Midtown seems to be getting in some titles that Diamond has already shipped elsewhere. So, on that note…

I’ve already reviewed Twin Spica here, so see that for more details. But in short, this is a cute series about space exploration that rises above its cutesy designs to touch the heart. Recommended highly.

DMP is releasing another Comic Flapper title, Taimashin: Red Spider Exorcist, which has a great title if nothing else. I’m sort of hoping that he meets a female blue spider exorcist and together they combine to exorcise green spiders. There’s also the 2nd wideban volume of Itazura Na Kiss, the cute and hideously influential series that ran in Betsuma back in the early 1990s. It likely has far fewer spiders. I’d say fewer exorcisms, but you never know with shoujo romance.

Hellsing is ending? Wow, it seems like it’s been around since the 1990s. Oh right, it has. It started in 1997, and through various hiatuses (hiatusii?) crawled up to 10 volumes! We’ll miss you, gore-soaked vampire and your hot suit-wearing Mistress. This series ran in Young King OURS, my favorite seinen magazine, alongside Trigun, Excel Saga, and Geobreeders. No one could draw sneers quite like Hirano.

Then there’s Oh My Goddess 35. Now with romantic plot development! Hahahaha… just kidding, you know there’s nothing like that. Generally speaking, if a series hasn’t developed within 4-5 volumes I tend to drop it. There are a few exceptions. Oh My Goddess is one of them, if only as I’ve been buying it for so long my body has forgotten how to not buy it. I blame Megumi Morisato, really. She bewitches me.

And in Viz-land there is I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow. I try to support most of the Ikki series, but I had to stop this one after a few chapters. It read a bit too much like those indie comics you read where the plot is guys talking about making it big drawing indie comics. And their ideas? Are about indie comics! It’s an endless recursion of not a lot. Still, a lot of bloggers seem to like it, so give it a flip through at the store and see if it catches your fancy. Perhaps I dropped it just as it got good. (Which has happened before.) Besides, looking at Viz’s release schedule, I should be back to gushing again next week.

Via our friends at Midtown…

I’m not sure why it’s shipping 2 weeks later than all their other titles, but it’s great to see another volume of Karakuri Odette from Tokyopop. Odette is easily one of the best robot girls in manga. And I look forward to more of Asao being a grumpy cuss as well.

Viz has all their ‘not Shonen Jump or Shojo Beat’ mainstream titles this week, including the third Inu Yasha VIZBIG Edition, for those who didn’t buy it the first time. Looking at the unread Vol. 2 sitting by my desk, I’m starting to get nervous. They also have another new series from Shonen Sunday, Maoh: Juvenile Remix, which sounds like it should be a sequel to a seinen manga called Maoh but isn’t. It’s about espers instead.

Yen has a whole PILE of Korean stuff, which I don’t really pick up much of. Not that some of it isn’t great, but I already get too much from Japan as it is. There’s also a new volume of Black Butler, which I’m sure will join its brother on the NYT bestseller charts. Note to self: don’t do that Black Butler drinking game where you take a shot every time he smirks.

And there’s the debut of My Girlfriend’s a Geek, which I suspect will sell a lot better than the literal title, My Girlfriend’s a Yaoi Fangirl. Based off of a light novel, which in turn is based off of a blog. It’s from Enterbrain, so naturally all bloggers will have to review it. I think it’s in the blogger’s code or something.

Midtown Comics has released next week’s list of things mostly shipping from Diamond except the ones that don’t (Midtown’s lists are sometimes different). What’s good out there?

Let’s start with the not-Viz titles. Code Geass: Knight is an interesting experiment from Bandai. It’s an anthology comic, released directly to tankobon by Kadokawa Shoten. They’re basically short parody comics, though there may be serious things as well. Knight, meant for women to read, is devoted to the guys of Code Geass. Queen will come out later, for the guy fans to read about the women of Geass.

The 6th volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei is out from Del Rey. No matter who the adaptor, this is a fantastic title. This volume introduces Kaga Ai, who will become one of the more featured regulars. She apologizes for my singling her out like this.

Well, that leaves Viz. We have five more volumes of One Piece, taking us from the end of Water Seven into the middle of Thriller Bark. I’ll be honest, Thriller Bark is my least favorite. But even sub-par Oda has some great moments.

Gin Tama has been on a roll lately, and I look forward to seeing in Volume 18 is comedic, serious, or veering back and forth as usual.

Lots of shoujo as well. I’ll be interested in Kimi Ni Todoke 4 (which Diamond put out a week early, and which I have in my review queue), Otomen (Ryo needs more love, dammit. It’s not a yaoi title, honest. Much.), and Flower in a Storm, a 2-volume short series from LaLa that’s not actually CMX for once.

Ending this week are Shueisha’s Wāq Wāq, which I did not read, at 4 volumes, and Square Enix’s Record of a Fallen Vampire, which I also did not read, at 9 volumes. I dunno, it’s a vampire title but never hit the charts? How can this be?