Manga the week of 10/6

First week of the month, and that means mostly Viz. Their debut this month is Grand Guignol Orchestra, a high-gothic fantasy from the pen of Kaori Yuki, author of Godchild and the Count Cain series.

We also get a new One Piece, for the first time in what seems like forever but is only 3 months, as Luffy goes further into Impel Down. Other Jump titles include Eyeshield 21 (still battling for the Christmas Bowl), Strawberry 100% (still proving that ecchi shonen romances don’t sell well here), Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo (I’d looooooooooove to see the sales figures for this one – did Viz prepare their print run of one for me?), and some ninja thing or something.

For Viz’s shoujo line, I’m looking forward to Dengeki Daizy and Seiho Boy’s High School, whose first volumes I liked. I’m intrigued but wary of Stepping on Roses, which is gloriously over the top trash. I plan to smile wryly at Natsume’s Book of Friends, which is not as fantastic as I’d expected from the hype, but is a nice relaxing change of pace among all the shojo romance. And I’m still avoiding Black Bird.

On the non-Viz front, Dark Horse finishes their Chobits omnibus. I recall that when the last volume came out, I was somewhat irritated with the ending. Now I get to re-read it and remember why. Del Rey releases a couple of ‘hey, these sell poorly’ omnibuses, as well as the new Fairy Tail, which does not sell poorly. Digital Manga Publishing is re-releasing the popular yaoi title Kizuna in a deluze edition. And, with Seven Seas releasing a new Dance in the Vampire Bund, and Vertical putting out volume 1 of the horror manga 7 Billion Needles, we have *two* titles from Media Factory’s Comic Flapper in the same week – possibly a record. Now if only Dark Horse would release Translucent Volume 4 (also a Flapper title)…