Next week is not nearly as huge as this week, which is a relief. Especially for people like me, as several titles I ordered did not ship this week. So I get 2 normal weeks for once, as opposed to Viz’s usual CRUSH YOU then nothing type of solicitations.

It is pretty much ALL Viz this Week 2; I was expecting some Yen, but no dice. From Viz we have quite a variety, though. There’s the 15th volume of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, which is getting near its completion. Look at that cover. Doesn’t that just scream romantic fantasy to you? I hear it’s a reverse harem as well. There’s also the 10th VIZBIG edition of Inu Yasha, which should contain Vols. 28-30, meaning it’s over halfway there!

Speaking of titles nearing their end, Kekkaishi hits the big 3-0, meaning after this there’s only five to go. And Maoh: Juvenile Remix hits its penultimate volume, with the Chemical Brothers taking the remix turntable this time around. And just to show we have not one manga this week that’s not over halfway or more to its end, we have the 19th volume of 20th Century Boys.

Lastly, Viz has several tie-ins coming out for The Secret World of Arietty, better known to those of us who grew up in the 1970s (or earlier) as The Borrowers. I saw the preview for it, which looked excellent, and supporting Ghibli is always a worthy endeavor.

Any favorites next week? Or did you get shorted on Nura and Otomen this week as well?

*whine* Mercy!

We’ll start with some manwha, as Dark Horse has Vol. 10 of Bride of the Water God, the story of a girl and her gods.

Kodansha Comics has the 3 manga that came out this week, because Diamond is always one step behind. There’s Negima 33, which contains possibly the funniest joke in the entire series, as well as some of the most tear-jerking moments. Deltora Quest puts out its fourth volume of Emily Rodda-based fantasy. And if you like cute 4-koma goodness, there’s the 2nd volume of Shugo Chara-chan!

I apologize to Vertical, and Onizuka. I love GTO, and next week sees the release of the first volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan. It’s basically exactly what GTO fans want to see in terms of new material: Onizuka being an idiot, Onizuka being badass, lots of horrible children that need his special brand of ‘befriending’ (Onizuka and Nanoha would get along great), and a cameo by Urumi for you obsessives. It would absolutely get the picture this week, except my heart belongs to Maria. I hope you understand. Buy this anyway.

I’ve been waiting for this one it seems like forever, and it’s finally here. A Devil and Her Love Song is basically all the things I like in a shoujo manga in one package. Strong heroine without being overly dense. Likeable guys who have depth to them. Bullying being realistic but not dominating the entire series. And Ave Maria. This is my big release of the week.

It comes along with 80 bazillion other releases from Viz. We started with shoujo, so let’s continue with it. Ai Ore! Vol. 4 is now normal volume size, and also now runs in Asuka. Will the romance be any sweeter? … Probably not. Dawn of the Arcana puts out its second volume, which ties together political intrigue and forbidden romance. From Hakusensha, there’s new Kamisama Kiss, Library Wars, Natsume’s Book of Friends and Otomen. Lastly, there’s new Story of Saiunkoku (I’m still bitter about the beard shaving), and new Sakura Hime (because Viz has to publish at least one Tanemura title or they all die from the gypsy’s curse.)

Shonen time. First of all, Hayate, why are you here among all the Jump stuff? Also, why are you out a month earlier than I expected? Not that I’m complaining. Hayate the Combat Butler 19 is still funny, still not cancelled, and still not even close to resolving any romantic pairings. (Yes, it’s back to being funny. I’ll let you know when it gets serious again… around Vol. 23, I believe.)

Jump stuff! Bakuman 9, which will no doubt have lots of great Jump/publishing anecdotes and info mixed with treatment of female characters that makes my skin crawl (though I hear it’s improved. A bit.). There’s Bleach 38, not quite sped up (how does one speed Aizen up? The man has to move at his own pace, I tell you…). The highly underrated Blue Exorcist 6, continuing to flesh out Bon’s backstory. Another volume of Nura, which has been matching Kamisama Kiss and Natsume’s Book of Friends yokai for yokai. (They need to have a Yokai-Off.) Slam Dunk is up to Volume 20, which makes it about 10 volumes ahead of how far I thought it’d get. I sense the hand of Shueisha’s Japanese owners behind this one. Good stuff, though. Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee and Toriko have both hit Volume 8, and… really could not be more different from each other, aside from being shonen.

Lastly, there’s two game tie-ins. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Platinum Vol. 4 (I presume Platinum is good? Were there silver and gold prequels?), and Yu-Gi-Oh 5DS Vol. 2, a series with so many spinoffs and sequels I cannot possibly make glib jokes about it (I let Medaka Box do that for me).

Something for nearly everyone next week. Anything you plan to buy?

Remember, kids, when the month starts on Wednesday, Viz ignores it. (Mostly). So even though this is the first week of February, don’t expect a Viz blitz just yet. What we do have is a lot of stuff that has been out elsewhere for a while, but is finally hitting Midtown now…

Digital Manga Publishing has a couple of titles left that didn’t come out last week. Vol. 4 of school comedy Great Place High School Student Council (still a very awkward title), and Vol. 2 of Mr. Tiger and Mr. Bunny… sorry, Mr. Wolf. Still not a Tiger & Bunny crossover, sad to say.

Kodansha has the 2nd volume of @ Full Moon, which has gay subtext, vampires *and* werewolves, yet still somehow has not been licensed for a major motion picture starring Justin Timberlake. I wonder why? There’s also Vol. 17 of Fairy Tail, which is about due for the return of Fairy Tail fandom’s least favorite character.

There is a large pile of Vertical releases, almost all of which everyone else has had for months, but which Midtown is getting now. So if you haven’t gotten Chi’s Sweet Home 7, No Longer Human 2, Princess Knight 1 *and* 2, or Twin Spica 9 *and* 10 (but not 11, oddly enough), now would be the time. They’re all recommended.

Lastly, arriving two weeks late for no discernible reason whatsoever, we have Vol. 6 of Cross Game, containing the Japanese Vol. 12 and 13. Akane arrived last volume, and was a somewhat polarizing character among the blogger reviews that I read. Will she get a chance to win people’s hearts? Or will it be 2 more volumes of all baseball again?

Any ideas?