I completely failed to keep my purchases under control in December. Both Right Stuf and Akadot had some huge holiday sales that I wasn’t able to resist. (This seems to happen every year at the end of the year, so I should really try to plan for it next time.) Because of this, I ended up with a lot more anime than I usually do. I also took advantage of the sales to complete my collection of Yugi Yamada boys’ love manga available in English (I’m still waiting for one more volume to arrive, and then I’ll have them all). As for scoring out-of-print manga, I managed to pick up three of the ultimate editions of Battle Royale for less than the cover price a single volume. Hopefully, with some patience, I’ll be able to find a copy of the last volume without needing to sell a kidney. I also picked up a copy of Taiyo Matsumoto’s Blue Spring. I was specifically interested in the story “Mahjong Summer,” but I haven’t been able to get the whole manga out of my head since reading it. The manga pre-order I was most excited about in December was Message to Adolf, Part 2 by Osamu Tezuka. This is the second, and last, omnibus volume of the series. Adolf was the first manga I ever read back when it was first published by Viz Media; I’m thrilled that Vertical rescued the title and brought it back into print. Also, my copy of Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima by Naoki Inose and Hiroaki Sato finally arrived! Mishima was my introduction to Japanese literature and this looks to be the most comprehensive biography out there. The book is huge so it will take me a while to get through the whole thing, but expect a review once I do!
Manga!
About Love written by Narise Konohara, illustrated by Tomo Ootake
Battle Royale: Ultimate Edition, Volumes 2-4 written by Koushun Takami, illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi
Blood Lad, Omnibus 1 by Yuuki Kodama
Blood Sucker, Volumes 5-7 written by Saki Okuse, illustrated by Aki Shimizu
Blue Spring by Taiyo Matsumoto
Castle Mango, Volume 1 written Muku Ogura,illustrated by Narise Konohara
Danza by Natsume Ono
Dry Heat by Yugi Yamada
Entangled Circumstances by Kikuko Kikuya
Fake Fur by Satomi Yamagata
Glass Sky by Yugi Yamada
Good-bye Geist by Ryo Hanada
GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, Volumes 1-4 by Tohru Fujisawa
Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something by Kaoru Mori
Loveless, Volume 10 by Yun Kouga
Manic Love by Satomi Yamagata
Message to Adolf, Part 2 by Osamu Tezuka
No One Loves Me by Yugi Yamada
Open the Door to Your Heart by Yugi Yamada
Paradise Kiss, Part 2 by Ai Yazawa
Picnic by Yugi Yamada
Rurouni Kenshin, Omnibuses 5-8 by Nobuhiro Watsuki
Twilight of the Dark Master by Saki Okuse
The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 7 by Hinako Takanaga
Uzomuzo edited by Adam Pasion
White Brand by Youka Nitta
Comics!
I Kill Giants written by Joe Kelly, illustrated by Jim Ken Niimura
Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology edited by Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma
Sumo by Thien Pham
Light Novels!
Ai No Kusabi: The Space Between, Volume 7 by Rieko Yoshihara
Only the Ring Finger Knows, Volumes 1-5 by Satoru Kannagi
Spice and Wolf, Volume 7: Side Colors by Isuna Hasekura
Novels!
The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs
Anthologies!
New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan by Various
Nonfiction!
KRAZY!: The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art edited by Bruce Grenville
Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima by Naoki Inose and Hiroaki Sato
Anime!
Fist of the North Star: The TV Series, Collection 1 directed by Toyoo Ashida
Here Is Greenwood directed by Tomomi Mochizuki
Legends of the Dark King directed by Masashi Abe
Megazone 23, Part 1 directed by Noboru Ishiguro
No. 6 directed by Kenji Nagasaki
Penguindrum, Collection 1 directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara
Shigurui: Death Frenzy directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki
The Skull Man directed by Takeshi Mori
X: The Complete Series directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Wow, that is quite a list! I also couldn’t help myself and bought a couple of things at the Right Stuf end of year sale. Your list is so long I actually thought you must never sleep!
My intro to Japanese literature was the contemporary writer, Banana Yoshimoto. I read her books “Kitchen” and “Asleep”, first. That was a while ago. My range has broadened considerably since.
Yeah…things got a little out of hand…
Granted, a lot of this will eventually become gifts or library donations.
I haven’t read any of Yoshimioto’s work yet, although I do have Kitchen sitting here on my shelf and I’ve been meaning to read it. I’ll have to try to get around to it soon! ^_^