I am impressed with the Korean side but I was amazed at how Yen was able to get the rights to Higurashi, Soul Eater and Sumomomo, Momomo simply because they seemed to be instant hints. In a way I think the Japanese otaku crazed culture were responsible for this event but I look forward to more issues of this magazine.

Also to note. It is about time Viz media got some competition again and I am happy Sqaure-Enix was willing to step into the moment. I was sad when they destroyed Raijin comics but we all knew a weekly comic would not work in the U.S. because of the size of our country. I simply hope Yen+ is successful because I am getting sick of everlasting comics like Bleach, Naruto and Crimson Tide get all this buzz when equally good comics receive none unless someone advises someone to look it up. I look forward to every issue. I also look forward to convincing someone else to buy them will I read! Anything to save the price!

@Erin: I didn’t really think it would be like Suzuka, but I really, really want to read a track and field manga that is really about track!

@gia: I agree that the magazine’s diversity is an advantage in the American marketplace. At the Shojo Beat panel there was a big show of hangs when the editors asked if readers preferred diverse themes in the magazine.

Also, I’ve talked with a few people about the wiiiiide variety of titles in Yen+, as you mentioned (Soul Eater, Sarasah, One Fine Day, Jack Frost!). I think it could make the magazine tougher to market, but personally I really enjoy it, as I have a wide variety of tastes. What Yen’s done is made a magazine that pretty well guarantees that anyone who picks it up will probably like at least ONE title (though they’re likely to dislike one as well– in my case, I like all of them except Higurashi).

And then they made it so that the only (legal) way you can get those series is through the magazine; the collected format won’t come out until the magazine’s published enough chapters. That’s a fact I’m less than excited about but am kind of writing off as an unfortunate necessity, at least for now.

I was under the impression that when we’re in the pets’ point of view, they become children and so we get to understand them. When we switch to the guy, they become pets who obviously can not talk. And some of the weirder antics were the pets’ imagination (like the viper wine). It was the only way for it to make sense to me, because the pets’ forms kept changing.

This one’s super cute and fun, even though I can’t understand half a thing.

…You have no idea how much that sentence disturbed me. Simply because, having seen both Suzuka and Bamboo Blade in their animated form, the two series could not be more different. I never, ever would have put the two of them in the same category. No moe harem, no ridiculous angst-filled drama (at least not until the anime-original plot kicked in), and just all kinds of wonderful. It’s more slice-of-life than it is a sports anime/manga, but that doesn’t mean it’s not awesome.