I’ve been doing the weekly lists for about five months now, and usually it’s a sleep-walk: somewhere between 15 and 25 titles. I can almost type them up during my lunch break at work. (In fact, I’ve done exactly that at least twice when I happened to be scheduled in the store on a Sunday afternoon.)

The last week in each month, however, is a bit more of a hassle. In a recent 5by8 I outlined a few of the manga industry’s roads into the bookstores: while a book distributor is very handy, it seems at least one side-effect is that most (or all?) of a company’s manga releases will get lumped into this once-monthly schedule, and show up with release dates in the last week. Viz (distributed by Simon & Schuster) does a great job of beating their release schedule, getting books into the stores earlier than expected, but their official dates are mostly pushed back to the end of the month. This causes it’s own headaches, as some items on this week’s list have been out and for sale for two or even three weeks already — I’ve again drafted Gaulish punctuation mark *Asterix to denote those titles that I know are already on shelves.

While a hundred-and-change titles are always fun (even with the extra work) something inevitably gets lost. This week I’ve pulled the the (American) comics and other, non-manga titles of interest for a separate post, to focus this list on just the manga, but even after that there’s still a lot here. If you’ve noted in the past couple weeks that I’ve missed something, I think this is the week where the bookstores catch up to the direct market.

Though it all may be academic. It’s not like most books are actually shipping to the stores this week. Many titles have been and continue to be special orders — something a customer has to ask for. Past the Viz, Tokyopop, Del Rey, and CMX titles every thing else is a crapshoot, a pleasant surprise when I do happen to see them in stores. (and even titles from the big 3 occasionally have to be ordered)

The last week in the month seems to be the preferred choice of book distributors for releasing their mid-list (including the manga) so as long as I’m using the release information from the book store, I guess it’s something I just have to deal with. It does make for an impressive list. My only complaint is that I’ve spent most of my day off compiling the two lists and I sort of miss the days where I could look forward to watching anime DVDs all Saturday afternoon. [*sigh*] But it’s only once a month, right?

full list after the break:
Manga (& Manga-ish) Releases for 24 June to 30 June 2007

• 8mm, vol. 1 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• Amazing Agent Luna, vol. 4 — Seven Seas — $10.99
• Angel Sanctuary, vol. 20 — Viz — $9.99
• Animerica, June 2007 — Viz — free; limited distribution
• Apollo’s Song — Vertical — $19.95

• Art of Yasushi Suzuki — Dr. Master — $26.95
• Audition, vol. 5 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• *Backstage Prince, vol. 2 — Viz — $8.99
• Beauty Pop, vol. 4 — Viz — $8.99
• Blade of the Immortal, vol. 17 — Dark Horse — $16.95

• *Bleach, vol. 19 — Viz — $7.95
• Boogiepop Dual, vol. 2 — Seven Seas — $10.99
• Boys over Flowers, vol. 24 — Viz — $9.99
• *Buso Renkin, vol. 6 — Viz — $7.99
• Cain Saga, vol. 4 part 2 — Viz — $8.99

• Chocolat, vol. 6 — Ice Kunion — $10.95
• Claymore, vol. 8 — Viz — $7.99
• Creating CG Manga with Manga Studio — DH Publishing — $19.95
• Devil Within, vol. 1 — Go! Comi — $10.99
• Dinowars Pocket Manga, vol. 1 — Antarctic Press — $14.95

• Doctors’ Rule, vol. 1 — DramaQueen — $12.99
• Dominion: Conflict–No More Noise — Dark Horse — $14.95
• *Dragon Drive, vol. 2 — Viz — $7.99
• Dragon Eye, vol. 1 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Drifting Classroom, vol. 6 — Viz — $9.99

• DVD, vol. 5 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• Eyeshield 21, vol. 14 — Viz — $7.99
• Feel So Good, vol. 1 — Ice Kunion — $10.95
• Full House, vol. 4 — CPM — $9.99
• *Gentlemen’s Alliance+, vol. 2 — Viz — $8.99

• Ghost Hunt, vol. 8 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Girl Genius, vol. 6: Agatha Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite — Studio Foglio — $21.95
• Golgo 13, vol. 9 — Viz — $9.99
• Gun Princess, vol. 1 — Seven Seas — $7.95
• Gunslinger Girl, vol. 4 — ADV — $9.99

• Hana-Kimi, vol. 18 — Viz — $9.99
• He Is My Master, vols. 1 & 2 — Seven Seas — $9.99 ea.
• Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo, vol. 5 — Ice Kunion — $10.95
• Her Majesty’s Dog, vol. 5 — Go! Comi — $10.99
• Hollow Fields — Seven Seas — $9.99

• *Hoshin Engi, vol. 1 — Viz — $7.99
• *Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, vol. 3 — Viz — $9.99
• Inu Yasha Animanga[sic], vol. 21 — Viz — $11.99
• *Inu Yasha Manga Profiles — Viz — $14.99
• Iron Wok Jan, vol. 25 — Dr. Master — $9.95

• Junk, vol. 3 — Dr. Master — $9.95
• Kagetora, vol. 6 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Kanna, vol. 1 — Go! Comi — $10.95
• Kanokon, vol. 1 — Seven Seas — $7.95
• Kashimashi, vol. 3 — Seven Seas — $10.99

• Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya), vol. 20 — Viz — $7.95
• The Knockout Makers, vol. 1 — Tokyopop — $9.99
• Kon Kon Kokon, vol. 1 — Broccoli Books — $9.99
• Kurogane, vol. 5 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Last Uniform, vol. 1 — Seven Seas — $11.99

• Law of Ueki, vol. 6 — Viz — $9.99
• Le Chevalier d’Eon, vol. 1 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Light of Nor — Blooming Tree Press — $13.95
• Little Crybaby — DMP — $12.95
• Little Women [illustrated classic] — YoungJin — $14.95

• Lord of Sal Manor, vol. 1 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• Love a la Carte — Be Beautiful — $15.99
• Love Recipe, vol. 1 — DMP — $12.95
• Midnight Blue: Boy Meets Girl? — Demented Dragon — $12.95
• Miki Falls: Summer — HarperCollins — $7.99

• The Moon and Sandals, vol. 2 — DMP — $12.95
• Moon Boy, vol. 3 — Ice Kunion — $10.95
• MPD-Psycho, vol. 1 — Dark Horse — $10.95
• Nana, vol. 6 — Viz — $8.99
• Ninin Ga Shinobuden, vol. 3 — Infinity Studios — $9.95

• Now, vol. 3 — Infinity Studios — $10.95
• O-Parts Hunter, vol. 4 — Viz — $9.99
• Oath to Love & Passion, vol. 1 — CPM — $9.99
• Oh My Goddess! (2nd ed.) vol. 6 — Dark Horse — $10.95
• Old Boy, vol. 6 — Dark Horse — $12.95

• One Thousand and One Nights, vol. 5 — Ice Kunion — $10.95
• Othello (Yaoi) — DMP — $12.95
• Pastel, vol. 7 — Del Rey — $10.95
• Picnic — DMP — $12.95
• Puri Puri, vol. 2 — Dr. Master — $9.95

• Reverse?! vol. 2 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• Seimaden, vol. 9 — CMX — $9.99
• Short Sunzen! vol. 1 — Tokyopop — $9.99
• Sleeping Flower — DramaQueen — $12.99
• Street Fighter II, vol. 1 — Udon — $12.95

• The Summit, vol. 3 — DramaQueen — $12.99
• *Tail of the Moon, vol. 5 — Viz — $8.99
• Tetragrammaton Labyrinth, vol. 1 — Seven Seas — $11.99
• Time Guardian, vol. 2 — CMX — $9.99
• To Terra… vol. 3 — Vertical — $9.99

• Tokyo Tribes, vol. 7 — Tokyopop — $9.99
• Tomb Raider Tankobon, vol. 4 — Bandai — $9.99
• Understanding Manga and Anime — Libraries Unlimited — $40.00
• Vision of the Other Side, vol. 6 — DramaQueen — $11.99
• Wallflower, vol. 12 — Del Rey — $10.95

• XS Hybrid, vol. 1 — Dark Horse — $10.95
• Yebisu Celebrities, vol. 1 — Be Beautiful — $15.99
• Yotsuba&! vol. 4 — ADV — $9.99
• You’re So Cool, vol. 2 — Ic Kunion — $10.95
• *Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist, vol. 21 — Viz — $7.95

• *Yurara, vol. 1 — Viz — $8.99
• *Zatch Bell, vol. 13 — Viz — $9.99
• *Zombie Powder, vol. 4 — Viz — $7.99

##

Yakking points:

– Blink and you missed it: Understanding Manga and Anime by Robin Brenner. The intended market here is librarians and school media specialists, so I don’t know that your average fan-girl-or-boy is rushing out to reserve their copy, but give it 5 or 10 years and we may see a big impact from a quiet, scholarly volume like this one.

– Conspicuous by their absence: Tokyopop. I guess I have some typing to do next week, too, when all the T-pop titles drop. -_-

– Girl Genius!

– Dudes. Did you leave any yaoi for later? DramaQueen continues to exceed any expectations I might have had for a new manga imprint and continues to release yaoi like it’s going out of style. The phrase that came to mind was “keep throwing it out there and see what” but then I kind of grossed myself out even before I finished that cliché in my head. All kidding aside: Dudes. Good Work. I think you’re proving there is a market, maybe a niche market but it must be a big niche. That or you’re burning through capital and are going to spring a bankruptcy announcement any day now — but judging by the volume of titles the yaoi market, and DramaQueen, are quite healthy at the moment. (anyone have sales numbers?)

– We came for the controversy, but stayed for the yuri manga: Seven Seas has a pretty full release schedule this week (9 releases). While I would have bought Kashimashi anyway, and also picked up vol. 4 of Luna to keep up with that series, I’m not sure if I would have found The Last Uniform or Hollow Fields if I weren’t already going to the Seven Seas website once a week to read Jason DeAngelis’s blog. Then again, maybe I would have: I mean, I’m one of those sad, sad fanboys who will be reading He Is My Master, which combines maids, teens, yuri, cosplay fantasies, harem comedy, maids, and an alligator (and did I mention maids?) for what can only be described as a trainwreck of everything that is wrong with manga and anime stereotypes that isn’t in Nymphet. (I’m buying it for the yuri subplot.)

Aside: Because of the controversy, I have been reading scanlated chapters of Nymphet and while it’s wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong I haven’t found anything too terrible. (yet) (Though I feel dirty for even mentioning it) [*adds chapter 8 to bittorrent queue*]

I shouldn’t lump in Hollow Fields with my own bad otaku habits. It looks like a cute, all-ages title about a sweet young girl who accidentally enrolls at an academy for mad scientists. With the popularity of similarly-themed YA novels, Hollow Fields could be a break-out title for 7seas, if it gets decent exposure or some genuine word-of-mouth (or passed-around-the-back-of-the-classroom during-boring-math-lessons; can’t beat that kind of marketing.). As soon as I get my copy, I’ll be posting a review. (7seas has a preview up for the curious)

The Last Uniform also looks to be interesting, though perhaps more bittersweet. It’s also on order.

– Quite a few from Viz, but I knew that was coming because the books are already in the store. Heck, a couple of them I’ve already reviewed for this site.

I’ve added Dragon Drive to my reading list because I felt I needed a stupid-shounen-fighting-title in regular rotation and it fits the bill, and it promises to be more than just fight scenes in long tournaments compounded by exposition and asides from all the other characters in the middle of each match. (We’ll see if my hunch there is correct) Plus, Dragons. Plus, Chibi. (isn’t he the cutest little critter-that-turns-into-blazing-video-game-carnage?) Viz’s Tail of the Moon is also on my regular list, because everyone needs at least one shoujo title. (Though I may be up to three shoujo titles by this point. And more threaten each week; how did I come to this state of affairs?)

On top of everything else, Viz also has a new edition of Animerica out, if you can find it.

– Apollo’s Song. Vertical. Tezuka. ’nuff said. (well… there’s more if you need it, but they had me at “Vertical” — love all their manga releases so far.)

– ADV is back from the dead! That’s unfair, of course. They’ve been releasing a precious few manga, like medicine from an extremely slow IV drip, over the past couple of years. With returning titles Gunslinger Girl and Yotsuba&! it finally seems to me that they’re back on their collective feet — though that may be a impression planted by John Ledford’s interview on ANN. At any rate… Yotsuba&!(!) We’ll see what future months hold for the manga-house-of-perpetual-promise-and-disappointment.

What did I miss? Corrections, questions, comments, concerns? The floor is open: