Things are shipping one day late to comic stores due to the July 5th observed holiday. So you must wait an extra day to get far too much Viz.
In non-Viz news, Last Gasp are releasing a handsome artbook dedicated to the art of Toshio Saeki, one of the most famous erotic artists out there. It’s $40, so a bit too rich for me, but it’s supposed to be fantastic.
Vertical releases Chi’s Sweet Home, which I reviewed earlier today, and the second volume of Twin Spica, which I will be reviewing once I get my greedy paws on it. Both series are well worth your time.
A bunch of Yen Press’s stuff is hitting Midtown, though oddly not the things I’m interested in from them in July. We do get the third volume of the Haruhi Suzumiya novel, though. Unlike the first two, this is a collection of short stories featuring the cast. My favorites are the time travel headache of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and the murder mystery mockery that is Remote Island Syndrome.
And then there’s Viz. The title I’m most interested in is Dengeki Daisy Vol. 1. A while back on Twitter Shojo Beat asked for license requests, and I noted that they tended to license fluff from Shueisha’s Betsuma, and angst from Shogakukan’s Betsucomi. I suggested they try some Betsucomi fluff, and mentioned this title. Turns out my psychic powers were working well. :) It’s from the author of Beast Master, and the description seems utterly cliched. Great, I love cliched shoujo. (No, I’m not being sarcastic, I really do.)
Aside from that there’s the 2nd to last volume of S.A, the 3rd Natsume’s Book of Friends and the 14th Ouran High School Host Club from the Hakusensha end of things, the Shueisha end gives us the last Mixed Vegetables (which I liked at first, but grew weary of fast), the 2nd Stepping on Roses (can it top the first volume for being utterly screwed up?), and the 21st Nana, which is the last Nana to date – the series has been on hiatus in Japan due to health reasons, and Viz has now caught up. And from Shogakukan, we have the 11th We Were There, which I presume will be depressing yet riveting, as always.
On the shonen end, there’s only one volume of One Piece out this month. What is the world coming to? Even worse, Viz tries to mess with my head by releasing Kekkaishi 22. That’s a Sunday title! Get back in the 2nd week of the month where you belong! There’s also a new Eyeshield, which finally gets to the Christmas Bowl.
Lastly, it’s always great to see a volume of Ultimate Muscle come out, which I suspect is sort of along the same lines as Knights of the Zodiac at Viz headquarters. “Whooooo’s your daddy?” “*sigh* You are, Shueisha.” “Now put out another volume of this!” “As you wish.” (I eagerly await getting bashed by all the Ultimate Muscle fans, who may actually have gotten into it via the WWE rather than manga.)
If $40 is a bit too rich for you, how do you afford all this manga to read every month?! Are all these books sent as review copies? Or are they mostly pre-orders?
It's rich for me in that I can't stack it on top of the huge amount I already spend on manga. Unlike taking a chance on, say, a new volume of a series I've never heard of for a quarter of the price.