After a somewhat sedate 2nd week, things heat up once again thanks to our friends at Kodansha, Seven Seas, Viz and Yen. And wait, could Yen have a SPOILER on their cover? (Well, yes, but I think we can blame Shodensha for that.)

First off, Kodansha has a new volume of Sailor Moon. Last we left our heroes, Mercury and Mars had been abducted by the enemy! Can Jupiter and Venus avoid the same fate? And what of Chibi-Usa? We also see what I believe is the final volume of Ninja Girls, which no doubt will end with our hero making a definitive choice of one girl and the series having a nice, definitive ending. (attempts to control laughter) Lastly, there’s another volume of Phoenix Wright, which is still only for fans of the games, but if you are a fan of the game, there’s plenty here for you to love.

It may not be there if you look under the ‘manga’ category at Midtown, but Young Miss Holmes has been misplaced under Independents! No doubt due to the title – I told Seven Seas they should keep calling it Christie High Tension! Wait, that might have been misplaced as well. In any case, the first omnibus of this Comic Flapper series collects Vols. 1 and 2 from Japan. Even if it wasn’t about Sherlock Holmes’ niece solving mysteries (which it is), it’s a Comic Flapper title, so deserves all our love. Seven Seas also has the 4th Gunslinger Girl omnibus, for those who are looking for something with a few more guns with your lolis.

Viz is down to just one Signature release a month, it seems lately. This month sees the 6th volume of House Of Five Leaves. The plot may move at the pace of a turtle who’s broken both legs, but if you can cope with that there’s some gripping drama here.

At the end of my review of Vol. 4 of Bunny Drop, I asked if Vol. 5 would bring something new to the table. And behold! Everyone’s favorite warm and fuzzy single dad series is moving onward. Will it still be able to carry the same heft with the heartstrings? Also out from Yen this week: a new Bamboo Blade (sports manga 4tw!), the 3rd volume of Bride’s Story (so pretty…), the 5th volume of wacky 4-koma antics of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan, the 9th volume of Pandora Hearts (can I take a series with the name Alice Baskerville seriously?), the 6th volume of economic dissertation Spice & Wolf, an 11th volume of Korean manwha 13th Boy for my fellow Manga Bookshelf colleagues… (sigh) and yes, the first volume of harem crossdressing comedy Is This A Zombie?, which does not get the cover pic this week as I have some self-respect left.

So what’s appealing to you?