One of the first manga I ever read was by Masamune Shirow. I came across a volume of Appleseed in a CD store one day and was absolutely ecstatic! Prior to this, I had only seen the anime OVA and actually had no idea that a manga version existed. Hell, at that point I wasn’t even aware of the term manga at all.

Since then I’ve been hooked on Shirow: Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Dominion. Love his work. The highly detailed artwork, the reoccurring themes of technology and how it changes our relationship with the environment and what it means to be human, the incredible depth and thought he puts into crafting the world for each of his works—I can’t get enough. Nowadays, though, he almost seems to be overlooked and forgotten. Seinen isn’t “in” anymore—it’s all about the shonen, so hopefully this little guide will introduce him to some new readers. It’s the perfect time for this too, what with Dark Horse re-releasing all of his work in the unflipped and unedited format for the first time. Well, all of his work except for Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2:

• Black Magic M-66 (1983)
• Appleseed 1 (1985)
• Appleseed 2 (1985)
• Dominion (1986)
• Appleseed 3 (1987)
• Appleseed 4 (1989)
• Ghost in the Shell (1991)
• Orion (1991)
• Dominion: Conflict 1 (No More Noise) (1995)
• Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface (2001) (released in collected form in America on January 19, 2005)
• Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human Error Processor (2003) (original version of Ghost in the Shell 2, scrapped when Ghost in the Shell 2 was collected in a single volume, but recently rereleased in Japan)

Sadly, for the past several years Shirow hasn’t been quite as active a creator as he has been in the past. Several announced books have yet to materialize, and in some cases these are projects announced in the mid 1990s such as Dominion: Conflict 2 and Appleseed 5. One can only hope.

A fantastic Shirow resource on the web is the Masamune Shirow Hyperpage. It has news and pictures on various new Shirow related products ranging from movies to toys, from art books to USB Tachikoma’s.

With so many good titles to talk about this week, I’m going to cut to the chase and highlight my favorites. Look for the complete shipping list after the cut…

Cat-Eyed Boy, Vol. 1 (Viz): Over at The Comic Book Bin, Leroy Douresseaux offers an excellent summary of Cat-Eyed Boy’s appeal:

Something that I admire and enjoy in Kazuo Umezu’s horror fiction is his embrace of that which is absurd, grotesque, and macabre in the supernatural. So much of American horror deals with violence, as if the only way in which the reader can be made fearful is through the threat of bloody hell. That’s why so much of American horror cinema revolves around a familiar scenario: You did something to me when we were in high school; now, ten years later, I’m going to kill all of you using pricey cutlery. There’s this insistence on logic and logical motives – even when dealing with an illogical or insane person.

There may be an internal logic to how Umezu creates, and there may even be an overarching logic to his narrative. However, he presents the supernatural as outside of nature – the other or something else entirely different from the human world. Our logic, our rules, and our bargaining power don’t work. It is not uncommon for Japanese horror or supernatural stories to eschew logic; things often don’t make sense. Even when humans think they’ve discovered the rules of the game or that special incantation to ward off the bad, it won’t necessarily work – even when it’s so obvious that it should.

In short, Umezu’s special brand of Comeuppance Theater is a celebration of the irrational, the grotesque, and the subconscious—the very things that John Fuseli and William Blake celebrated in their work. (OK, maybe that’s stretching it. But it’s not a stretch to say that Umezu has an affinity for odd, dreamy images that look like the by-product of an absinthe-soaked brain.)

Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Vol. 9 (Viz): Really, do I need to say more than “Bernese Mountain Dog puppies on the cover”? Yes? Then you’re probably a cat person, and should seek out copies of What’s Michael? post-haste.

Kurogane Communication, Vol. 1 (Go! Comi): It’s the end of the world as she knows it, but Haruka, the plucky heroine of Kurogane Communication, feels fine. She’s got a posse of robot pals to keep her company as she journeys across an apocalyptic wasteland searching for other humans. Though I’ve seen many glosses on the same Omega Man premise, Kurogane Communication wins points for embracing a light-hearted approach to the material, steering clear of the angst, cynicism, and brutish violence that too often make doomsday scenarios about as much fun to read as having a root canal.

Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, Vol. 15 (Viz): I’m secretly convinced that “Naoki Urasawa” is actually a nom de plume for John le Carré, who decided that after years of writing tightly crafted espionage thrillers, he was going to let his hair down and write a gonzo, de Palma-esque story with all the trimmings: a Stasi-run home for little wanderers (and future assassins), a cross-dressing psychopath, and an innocent doctor framed for murders he didn’t commit. If it sounds absurd, it is. But Urasawa is a masterful storyteller, never losing momentum (or credibility, for that matter) as he spins his elaborate, multi-faceted yarn.

Walkin’ Butterfly, Vol. 3 (Aurora): This fierce, odd, funny series focuses on a very tall, very self-conscious girl who decides to transform her life by becoming… a runway model. (I know, I know, that doesn’t sound like the best career choice for someone with body issues.) If manga-ka Chihiro Tamaki had adopted a fizzy, chick-lit approach to the material, I would have checked out after two chapters. But she isn’t afraid to make her heroine uncouth and unlikable, nor does she glamorize the fashion industry—if anything, Tamaki demonstrates that the climb from Booth Babe to Catwalk Queen is an arduous process that’s anything but fabulous. With great, spiky artwork that’s as unfinished as its lead character.

This month I’ve been catching up on reviewing later volumes of long-running series. Below are my reviews of the adequate Reborn! Vol. 7 and the fantastic Hikaru No Go Vol. 12.

Reborn, Vol. 7

By Akira Amano
Published by Viz
Rating: Older Teen

I heavily mocked Reborn volume 1 in my 2006 review, but I was more of a greenhorn then, and I had not yet attended Comiket. At Fuyu Comic Market 2006 I realized Reborn is a force to be reckoned with. It is a Shonen Jump title with an attached anime property, therefore, it commands a huge army of fangirls who are all in love with Tsuna, the protagonist. I had assumed that Reborn was meant for junior high kids high on sugary breakfast cereal, but it’s actually meant for girls writing slash fan fiction.

I read volume seven on the heels of reading some really bad manga (In the End and Wild Ones vol. 2). Reading Reborn volume seven had me on my hands and knees kissing the ground and thanking god for Shonen Jump’s high production values. My god, Reborn has actual backgrounds and plots that make sense (insomuch as comedy plots make sense) and characters that easy on the eyes! Some of the jokes are actually funny.

Reborn volume seven consists of independent chapters featuring Japanese-summer-paint-by-numbers plots. The characters go to the pool, participate in the Tanabata festival (you might remember from Nana) and go on a ghost-hunting walk (kimodameshi, a popular Japanese summer pastime). A lot of manga do not handle summer story arcs very well, giving the impression that all Japanese people have the same summer experiences (or at least the fictional characters do). But Reborn manages to pull off the same set of summer chapters without being boring or feeling derivative.

The humor in Reborn grows gracefully from the characters. Tsuna’s friends try to teach him to swim, but due to character flaws, they are all terrible swim coaches. In a weaker manga, a pool plot would be nothing more than a weak excuse to see the characters’ bathing suits.

In the kimodameshi chapter, only Tsuna and Lambo agree to be scared, while the rest of the cast insist on dressing up like ghosts. Even though I’ve seen/read similar episodes elsewhere, Amano sets it up with good gags, nice character moments and solid artwork.

Reborn isn’t so awesome that I’m going to run out and buy volumes two through six, but I’m willing to give the series a second chance based on volume seven. It doesn’t set my life on fire like Yakitate!! Japan, but I was never bored reading it.

Volumes 1-7 of Reborn! are available now. Volume 8 will be available July 1st, 2008.

Hikaru No Go, Vol. 12

By Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Published by Viz
Rating: All Ages

I have not kept up with the Hikaru No Go manga series, but the anime is very near and dear to my heart, ranking among my top ten favorite titles of all time. Unfortunately, the anime series release has been stalled in North America while Viz decides what format in which to continue it in (along with Prince of Tennis).

Since the manga follows the anime so closely I was able to pick up volume 12 without missing a beat. I am surprised at how engrossing the manga is. I was immediately drawn into the world of competitive Go – so much so I was worried I would miss my subway stop. The art (by Takeshi Obata of Death Note) and the storytelling (Yumi Hotta, thank got it’s not by Death Note writer Tsugumi Ooba!) is so solid that the book completely shuts out reality. Truly, that is a sign of great manga – possibly one of the best titles I have ever read. (Hikaru No Go won a Tezuka award in 2003.)

Before the manga series began publication in the U.S., I started watching the anime series as a joke. How could a series about a chess-like board game be interesting? But after episode four I was completely taken in and involved with the characters (I cannot say the same of mah-jongg anime Akagi). By the end of the series I was inspired to learn how to play Go, and I even started my own short-lived Go Club. After being walloped by three ten-year-old boys in the Hoboken Go tournament, I lost my interest in Go, but I still love Hikaru No Go, and this volume made me realize how much I need to go back and read the entire series.

Volume 12 takes place after the end of a major spoiler event in volume 11. The series is 23 volumes long, and volume 12 marks the beginning of foreshadowing of the events to come at the end. [Spoilers from here on out.] Hikaru lets Sai play a very exciting game, but how much longer can he keep Sai a secret now that Hikaru is a professional Go player? The later chapters of the book were adapted into filler-like episodes of the anime series, but HNG is so delightful to read these chapters don’t feel like filler at all, particularly in the manga. Instead, after the stress of Hikaru’s first professional match, the silly chapters are a welcome relief. Hikaru and Sai thwart a shady Go board dealer at a convention, and even though that sounds terribly lame, Hotta still manages to introduce a low-ranking professional who becomes an important character later. The overweight Kurata-sensei is a 6-dan, and he is worried about the “new wave” of young Go players like Hikaru.

Volumes 1-12 of Hikaru No Go are available now. Volume 13 will be available in October 2008.

Once more unto the breach, dear otakus, once more; gird yourself for another round of Manga Shakespeare. This time, A Midsummer’s Night Dream and The Tempest get the graphic novel treatment from the folks at SelfMadeHero, as they attempt to sex up the Bard with chibis and sound effects. I found SelfMadeHero’s first efforts wanting; too much attention was focused on plot and setting—one took place in modern-day Tokyo, the other in a future ravaged by global warming, for reasons never satisfactorily addressed—but too little on language, the stumbling block for most modern readers. Of all Shakespeare’s plays, however, A Midsummer’s Night Dream seems most suited to mangafication, as its magical transformations and ensuing mix-ups lend themselves to the deformations, flapping arms, and sweat drops employed by manga-ka to convey extreme comic emotion.

If yaoi be your food of love, read on; DMP is releasing four new one-shots this week covering every phase of a relationship from Loving Gaze to New Beginnings. The cream of the crop? Hard Rock, a soap opera chronicling the romantic entanglements within a four-member boy band. Also arriving on store shelves this week are the latest volumes of long-running series Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad (Tokyopop), Blade of the Immortal (Dark Horse), Boys Over Flowers (Viz), and Negima (Del Rey); the first installments of Forget About Love (Tokyopop) and You’re So Cool (Yen Press), two manhwa aimed squarely at the teenage market; and the all-ages title Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai (Viz), which Lori Henderson’s daughter Jenny pronounces “pure funny.”

Being something of an elderly curmudgeon, my top choices this week skew a little older:

Gimmick!, Vol. 1 (Viz): I hadn’t planned to pick up a copy of Gimmick! until I read Phil’s enthusiastic review. Equal parts F/X and MacGuyver, the story focuses on a special effects guru who uses his considerable talents to aid actors and actresses in distress. Though the series “boasts cool characters, fast-paced plots, and stylized artwork,” Phil explains, what distinguishes Gimmick! from dozens of other action-adventures is its “reliance on human ingenuity over strength or swordplay.” No word on whether the hero makes a bomb out of chewing gum, baling wire, and an old alarm clock, but something tells me Richard Dean Anderson would whole-heartedly approve of the concept.

One Pound Gospel, Vol. 1 (Viz): After twenty years, Rumiko Takahashi finally completed this delightful four-volume series about a boxer torn between two loves: food and Sister Angela, a pretty noviate who takes an interest in his foundering career. After allowing the first three volumes to go out of print, Viz is reissuing the series in a new, unflipped format with a “refreshed” translation and new cover art. If your primary exposure to Takahashi has been Ranma ½ or InuYasha, One Pound Gospel makes a fine introduction to the quieter observational humor characteristic of her masterpiece Maison Ikkoku. A must for every serious manga fan’s collection!

Sunshine Sketch, Vol. 1 (Yen Press): Imagine, for a moment, that Chika Umino and Kiyohiko Azuma collaborated on a 4-koma series about life in an art-school dormitory. The resulting series might look a lot like Sunshine Sketch, a gentle, slice-of-life comedy about a quartet of teenagers attending a prestigious art school. As in Azumanga Daioh, there’s no real plot to speak of; the four-panel strips focus on the interactions among the teens, each of whom embodies a certain type, from the tall, athletic Sae (who’s a bossy tomboy) to the spastic genius Miyako (who paints a mean picture but can’t sit still for five minutes). A small cast of supporting characters—a cosplaying teacher, an unnamed principal, a rival from another class—round out the cast.

Takashi Murakami, Tan Tan Bo Puking – a.k.a. Gero Tan, 2002, Acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 141 3/4 x 283 7/16 x 2 5/8 in., Collection of Amalia Dayan and Adam Lindemann, Courtesy of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris and Miami, ©2002 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

If you live in New York City, or happen to visit before July 13th, you need to check out the Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn museum.

What?! You don’t know who Takashi Murakami is? You know, like Superflat? Never heard of it? Did you miss the giant eye-covered balloons in front of Rockefeller Center in 2003? Or “Wink” in Grand Central Terminal in 2001? Did you miss “Little Boy,” the otaku-art exhibit curated by Murakami at the Japan Society in 2005?

If you are not an otaku, you may have heard of Murakami as the Japanese artist who did the cover art for the Kayne West album “Graduation”. And if you’re a fashionista (who knows how you reached this site) you might know about Murakami’s collaboration with designer Marc Jacobs making some of the best-selling Louis Vuitton purses of all time.

If you Japanese pop culture, pop art, Kayne West, or Louis Vuitton, this exhibit will appeal to you. There are rooms filled with neon-colored smiling flowers and cartoon characters puking rainbows, for god’s sake, who doesn’t want to see that?

Takashi Murakami, Flower ball (3D), 2002, Acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 39 3/8 inches diameter, 1 15/16 inches depth, Private Collection, courtesy of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris and Miami, ©2002 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The Louis Vuitton Murakami handbags are at the heart of the ©Murakami exhibit, which traveled here from Los Angeles. According to the director of the exhibit, the Murakami show in L.A. attracted huge crowds of first-time museum-goers and many repeat visitors.

At the press opening of the New York version of the show, Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman seemed annoyed as he told reporters, “A lot of people have approached me asking about the appropriateness of the Louis Vuitton shop,” referring to the pricey gift shop at the center of the exhibit, “The purses are not offshoots of Murakami’s work, but the work itself… The museum also houses Tiffany Lamps and Herman Miller furniture one could purchase.”

©Murakami has more than just Louis Vuitton stuff – the exhibit houses more than 90 of Murakami’s works over two floors, including DOB, Hiropan, My Lonesome Cowboy¹, the series of Cream and Milk screens, rooms full of Jellyfish Eyes, and the Second Missin Project Ko2 Advanced series of giant transforming anime plane girls.

Takashi Murakami, Installation view of Second Mission Project ko2 (1999), at Wonder Festival, Summer 2000, Oil paint, acrylic, synthetic resins, fiberglass and iron, Courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, Galerie, Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris and Miami, and Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Photo by Kazuo Fukunaga, ©1999 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Murakami is famous for crossing the line between art and commerce. Inspired by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Murakami aims to totally cash in the merch of his pop art (unlike Warhol, who died before he could collect on T-shirt sales). Downstairs from the Vuitton gift shop is another, more reasonably priced gift shop featuring pins, books, T-shirts, and stuffed animals.

Irritatingly the merch in the proletariat gift shop does not include Kayne West T-shirts or Hiropan blind-box figures – instead, all the toys and keychains are promoting KaiKai and KiKi, the title characters of a two-episode anime series playing on a loop in the exhibit. KaiKai and KiKi are alien bunny things who pilot a living spaceship creature and go on childlike fantasy adventures. One episode has a lot of sci-fi and Godzilla-like elements, and the other episode is more like My Neighbor Totoro (insomuch as magic seeds are planted). The color cards during the end credits pay homage to classic anime series like Dog of Flanders, but the episode content is a very modern and expensive-looking 3D CGI made to look 2D.

Apparently Murakami’s anime was produced here in NYC, at the KaiKai KiKi Animation Studio located in Queens. The studio was formerly called the Hiropan Factory, named after Warhol’s factory. Murakami spends half the year living in Tokyo, and half in New York.

KaiKai KiKi is not Murakami’s first animation. A Louis Vuitton-CG short is widely available on youtube. An early Murakami animated short featured DOB, a blue Mickey-Mouse-looking character. Murakami says, “DOB is based on Japanese manga and game stuff, [like] Sonic and Doraemon, but many Americans ask about his relation to Disney…”

Murakami knew he had made it big when pirated DOB figures appeared on the streets of Hong Kong. In ©Murakami, Murakami himself is the brand being sold. Hitching on to Vuitton as a brand name is brilliant if your goal is to get pirated.

If Murakami is a sell out, I am totally buying. After watching KaiKai and KiKi I immediately bought a KaiKai pin.

Directions to the Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum’s page about ©Murakami

¹ My Lonesome Cowboy is NSFW. I was surprised to find reproductions of the sculpture on display in front of pachinko parlors across Japan.

Another short shipping list, another week of solvency… My top picks for this week:

I, Otaku: Struggle in Akihabara, Vol. 2 (Seven Seas): As one might guess from the title, I, Otaku is a meta-manga about fandom in all its various permutations: anime fanatics, figurine collectors, fujoshi. Though the slapstick and obsessive behavior need no editorial intervention to comprehend, the dialogue is peppered with references to singers, actors, and other figures in the Japanese public eye. Not to worry—translator/adaptor Ed “MangaCast” Chavez has provided copious notes to let the uninitiated in on the jokes. At last year’s New York Anime Fest, Ed assured me that volume two will be even funnier than volume one as Sota and Kenji take a gig at a magazine called Boys’ Heaven. Sounds like a perfect chaser for the first two installments of Fujoshi Rumi (Media Blasters) to me.

My Heavenly Hockey Club, Vol. 5 (Del Rey): Saying My Heavenly Hockey Club isn’t my favorite Ai Morinaga title is a bit like saying Great Expectations isn’t my favorite David Lean movie—it’s still a fun series, even if it isn’t quite on par with her best work. My chief criticism of Hockey Club is its repetitiousness: midway through volume one, Morinaga fell into a predictable routine of road trips, forfeited games, and wacky hijinks, even as she sent her team of misfits to increasingly exotic locations. Still, the artwork is a big step up from Duck Prince and Your and My Secret, and Morinaga’s try-anything-for-a-laugh approach hits the bull’s eye more often than not—though I’m wondering if she’s jumped the bear shark in volume five with an abominable snowman sighting. I’ll just have to wait and see…

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors, Vol. 3 (CMX): Thanks to routine abuse by Gene Shalit and Michael Medved, words like “gentle,” “sweet,” and “charming” pack all the critical punch of “nice” and “good.” Yet this all-ages adventure story about a female palette (i.e., magician who manipulates color) is gentle, sweet, and charming without being twee or preachy. True, Palette would have been more effective in color—a point manga-ka Nari Kusakawa freely concedes—but the stylish art and appealing cast help offset this obvious limitation of the storytelling. Highly recommended whether you’re a shojo fanatic, a shonen junkie, or a parent in search of an all-ages title that will entertain your tween without offending your sensibilities.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard that Viz is bringing BLEACH manga-ka Tite Kubo to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. (Or, as I always call him, Tito Kubo, perhaps in an unconscious nod to the legendary Tito Puente. Someone please tell me that there’s Latin jazz manga!) Below are the details of his visit, as well as tips for getting into the spirit of the proceedings. –KD

San Francisco, CA, May 21, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that its SHONEN JUMP magazine will welcome prolific manga (graphic novel) creator Tite Kubo for a series of rare in-person appearances beginning on Friday, July 25 at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Mr. Kubo is the creator of the wildly successful manga series BLEACH and ZOMBIE POWDER. and this is the first time the artist will appear at a North American convention. Both series are published domestically by VIZ Media and BLEACH is currently serialized in SHONEN JUMP Magazine. Comic-Con International is renowned as the nation’s largest comic book and science fiction event and takes place July 24-27 at the Convention Center in San Diego, CA. VIZ Media will be located in Booth 4113.

Manhwa maniacs, rejoice—the newest volumes of two long-suspended ICE Kunion titles—11th Cat and Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo—have finally arrived in stores, courtesy of a new publisher: Yen Press. UDON Entertainment also hops the Korean comic bandwagon with the first installment of The Daring Students Association, a supernatural comedy about a high school club that resorts to ghostbusting to raise a little cash. (Did they try selling M&Ms first? That seems a lot easier to me.) Other new arrivals this week include Haridama: Magic Cram School (Del Rey), a comedy about two inept sorcerers-in-training, and Two Flowers for the Dragon (CMX), a shojo adventure about a spunky young princess who must choose between two suitors… with assistance from magical tattoos. (Is that what folks did before eHarmony? Sounds… painful.)

My top picks for this week:

The Gorgeous Life of Strawberry-Chan, Vol. 1 (Media Blasters): The Strawberry-Chan of the title is a much-abused talking frog whose owner attends an all-boys boarding school. Could this be a “Frog Prince” parody with a yaoi twist? One can only hope. But even if Ai Morinaga plays it straight (so to speak), readers will be treated to a healthy dose of slapstick and gender-bending weirdness that should keep the story fizzy and fun.

Kekkaishi, Vol. 13 (Viz): From the Viz website: “The fate of the dreaded Kokuboro ayakashi lies in Yoshimori’s hands as he and his allies fight to get out of Kokuboro Castle alive! By comparison, his formerly hair-raising nightly patrols of the Karasumori Site seem like a walk in the park. But if he survives and returns home as the conquering hero, does an even greater evil lie in wait…?” Translation: NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME! READ THIS MANGA NOW!

Swan, Vol. 13 (CMX): Our Senior Ninja Consultant Erin Finnegan has promised to write a lengthy review explaining why everyone should read this seventies shojo classic. Until she does, however, I’m happy to beat the drum for Swan, possibly the best tournament series ever written. Yes, the story focuses on an aspiring ballerina, and yes, the artwork practically sparkles with estrogen, but don’t be fooled: its dreamy heroine Masumi is just a tutu-clad variation on Hanamichi Sakuragi (Slam Dunk), Kazuma Azuma (Yakitate!! Japan), and Naruse Tohru (Harlem Beat), athletes who entertain similarly grandiose ambitions to be The Best. Kyoko Ariyoshi’s character designs may look dated to twenty-first century audiences, but her draftsmanship is superb; you can practically hum along to the Firebird’s Grand pas as you watch it unfurl across the page. And for Slavophiles like me, the cameo appearances by Bolshoi principles and frequent references to Tchaikovsky make Swan just that much more heavenly.

By the way, if you’ve been curious about Manga Sutra Futari H but were too embarrassed to flip through a copy at Barnes and Noble, visit the Tokyopop website, where you’ll find a new chapter every day from now until June 12th. Not eighteen? Tokyopop is also posting volumes one through six of The Tarot Café online; click here to view the schedule. (Each volume will be available for a few days only.)

If you’re still solvent after last week’s tsunami of new manga, this week may send you straight for bankruptcy court, with dozens of great books headed your way. The list cants heavily towards continuing series like Basara (Viz), Flame of Recca (Viz), Samurai Deeper Kyo (Tokyopop) Sgt. Frog (Tokyopop) and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles (Del Rey), but also features such noteworthy newcomers as Kamisama Kozuko (Go! Comi) and Toto! The Wonderful Adventure (Del Rey).

My top picks for Wednesday:

Blood+, Vol. 2 (Dark Horse): This brooding vampire tale adopts a kitchen-sink approach to plotting, mixing military conspiracy theory with teen angst and a healthy dose of monster-slaying. The results are oddly compelling; if anything, Blood+ demonstrates that it’s entirely possible to fashion something new and exciting out of shopworn ideas. If you’re a fan of the anime, you’ll notice a few discrepancies between the manga and the TV show. The biggest difference is Saya herself. As depicted in the manga, Saya is feisty, loyal, and only a little hesitant to embrace her destiny as a human weapon—a big improvement over her shrill, conflicted persona in the anime.

Shoulder-A-Coffin, Kuro, Vol. 1 (Yen Press): The story is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition; some may find the art too cutesy for the rather serious subject, while others may find the story ill-suited to the set-up/punchline rhythms of 4-koma format. For the otaku in search of an offbeat read, however, Kuro offers a unique and satisfying blend of humor, whimsy, and melancholy.

Toto! The Wonderful Adventure, Vol. 1 (Del Rey): Yuko Osada’s boisterous romp reads like a mash-up of One Piece and Castle in the Sky, complete with a flying ship, a cute animal sidekick, a spunky heroine, and a band of pirates on the run from the authorities. The artwork has a loose, sketchy feel that nicely complements Toto’s breezy tone. And while the story is positively elemental when compared with many shonen series, its simplicity allows Osada to focus more on characters and plot and less on superpowers and backstory—a decided plus.

Ultimate Venus, Vol. 1 (Go! Comi): Like Ai Morinaga, Takako Shigematsu has a knack for spicing up a stock shojo premise—say, a showbiz melodrama—with liberal amounts of black humor and sexual tension. In Ultimate Venus, Shigematsu’s point of departure is the My Fair Lady makeover, in which a handsome Henry Higgins surrogate teaches a klutzy young woman how to comport herself among the rich and famous. Or in this case, two hot linguists teach a klutzy young woman how to talk and walk like a lady. Eliza Doolittle should be so lucky!

Yakitate!! Japan, Vol. 11 (Viz): Every volume of Yakitate!! Japan doggedly adheres to the same basic recipe: one part competition, one part risqué humor, one part yeasty puns, and one part wacky hijinks. Kazuma Azuma and the Pantasia gang are always the underdogs at a world-renown bread-baking tournament, only to pull off a stunning victory on the strength of one of Kazuma’s more outlandish creations—but not before a new, ridiculous opponent (often in a mask or outré costume) announces his intent to outbake them. All of this amounts to predictably good fun, even if the fanservice gets a little out of hand at times. Haven’t tried Yakitate!! yet? Read the first two volumes, then sample at will—you won’t have difficulty figuring out what’s happening.

One final note: from now until May 18th, RightStuf is running a promotion on current and future Tokyopop manga, novels, and tie-in products (i.e. The Fruits Basket Sticker Book). Books are 33% off the cover price; click here for the coupon code. Full shipping list after the cut.

Is it just my imagination, or has Dark Horse quietly shelved Bride of the Water God and Translucent (a fate that also seems to have befallen XS Hybrid, a manhwa I was decidedly less enthusiastic about)? Scanning their website, I didn’t see the next volume of either scheduled for release between now and October. A quick search of Amazon didn’t yield any hits, either. Does anyone know what’s befallen these series? God, I hope I haven’t fallen for two more DH titles that will never reach closure—after the heartbreak of Club 9 and Satsuma Gishiden, I’m beginning to feel like a commitment-phobic bachelor, at least as far as DH’s manga/manhwa are concerned.

And speaking of books in limbo, what’s befallen Aki Shimizu’s Qwan? According to the Wikipedia, six volumes have been released in Japan, but Tokyopop has yet to publish anything beyond volume four. I’m wondering why it’s been almost a year since the last release—is it a licensing issue, or has Tokyopop caught up to the Japanese edition? I’d hate to see this offbeat shonen fantasy languish in manga purgatory, as its gorgeous artwork and compelling, folkloric storyline deserve a bigger audience.