A nice array of stuff this week, as… wait, what… could this be?

Legend speaks of an ancient and mysterious manga series, that detailed the exploits of a team of heroes whose job it was to embrace the dead and take on their causes for the betterment of all. Long thought to be a mere myth, the volumes were passed down from generation to generation in hopes that one day… ONE DAY their children’s children might someday see it. And now, that day is here! From Dark Horse, you thought it was gone, you thought it was sitting next to Translucent Vols. 4 and 5, YOU WERE WRONG!

Assuming that you are all buying this (You *are* all buying this, right?), there is actually SOME other stuff coming out next week. Gen Manga has Vs. Aliens, a collection of this series in complete form, and a great way to check out the alternative manga publisher if you haven’t already.

Kodansha has a trio of series. There’s Volume 4 of Animal Land, Vol. 5 of Deltora Quest, and the 3rd volume of cute 4-koma adventures of Shugo Chara-chan! None of which I follow. So, um, insert witty quip here!

When I looked at Midtown’s list about 1:30pm, they had listed the re-releases of Drawn & Quarterly’s three Tatsumi books: The Push Man, Abandon the Old in Tokyo, and Goodbye. Now that I look at it at 7pm, those releases were removed. So perhaps they are getting re-released next week… or not.

Lastly, Vertical gives comic shops its new re-release of Dororo, now in giant-sized brick format. Impress your girlfriends with how well you can bench press Dororo! To really show off, put A Drifting Life in your other hand!

So that’s it. Aside from Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service 12, what appeals to you?

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?

After an insane week this week, the manga world has decided to take pity on us. Well, mostly. Except for this giant pile of BL. Let’s start with that.

There’s a bunch of stuff from DMP out next week. There’s a volume of short stories by prolific artist Minase Masara, released under the title Ambiguous Relationship. Beast & Feast has smoking hot police officer on yakuza love (or is it the other way around?), as well as a great title. Blue Sheep Reverie hits Vol. 5. (It used to run in Betsuhana! Honest! Can you picture it next to Otomen? Well, yes, actually…) Depression of the Anti-Romanticist also has a great title, and I think that it needs to have a cage match with Beast & Feast to see who’s best. Lastly, we have another volume of the novel series Yashikiden Demon Princess, which I know little of except it’s by the Vampire Hunter D author.

Kodansha Comics wraps up a series, as we get the final volume of Monster Hunter Orage, from the Fairy Tail creator. We also get the 18th volume of Fairy Tail, which I hope to like more than the 17th.

Vertical has a final volume as well, with Vol. 12 of Twin Spica. This contains Vols. 15 and 16 of the Japanese series, and means I finally get to decide once and for all if it’s heartwarmingly uplifting or crushingly melancholy. I suspect I’m going to pick the former. If you don’t get this series, you missed out on something special.

Viz has two Pokemon volumes. I know I give these short shrift here, but… if you like Pokemon, get these! That’s about all I can say.

Lastly, in non-manga news, Fantagraphics is finally releasing the first in a series of collections of the comic strip Nancy, by Ernie Bushmiller. This isn’t the first chronologically – like Carl Barks, they’re picking and choosing what years to begin with – but that doesn’t really matter. The comic we all thought was even duller than Garfield as a kid turns out, when our parents were kids, to have a certain zen brilliance that’s hard to sum up in words. If you like classic comic strips, check this out and be amazed what one artist did with just minimalist art and vaudeville gags.

So what would Sluggo buy this week?