
Let’s start with Tokyopop, who have the most coming out. More of my favorite comfort manga from Hakusensha, this time around it’s Maid-sama and Happy Cafe. I don’t follow NG Life, but I hear good things about it as well. Meanwhile, for josei fans, Suppli has returned, with a 2-volume 4&5 combo for… well, twice the price. Still, it’s out! There’s some mangas that take genre and tweak it a bit, with Zone-00 (runs in Asuka, so technically shoujo) and Foxy Lady (runs in Comic Zero-Sum, so kinda josei). And of course there’s Samurai Harem, a title just as tasteful and refined as Monthly Shonen Champion, the magazine it oozes in. Erm, runs in, I mean.
Oh look, Kodansha USA have the 2nd Akira volume out! I am assuming, like Vol. 1, this will be the Dark Horse edition only with the words ‘Dark Horse’ replaced with ‘Kodansha’. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Digital Manga Publishing will have the final volume of Millennium Prime Minister, a not-quite-yaoi-but-has-lots-of-tease title that typifies the magazine it runs in, Wings. Meanwhile, in DMP’s actual yaoi titles, smirking blonds wrap their arms around cowering brunets. (Which, to be fair, you see a lot of in shoujo as well.)
Del Rey has a welcome license rescue, as we see the final 2 volumes (in one omnibus) of Samurai Deeper Kyo, late of Tokyopop. I lost track of this series about Vol. 5 or so, but it has quite an enthusiastic fandom, so I welcome its return. I already praised Moyasimon earlier today, see my previous review. Fairy Tail will continue to torture Erza, presumably. And a mere 2 years after the first novel, we get Zaregoto Book 2, featuring one of the most fascinating and frustrating narrators I’ve ever read. If you want to read a book narrated by a diffuse cloud, this may be the one. But a RIVETING diffuse cloud.
And saving the saddest for last, the final CMX titles. I’ve praised Teru Teru x Shonen before, with its great tale of ninjas and romance, as well as its rehabilitation of its misunderstood (and fiery) heroine. It has 4 volumes never released here now. Stolen Hearts took the mangasphere by storm with its adorable couple when it appeared earlier this year; this is the 2nd volume. The series is still running in Japan, Vol. 5 is due out later this month, I believe. And Orfina ends here with Vol. 8 of 12, another shonen fantasy that CMX liked to put out that never got as much chatter as their shoujo. We’ll miss you, CMX. We’re still annoyed at you, DC. How about some digital downloads of the remaining volumes for your new digital enterprise, huh?
Oh, digital CMX releases—I was just thinking about that too. Surely they have a few more books lettered and edited that didn't quite reach the printer's before DC shut them down? Surely they couldn't lose anything if the work's already been paid for, but could gain some extra revenue, by releasing them digitally?? Pleasepleaseplease? (I'm not too hopeful, considering how they've dealt with CMX since that original announcement, but…)
CMX was working with the 10 volume shinzouban version, so actually only 2 volumes shy of completion (which kinda makes it hurt just a tad more, I guess).Which… to continue the sentiment, would be sweet as a digital CMX release (along with the last 4 volumes of I Hate You More Than Anyone… With Tears of a Lamb finished in the nick of time, and V.B.Rose seeming to be doing alright for TP, it would be sad to cut short the sweet triplet of Banri Hidaka titles)…though like others, not holding my breath for too long and likely going to end placing the relevant jp tanks into my Amazon basket sooner or later.
Was also considering the possibility of DC releasing the remaining CMX volumes via digital distribution. Of course, this being DC, they'd probably want to see how well their S-hero comics sell before wanting to commit to a 200 page Manga that they seem eager to remove from their collective memory. Just look at how fast they got rid of their CMX page upon announcement of their dissolution of the Manga line.If we're going to expect anything from them, it'd probably be 10 years after other Manga companies (more?) successfully use this model, and DC decides to play catch-up.Why, yes, I AM an incredibly cynical pessimistic man. Why'd you ask? Just because I have a bleak outlook for the future doesn't mean I can't indulge in a little creative plausible fantasy outlook. It only took 12 years for the Moto Hagio collection to come out. Surely the rest of Swan will be released in that time.