Because Matthew gave no indication that he's read any manga at all I decided to offer recommendations of fairly well known titles to help him get his feet "wet" with stories I feel are very friendly to the American comic book reader.

1.  Slam Dunk, by Takehike Inoue, published by Viz.

Description by publisher: Basketball. The court, the ball, the hoop. The hopes, the dreams, the sweat. It takes dedication and discipline to be the best, and the Shohoku High hoops team wants to be just that—the best. They have one last year to make their captain's dream of reaching the finals come true—will they do it? Takehiko Inoue's legendary basketball manga is finally here, and the tale of a lifetime is in your hands!

Sakuragi Hanamichi's got no game with girls—none at all! It doesn't help that he's known for throwing down at a moment's notice and always coming out on top. A hopeless bruiser, he's been rejected by 50 girls in a row! All that changes when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko, and she's actually not afraid of him! When she introduces him to the game of basketball, his life is changed forever...

2.  Planetes, Makoto Yukimura, published by Tokyopop.

Description by publishers: In the 2070's, mankind has established a mining base on the moon and dispatched men to explore Mars. The first manned mission to Jupiter is also in progress. As a result of this interplanetary activity, space debris is increasing and its collection has become a new profession.

In the 1st volume of Makoto Yukimura's Planetes, we meet Yuri, Hachimaki, and Fee. Hachimaki's dream is to buy his own spaceship. He thinks he can earn money quickly by joining the crew of the first expedition to Jupiter. Yuri lost his wife in a space travel accident, and became a debris collector out of a desperate desire to discover some remembrance of her. Fee takes great pride in her profession and works very hard, having left behind her husband and young son on earth.

In a dark and cruel universe, each of these space junkers grapples with his or her own personal problems.

3.  Bleach, by Tite Kubo, published by Viz.

Description by publisher: Bleach tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, who is just like any other ordinary 15-year-old high school student -- except for his special ability to see ghosts. So when a teenage girl materializes through his bedroom wall, it should be no call for alarm. However, this girl, named Rukia, is a shinigami (Soul Reaper) who is hunting a Hollow (an evil spirit that consumes souls). The Hollow proceeds to attack Ichigo's family and Rukia is badly wounded. In order to defeat the evil spirit, Rukia must let Ichigo temporarily become a Soul Reaper by absorbing some of her energy. However, Ichigo inadvertently ends up with all of Rukia's powers and after defeating the Hollow, she informs Ichigo that since she has relinquished all her powers, he must now take on all the responsibilities of a Soul Reaper until she can figure out how to get her powers back. Now this 15-year-old high school student begins a brand new vocation as a hyperkinetic, all-purpose ghost buster. With enough attitude to make a grown demon blush, Ichigo and crew are cleaning up the afterlife, one ghoul at a time.

24 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  Matthew E. (who might hate me just a little)

  I might?

  Matthew gave no indication that he's read any manga at all ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jordan wrote:

  I'd also suggest H2 (a good manga about baseball) and even Hunter x Hunter (which has definitely faded a bit ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Matthew -- sorry, I just was having a little fun at your expense because you gave me three such different ...

• At November 19, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Is there a baseball manga being published in the US? Thanks for bringing Big Windup to my attention. I'll move ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  JimYung -- As far as I know there are no manga about baseball being published in the U.S. (the only ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  When I think baseball manga I think Mitsuru Adachi, but the only manga of his to be published in the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Ohhhh good catch, Michelle! For those reading the comments that means this manga will be available, free, online for ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  And, if reader interest is enough, eventually published in a print edition! :)

  Here's the update calendar that confirms its appearance ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Aaaaand here it is!

• At November 19, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Wow, that was bad! It seems like a baseball manga about American baseball without any knowledge of American baseball.

• At November 19, 2009, rocket_yaourt wrote:

  i could recommand a lot of mangas, i'm french so i don't really know how much different mangas you have ...

• At November 19, 2009, T. wrote:

  If he likes Legion of Super-Heroes, I'd think you'd be better off going with Naruto and One Piece rather than ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Actually, I think of Bleach as the most basic kind of superhero-esque type book out there! (That was my ...

• At November 19, 2009, Okman wrote:

  It's a real shame there's no Mitsuru Adachi stuff in America yet. Honestly, I remember reading H2 a couple years ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  I'm hoping that, with the recent trend towards omnibus editions, someone will license Adachi's Touch and put it out, like, ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  When someone hasn't read Manga you should either recommend the absolute, slam bang, no miss classics like Lone Wolf and ...

• At November 20, 2009, Joe wrote:

  You'd be foolish to disregard Japan's love of baseball, Ryan. High school baseball over in Japan is as big as ...

• At November 20, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Yeah, I'm with Joe on this one.

  The shonen/action story is a huge field in Japan, it makes sense to recommend ...

• At November 20, 2009, Love, terror, Jaws « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh has more customized manga recommendations at Comics Should Be [...]

• At November 20, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  I realize these picks don't really correspond to his interests, but his interests are uniquely American. Looking to a foreign ...

• At November 20, 2009, Digit wrote:

  If it wasn't for the specific criteria mentioned, I'd have recommend "Monster" by Naoki Urasawa for the new-to-manga.

  it's intelligent, it's ...

• At November 20, 2009, Digit wrote:

  (Well, depending on how you define Arthurian, anyway!)

• At November 20, 2009, CriticalFel wrote:

  I also agree with T. that One Piece and Naruto represent the "huge ensemble cast" better.

  Unlike Bleach, both have an ...

• At November 20, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  I'm taking notes.

  (Just so I don't come off as unreasonable, I'd like to mention that the criteria I mentioned were ...

Am I up to the challenge?

1.  Solanin, by Inio Asano, published by Viz.

Description: Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Naruo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn't pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world.

2.  Astral Project, by marginal and Syuji Takeya, published by CMX.

Description: A modern tale of the supernatural by the author of the Eisner Award-winning Old Boy. ("marginal" is one of several aliases by creator Garon Tsuchiya.) Masahiko is estranged from his family and lives a dead-end life in Tokyo, working as a chauffeur for high-class call girls. When his sister dies under mysterious circumstances, he inherits an unlabeled CD from her possessions. Listening to the jazz music it contains, he is propelled into an out-of-body experience. As he repeats the experience, he begins to wonder if this was how his sister died. Masahiko is determined to find the cause of her death, and the mystery behind the CD.

3.  Children of the Sea, by Daisuke Igarashi, published by Viz.

Description: When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.

Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans' fish.

19 Comments

• At November 16, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  I'm impressed with your ability to make good picks! I think I'd have been kind of stumped, but you ...

• At November 16, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Ohh. very kind praise! There are few requests coming up that are going to be very challenging, let me ...

• At November 16, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Solanin was the only title I could think of that fit this title. What a Wonderful World was a close ...

• At November 16, 2009, Joe wrote:

  "...title that fit the requirements." :P My bad.

• At November 17, 2009, Eric Rupe wrote:

  Good picks. I like all of the titles, love solanin, but I'm only halfway through Astral Project. I think What ...

• At November 17, 2009, Tezuka, Inoue, and thoughts on the Japanese model « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh has more personalized recommendations in her latest Manga Before Flowers [...]

• At November 17, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I'm gonna have to check out Solanin and Astral Project. Those both look pretty neat.

  Your description of Astral Project kind ...

• At November 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Tekende -- oh just a quick note, I'm being lazy and stealing descriptions from the publisher. Maybe I ...

• At November 17, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  I loved Solanin and the two What a Wonderful World collections. I hope Viz brings more of his work to ...

• At November 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi JimYung...I'll just be lazy and link to my review of the title:

  http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/06/30/danielle-leighs-reading-diary-children-of-the-sea-vol-1/

  It really is a lovely title and ...

• At November 17, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Oohhh, I don't like Negima, either. Perhaps you should ask Ed Sizemore for help there; he's a fan of ...

• At November 17, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Thanks, Danielle! I will check out all these titles!

  Solanin sounds like a real winner--a very grounded concept in contrast ...

• At November 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  It's funny you say "grounded" when one of your key words was "existential." heh.

  Children of the Sea -- amazing, ...

• At November 17, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  That helps!

  I think "grounded" and "existential" are part and parcel. It's "how" I live my life and "why" I ...

• At November 17, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  @Danielle - Oh no, I was one of the two people who mentioned Negima (!) - I almost feel ashamed ...

• At November 18, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Dane -- heh. No need to feel ashamed! Negima and I just don't match up well (I'll still ...

• At November 18, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  @Danielle - Awesome! Solanin is going on my Christmas list and I'll hope my woeful library system has Astral Project ...

• At November 18, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Hi Dane -- well, after two volumes there was no reason to continue to read something that just didn't appeal ...

• At November 18, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  I'm totally with you, Danielle. That's why I have a ton of first volumes of a lot of series. They ...

Step up for your personalized manga recommendations, JimYung!

1. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, by Karuho Shiina, published by Viz.

Description: Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine...for a horror movie. With striking similarities to a haunting movie character--jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor--she's mistakenly called Sadako by those around her. But behind her scary façade is a very misunderstood teenager. Too shy to fit in, all she wants to do is make some friends. But when the most popular boy in class befriends her, she's sure to make more than just that--she's about to make some enemies too!

2.  Venus Capriccio, by Mai Nishikata, published by CMX.

Description: Takami and Akira are childhood friends who took piano lessons together when they were little. Takami was a tomboy who grew up among four brothers, while Akira was a cute, quiet boy who was skilled in piano more so than Takami. They grew up like siblings -at least, that is how Takami felt. Years later, things began to change when Akira suddenly kisses and confesses his feelings for Takami. She is startled by Akira's unexpected affection and doesn't know how to react…until Takumi begins to realize that her feelings for Akira are beginning to change.

3.  Otomen, by Aya Kanno, published by Viz.

Description:  Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things--sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. But in a world where boys are expected to act manly, Asuka must hide his beloved hobbies and play the part of a masculine jock instead. Ryo Miyakozuka, on the other hand, is a girl who can't sew or bake a cake to save her life. Asuka finds himself drawn to Ryo, but she likes only the manliest of men! Can Asuka ever show his true self to anyone, much less to the girl that he's falling for?

15 Comments

• At November 13, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  I think the Kimi ni Todoke recommendation is spot-on because it, like both Love*Com and High School Debut ran in ...

• At November 13, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Thanks for the recommendations! I see my library has Kimi ni Todoke and Otomen so I'll try them out.

• At November 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  *nods* Yeah, that was totally part of my logic there.

  I think Venus C. is a more traditional romance but I ...

• At November 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  You are quite welcome, JimYung! You must have one of those truly awesome libraries if it is already carrying ...

• At November 13, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  NYPL!

  Unfortunately, they only have 1 copy of Kimi Ni Todoke. They have the first 3 volumes of Otomen but ...

• At November 13, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Kimi ni Todoke! I don't read too much shoujou manga, but I love this.

• At November 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Let's see...Crimson Hero (Viz, Sports Romance), Itazura na Kiss (Romantic Comedy, to be published this fall by DMP), The Devil ...

• At November 13, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I'm not real big into romance, but from the plot synopsis, these seem a bit more original than the normal ...

• At November 13, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Other Margaret titles include Boys Over Flowers, B.O.D.Y. (technically in the offshoot Bessatsu Margaret), Mixed Vegetables, and Tail of the ...

• At November 13, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Otomen sounds pretty awesome to me. Actually they all do (despite the fact that the only one with art that ...

• At November 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Nope, none are finished yet! But Viz is a very stable company and their releases come out on a ...

• At November 14, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Venus Capriccio is complete in Japan, while Otomen and Kimi ni Todoke have both reached their ninth volumes there.

  Otomen is ...

• At November 16, 2009, Monday news roundup « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh has another round of personalized manga recommendations at Comics Should Be [...]

• At November 17, 2009, lys wrote:

  Actually, quite a few of the Margaret titles mentioned are from Bessatsu Margaret (BODY, Crimson Hero, Devil Does Exist, LoveCom, ...

• At November 18, 2009, Ahavah wrote:

  Don't forget "Monkey High"! (It often gets lost in the shuffle). It feels *a lot* like Love*Com, in terms of ...

Today I offer three series for Nitz the Bloody.

Nitz the Bloody requested "closest manga equivalents of 'post-human superhero' stories, like WildStorm and the Ultimate Universe? If I like the kind of darkly humorous, culturally relevant takes on science fiction, what in manga would be the best?

Danielle's Recommendations:

1. Dogs, by Shirow Miwa, published by Viz.

Description: Boasting furious action, switchback plotting, magnetic characters and dazzling art, Dogs tells the story of four individuals struggling to survive a dystopian urban future by gun and sword and courage and luck.

2.  Eden: It's an Endless World, by Hiroki Endo, published by Dark Horse.

Description: Eden Volume One is both a brilliant love song to the post-apocalyptic survival genre and the beginning of a deep exploration on man's role in the natural order. In the near future, a large portion of humanity is wiped out by a brutal, new virus that hardens the skin while dissolving internal organs. Those who aren't immune are either severely crippled or allowed to live with cybernetically enhanced bodies. Taking advantage of a world in chaos, a paramilitary force known as the Propater topples the United Nations and seeks world domination. Elia, a young survivor searching for his mother, travels towards the Andes Mountains with an artificially intelligent combat robot. When he encounters a group of anti-Propater freedom fighters, a maelstrom of unique characters unfolds. Graphic, cyberpunk, and philosophical, Eden is a place where endearing heroes face a constant struggle for survival and violent surprises wait around every corner!

3.  Bokurano: Ours, by Mohiro Kito, published online by Viz here.

Description: One summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits one lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game, all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.

15 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I had been interested in Eden for a while, but I'd never heard of Dogs or Bokurano.

• At November 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Well, Bokurano is still being published online so you can check it out (the collection will be out early next ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Eden is fantastic. How many volumes is it? I haven't seen a new one in Previews recently.

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Thank you, Danielle. Will definitely check out Bokurano online, and look into the other two in stores.

• At November 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Greg, Eden is 18 volumes I believe. Dark Horse is probably only putting it out about once a ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sheesh. That's annoying.

• At November 12, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Hey Danielle, how many of these are published to completion in the U.S.? They all sound great, but I'm tired ...

• At November 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Hi Dane, none are complete yet. Unless someone specifically asks (like you) I'm not going to worry about complete ...

• At November 12, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Thanks! Eden looks like its 2/3 complete. My only fear is that if I wait for its completion, by the ...

• At November 12, 2009, Sean G wrote:

  I'd also recommend Battle Angel Alita and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Orders if you like dystopian SF manga.

• At November 12, 2009, CriticalFel wrote:

  Just wanted to point, IMO, Bokurano's not really "darkly humorous"... It's more "darkly depressing". It's heavy stuff, and even ...

• At November 13, 2009, James Moar wrote:

  CriticalFel,

  It may depend on your sense of humour a bit -- there's certainly humour in Bokurano, even if it tends ...

• At November 13, 2009, Reading Over Shoulders | Extremely Graphic wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh has a few suggestions. [...]

• At November 13, 2009, Yuri chat, moe politics, and shoujo podcast « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh posts her first round of manga recommendations at Comics Should Be [...]

• At November 13, 2009, CriticalFel wrote:

  Heh- I actually thought about how Dung Beetle may be funny sometimes after writing that post, but while I was ...

Since the whole conversation has come up again about getting your "special lady" to read the comics *you like* (based on the assumption only men read comics), instead of the comics women might like, I'd thought I'd turn the tables and see if I can make recommendations to folks who need a new manga title to read, or would simply like to try out manga out for the first time.   (See commentary by manga bloggers about this issue of "tricking" your girlfriend into liking your comics here, here, and here).

So, tell me anything -- you like stories that focus on x, you don't like stories that have y.   Actually, if you can, go ahead give me three key words.  And I'll try my best to give you a recommendation or two that suits your taste.  Or you can claim that you'll never like manga, EVER!!!!!, no matter what I do, get off my lawn you damn kid!, and I'll still try to find something for you.  Because I'm nothing if not singleminded when it comes to manga.

28 Comments

• At November 11, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Okay;

  Closest manga equivalents of " post-human superhero " stories, like WildStorm and the Ultimate Universe? If I like the kind ...

• At November 11, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Ohhhh.....very interesting. I'll pool together my answers in the next post but you've given me a nice challenge! ...

• At November 11, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Are there any manga titles similar to Kindaichi Files and Detective Conan? Speaking of which, is Kindaichi Files officially no ...

• At November 11, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  JimYung -- some great questions! (I particularly like the second 'cause shojo is my strongest area).

  I'll be sure to ...

• At November 11, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Three key words:

  Thoughtful

  Existential

  Humorous (actually, if you feel like finding me a girlfriend with the same attributes, go ahead!)

  Speaking of ...

• At November 11, 2009, danielle leigh wrote:

  Dan --- ohhhh. I already thought of at least two manga I can recommend (I think the real challenge ...

• At November 11, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  Hmm. Well, my favourite comic book is Legion of Super-Heroes. I like stuff that suggests that some intelligence went into ...

• At November 11, 2009, Tezuka goes to the Smithsonian « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh has an interesting challenge in her latest Manga Before Flowers column: Tell her what you like, and she’ll ...

• At November 11, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Giant Robots

  Adventure

  Optimism

  I've seen and enjoyed a bit of anime involving giant robots but so far, I haven't been able to ...

• At November 11, 2009, Eric Rupe wrote:

  Some key words...

  Sci-Fi

  Fantasy

  Cyberpunk

  My favorite comic writer is Grant Morrison so anything similar to his work is also something I'd be ...

• At November 11, 2009, Timothy wrote:

  Ok well I've read quite a few manga and so far I've liked Comedy, Romance, and poetry type things

• At November 11, 2009, Rin wrote:

  I like josei/ shojo series that are not too romanti or smutty, my two favourites are Honey and Clover and ...

• At November 11, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Thanks, guys, some great challenges here....I'll probably start posting recommendations within the next few days, starting with first come, first ...

• At November 11, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  I've gotten a bit of manga out from my library, but I haven't LOVED any of it unreservedly. I ...

• At November 11, 2009, Alex Scales wrote:

  I've always been a huge manga-ite (if that's even a real term); Back in high school i was in love ...

• At November 11, 2009, Birley wrote:

  Oh wow... I wish I came here earlier. ^_^

  If you have the time, mind recommending some manga?

  I'm looking for something ...

• At November 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  No worries -- I'll start today and keep on going till I reach the end! :-)

  Everyone keep watch the blog ...

• At November 12, 2009, Oliver wrote:

  Interesting challenge! Here are 3 points I would like a manga to have (I don't discriminate between Shojo and Shonen):

  1) ...

• At November 12, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Okay, so here's my challenge to you:

  1) Romantic though not necessarily romance

  2) Crisp art

  3) Thought-provoking

  ________________

  Here's some of my manga ...

• At November 12, 2009, Sara K. wrote:

  Hey,

  Alright, I have two challenges for you.

  First of all, myself. I've read quite a bit of manga, but I'm ...

• At November 12, 2009, Linh wrote:

  Hey I like manga series that is not too cliche, has a strong female character is not smutty or overly ...

• At November 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Sara -- heh. Lots of challenges here. I'm going in order but for the people that have given ...

• At November 12, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Character-driven

  Intelligent

  Original

  I know that doesn't narrow the field a ton. If it helps, I'd be looking for the manga Love & ...

• At November 12, 2009, Marissa wrote:

  I want something with nice artwork, and a good storyline. I like comedy/cute romance. Some of the series I like ...

• At November 12, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  I'm an inspiration!

• At November 12, 2009, Avalon's Willow wrote:

  I would dearly love some reccs if you have the time and inclination towards a mostly lurker.

  In order of adoration:

  I ...

• At November 12, 2009, Avalon's Willow wrote:

  Ah. Not Corpse Princess. MURDER Princess.

  Corpse Princess gave me a headache.

• At November 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  MarkAndrew....you could say that. Um. Sure! Go ahead and say that! ;-)

Moving on to *this* month's offerings....

My pick of the month is the concluding volume of Emma released by CMX. I never cry at weddings but I'll make an exception for this one....

Darkhorse's manga solicitations have felt a little slim lately, so I'm pleased that they are offering a number of titles that will appeal to a variety of demographics.  In addition to the new Chobits omnibus (720 pages for 25 dollars?  Hell yes!), they offer new volumes of continuing series like Bride of the Water God (oh so pretty, oh so incomprehensible!), The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (would you deliver corpses in this recession?  I bet you would!), and epic fantasy Berserk (I have no smart aleck aside for this!).  Finally, I'm especially delighted that DH has finally gotten around to soliciting Blood+: Kowloon Nights, which I believe has some boys' love overtones, although you'd never know that from the description in previews.

Del Rey "rescues" Samurai Deeper Kyo (formerly published by Tokyopop) and offers volume 35 and 36 in an omnibus format and while I don't follow this series, its appearance in previews is worth comment.

Digital Manga makes my heart go "doki doki" with the release of the first omnibus of the shojo classic Itazura na Kiss (aka Mischievous Kiss), with the second volume planned for early Spring 2010 I believe.  If you all like shojo even just a little, I recommend that you pick up this classic (the hairstyles and early 90's fashion alone should be worth the price of admission).

Tokyopop offers three of all time favorite manga titles this month -- Your and My Secret volume 5, Junjo Romantica volume 11 and Tea for Two volume 3.  It is going to be a good month for gender-swap and yaoi fans, that's for sure.

And speaking of gender-swap (sort of), Viz offers the second volume of the surprisingly grounded fantasy Ooku, where women have taken over the political and economic spheres of Japan due to a plague that has decimated the male population.  Right now this title is certainly on my "best manga of 2009" short list.  In addition, Viz adds another title to its "mature" shojo line with Yuki Yoshihara's Butterflies, Flowers. This will be the veteran josei creator's first title released in the U.S. but trust me, you won't want to miss it.  (Think "sex romp" x "comedy of errors" and you'll have an idea what Yoshihara's works are like).

Okay, now that I've had my say, what looks good to *you*?

3 Comments

• At September 1, 2009, Okman wrote:

  You know, when ever I let/ask girls read Emma, they always come back to me and tell me they didn't ...

• At September 2, 2009, Analysis, predictions, and reviews « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Welsh and Shojo Flash both take a look at this week’s new releases, while Danielle Leigh looks ahead with ...

• At September 2, 2009, Analysis, predictions, and reviews | Anime Blog Online wrote:

  [...] Welsh and Shojo Flash both take a look at this week’s new releases, while Danielle Leigh looks ahead with ...

My pick of the Month has to be the Yen Press release of the long awaited sixth volume of Yotsuba&!

During the year or so I worked at my LCBS it would be quite rare if someone didn't come in and ask about when the next volume of Yotsuba&! would be released.  How nice it is to finally be able to give definite answers concerning the next installment of a green-haired girl's everyday adventures.  In addition to the sixth volume, Yen Press plans to release its own translation of volumes 1-5, which is also good news since I believe some of those volumes may be out of print.

Because I'm a little under the weather right now I'm only going to spotlight one new title per manga company this time around.

CMX -- Okay, I'm not big on body-sharing type stories but I really enjoyed Ken Saito's gentle romance The Name of the Flower, so I may have to give his / her Oh! My Brother a chance (even though the idea of doing a body time-share with a sibling of the opposite sex kind of grosses me out).

June Manga Doki Doki -- Now the biggest boys' love publisher in the U.S. is putting out a book called....Boy's Love.  The boldness of the creator and / or publisher naming a book after an entire genre of stories tickles me so I must have it.

Del Rey -- Moyasimon volume 1 is a must have!  All I know about this title is it features an agricultural student who can communicate with bacteria and that apparently they appear as "super-cute little creatures" to him.  Sounds awesome, right?

Viz -- Both volumes of What a Wonderful World -- by the creator of Solanin -- will be released and while I have not a clue what the story is about (the description is incredibly vague) I do know that any work by Inio Asano should be bought without question.

And, as always, what looks good to you this month?

8 Comments

• At July 16, 2009, Denmad wrote:

  Moyashimon is really great, though you will find the "kawaii bacteria" part is actually bait... The real hook are all ...

• At July 16, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Hi, Danielle!

  I picked up Yotsuba&! based on your recommendation, and I love it!

  I don't think I've ever seen a more ...

• At July 16, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Denmad -- sounds really great! I love relationship-oriented stories (with added quirkiness!) so I think this will be right up ...

• At July 16, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Thanks for pointing out the Asano books from Viz. I completely glossed over those when ordering and didn't realize they ...

• At July 16, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Yay! Finally!

• At July 17, 2009, Leeatard wrote:

  Sweet! I've got a friend that's been waiting on the new Yotsuba forever! He'll be ecstatic, I'm sure.

• At July 17, 2009, Lists, lists, lists « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh thumbs through the July Previews and notes the happy news that the next volume of Yotsuba&! is on ...

• At July 18, 2009, Lists, lists, lists | Anime Blog Online wrote:

  [...] Leigh thumbs through the July Previews and notes the happy news that the next volume of Yotsuba&! is on ...

CMX'sVenus in Love -- a sweet and gentle romance featuring the college set -- returns with volume 7.

Del Rey's only offering to lure me this month is Sayonara, Zetsubu-Sensei vol 3.  I still need to read volume 2, but I enjoyed volume 1 quite a bit (and I don't care what anyone says, I *like* the art).

DMP offers the second volume of the surprisingly delightful yaoi romance Brilliant Blue from its Doki Doki imprint, while the more explicit 801 Media has Ze volume 3 (i.e. the gay Fruits Basket).

Fanfare / Ponent Mon offers the second volume of Jiro Taniguchi's A Distanct Neighborhood and the preview copies of the first volume (which have been floating around) have been very warmly received by manga reviewers.  I can't wait to get a chance to check it out.

First Second concludes its trilogy about a young woman's sexual awakening with The Color of Heaven.

Vertical is already releasing volume 7 of Tezuka's Black Jack.  I'm so behind on this title -- I'm in luck, though, since the stories are self-contained it is easy to pick up any volume of this entertaining series.

Once again, Viz will be making off with a significant portion of my paycheck this month.  Bleach 28 and Gin Tama 14 are my must shonen picks.  We Were There 6, Honey & Clover 7, Nana 18, Sand Chronicles 6, High School Debut 11 and Rasetsu 2 are practically an entire shojo manga library unto themselves.  However, that still leaves the wonderful Pluto 5, Oishinbo: Vegetables and Detroit Metal City 2.  Manga.  It's a sickness.  Really.  (I need this on a bumper sticker, I swear).

Finally, Yen Press offers another volume of the creepy Higurashi vol 4 and engaging (and also fairly creepy) Cirque due Freak vol 2.

4 Comments

• At June 15, 2009, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  The cancellation of Shojo Beat is going to add some titles to my already large Viz buy list (definitely Honey ...

• At June 16, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Hi Doug -- I feel exactly the same way about H&C and Sand Chronicles. I always just read them ...

• At June 16, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Links from all over wrote:

  [...] Leigh checks out the manga in the June Previews at Manga Over [...]

• At June 16, 2009, Links from all over | Anime Blog Online wrote:

  [...] Leigh checks out the manga in the June Previews at Manga Over [...]

1.  Anime News Network confirms that Shojo Beat magazine will be ending in just a few weeks with the July 2009 issue, which will actually be released in June.  I'll really miss Shojo Beat -- it started up just a few months after I started reading manga in earnest.  Through the mag I discovered joy that is NANA and as a whole the magazine allowed me to figure out my taste as a manga fan by featuring a diverse line-up of shojo works.  I never minded the change in the manga titles serialized in the magazine, and in fact most of the time they were actually appreciated since this sped up releases of titles like NANA.

And because the issue of bloggers bitching about the end of the mag but not actually buying it has come up a lot since the news broke, I feel compelled to note that I ordered Shojo Beat through my comic book shop every month (trying to support local businesses and all, although I guess I should have subscribed and upped the circulation numbers.  And saved a lot of money.  Oh well).

2.  Viz is starting up an on-line seinen manga mag called IKKI.  They've already posted the first chapter of Daisuke Igarashi's Children of the Sea, which is lovely and everyone should go check it out.  The comic reader they are using is fairly easy to navigate (it is the same one they are using for RIN-NE).

Here is the relevant info from the site itself:

Now, in partnership with VIZ Media and its "VIZ Signature" line of graphic novels, IKKI is bringing the works of some of its top creators to the English-language audience. Each month, new chapters of featured manga series will be offered online in their entirety. After the completion of the online serialization of a volume, that volume will become available as a VIZ Signature graphic novel, subject to reader demand. Also, each month new content—such as creator interviews, feature articles, news, and giveaways—will be posted on the site.

The full site will launch in August 2009. We hope that you look forward to it.

We'll have to see what "reader demand" means, but I look forward to simply having access to works that otherwise wouldn't be available in the English marketplace.

3.  Viz will be raising its prices on its Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump books to $9.99, which is a dollar hike for Beat books, a two dollar hike for Jump books.  (Found out about this via Simon Jones over at his Icarus Blog, who points to a mania.com thread breaking the news here.)  Checking amazon.com it looks like the poster at mania is correct and the price increase will be implemented for October's books.

This is the passing of an era -- I'm not really upset by this financial decision by Viz, they're catching up to a price point for manga that was implemented almost five years ago, but this means making tougher choices in the future about which Viz books I can pick up.  Viz puts out a LOT of series I currently follow and a lot of series I'd like to follow in the future.  Of course, a lot of Viz series I like are also Viz Signature series, which means they already are a little more expensive than most other series (although so completely worth it).

It's easy to put this in perspective since most American TPB's are $14.99-$19.99 (and sometimes more depending on the specific book & publisher) but the wallet still feels the pinch, of course.  Particularly when we look at long running shonen series like Gin Tama or Reborn!, which are both fun, silly books, but at $9.99 it becomes hard justifying buying them both.

6 Comments

• At May 23, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Yeah, with you on the last part. As a primarilly-American-comics fan (still) ten bucks for well over a hunret ...

• At May 23, 2009, William wrote:

  I really enjoyed the first chapter of Children of the Sea. I'm looking forward to future installments.

  As far as "Reader ...

• At May 23, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Yeah, with you on the last part. As a primarilly-American-comics fan (still) ten bucks for well over a hunret ...

• At May 24, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Well, I've never (or even seen, I think) Shojo Beat, but I've already gone to the website. I can't ...

• At July 10, 2009, Pulp Magazine Manga for Grownups « Alternating Reality Books wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - All the Viz News That’s Fit to Blog (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At July 13, 2009, will wrote:

  sig ikki recently posted a video trailer for children of the sea. Everyone should check it out

  Children of the Sea ...

Fumi Yoshinaga's Ooku is being published by Viz and is not only my book of the month and but probably my book of the year (what can I say, there's only a zero percent chance this isn't going to be one of the best manga releases of the year).  I can't even verbalize how excited I am about this book -- it has won numerous prizes, including the very prestigious Tezuka Cultural Prize.  'nuff said?  God, I hope so.

Moving on...Dark Horse has the fourth volume of oh-so-pretty Bride of the Water God and the first volume yet another Neon Genesis Evangelion manga.  Apparently, it will feature Kaworu in some capacity so I'll probably pick it up because I'm weak to silver-haired instigators.

CMX has the fourth and final volume of Astral Project -- this is a very well-executed supernatural mystery that not many people seem to know about and I'm definitely looking forward to catching up with title ASAP.

Del Rey wraps up Parasyte with volume eight and offers new volumes of two-long running favorites, Nodame Cantabile and Tsubasa.

Go! Comi soothes my shojo-lovin' heart with a new volume of Ultimate Venus, a very palatable modern interpretation of the Cinderella fairy tale.

Viz has some great adult fare coming out, including the seventh volume of Black Lagoon, the second volume of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, the first volume of Dogs and the fourth volume of 20th Century Boys.  My inner-teenager's favorite over-the-top-vampire-soap-opera, aka Vampire Knight, will be giddy with the release of volume seven, and I might have to check out the debut of Black Bird, a shojo manga with disturbing themes (judging by the cover).

Yen Press releases the fourth volume of one of my favorite manhwa, Very! Very! Sweet and Kieli (the novel).  The manga was so well done -- which was a little surprising since it was an adaptation -- I don't think I'll be able to resist the novel.

So, what is on your must have list for August?

11 Comments

• At May 12, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Danielle, can you tell me a little more about what Ooku is about? I don't know anything about it, but ...

• At May 12, 2009, New Shojo Manga Release | IMPACT Fantasy and Comic Art wrote:

  [...] Book Resources May Manga Preview blog reports that the first English volume of the Black Bird series will be released August 4, ...

• At May 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Andrew! Ooku is a josei title based on a kind of Japanese alternative-history, in which men are dying ...

• At May 12, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Oh, okay, thanks. Sounds like it could be interesting, though not necessarily my cup of tea. Looking forward to your ...

• At May 12, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  By the way, this is a cool idea for a bit, Danielle. Thanks!

• At May 12, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  My list looks very much like yours. One thing I'd add is volume ten of Ghost Hunt. It's been a ...

• At May 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  thanks, Brian! Now between Greg and I, CSBG has previews totally under control! :-)

• At May 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Michelle -- you know, this is even a *light* list for me. I probably will end up buying more ...

• At May 12, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Gantz vol 5 from Dark Horse

  20th Century Boys vol 3 and Pluto vol 3 from Viz

  And then whatever I need ...

• At May 13, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Vednesday in the park with Ed wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh takes a look at the manga selections in the May Previews. [...]

• At May 25, 2009, Latest manga comics news - Photo Gallery: Manga, Comics a | Manga Mania Online wrote:

  [...] Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources Manga Before … [...]

Dark Horse's Eden: It's an Endless World! (vol 12) is my pick for manga of the month.  I've been stocking piling volumes of this deliciously complex post-apocalyptic sci-fi manga but that isn't a bad thing.  It just means I'm going to have one helluva a ride on the other side (page 44).

CMX offers two of my favorite manga series of all time this month.  Our favorite uptight German spy and British art thief finally return after a long hiatus with From Eroica With Love (vol 14), while Emma (vol 9) promises a charming look at more characters from the Emma universe (page 124).  The cover is so pretty it makes me want to cry.

Del Rey entices us with hilarious, trashy fun with the second volume of Gakuen Prince (page 243) but DMP may be *my* MVP of the month with such varied titles as Tezuka's Swallowing the Earth (which sets off feminist alarm bells with its female seductress / villain but I'm always willing to be offended in the pursuit of awesome manga), You Higuri's Ludwig II (yet another boys' love historical tale), and the final and long awaited third volume of Il Gatto Sul G (pages 245, 246, and 248 respectively).

First Second continues with the second installment of its Korean Trilogy about love, sex and growing up with The Color of Water (page 250).  The Color of Earth sits on my manga pile, unread, taunting me....I really have to do something about that.  Speaking of smaller, high quality publishers, Fanfare/Ponent Mon offers the truly inspiring-looking The Summit of the Gods (vol 1), about two very different trips up Mt. Everest, drawn by Jiro Taniguchi and written by (the unknown to me) Yumemakura Boku (page 251).

Moving on to my shojo picks, Go! Comi offers the fourth volume of Bound Beauty by Mick Takeuchi, author of fan favorite Her Majesty's Dog (page 254).  Tokyopop finally concludes the long-running, much beloved, Fruits Basket with volume 23.  It'll be no spoiler to say it will make us all cry with sadness and joy.  Tokyopop also offers new volumes of Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo (vol 5) and Gakuen Alice (vol 8), (page 288).  I still insist that Gakuen Alice should be recognized as Fruits Basket's spiritual successor!  On the boys' love side I'm pleased to see Junjo Romantica (vol 10) offered as well.  Pretty soon we'll be all caught up with Japan...

As always, Viz offers entirely too much shojo and shonen goodness.  One the shonen side, we have one of my favorite comedies of all time, volume 13 of Gin Tama (aliens versus samurai, what could be better?!) (page 294).  New volumes of NANA and High School Debut are always a must, but I can't resist the second volume of Miki Aihara's new soap opera about the acting world, Honey Hunt.  The low-key, but quite excellent We Were There is already on its fifth volume and newcomer Kimi no Todoke: From Me to You looks downright charming (296-297)!

Then there's some seinen by some guy named Takehiko Inoue.  Wonder how those will do....  Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, which is currently my favorite manga of 2009, is on volume 4, and new volumes of Oishinbo and Full Metal Alchemist are up as well (pages 298-299).

However, if Viz is the main course it is important not to leave before you consider a decadent dessert.  Particularly the fifth volume of Goong, everyone's favorite young Royals melodrama, and a manga whose name alone inspires incredible interest, Cirque du Freak volume 1 (page 302).

So, what manga titles interest you?

4 Comments

• At April 15, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I'm also reading Pluto (I'm only up to vol. 2) and along with 20th Century Boys, GANTZ, MPD Psycho, and ...

• At April 15, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Yeah, my shojo habit keeps things light most of the time :-)

• At April 16, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » New Rumiko Takahshi manga to launch online wrote:

  [...] Leigh picks the best manga from the April Previews in her latest Manga Before Flowers [...]

• At April 17, 2009, New Rumiko Takahshi manga to launch online | Tokyovation wrote:

  [...] Leigh picks the best manga from the April Previews in her latest Manga Before Flowers [...]

My pick of the month is Fumi Yoshinaga's Flower of Life volume 4, published by DMP.  The long national nightmare of no new Yoshinaga manga will finally end.  FoL is pure joy as far as I'm concerned -- as long as Yoshinaga is behind the wheel, high school seems like the place to be.  This would even be my pick of the year of we didn't have Yoshinaga's new series Ooku to look forward to in August.

CMX introduces Ballad of a Shingami -- I'm not as big a fan of manga featuring death gods as a lot of folks I know, but I tend to like CMX manga and I'm more likely to try out one of their new titles than from almost any other publisher.

Bandai's one offering for the month is also a fan favorite, the first volume of Lucky Star.  The few episodes of the anime I watched were sheer insanity and I can't help wondering if this story even needs to be animated.  We'll see how endless discussions about how exactly one should eat a chocolate-filled pastry play out on the printed page.

Del Rey's has a much meatier line up -- volume seven of the beautiful Mushishi, volume 3 of the cracked-out high school melodrama that is Papillon, and the second volume of everyone's favorite suicidally-depressed teacher, Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.

Tokyopop's offerings are slim pickings this month, as I'm just going to order the re-solicted third and final volume of Jyu-Oh-Sei.  These volumes are over 300 pages and represent some of the best shojo sci-fi around.   I can't recommend them highly enough.

As always, Viz offers an embarrassment of riches -- even on an "off" month (the months they don't offer my favorites NANA, Skip Beat, High School Debut, and Gin Tama) I can still find a ridiculous amount of titles worth ordering.  First up -- a new entry into the Signature line with Daisuke Igarashi's Children of the Sea.  I don't know this artist or his work but the cover art is intriguing and Viz hasn't gone wrong with this imprint yet.  The third volume of Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys is already being offered, but I think a fast release schedule will benefit this complex and intricately plotted tale.

Long running shonen favorites Bleach and One Piece have new volumes offered, and on the shojo side, Boys Over Flowers finally wraps up its monumental run.  We also get a new release of Ouran High School Host Club and Viz also introduces the first volume of the sequel to its supernatural shojo taleYurara, Rasetsu.  Since Rasetsu features my favorite character from Yurara, the cool and collected Yako, I'm quite excited to see what our young exorcist has been up to now that he's on his own.

Finally, Viz also offers the first volume of Detroit Metal City.  It looks weird.  I'm so totally there.

Last but not least, Yen Pess finally releases some of its better on-going Yen Plus titles, including the first volume of Bamboo Blade (girls do kendo!) and Nabari No Ou (non-Naruto / kinda noir-ish ninjas!).  Yen Press also begins releasing the "Cotton Drifting" arc of Higurashi: When They Cry.  I'm curious to see how the arcs differ from each other -- how do the creators tell the story differently in each arc?  There's also been some chatter about the History of the West Wing, which appears to mix Chinese politics and romance.  Sounds good to me!

14 Comments

• At March 16, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Yotsuba?

  ....

  No Yotsuba.

• At March 16, 2009, Ellie wrote:

  Children of the Seaaaa~! Hooray, hooray. I've been looking forward to this ever since it was announced. I swear to ...

• At March 16, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Based off what I've watched of the Higurashi anime so far, it seems like they're just completely rebooting the storyline ...

• At March 17, 2009, THeroto wrote:

  Hey there,

  Do you have any other recommendations? What is Bleach about? I've seen it around and my friends have read ...

• At March 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  MarkAndrew - September for Yotsuba. I can't manufacture previews orders that haven't been offered! ;-)

• At March 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Ellie -- ohhh, glad to have another Jyu-Oh-Sei convert. I like the anime quite a bit as well, it's ...

• At March 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Dave, I'm glad my reviews have helped! Your explanation is helpful as one of the thing that interests ...

• At March 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Theroto -- I think of Bleach as a manga that would interest the superhero set, particularly people who like team ...

• At March 17, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Tuesday quick links wrote:

  [...] Leigh makes her picks from Previews in her latest Manga Before Flowers column at Comics Should Be [...]

• At March 17, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  I think I'm planning to buy everything you listed except for Lucky Star and the Yen Press titles, but I ...

• At March 17, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Michelle! seriously, "Lucky Star," as far as I can tell is a bunch of high schools girls having ...

• At March 17, 2009, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  OMG Michelle I love Lucky Star more than life itself.

• At March 18, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Well, that would seem to indicate I should check it out! :)

• At March 19, 2009, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Michelle - I haven't read the manga at all, just seen the anime. But I'm really looking forward to ...

I still love manga as much as I did a year ago and I think I've definitely broadened my horizons -- I've come to really enjoy seinen titles like Berserk, Real, and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and have found much joy in wacky-shonen titles.  Reborn and Gintama probably being my favorites, but re-release of Slam Dunk has also convinced me shonen can rock in so many different ways.   I also learned how to appreciate *and* love Tezuka's work.  (I think I appreciated the man's craft but this was definitely the year I stopped worrying about the legend and learned to love reading Tezuka as entertainment).  I'm definitely not just a hardcore shojo-lover anymore.

I've also stayed true to my own very beloved corner of manga fandom -- I've tried to mention Fumi Yoshinaga (my particular manga goddess),  Kyoko from Skip Beat (my favorite manga heroine of all time), or After School Nightmare (one of the best shojo titles currently available in English) at least once a week.  I may not have succeeded but god knows I certainly tried....

At times, I vented my frustration with companies who aren't doing so well with communicating with their fanbase or even publishing manga, perhaps a little unfairly.  I've also tried to spot light under-appreciated companies that often put out amazing titles that can be neglected on-line or even in the bookstore (CMX, CMX, CMX!)

I've meet or electronically conversed with awesome manga bloggers, who write and produce wonderful reviews and commentary on-line (Deb Aoki, Melinda Beasi, and Michelle Smith) and continued to enjoy and try to emulate the work of others from afar (Brigid Alverson, Matt Brady, Kate Dacey, Johanna Draper Carlson, David Welsh).

I didn't get to contribute as many reviews or columns as I wanted to but found this forum a great place to share my love of manga.  Thanks to everyone who read, commented, gave suggestions or just helped me mind my p's and q's.  I look forward to another year of discussing great comics that just happened to be published "backwards"!

21 Comments

• At February 12, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It is shocking to me that it's been a year already.

  Thanks for the column, Danielle.

• At February 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  thanks, Brian!!

• At February 12, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Happy Manga-day to you!

  Happy Manga-day to you!

  Happy Manga-day to dear old Danielle,

  Happy Manga-day to yoooooou!

  And many more returns!

  ;-)

• At February 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hee, how sweet Tom!

  Thanks for the song!

• At February 12, 2009, David Welsh wrote:

  Congratulations, and keep up the great work!

• At February 12, 2009, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Happy Anniversary Danielle! You are the most awesome! :D

• At February 12, 2009, Çteve! wrote:

  Congratulations.

• At February 12, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  thanks, Melinda, David and Cteve! for stopping by -- your kind words are much appreciated!!

• At February 12, 2009, Michelle wrote:

  Woohoo! I enjoy your column a lot and look forward to reading more. Don't forget you promised me one ...

• At February 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  One of us... One of us...

• At February 13, 2009, there it is, plain as daylight. » My brain, let me show you it. wrote:

  [...] last note, it’s Danielle Leigh’s one-year anniversary over at Comics Should Be Good! Go wish her well! Tags: manga, ...

• At February 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Michelle -- oh crap! That's right....dear god, where does time go.....on the other hand, Valentine's Day seems like the ...

• At February 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  ur. that should be "manlove"

• At February 13, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Or, alternately, Sweet Glorious Manlove. :)

• At February 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Damn. Yes. Yes, you have me beat there.

• At February 13, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Happy anniversary Danielle!

  We probably don't say this often enough, but I really appreciate what you bring to the place. While ...

• At February 13, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  thanks so much for the kind words, Greg! Heh. Omega Sanction. I always want to comment on ...

• At February 13, 2009, Ed Sizemore wrote:

  Congrats on your anniversary!

• At February 14, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  thanks, Ed! I realize I meant to mention you as well as one of my favorite manga reviewers --- ...

• At February 14, 2009, Ed Sizemore wrote:

  Danielle,

  No problem. I still look to Johanna myself. Here's to another year of great manga!

• At February 17, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Hard times wrote:

  [...] to Danielle Leigh on the first anniversary of her Manga Before Flowers column at Comic Book [...]

Today I want to say good-bye to these series by giving a quick overview of the last volumes of each (ASN vol 10 and HMD vol 11).  I'm going to avoid as much spoilers as possible and try to talk more generally about the role these volumes play in wrapping each series up.

In a way, After School Nightmare will never really be over for me -- it still lives very strongly in my mind as an exceptional shojo series that I could puzzle over and think about for years to come.   Volume 10 certainly gives a sort of "closure," but I think the pleasure of ASN is that you can't take anything for granted.  It allows for multiple readings -- perhaps even encourages them -- of "what really happened."  In this story, as in dreams, I don't think there is any "real" event, only half-completed projections of possible events.

I think that is the difficulty and the draw of the last volume -- we feel compelled to read it after embarking on this strange, nightmarish journey with Ichijo as he struggles to resolve the question of who he really is.  But I don't feel a strong sense of closure after reading it --  creator Mizushiro's answer to Ichijo's identity is more than place hir into a box of "boy" or "girl," which may seem like no answer at all.

Final Verdict: The series ends up being much more than the sum of its parts.  This means volume 10 was not a particularly satisfying reading experience in and of itself, but has actually encouraged me to the come to the series as if it were new.  And then come to it again.   And again.  Reading each volume as it was released was a wonderful experience as this world that Mizushiro created is slowly revealed to us and often re-made in subsequent volumes.   Simply put, this story remains unique and unexpected in the world of manga and I can't recommend the title highly enough.

I've always described Her Majesty's Dog as a good shojo series, but the last two volumes (10 & 11) take the story to surprising places and do it so beautifully I've had to reassess my evaluation of the entire work.  The problem with the series is that main character, Amane, is an incredibly passive teenage girl despite the fact she has a supernatural gift of "kotodama" -- meaning the ability to speak words of power, aka spells -- inherited from her family, that places her in a position of great responsibility.  She is the intended "head of the family," but she generally has followed everyone else's plan for her.  Although she is in love with someone she shouldn't be -- her "guardian spirit," Hyoue -- Amane never attempts to break free of the familial reigns that hold her and, therefore, doesn't attempt to figure out how to be true to herself.

All of this ends with the last two volumes of the series -- Amane is tested by a most beloved family member, who forces her out of her passivity by threatening her very existence.  These volumes are breathtaking in many respects as creator Mick Takeuchi weaves external and internal conflict together in deeply effective ways.  Amane is thrown into despair by outside forces  but then must choose how to deal with the loss of everything she holds dear including her very "voice."  In volume 11, we watch her grow into her humanity, something that we always knew was there, but was hiding somewhere deep in herself.

Final Verdict: There is certainly something to be said for well-done shojo, but there is something even more to be said for shojo that can knock your damn socks off.  And that is what HMD does in its last two volumes -- I think Mick Takeuchi grows leaps and bounds as a writer in the conclusion of this series, something that is reflected from the very start of her new series, Bound Beauty (which may be my one of favorite on-going shojo series right now that ASN has ended).

Review copies provided by Go! Comi.

9 Comments

• At January 22, 2009, Michael wrote:

  You know, if you hate it so much you throw it across the room, you can always stop reading it ...

• At January 22, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Michael, I was referring to hatred for particular characters in a title not the series itself -- I'm not ...

• At January 22, 2009, jun wrote:

  I'm embarking on a marathon of Her Majesty's Dog this week, and have yet to start ASN, so I only ...

• At January 22, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Jun -- *nods* The British "Life on Mars"! Why did they even try to make an American one? ...

• At January 22, 2009, jun wrote:

  I am totally with you on the Life on Mars remake! Who needs some other random dude when you can ...

• At January 22, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  I don't watch DW, somehow I picked up some classic Sci-fi nerd culture (i.e. Star Trek: Next Gen, X-files) but ...

• At January 23, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Friday is Meta-day wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh devotes her latest Manga Before Flowers column to the conclusions of two series, After School Nightmare and ...

• At January 23, 2009, jun wrote:

  Thanks! I'll be doing v10 for Manga Recon, but the rest'll be on my personal blog.

• At January 26, 2009, Friday is Meta-day · Manga News wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh devotes her latest Manga Before Flowers column to the conclusions of two series, After School Nightmare and ...

But tonight, here are the results:

TOP THREE NEW MANGA OF 2008

1. Blackjack - Total Points 23

2. High School Debut -- Total Points 16

3. Real -- Total Points 14

TOP THREE CONTUINING MANGA OF 2008

1. NANA -- Total 20 Points

2. xxxholic -- Total 15 points

3. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service -- Total 12 points

I'm amused to note that my top three choices for new manga ended up being the top three for the entire group, albeit arranged in a slightly different order.

8 Comments

• At December 10, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Well I am reading the top 2 in continuing. I have no real interest in Black Jack, although everyone loving ...

• At December 10, 2008, there it is, plain as daylight. » Two quick things! wrote:

  [...] First of all, I just wanted to let you all know that the Best Manga of 2008 vote over ...

• At December 10, 2008, Best Manga of 2008 — Readers’ Choice! wrote:

  [...] the top three for the entire group, albeit arranged in a slightly different order. 2 Comments At December 10, ...

• At December 11, 2008, Dave wrote:

  I should probably read more of Kurosagi Corpse delivery. I liked the first volume enough, but I got so ...

• At December 11, 2008, Dan Felty wrote:

  Blackjack is on my to-read list; I just finished Tezuka's fantastic Buddha, so I'm looking forward to it!

• At December 12, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » News and opinions on many topics wrote:

  [...] The votes have been tallied for Danielle Leigh’s Best Manga of 2008 poll. Now that it’s over, the comments ...

• At December 12, 2008, Yani Mentzas wrote:

  Thank you for your Tezuka-love, ladies and gentlemen. I, too, would have voted Black Jack -- even if I weren't ...

• At May 20, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  lie

  !!

  one piece all the way!!

So why don't you all step up and tell me your TOP THREE picks for:

1) Best NEW manga of 2008 -- "New" meaning a series that debuted for the first time in English this year.

2) Best CONTINUING manga of 2008 -- "Continuing" meaning a series that debuted before 2008 and was released at least once this year.

Comment here and next week I'll add up the responses and see what titles you all thought deserved to be declared the "best." (One shots published in 2008 are eligible to be declared the "best" as well).

Then we can argue relentlessly about the answers. Sounds like fun, right?

61 Comments

• At December 3, 2008, Greg McElhatton wrote:

  Yay! Lists!

  Best NEW Manga:

  COWA! by Akira Toriyama

  GANTZ by Hiroya Oku

  REAL by Takehiko Inoue

  Best CONTINUING Manga:

  ARIA by Kozue Amano

  PHOENIX by Osamu ...

• At December 3, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  To be fair, I'll share my picks as well:

  Best New Manga:

  1) Blackjack (Osamu Tezuka) ------>ignoring Viz's publication ...

• At December 3, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Okay, I feel like I don't have enough information to answer the first question, because I realized that I've read ...

• At December 3, 2008, David Welsh wrote:

  Oh, tough one. I disclaim that this is how I feel right at this moment and that I will ...

• At December 3, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Melinda -- ohhhhhh. Wow. I forget 'holic. Mmmmmm. This is why I voted ASAP so ...

• At December 3, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Greg -- oohhhh. Your "continuing series" list really made me think twice about the quality titles that come out ...

• At December 3, 2008, David Welsh wrote:

  Danielle -- I don't want to hurt the feelings of any of the other shojo crack out there, and I ...

• At December 3, 2008, Ellie wrote:

  I haven't picked up too many new licensed manga this year, so I don't think I can really say 'best', ...

• At December 3, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Ellie -- Things like "Silver Diamond" and "A Strange and Mystifying Story" (both of which I enjoyed greatly) make ...

• At December 3, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  The only manga I read in 2008 was the latest volume of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. So I'll vote ...

• At December 3, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Danielle: Oh, that list of mine looks so sad! I need to read more things quickly before the ...

• At December 3, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Greg B -- great "choice!" ;-) Man, I need to catch up with Kurosagi like five minutes ago....I'll count ...

• At December 3, 2008, Kiki wrote:

  New:

  1. Black Jack

  2. Wendy Pini's Mask of the Red Death - yeah, it's OEL manga, but I really ...

• At December 3, 2008, Elena wrote:

  There are only two that really intrigued me this year.

  Best New Manga:

  Nabari No Ou by Yuhki Kamatan (only 4 chapters ...

• At December 3, 2008, Grico wrote:

  For Best Continuing I would say:

  1. XXXholic

  2. Nana

  3. Negima

  I feel really bad leaving off Fruits Basket, but it slowed down ...

• At December 4, 2008, JimYung wrote:

  Best Continuing:

  1. Monster

  2. Kindaichi

  3. Case Closed

  Best New:

  1. Black Jack

  2. High School Debut

  3. Love Com

• At December 4, 2008, jun wrote:

  I'm holding off on posting because we're doing something similar for Manga Recon, but I must chime in for the ...

• At December 4, 2008, jun wrote:

  La la la, I am bolding impaired.

• At December 4, 2008, danielle leigh wrote:

  *pouts at Jun* You could use an alias! Then the integrity ....awww shucks. Even I don't buy ...

• At December 4, 2008, badzphoto wrote:

  It's really hard to choose only 3!

  Best NEW Manga:

  the sand chronicles

  monkey high

  high school debut

  Best CONTINUING Manga:

  Hikaru no go

  Skip Beat!

  Ouran High ...

• At December 4, 2008, danielle leigh wrote:

  badzphoto -- clearly you are a shojo lover after my own heart!

• At December 4, 2008, Beacon wrote:

  The only NEW thing I’ve read is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and – since I’d already seen the Anime ...

• At December 4, 2008, badzphoto wrote:

  hee, is that obvious? I should also mention Nana, fullmetal alchemist, and nodame cantabile as honorable continuing series :)

• At December 5, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Manga picks and pessimism wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh is taking names of the best manga of 2008 in the comments section of her Manga Before ...

• At December 5, 2008, Matthew J. Brady wrote:

  Although this might change before the end of the year, my current picks are:

  Best new manga:

  1. Solanin

  2. Real

  3. Dororo.

  Best continuing ...

• At December 5, 2008, Celeste wrote:

  Best New Manga:

  1. Sand Chronicles

  2. Solanin

  3. We Were There (this series just debuted last month, but prepare for a shojo ...

• At December 7, 2008, Ashley wrote:

  Best New Manga:

  1. High School Debut

  2. VB Rose

  3. Honey & Clover

  Best Continuing Manga:

  1. Nana

  2. Fruits Basket

  3. Ouran High School Host ...

• At December 8, 2008, Comics Should Be Good! » Don’t Forget to Vote — For Best Manga of 2008! wrote:

  [...] be collecting your picks for TOP THREE New Manga and Continuing Series of 2008 here.  Don’t come crying to ...

• At December 8, 2008, Geoff wrote:

  new:

  dororo

  gantz

  blackjack

  continuing

  berserk

  phoenix

  monster

  did tekkonkonkret come out this year?

• At December 8, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  nope, tekkon was last year, and great choices! Clearly getting in the seinen vote while you still can!

• At December 8, 2008, Keith wrote:

  new:

  Black Jack

  Dororo

  Gantz (by default of not having read much else new)

  continuing:

  MPD Psycho

  Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

  Uzumaki

• At December 8, 2008, StereotypeA wrote:

  My vote for this and any other year:

  Fist of the Northstar

• At December 8, 2008, Erin F. wrote:

  Best new series: Fujoshi Rumi

  Black Jack

  Best Continuing Series: Swan

  Hikaru No Go

• At December 8, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Erin! Ohhh...I was debating Fujoshi Rumi as my best new series....somehow I ended up with the safer but ...

• At December 8, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Best New:

  1. Black Jack (I'll go with Danielle who ciunted this depite Viz's previous release)

  2. Dance In The Vampire Bund

  3. ...

• At December 8, 2008, Geoff wrote:

  eden its an endless world needs to get some sort of honorable mention. i hope it doesn't get canceled.

• At December 8, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  1) Lone Wolf and Cub (always and ever)

  2) Death Note

  3) MPD Psycho

• At December 8, 2008, Trevor Allen wrote:

  Best New:

  Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson

  Black Jack

  Dororo

  Best Continuing:

  Hunter X Hunter

  Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

  Dragon Head

• At December 8, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Tom,

  Hmmm....I'm not sure those titles (with the exception of MPD Psycho released new volumes this year) so only MPD ...

• At December 8, 2008, Dave wrote:

  I really haven't read much manga this year, but I'll throw in a few choices I guess:

  Best New:

  1. Black ...

• At December 9, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Ok, got my best new list ready:

  1. Rosario+ Vampire

  2. We Were There

  3. Honey & Clover

  We Were there could be > ...

• At December 9, 2008, Louis P wrote:

  1 Naruo

  2 Dragon Ball Z

  3 Death Note

• At December 9, 2008, ???? wrote:

  Hahahahahah

  GO Naruto

  NARUTO#!

• At December 9, 2008, Elena wrote:

  Spain Rodriguez's Che: A Graphic Biography

  Death Note

  Toufic El Rassi's Arab in America

• At December 9, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Elena, well....Death Note counts but the others won't because they aren't manga.

• At December 9, 2008, Jonathan L. Switzer wrote:

  Best new:

  Honey & Clover

  and ... err ... man, I didn't read too much in the way of new (or "new") ...

• At December 10, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  I can't help checking this every couple of days to see what other people are saying! :D This ...

• At December 10, 2008, there it is, plain as daylight. » Addicted and tormented wrote:

  [...] am official addicted to Danielle Leigh’s Best Manga of 2008 thread over at Manga Before Flowers. I made my ...

• At December 10, 2008, Ysabet wrote:

  Answering Melinda's plea for more voters!

  Best New:

  Sand Chronicles

  High School Debut

  Honey & Clover

  (We Were There also looks really promising, but I ...

• At December 10, 2008, Anna wrote:

  For me,

  Best New:

  Black Jack

  High School Debut

  Sand Chronicles

  Best Continuing:

  NANA

  Vagabond

  Tail of the Moon

• At December 10, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  New:

  Real - Takehiko Inoue

  Continuing

  Vagabond- Takehiko Inoue

  Indeed.

• At December 10, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Alright, I'll bite:

  New:

  1) Real

  2) Me and the Devil Blues

  Continuing:

  1) Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

  2) Death Note (Well, ...

• At December 10, 2008, jun wrote:

  Re: Swan, Amazon shows Swan 15 will come out in August 2009.

• At December 10, 2008, jun wrote:

  Grar, I totally closed that bold thingie. I guess that'll ensure you see it, at least.

• At December 10, 2008, Estara wrote:

  Also sent by Melinda:

  Best new:

  High School Debut

  Kiichi and the Magic Books

  Silver Diamond

  - all the other ones I came up with ...

• At December 10, 2008, Jennifer wrote:

  Wow, this is tough! I haven't read much "new" manga this year - most manga is new to me so ...

• At December 10, 2008, s1rude wrote:

  I'm a bit of a neophyte dabbler when it comes to those funny right-to-left funnies, and I realize the deadline ...

• At December 10, 2008, Deanna wrote:

  I just started reading manga this April thanks to Melinda and this was such a difficult list to make. ...

• At December 10, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Wow, thanks to new comments and the (kind) last push from Melinda...I'm very happy to have extra votes to count ...

• At December 10, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Estara -- now I wish I had voted for Silver Diamond as best new manga (my reread convinced it isn't ...

• At December 10, 2008, Estara wrote:

  Danielle - I have heard there's another series spin-off from Cipher which actually is supposed to be even better in ...

1. I have watched all 178 episodes of Prince of Tennis before Viz ever licensed the anime. Ryoma is my favorite character, followed very closely by Atobe.

2. I dislike Peach Girl (the manga -- I never saw the anime). If I'm going for overly melodramatic shojo I'll stick with MARS.

3. I don't really get Negima -- or as my local shop owner calls it, "Harry Potter with breasts."

4. I think Hayate x Blade is the most enjoyable comic I read in 2008, but Tezuka's Black Jack is probably the best comic I read this year. Takehiko Inoue's REAL is probably my second pick for best comic of the year.

5. I thought Red Colored Elegy was over-hyped but still worth picking up.

6. I've never seen a Studio Ghibli film (remember: I'm a manga person, not anime person but still. There's probably something seriously wrong with me).

7. Even if I sold off my Hot Gimmick manga in order to stay true to certain feminist principles, I still know that it was probably the best comic book soap opera I've ever read. Stupid feminist principles. (And yes, in spite of that experience I still have high hopes for Aihara's Honey Hunt, currently running in Shojo Beat. Clearly, I don't learn very quickly).

8. I despise Fushigi Yugi. Even more than Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, which was just plain bad, while I found Fushigi Yugi outright offensive.

9. I like Hachi more than Nana from NANA. Related: I do not find Nana and Ren's romance the least bit romantic.

10. Shojo Beat magazine remains the highlight of my comicbook reading month.

11. I couldn't finish the third issue of Yen+. Sadly, it looks as though this magazine just didn't work for me.

12. The Code Geass anime is my true guilty pleasure of the past year.

13. Kyoko from Skip Beat! remains my favorite manga heroine of all time. Related: Sho is probably the most enjoyable character in the manga in spite of the fact we all know only Ren deserves Kyoko.

14. I'm starting to have trouble telling various (bishonen) characters from REBORN! apart now that I've reached volume 7. I don't know why -- probably because I'm a lazy reader.

15. I just started watching the One Piece anime thanks to Funimation's half-season set releases. I think I kinda like it...

16. I thought the second season of Blood+ was much better than the first. In spite of the fact they turn a normal, rebellious teenage character into an grown up saint (i.e. Kai), the second season was a much more exciting viewing experience.

17. I think Claymore may be the only shonen series I read that doesn't have bishonen (or pretty men?) in it (even Gin Tama has Hijikata. Or well. Gin if you have really strange tastes). Of course, 99% of the cast of Claymore is women. So there you go.

18. I think I like yaoi so much because they are almost always about (romantic) relationships first, everything else second. I enjoy that because often shojo mixes romance into so many other things (epic fantasy, sci-fi, the trials of school life) sometimes I just like to read a story about how two people fall in love (or lust as the case may be....). Also gender relations in many of the shojo love stories I read are so imbalanced that I have a hard time enjoying them as pure escapism.

19. Like the most boring fangirl ever, it is Kyo over Yuki (Fruits Basket) and Zero over Kaname (Vampire Knight) for me. I'm pretty lame that way.

20. I've only read the first two volumes of Lone Wolf & Cub and the first collection of Akira. This needs to be rectified immediately.

21. I think Honey & Clover is a good comic but it rarely moves me much -- I find myself most engaged when I'm reading about Takemoto's family story, since I've also lost a parent, although not at a young age like the character. I also identify strongly with Yamada's hopelessly one-side love, having experienced two years of that myself. But I find it odd I need to have actually experienced those exact things to feel connected to the story, when such a thing isn't true for a lot of manga I enjoy quite a bit.

16 Comments

• At November 25, 2008, Jamie Tarquini wrote:

  Cool list!

  I'm a bit behind on my manga reading, but I'm working on PARASYTE now. I have some VAGABOND ...

• At November 25, 2008, Denmad wrote:

  3: Maybe you read the first couple of volumes? It starts pretty harem-like and full of fanservice, but then turns ...

• At November 25, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Nice list, Danielle. I have to admit, I'm giving up on Yen Plus as well. I have one more issue ...

• At November 25, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Oh, and I forgot to address number 6. Yes, there is something seriously wrong with you. You need serious help. ...

• At November 25, 2008, garbonzo wrote:

  Ok. I'll bite. What should I read?

  I have really only read a few manga.

  I have read all the ...

• At November 25, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi garbonzo,

  I usually send folks to a series a posts I did on manga for adults when I first joined ...

• At November 25, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Andrew -- oh, let's not even think about the possibility that Vertical won't be able to finish Blackjack! My ...

• At November 25, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  garbanzo, my response to you is waiting moderation -- once that clears you'll find a few links to posts I ...

• At November 25, 2008, there it is, plain as daylight. » Five things I’m thankful for today wrote:

  [...] Danielle Leigh’s True Anime & Manga Confessions. Reading these today filled me with delight. Not only do I agree ...

• At November 25, 2008, Sanagi wrote:

  If I made a top ten list of anime movies it would be almost all Ghibli movies, and I'm not ...

• At November 26, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Broccoli dish, Dylan manga, and more! wrote:

  [...] Leigh posts her true confessions, anime and manga style, at Manga Before [...]

• At November 26, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  You know, Dark Horse and Marvel missed a brilliant opportunity this year. They could have joint released a 20th ...

• At November 26, 2008, John T wrote:

  Blood+ is such a better series than it sounds like. Yes, it is a story of a girl who discovers ...

• At November 27, 2008, scarlettraces wrote:

  negima creeped me out, with the 12-year-olds lusting after their teacher (the adult one, not negi). i can cope with ...

• At November 27, 2008, Katie wrote:

  "even Gin Tama has Hijikata. Or well. Gin if you have really strange tastes"

  I do NOT have strange ...

• At December 4, 2008, Graf wrote:

  Not to show my biases but I agree that you should see Miyasaki movies. They are extremely good (though they ...

1. Flower of Life vol 4 has been scheduled for release. Yeah, I've already link-blogged this, but my love of Fumi Yoshinaga has no shame. I might just mention this once a week until DMP actually delivers on the book mid-2009. I'm obsessive that way.

2. Skip Beat! has an anime. No, I haven't watched it, it could be crap. (The mangaka's designs don't scream "Animate me!" to be honest). It just makes me very happy to know that such a thing exists. Also, people need to get over the first chapter of Skip Beat and realize 30 pages of a girl acting like a doormat is nothing compared to 19+ volumes of a girl being so completely AWESOME. Seriously, Kyoko will own your soul if you give her even the smallest chance. Generally speaking, Skip Beat! is always on my list of things that make me happy so its recent anime-status just makes gives me the excuse to talk about one of my top five shojo manga of all time.

3. Papillon vol 1, released by Del Rey. It's so completely over-the-top -- twins! Perverted guidance counselor! Enormously stupid, easily-manipulated love interest! Your physical qualities will define your entire life! I mean what else can you expect from the creator of Peach Girl. In spite of all that, Papillon reminds me why melodramatic shojo can be a true guilty pleasure.

4. Pluto vol 1, to be published by Viz. Urasawa, who is pure awesome, takes one of Tezuka's playthings out for a one helluva test drive. I have no idea what the actual manga is about -- only that it is connected to Tezuka's Astroboy-- but I'm sold on the whole thing because 1) Urasawa. and 2) the cover art for volume one is pretty much the best thing ever.

5. Ouran Host Club Animated Series part 1 will finally be released in two weeks. I feel like I've been waiting forever on this (seriously, Funimation, two years is two years too long for this show). While the manga is certainly good, I think the story is benefited greatly by being animated. Also I'm really curious about the English dub...it could be pretty great or hilariously awful. Either way, the show will be hilarous.

6. Shonen Ai Harem manga! Tokyopop's releases of Silver Diamond and Kyo Kara Maoh! are pretty damned awesome (color pages! Great translation! Great paper / ink quality!) Other than sharing a genre, these manga are pretty different but both are great reads and make me just generally happy that manga continues to be my primary playground.

7. Go! Comi. Go! Comi is always a friend as far as I'm concerned but they've recently brought out some fantastic volumes of series that were only just *good* before and now have improved to damn near "great" series. (Expect some discussion about recent twists & turns in flagship Go! Comi series Black Sun, Silver Moon and Her Majesty's Dog very, very soon).

8. Future Lovers published by Deux Press. Future Lovers itself is certainly a very good volume of yaoi, but more significantly it is the first time Saika Kunieda's work has been published in English. She's pretty much up there with Fumi Yoshinaga as far as I'm concerned, so consider this high praise indeed from this Yoshinaga-lover. Future Lovers is a fairly strong piece of yaoi, even though its strength is simply in the fact its characters are very believable and it maintains fairly realistic depictions of gay identity and relationships. Then there's the funny, which helps things along quite a bit. I really hope we eventually see the second volume of this series and more of Kunieda's work in the future.

9. Solanin published by Viz. Viz publishing Josei? Awesome. Viz publish Josei in a done-in-one-prestige-edition? Really freakin' awesome. Sadly, Diamond didn't ship this to my store last week and it isn't scheduled to arrive this week either. I'll keep the faith, though, and look forward to the day I can buy this from my local comic book shop.

10. Melinda Beasi's blog, particularly its focus on her recent NANA obsession. Melinda does lovely posts explaining why some of my favorite manga series -- Banana Fish, NANA, xxxholic -- should also be everyone's favorite manga series. Also, I'm envious of her use of images / scans, which I would like to incorporate into my own blogging but get overwhelmed by my own ambition. It is quite lovely to see just the right amount of ambition pay off in blogging and Melinda's recent NANA spree is really a thing of joy to behold.

19 Comments

• At October 20, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Wow, this really made my day. Such kind words! Thank you!

• At October 20, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Glad to see Manga Before Flowers back, I've missed in the last month-ish. You always make me want to read ...

• At October 21, 2008, James Moar wrote:

  Pluto's a retelling of one of the most famous Astro Boy story arcs ("The Strongest Robot On Earth") in a ...

• At October 21, 2008, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Oct. 21, 2008: Just the way things are wrote:

  [...] [Commentary] Melinda Beasi explains why Ai Yazawa’s Nana is so fucking awesome. (Above: sequence from the first volume of ...

• At October 21, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Tokyo Zombie, Billy Bat, and Manga Claus wrote:

  [...] Leigh looks on the bright side with a list of ten manga and anime things that make her happy ...

• At October 21, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Grico -- I know, I kept thinking, ohmygod, this whole post is just so damn consumerist!!!! (Particularly know that ...

• At October 21, 2008, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  The first episode of the Skip-Beat anime seemed to live up to the manga pretty well; it gets far enough ...

• At October 21, 2008, jun wrote:

  Go, Melinda! :)

  I've been under the impression that solanin is seinen, since it ran in Young Sunday. The blogging ...

• At October 21, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Doug -- yeah, that Shojo beat preview did a lot more harm than good *sigh* One thing I ...

• At October 21, 2008, jun wrote:

  Maybe we just need to make up a category called "manga for grown-ups" and leave it at that. :)

• At October 21, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  I now officially rock as your cheerleader!

  You really do! :D Between you and Michelle, I'm all a-squee!

• At October 21, 2008, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  Danielle--I think there's a trailer that's making the rounds as well, which shows some clips from the actual story portion ...

• At October 21, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Doug. OH I'M SO JEALOUS RIGHT NOW. You must report back about the english dub....very, very curious about ...

• At October 22, 2008, thirstygirl wrote:

  Your list is full of Good Things.

  -the Skip Beat anime? first episode looks like it could be a good series. ...

• At October 22, 2008, jun wrote:

  You really do! Between you and Michelle, I’m all a-squee!

  Hooray for a-squee usage!

• At October 22, 2008, Melinda Beasi wrote:

  Hooray for a-squee usage!

  I thought you'd like that. :D

• At November 9, 2008, Alternating Reality Bookstore » Blog Archive » Area 88 Manga comic book series wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - 10 Happy-Making Things [...]

• At December 2, 2008, How to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol 1 Basics for Beginners and Beyond | A Blog About Anime wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - 10 Happy-Making Things [...]

• At January 18, 2009, Newtype Dec 2008 | AnimeStuff.info wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - 10 Happy-Making Things Anime Stuff: Claymation Studio Quantifying uncertainty: risk analysis for ...

CMX launched in 2005 (a year before MINX was announced I believe) and their books aren't known for pulling great sales figures.  Recently, though, it seems as though their releases have slowed (less books are getting put out each month and certain titles like From Eroica with Love and Swan have been delayed almost 9 months or even a year, which is not cool).  Obviously the slowing economy could be playing a factor, but so could bad sales in general.  The death of CMX would mean the cancellation of a great many and very special shojo titles and that would make some us very, very sad. 

Of course, every time I mention CMX on this blog someone notes they never even knew the imprint even existed...which tells you quite a bit about DC's marketing "strategy."  Also the whole "DC edits Tenjho Tenge" controversy has been done to death so let's skip it if all possible, shall we?).

10 Comments

• At September 26, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Staying home and catching up wrote:

  [...] This week’s big story is the demise of Minx, and in her latest Manga Before Flowers column, Danielle Leigh ...

• At September 26, 2008, Patrick Rennie wrote:

  Hate to say this, but as long as someone keeps printing Megatokyo, I don't actually care. My sympathies to fans ...

• At September 26, 2008, Codename assassin wrote:

  I think CMX can actually be placed in bookstores, so maybe not.

• At September 26, 2008, kiki wrote:

  Hope CMX doesn't go the way of the dodo. And while I can't find the titles in bookstores I ...

• At September 26, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  I think CMX can actually be placed in bookstores, so maybe not.

  MINX books were in bookstores, were they not?

• At September 26, 2008, Connie wrote:

  I'm always sort of sweating it over the fate of Eroica and Swan. When the schedules for those two ...

• At September 26, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  You might want to put on a deathwatch, just in case.

  It seems like alot of manga companies (or imprint) are ...

• At September 26, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Yeah it really depends on how much housecleaning WB wants to do with DC. IS CMX making a significant amount ...

• At September 27, 2008, adam! wrote:

  we actually have MINX and CMX titles in our local bookstores here in the philippines, so, hey.

• At September 28, 2008, William wrote:

  It is quite possible. Truth be told, I can't think of any particular news articles about a CMX Manga, other ...

From my perspective there are two works from the 1990's which -- for better and for worse -- have influenced contemporary romance shojo. Almost every shojo manga I read today includes what we now consider "cliched" elements that can be found in either Boys Over Flowers (1992) or Itazura na Kiss (1990). Today I'm gong to focus on Itazura na Kiss because people who watch the anime today may not entirely understand the degree to which it actually created a lot of shojo tropes we groan and bitch about. In other words, when Kiss did it in the 90's, it was actually kind of new. Importantly, however, Kiss also did a lot of unusual things that haven't been picked up by most shojo manga artists, which means even in 2008 it still remains oddly innovative. It should be noted that the manga remains unfinished due the sudden death of the mangaka, so the animators are also working to give her original story closure with the blessing of her family.

The basic plot: ditzy, but very sweet Kotoko tries to confess to the intellectual superstar of her school, Naoki Irie, after three years of loving him from afar (that is them in the picture above, of course). Irie won't even bother to take her letter since he doesn't like "stupid girls." Big shocker: Irie doesn't actually anyone or anything. More than a cold fish, he's basically a robot. Shocked and heartbroken by his coldness, Kotoko decides to forget him....until by one of those ridiculous shojo coincidences, Kotoko's house collapses in an earthquake and she and her father move in with her father's old friends...the Iries! (here is where we hit cliche-central stat, if we aren't already there). Living in such close proximity with her high school idol means that Kotoko can't give him up....and since Irie isn't as much of a sadist as he appears, it means he isn't the type to torture her simply for being a dumb, silly girl with "feelings" and such. He's more the type to ignore her completely, which isn't as easy a task as he expected....

I don't read American romance novels so I'm not sure if they are usually about "reforming" the man...Itazura na kiss isn't so much about reforming Naoki as much as it is teaching him to be human by contact with the unexpected, aka Kotoko (men or boys learning to be "human" seems to be a very common theme in romance-shojo as far as I can tell). I think Boys over Flowers is very similar, as the heroine there fights against the rich-snob-asshole hero, who also turns out to be less of a sadist than he appears and simply needs some serious lessons in humanity.

Here's why I think Kiss plays with a number of shojo cliches -- while the manga / anime begins with their senior year of high school, the story actually follows them through college....and far beyond. And without being too spoiler-ific (but probably unable to help it), the story doesn't end with "happily ever," i.e. marriage. It explores the middle-ground between our happily-ever-after-shojo-moment (i.e. girl finally gets guy) and what in the world actually happens after...a dynamic which in shojo almost seems like the "new frontier" as far as I'm concerned. Seriously, marriage isn't the answer to all of our romantic problems?! How unusual! (Yes, that is heavy sarcasm there, folks, if you didn't catch it).

The anime itself is quite lively, funny, and often charming without being overly sweet. Kotoko certainly isn't a feminist role-model (the way one might read Makino from Boys Over Flowers as being), but she is one of those forces of nature you sometimes get in shojo manga that really make the story worth while. Irie starts out above such things a petty, human emotions but watching Kotoko unknowingly "destroy" his life, as women are apt to due *snerk*, is suprisingly amusing. Unlike the manga, which is much too long, Kiss very nicely condenses aspects of the original story-line, and moves the story at a brisker, but more interesting pace, without much of anything being lost in the translation.

I will acknowledge, however, that there is one important aspect of characterization that isn't really covered in the anime and that is the fact that Irie eventually decides to reject Kotoko not because he dislikes her but because he doesn't want to fall into the trap of merely living a life his family has laid out for him (his father wants him to take over the family business, his mother wants him to marry Kotoko). In other words, Irie embraces one aspect of humanity that is vital to real happiness and that is our ability to choose for ourselves what we want out of life. This part of Irie's characterization makes his eventual decision to love Kotoko far more significant since he picks her as his partner because of true affection, not because she is the "easy" path to take.

In spite of the condensed nature of the anime, it still remains an engaging narrative and an unconventional romance tale. I encourage fans of shojo manga and / or anime to check the series out as the season is now wrapping up in Japan. While I doubt the show will ever be licensed for the U.S. (the manga is just too old now and the anime probably relies heavily on folks knowing about the original material's appeal) I can say should a U.S. company ever decide to take the show on it would be a charming and much-needed addition to our current depressingly-uniform shojo-catalog.

10 Comments

• At September 16, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Does this series originate the "boy and girl love interests are forced to live in the same house for a ...

• At September 16, 2008, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  hi Grico -- I can't claim that the "forced to live to together" trope hadn't been used before but I ...

• At September 17, 2008, thirstygirl wrote:

  I was introduced to Itazura via the Taiwanese tv series It Started With A Kiss, which is one of the ...

• At September 20, 2008, anime and manga « Cynjo’s TechNook wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - Itazura na Kiss & Contemporary Shojo [...]

• At September 24, 2008, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Back to the blog! wrote:

  [...] of shoujo, Danielle Leigh discusses Itazura na Kiss, both the manga and the anime based on it, and explains ...

• At September 25, 2008, Back to the blog! · Manga News wrote:

  [...] of shoujo, Danielle Leigh discusses Itazura na Kiss, both the manga and the anime based on it, and explains ...

• At October 2, 2008, karen wrote:

  where can we buy the manga comicbook version (in English)? there aren't any in amazon and ebay. your reply would ...

• At January 27, 2009, MangaBlog » Blog Archive » PR: Digital snares Itazura na Kiss wrote:

  [...] Itazura na Kiss, a classic 1990s shoujo manga that has quite a following; both Lianne Sentar and Danielle Leigh ...

• At July 25, 2009, Mick wrote:

  It seems quite interesting

• At October 21, 2009, Picks for Right Stuf’s DMP Sale! | Manga Bookshelf wrote:

  [...] grow as an artist and a storyteller.” As for Itazura na Kiss, I think Danielle Leigh’s fantastic write-up of ...