A much quieter 2nd week at your local Comick Shoppe, which is good, as I still have a backlog to get from last week.

Dark Horse’s agreement with CLAMP not only allows them to release things like Kobato, and re-release things like Chobits, but also allows for the more obscure side of CLAMP to shine through. This week it’s Okimono Kimono, which is where Mokona (the CLAMP artist, not the cute-yet-annoying mascot) shows us her utter obsession with kimonos. I really have no idea what this will be like, but certainly the fact that Dark Horse is releasing it at all is praiseworthy.

Viz has its usual 2nd week line. (In case you hadn’t figured out the way Viz typically releases things every month, the first week is Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat titles, the 2nd week is Shonen Sunday and ‘miscellaneous publishers’ (such as Square Enix, Shonen Gahosha, and Hakusensha’s seinen stuff), and the 3rd week is the Signature and more upscale titles.)

Oh, but wait? How did Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo 4 escape to Week 2? And hey, Hayate 15 and Gestalt got moved to Week 3! Sure, Viz, make me look like the bad guy now… (pouts) In any case, Bobobo will be enjoyed by the 2 or so people who buy it. There’s also a new Battle Angel Alita, a title I never did catch up with after it rebooted, but I know has many fans. Who no doubt argue it should be called Gunnm, just like in Japan. :) I’ve also gotten behind on Detroit Metal City, whose sadistic humor is beloved by many.

And Yen has a huge pile of stuff. Darker Than Black is complete in one volume, and is yet another “wait, this is shoujo?” title from our friends at Asuka magazine. I love Bamboo Blade a lot, and am pleased to see a new volume come so soon after 4 came out. The Haruhi manga is the least compelling of the 3 released Haruhi versions, but is still worth a look, mostly as when the artist is allowed to stray from the book plots the manga becomes far more interesting. And Soul Eater 3 is a MUST READ for art and architecture students, as its backgrounds are like the Bauhaus on crack.

There’s just a giant PILE of manga out June 3rd, most of it Viz.

Some series are beginning! Library Wars: Love & War is a shoujo take on the light novel series about a paramilitary organization out to protect books from evil censors! And Toriko is the manliest Iron Chef you’ll ever meet, a man who travels the world in search of the most dangerous animals – as they’re also the tastiest!

Some series are ending. Wild Ones wraps up, and I’ll miss the one a volume antics where Sachie lets her inner Yakuza shine through. Honey & Clover is also over, though I think the blogosphere never quite got over Hagu’s appearance – and, to be fair, personality. And Yu-Gi-Oh! R ends, though there’s still several other Yu-Gi-Oh spinoffs still running in V-Jump. I eagerly await Yu-Gi-Oh WTF.

There’s 5 more One Pieces, but this is the last month with 5, as we finally catch up (mostly) with Japan. Vol. 49 has one of my favorite funny moments, and the new arc after Thriller Bark changes the series forever.

Vampire Knight is out. I hear it has vampires! Do they brood? I hope they brood. Oh, and maybe they smirk, too! (swoon) Actually, there isn’t much smirking in Vampire Knight, but there sure is a lot of brooding. And politics.

And then there’s Butterflies, Flowers, which will no doubt have wacky shenanigans balanced out with hot hot lovins. And hopefully some more comedic beatings! Loved the eyes falling out last time!

There’s also (gasp!) some non-Viz stuff. Del Rey has a new Negima, where we find out that our heroes are far worse off than we thought. And a new series, Fairy Navigator Rune, which hopefully won’t be like their other recent new Nakayoshi series, but probably is. Tokyopop’s Shinobi Life continues to be a fun ninja shoujo romance, which should be marketed better than it is. And Vertical has Vol. 11 of Black Jack, which you should not need me to suggest to you. Come on… BLACK JACK!

Midtown’s list has a whole lotta Tokyopop and not much else. Let’s see what we have…

I don’t really get too many Yaoi titles, but I do have the urge to walk into a bookstore, grab Vol. 2 of Blu’s latest series, and scream out, “This is Madness, do you hear me? Madness!” Just sayin’.

Neko Ramen is a 4-koma from Mag Garden that’s gotten a lot of good buzz. I’ll be very interested in checking it out. As for Portrait of M&N;, I had very mixed feelings about Vol. 1. I do hope that this volume is at least a little sillier, as I feel the first treated its protagonists too realistically to let the situation be funny. As for Alice in the Country of Hearts, I’m wondering if it will be another Vampire Knight for me, i.e. a title I read almost despite myself.

Diamond shipped Saturn Apartments to most stores this week, but the always whimsical Midtown is getting it next week. It’s another title from their Ikki site, and it’s a fantastic SF ‘sense of wonder’ series. If you liked Planetes, get this. And there’s another 20th Century Boys, which I have gotten so far behind on, but which is still a great epic title of epic.

Oh yes, and Diamond will release Previews, which I’m sure will be filled with new CMX solicits, just to TAUNT ME.