Via your friends at Midtown Comics, whose motto is ‘our release dates never match Diamond’s!’ Hence a lot of Viz stuff on here most folks got this week.

Let’s start with Viz, as they continue their Inu Yasha speed-up with Vol. 51, as well as the deluxe re-release with Omnibus 4, covering Vols. 10-12. There’s also a Bleach guidebook devoted to the Shinigami, which I actually got this week. It’s fun, reminding you of the days when Bleach was funny. And fast-paced. And interesting… (cough) Anyway, we also have a new volume of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, which no doubt will be killing off more people, since that’s what its plot it.

Speaking of killing off the cast, Yen’s August releases are out, and the Higurashi Time Killing arc comes to a conclusion. This was a ‘5 years earlier’ arc starring Rika, the cute miko of the series. As this is the last volume of the arc, expect the traditional bloodbath. And for fans of fanservice, there’s also a new volume of the irritatingly named Sumomomo Momomo, and the penultimate volume of sleazy high school soap opera Sundome.

Our one yaoi release of the week comes from DMP, who are putting out Mamiya Doll House. Don’t know much about it, but I note the artist also does Prince of Tennis yaoi doujinshi. Actually, it may be contractual that every BL artist in Japan has done Prince of Tennis yaoi doujinshi.

And lastly, Bandai has another volume of its manga tie-in property Gurren Lagann, and a pro doujinshi anthology for Code Geass, Queen. They released Knight a while back, and it starred the guys of Code Geass, and was pretty much geared for the female otaku. This one stars the women of Code Geass, and I expect it to be much like those DVD extras with all the girls groping each other in the baths, only for 200 pages.

Midtown gets in everything I got this week, plus everything Diamond’s other folks got this week, plus the normal next week stuff. If you buy your manga at Midtown, cry. Like a girl.

If you like gay prison fantasy, I hear that 801 Media’s Under Grand Hotel is right up your alley. It’s got a larger number of pages, so is also more expensive, be advised. Fans have apparently been waiting for this one.

On the Del Rey front, there’s a pile of titles, which is reassuring considering the recent news, both bad and nonexistent. Tsubasa’s penultimate volume, and another Negima volume which is a must for fans of albino woobie girl Ako Izumi. More Zetsubou-sensei, which I still love to bits despite my ongoing editorial issues with Del Rey. The final volumes of Mushishi, which gets a giant 3-in-1 omnibus, and Le Chevalier D’Eon, which was far along enough not to need one. School Rumble also gets a 3-in-1, though it has several volumes to go before it ends. Four-Eyed Prince manages to be the only series I know of to be licensed from Nakayoshi’s offshoot Nakayoshi Lovely, winner of the girliest magazine title ever award back in 2007. And a new shonen debut, Code: Breaker, from the author of Samurai Deeper Kyo.

And then there’s Tokyopop. More titles ending, as This Ugly Yet Beautiful World and KimiKiss both wrap up. The return of more long-lost series with Your & My Secret (10 months) and Genju no Seiza (2 years). Always glad to see anything from Akita Shoten’s Bonita line. V.B. Rose is still awesome and a must buy for shoujo fans, and I’m sure Gakuen Alice will be as involved as ever.

And then there’s Qwasar of Stigmata, perhaps the most infamous title to come out next week. From Akita Shoten’s Champion Red, home to Franken Fran (and why this is licensed and FF isn’t is beyond me), and from the mangaka who brought you the Mai Otome manga (which, trust me, was far worse than the excellent anime) comes this series, which bills itself on Wikipedia as the first mainstream manga to use breast milk as a major plot point. And I use the word ‘plot’ loosely here. I admit I was rather stunned to see this licensed, but then Media Blasters did put out 12 Eiken manga here, so what do I know? For those of you who love titles like not simple and Twin Spica… this may be the polar opposite of those.

This post is late, mostly as Midtown’s list was so ludicrously small that I knew it would be missing stuff. And I was right. A comparison between Diamond, my store, and Midtown:

Diamond: About 80% of Viz’s first week August titles, plus Del Rey’s last week of July titles, plus 2 TP titles.
My store: no Del Rey stuff, but 100% of Viz.
Midtown: just the TP titles, and nothing else.

So I waited till Monday, so I’d have something that vaguely resembled reality. I’m leaving off Del Rey, as I don’t get it, so you can’t have it either. :p I’m also fudging the Viz releases, as Diamond’s list is leaving off some of their titles my shop is getting in (like Seiho), so I’ll note all of Viz’s first week of August stuff.

Vertical has another volume of the always fantastic Black Jack. Tokyopop has another back from the abyss twofer, with Vol. 8 and 9 of Yubisaki Milk Tea, a series last seen in March 2008. Sadly, I can’t stand it, but I’m sure its fans are happy.

And as for Viz… wow, that’s a lot of stuff I read. A lot. There’s Skip Beat! 21, starting its new story arc. Otomen will hopefully feature a little more Ryo, as she’s on the cover. Kimi ni Todoke gets a great Chizuru subplot to go with its adorable Sawako one. Gin Tama is… well, it’s Gin Tama. Need I say more?

There’s three series ending this week. I never read Muhyo and Roji, so can’t say much about it, except it lasted 18 volumes in the cauldron that is Weekly Shonen Jump, which is pretty good. Flower in a Storm is ending at 2, which is probably the sole reason I’m getting the 2nd volume – the first was merely adequate. Speaking of adequate, my favorite lost cause is ending, as The Magic Touch comes to an end. But we have Oresama Teacher to look forward to in 2011.

As for debuts, there’s Seiho Men’s High School, which looks like your standard Shojo beat fluff. Don’t know much about it, but will certainly give it a try. I hear it focuses on the guys rather than the gals, and not in a reverse harem way. And then there’s Bakuman, which I will give another shot. I read the scans when it debuted, and Chapter 2 irritated me so much I stopped dead. But it seems to be very popular, so I will persevere!

And yeah, the Del Rey stuff that everyone but me will get. I’ll talk about it for next week’s post… I hope.