Bandai:
Lucky Star. Seinen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Comptiq Ace since 2005.

Del Rey:
CLAMP in America. A retrospective/biography, with art. By CLAMP and Shaenon Garrity.
Negima!? Neo. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in BonBon and Magazine Special since 2007.
Orange Planet. Shoujo. Kodansha, serialized in Nakayoshi since 2006.
Youkai no Oisha-san. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2007.
Soryuden. This is a novel, with illustrations by CLAMP.


Nothing earthshaking, though the Soryuden novel is surprising. Negima Neo is the manga version of the 2nd anime series, and is more kid-friendly than Negima. Orange Planet is by the author of Cherry Juice and Instant Teen. And the Lucky Star manga... well, you all likely know the anime.

A nice, light week, provided you don't buy Del Rey.

BANDAI:
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Vol. 1. Shoujo. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Asuka since 2006.

DARK HORSE:
Berserk Vol. 24. Seinen. Hakusensha, serialized in Young Animal since 1988.

DC/CMX:
Kiichi and the Magic Books Vol. 2. A 'Flex' comic, hence genreless.
Gon Vol. 5. Seinen. Kodansha, serialized in Morning since 1991.

DEL REY:
The Wallflower Vol. 16. Shoujo. Kodansha, serialized in Bessatsu Friend since 2000.
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 18. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2003.
Toto! Vol. 2. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2005.
Shiki Tsukai Vol. 3. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Shonen Sirius since 2006.
School Rumble Vol. 10. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2003.
Pastel Vol. 11. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Magazine Special since 2002.
Kujibiki Unbalance Vol. 1. Seinen. Kodansha, serialized in Afternoon since 2007.

DRAWN & QUARTERLY:
Red-Colored Elegy. Seinen. Seirindo, serialized in Garo since 1970.


And that's it. Recs? Red-Colored Elegy, despite the publisher flipping the panels a bit (with author permission) is still fantastic. The Wallflower is always great. Yes, Geass is shoujo, it's published in Asuka. Admittedly, Asuka is one of the freakiest of the shoujo magazines, so... Oh yes, and Kujibiki Unbalance for you Genshiken fans.

Are you a shoujo manga reader? Are you reading I Hate You More Than Anyone, Volume 5 of which just came out from CMX?

For god's sake, why not?!?!

Apologies to all for forgetting this week was a Thursday comic day. Next week is typical Wednesday. And yes, another big week. Also, the usual apologies for having almost no info on all these yaoi titles.

AURORA:
Pretty Poison. Josei. Ohzora Shuppan, serialization unknown, 2006.
Oh My God Vol. 1. Yaoi. Biblos, serialization unknown, 2005.
Nephilim Vol. 2 (Final volume). Shoujo. Asahi Sonorama, serialization unknown, 2005.
Mister Mistress Vol. 1. Yaoi. Biblos, serialized in Be x Boy since 2005.
Kiss All The Boys Vol. 2. Yaoi. Futabasha, serialization unknown, year unknown.

BLU:
Alley of First Love. Yaoi. Tokuma Shoten, serialized in Chara since 2006.

DARK HORSE:
Ghost Talker's Daydream Vol. 1. Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Shonen Ace since 2001.

CMX:
Tears of a Lamb Vol. 3. Shoujo. Hakusensha, serialized in Hana to Yume since 2001.
I Hate You More Than Anyone Vol. 5. Shoujo. Hakusensha, serialized in Hana to Yume since 1998.
Dorothea Vol. 2. Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Shonen Ace since 2006.

SEVEN SEAS:
Tetragrammaton Labyrinth Vol. 3. Seinen. Wani Books, serialized in Comic Gum since 2005.

TOKYOPOP:
Your And My Secret Vol. 2. Shonen. Mag Garden, serialized in Comic Blade Zebel since 2002.
Vassalord Vol. 1. Shonen. Mag Garden, serialized in Comic Blade Zebel since 2006.
Tokko Vol. 1. Seinen. Kodansha, serialized in Afternoon since 2004.
Silver Diamond Vol. 1. Yaoi. Tousuisha, serialized in Ichiraci since 2003.
Samurai Deeper Kyo Vol. 29. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 1999.
Rose Hip Rose Vol. 2. Seinen. Kodansha, serialized in Uppers since 2002.
Psychic Power Nanaki Vol. 3 (Final Volume?). Shoujo. Hakusensha, serialized in Hana to Yume since 2004.
Elemental Gelade Vol. 8. Shonen. Mag Garden, serialized in Comic Blade since 2002.
Chibi Vampire Vol. 9. Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Dragon Age since 2003.

VIZ:
Shojo Beat.
Rurouni Kenshin VizBIG Edition Vol. 3. Shonen. Shueisha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1994.
Real Vol. 1. Seinen. Shueisha, serialized in Young Jump since 2002.
Case Closed Vol. 24. Shonen. Shogakukan, serialized in Shonen Sunday since 1994.

YEN PRESS:
Suzunari Vol. 1. Seinen. Houbunsha, serialized in Manga Time Kirara Carat since 2006.
Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning Vol. 4. Shonen. Square Enix, serialized in Shonen GanGan since 2000.
Alice on Deadlines Vol. 3. Shonen. Square Enix, serialized in GanGan Wing since 2005.


Hefty third week of the month. Recs? The first volume of Viz's Real, a critically acclaimed manga about wheelchair basketball from the creator of Vagabond. We know I love Banri Hidaka, and here's new volumes of two of her series from CMX. Tetragrammaton Labyrinth and Suzunari are for the yuri LFBs. And Tokko is another weird series from the creator of GTO.

Wrapping up things manga at AX, here's what CMX announced. Almost everything they mentioned had been announced before, but they had one new title:

Hana no Namae. 4 volumes, shoujo from Hakusensha's LaLa DX.

Yep, still licensing, even as they cancel a ton of titles.

Tsubasa wo Motsu Mono. 6 volumes, shoujo. From the Furuba creator, this was the series she did before Furuba. It also is Hakusensha, and ran in Hana to Yume.
Peacemaker Kurogane. A license rescue from ADV Manga. Mag Garden.
Senki Senki Momotama, from Mag Garden as well, the shonen Comic Blade anthology carries this.
Yume no Shiro from Hakusensha's LaLa. Short stories from the creator of Kare Kano.
NG LIFE. More shoujo from Hana to Yume, from the creator of Mugen Spiral.
Togainu no Chi, a yaoi title from Biblos's Magazine ZERO.
Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai, a seinen series from Hakusensha's Young Animal. Better known for its anime title, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World.
Kaichou wa Maid-sama!. More from Hakusensha, LaLa this time.
Demon Sacred, and yup, it's Hakusensha's LaLa once again.


Of those titles, clearly the Tsubasa and Yume ones were licensed on the basis of 'from the author of' appeal. The sheer number of Hakusensha and Mag Garden titles lets you know which publishers are still speaking to them and which aren't. Maid-sama has the best potential here, it's a fairly popular hit in Japan, right up there with Ouran and Vampire Knight in LaLa.

Briefly...

Dark Horse had one new announcement:

Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project. Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Shonen Ace since 2005.

Right Stuf has announced the animes Gakuen Alice (one box for the whole series) and Toward the Terra (the old 1980s movie). They also plan to have an interview with Konno Oyuki, creator of MariMite, on a future DVD box. Fans can submit questions, more details later.

Bandai has licensed Gundam 00, which isn't a surprise, and Hayate the Combat Butler, which is.

Some of these we knew about unofficially, but they are now official.

Oishinbo ('best of edition, 8 volumes'). Seinen. Serialized in Big Comic Spirits since 1984.
Fushigi Yuugi (VizBIG Omnibus). Shoujo. Shogakukan, serialized in Shoujo Comic since 1992.
Hot Gimmick (VizBIG Omnibus). Shoujo. Shogakukan, serialized in Bessatsu Comic since 2000.
Heaven's Will. Shoujo. Shogakukan, serialized in ChuChu since 2006. (This is complete in 1 volume)
Romance From The Thumb. Shoujo. Hakusensha, serialized in Hana to Yume since 2004.
Otomen. Shoujo. Hakusensha, serialized in Bessatsu Hana to Yume since 2007.
Honey Hunt. Shoujo. Shogakukan, serialized in Cheese! since 2007.
Gestalt. Shonen. Square Enix, serialized in GFantasy since 1995.

That's it for manga. A Hot Gimmick omnibus? That must have sold REALLY well. Honey Hunt, btw, is from the same artist as Hot Gimmick. Viz said they're looking to older-skewed stuff (Honey Hunt is in Cheese!, which is practically josei). I fully understand why we aren't getting all 100+ volumes of Oishinbo, and find a best of pleasing.

Any other thoughts?

It's that time again, folks! Did you survive last week?

DC/CMX:
Variante Vol. 4 (Final Volume). Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in Dragon Age since 2004.
Kikaider Code 02 Vol. 7. Shonen. Kadokawa Shoten, serialization unknown, 2001.

DEL REY:
Kagetora Vol. 10. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Magazine Special since 2002.
Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution Vol. 7. Shonen. Kodansha, serialized in Magazine Special since 2002.

DMP:
Kiss Blue Vol. 1. Yaoi. Taiyou Tosho, serialized in Craft since 2006.
Golden Prince and Argent King. Yaoi. Libre Shuppan, serialization unknown, 2006.
Blue Sky. Yaoi. Ookura Shuppan, serialization unknown, 2004.

VIZ:
Yakitate Japan Vol. 12. Shonen. Shogakukan, serialized in Shonen Sunday since 2002.
Togari Vol. 7. Shonen. Shogakukan, serialized in Shonen Sunday since 2001.
Switch Vol. 3. Shonen. Square Enix, serialized in GFantasy since 2002.
Red River Vol. 22. Shoujo. Shogakukan, serialized in Shoujo Comic since 1995.
Inu-Yasha Vol. 34. Shonen. Shogakukan, serialized in Shonen Sunday since 1996.
Bastard!! Vol. 17. Seinen. Shueisha, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump and Ultra Jump since 1988.


And that is it. An awesomely small second week! Good, as I still have stuff from last week I didn't get as last week was so expensive. >_> Nice to see another Bastard!! coming out, as well as the retro-Egypt fantasy shoujo Red River.

Still getting info on this, but it looks like Kodansha *is* setting up a distributor to put out its manga through its own name in the US. It's not known how this will affect Del Rey. Likely it won't affect it much, as the distributor for Kodansha in the US looks to be Random House, who own Del Rey as well. Future Del Rey licenses may be affected, but current ones should be fine.

Tokyopop and Dark Horse, the news isn't as good. Dark Horse had to cancel their planned reprint of Akira, owing to Kodansha taking back the rights. Likewise, TP has cancelled Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad for the same reason. So who knows what will happen with other Kodansha titles. (I suspect DH will be allowed to keep Oh My Goddess, a cash cow for them).