Oh dearie me. (deep breath)
Bandai is shipping the 4th volume of Code Geass: Knight, the doujinshi anthology series that focuses on the male characters for female fans of the series. Expect lots of BL tease with no actual BL.
If you want actual BL, then DMP is the place for you. We get new volumes of the awkwardly titled Great Place High School Student Council, the deluxe edition of Kizuna, Seven Days, and The Tyrant Falls in Love. And there are three new series debuting: Mr. Tiger and Mr. Wolf (no, it’s not a Tiger and Bunny spinoff), Only Serious About You, and Private Teacher. I think this giant pile of BL will satisfy even the most hungry enthusiasts.
Remember when I said we’d get the rest of Kodansha’a October this week? I was indeed correct! New Air Gear, which has hit 20 volumes of rollerblading frenzy. Vol. 2 of Bloody Monday’s intrigue and Cage of Eden’s potboiler antics. And two new thick omnibuses: Love Hina 1-3 (which I reviewed here a couple of weeks ago), and Tokyo Mew Mew 1-2 (for those who can’t get enough magical girl shoujo and can’t wait for Sailor Moon/V).
Speaking of omnibuses, Seven Seas is releasing Vols. 7 & 8 of Gunslinger Girl, which I believe means we’re now caught up with ADV and getting new material. Yes, it’s about killer loli assassins and their kindly adult male guardians, but it actually manages to deal with the serious issues surrounding such a plot and not be too skeezy. Mostly. Well, a lot. OK, over 60% not skeezy. Seven Seas also has the third volume of Toradora, which does star a tsundere, but it actually manages to deal with the serious issues surrounding such a girl and not have her be too tsun. Mostly. OK, maybe 40% dere? Perhaps an actual math degree would help.
Vertical is debuting its new Furuya title, a modern updating of the famous Japanese novel No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. I’ve also reviewed this, and it maintains Vertical’s reputation for cutting edge manga that makes you think.
And Viz has its first-week madness. From the Jump and Jump Square file, we have new volumes of Claymore, D.Gray-Man, the Death Note “Black Edition”, and Tegami Bachi. On the shoujo side, we have new Ai Ore! and Black Bird, some Dengeki Daisy (which I warn you has another nasty cliffhanger), Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time (earlier BL manga, I’m sorry I called you unwieldy after reading this), The 11th volume of Kimi ni Todoke (wait, you mean it keeps going after they get together?!?!), and new Oresama Teacher and Story of Saiunkoku. It is a very Viz week.
So, in among that deluge, what do you want to buy?
When it first came out, Death Note was honestly different from a lot of other mainstream manga and anime. While it was ludicrously improbable at times, it at least tried hard to make people think about plans rather than cinematic actions and power levels, which meant it felt fresher. That distinction was quickly lost with a slew of other manga about life-and-death games, and supernatural detectives, coming out right as Death Note seemed to peak in popularity.
I honestly think the timing for release of more Death Note material is rather suboptimal . . . fans of Death Note have already been inundated with the products for a couple years now, and many have moved on, so for Viz to put it out now is kind of a bit much. I don’t know if such a re-release will be justified. It’s not Lord of the Rings, where you can go back years later and reasonably expect great sales, because everyone will say, “This was the ORIGINAL!” I guess we’ll just have to see how many buy it.
Amazon shipped No Longer Human to me today, so I should be getting it soon! I usually rent before I buy new stuff (unless the title is by Fumi Yoshinaga or Osamu Tezuka, obviously), but I’m willing to give Vertical the benefit of the doubt, so I am blind buying vol 1.
I actually already got Tegami Bachi 7 via consignment manga at the comic book shop (and like 12 other books for dirt cheap, all brand new! I’ll be returning this weekend for more!)
I got Tokyo Mew Mew back when Tokyopop first put it out. Actually the first manga I bought (odd seeing how my anime taste was and still is sci-fi). So it’s bringing back some nostalgia, But I don’t think it’s that great a series overall to be honest.
I’m going with Gunslinger Girl and Tokyo Mew Mew I hope the translation is better than the old one Also Cage of Eden volume 2.
A big haul for me this month. New Kimi ni Todoke, Dengeki Daisy, BLACK BIRD, Story of Saiunkoku, Oresama Teacher, and Death Note Black Edition.
I am also planning on getting volume 1 of No Longer Human.