Well, OK, not *just* manga. Scott Pilgrim is pretty much going to be overshadowing anything else out this week, and rightly so. Some people already have it, according to Diamond, but these people are not me, so I shall get my copy on the 21st.

Vertical is releasing the first volume of Peepo Choo, a cross-cultural manga by Felipe Smith, which ran in Kodansha’s monthly manga magazine Morning Two (home of Saint Young Men). I haven’t had a chance to read it yet (it’s not really safe to read on public transit), but hope to this weekend. Definitely recommended, always support Western authors working in mainstream Japan. :)

Viz has the 23rd Fullmetal Alchemist, which is in the midst of the big finale. Several volumes to go, of course – it’s a long finale. This volume in particular has some great stuff, especially for fans of the sort of relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. Though the *best* line goes to someone else, and I won’t spoil it…

And Yen has a huge pile of stuff, including the first volume of Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution, a shoujo-ish manga from their boy’s love magazine Comic B’s-Log (though I think the series lacks actual boys’ love). Romeo x Juliet, a media tie-in manga from Kadokawa Shoten’s magazine for female otaku, Asuka, which will be an oversize complete-in-one volume here. And they debut a light novel line with the Book Girl series. I have to say the title of the first volume, Book Girl and the Suicidal Mine, intrigues me. But can it possibly be as screwed up as NISIOISIN? Zaregoto has spoiled me…

Back to Wednesday shipping for us in the U.S., and a surprisingly quiet 2nd week. Probably as a lot of the Yen stuff shipped in the first week.

Dark Horse has the 5th volume in their alt-universe Evangelion, Shinji Ikari Raising Project. I dunno, I found this pretty unsatisfying. More to the point, it’s the first of a whole string of alt-universe Evangelions from Kadokawa, with another meant for teenage girls (read: heavy on the yaoi subtext) due out in North America this fall. Likewise, Haruhi Suzumiya now has 2 spinoffs and counting. Is this the hot new trend? Or more likely, has this always happened and it’s just they’re all being licensed here now?

Look, a CMX release! Wow, so it was all a dream after all… oh, it’s just Megatokyo. Scratch that. That said, this volume does collect a particularly good arc of Megatokyo, so recommended to those of us who enjoy seeing Largo and Erika interact.

Digital Manga Publishing has another in their regular non-yaoi line of books from Doki Doki with Vol. 1 of Wolf God. However, it is a title that ran in the magazine Wings, so I’d expect there’s likely some gay subtext scattered here and there throughout anyway.

And Viz has its Sunday manga. We have a new series, Hyde & Closer, which has one of the most fascinating teddy bears you’ll see in manga. And is only 7 volumes, so is not that much of an investment. (Viz’s new Sunday series all seem to be finished in Japan, possibly in an effort to avoid licensing epic but mediocre selling series that end up being 78 volumes.) Inu Yasha continues its push to the end, as it hits the Vol. 50 mark. And Inubaka is cute fanservicey fun, provided you don’t mind a lot of dog urine in your fanservice.

But really, my big rec this week is Black Lagoon 9. This catches us up with the Japanese releases, and finishes off this current Roberta revenge arc. The subtle nuances of plot and characterization that manga readers desire… are not really anywhere to be found. But no one reads Black Lagoon to see Revy and Fabiola have philosophical discussions (although they do in fact do that here). There is much gunplay and mayhem here, with more cool fighting women than you can possibly believe.

Things are shipping one day late to comic stores due to the July 5th observed holiday. So you must wait an extra day to get far too much Viz.

In non-Viz news, Last Gasp are releasing a handsome artbook dedicated to the art of Toshio Saeki, one of the most famous erotic artists out there. It’s $40, so a bit too rich for me, but it’s supposed to be fantastic.

Vertical releases Chi’s Sweet Home, which I reviewed earlier today, and the second volume of Twin Spica, which I will be reviewing once I get my greedy paws on it. Both series are well worth your time.

A bunch of Yen Press’s stuff is hitting Midtown, though oddly not the things I’m interested in from them in July. We do get the third volume of the Haruhi Suzumiya novel, though. Unlike the first two, this is a collection of short stories featuring the cast. My favorites are the time travel headache of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and the murder mystery mockery that is Remote Island Syndrome.

And then there’s Viz. The title I’m most interested in is Dengeki Daisy Vol. 1. A while back on Twitter Shojo Beat asked for license requests, and I noted that they tended to license fluff from Shueisha’s Betsuma, and angst from Shogakukan’s Betsucomi. I suggested they try some Betsucomi fluff, and mentioned this title. Turns out my psychic powers were working well. :) It’s from the author of Beast Master, and the description seems utterly cliched. Great, I love cliched shoujo. (No, I’m not being sarcastic, I really do.)

Aside from that there’s the 2nd to last volume of S.A, the 3rd Natsume’s Book of Friends and the 14th Ouran High School Host Club from the Hakusensha end of things, the Shueisha end gives us the last Mixed Vegetables (which I liked at first, but grew weary of fast), the 2nd Stepping on Roses (can it top the first volume for being utterly screwed up?), and the 21st Nana, which is the last Nana to date – the series has been on hiatus in Japan due to health reasons, and Viz has now caught up. And from Shogakukan, we have the 11th We Were There, which I presume will be depressing yet riveting, as always.

On the shonen end, there’s only one volume of One Piece out this month. What is the world coming to? Even worse, Viz tries to mess with my head by releasing Kekkaishi 22. That’s a Sunday title! Get back in the 2nd week of the month where you belong! There’s also a new Eyeshield, which finally gets to the Christmas Bowl.

Lastly, it’s always great to see a volume of Ultimate Muscle come out, which I suspect is sort of along the same lines as Knights of the Zodiac at Viz headquarters. “Whooooo’s your daddy?” “*sigh* You are, Shueisha.” “Now put out another volume of this!” “As you wish.” (I eagerly await getting bashed by all the Ultimate Muscle fans, who may actually have gotten into it via the WWE rather than manga.)