Well, I may have lost my mojo for writing reviews, but I can at least tell you what’s coming out next week. It’s another big one, as Viz makes up for their relatively small January with a pile of stuff.
In non-Viz news, Bandai has the final volume of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. The first of the many spinoffs from the Code Geass anime, I believe this one hews closest to the actual source. Which means I’ll be skipping it, as the original Geass is far too bleak for me.
Dark Horse has the 23rd Volume of Blade of the Immortal, another of their manga series that have been running since forever. And it’s still running in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine, so don’t expect it to end anytime soon. I’m not certain how good sales are, but I think it does OK, and, like Oh My Goddess, is something of a legacy license for Dark Horse. There’s also Volume 5 of Ghost Talker’s Daydream, a shonen manga that can best be described by Dark Horse: ‘Saiki Misaki, our albino dominatrix necromancer hero…’ There’s other text after that, but I think most readers are content to stop there.
Seven Seas has one debut and one license rescue. I know very little about Amnesia Labyrinth, which looks to be a thriller manga with a side of horror. It comes from ASCII Mediaworks’ Dengeki Bunko magazine, which is mostly light novel oriented but apparently has a manga or two. The real reason I’m interested, though, is that the author of this manga is Nagaru Tanigawa, better known as the author of the Haruhi Suzumiya novels. The license rescue is Gunslinger Girl, also from ASCII Mediaworks, in their main Dengeki Daioh title. It was probably one of ADV Manga’s more popular titles back when ADV Manga existed. Seven Seas has picked it up, and is releasing the first 3 volumes in one big tome, with 4-6 to follow in a month or two. I never did get around to knowing much about it beyond ‘lolis with guns’, but perhaps the omnibus will show off its strengths.
After a brief delay, Vertical is releasing Volume 13 of Black Jack. Vertical, as many know, blew everyone away today with the announcement that they had not only picked up Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi), the legendary Tezuka shoujo manga, but also Drops of God (Kami no Shizuku), the amazingly popular and influential wine manga that runs in Weekly Morning. It is therefore a good reminder that they are also still putting out awesome legendary Black Jack stuff. Like this.
And so we come to Viz. They have two debuts as well, though one is ‘done in one’. Mistress Fortune is a Tanemura shoujo manga, and was likely licensed by Viz even before she thought of the idea. Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Nurarihyon no Mago) is their new Jump series, about a kid trying to be a spirit master. Coincidentally, this starts just as Shaman King ends. :)
On the shonen side we also have new volumes of Bakuman, D.Gray-Man, Gin Tama, Naruto, One Piece, Slam Dunk, and Tegami Bachi. Well, if it’s the first week of the month, it’s gotta have a lot of Jump. Gin Tama and One Piece are my BUY THIS NOW!!! recommendations from that pile. There’s also the 2nd Genkaku Picasso, also technically a Jump manga, which will hopefully continue to have great weird art and be less predictable.
On the shoujo end, we have a few big guns as well. The new Kimi Ni Todoke, for one thing. Another Otomen, which I will make a wild guess will reveal that a previously thought masculine guy has secret girly hobbies. (Call it a hunch.) Black Bird, which sells like hotcakes. Or more likely, like Hot Gimmicks. Grand Guignol Orchestra, which will feature more beautifully drawn death, no doubt. Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, which zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh sorry, fell asleep there. And new volumes of Seiho Boys’ High School and Story of Saiunkoku, both of which turned out to be pleasant surprises for me.
Lastly, there’s two new Pokemon mangas out. I never know what to write about these. They’re from Shogakukan, they’re omnipresent, and apparently Pokemon fans quite like them.
So what do you plan on getting?
I got my Viz-shoujo a week early. Otomen, Seiho and Kimi ni Todoke were brilliant as ever (well… I don't know if Otomen was quite brilliant, but it made me laugh often). Seiho continues to take my by surprise—I'd gotten used to the episodic nature of the first two volumes, and then read 3-4 the other day and there were actually GIRLS (as returning characters)! And plot!