Well, I knew at the beginning of the month that April was going to be rough on my wallet, what with all of the preorders and such that I had in place. Fortunately, I also had a couple of gift cards to burn, which alleviated some of the pain, but the month still ended up being a little embarrassing when it came to the amount of manga and other delights that made their way into my place of residence. April had some great releases, though. The manga that I was most excited for was the third Vinland Saga omnibus by Makoto Yukimura. (Review to come very soon. That is, most likely tomorrow.) My copy of the first omnibus in Takashi Ikeda’s series Whispered Words from One Peace Books arrived earlier than expected, which means it will likely become the next entry in my Year of Yuri review project. Comics-wise, I was delighted to see the nice, hardcover release of Mike Richardson and Stan Sakai’s 47 Ronin. (Also of note, Lone Wolf & Cub‘s Kazuo Koike served as the series’ editorial consultant.) Battle Royale is seeing a resurgence in English, including the release of the The Battle Royale Slam Book (it’s great; expect a review of this one soon, too) and a completely new translation of Koushun Takami’s original novel. Oh, and the final Berserk: The Golden Age anime film was also released! I’m still not completely sold on the use of the 3D CG, but I do love me some Berserk.
Manga!
Alive by Hajime Taguchi
Attack on Titan, Volume 12 by Hajime Isayama
Bokurano: Ours, Volume 1 by Mohiro Kitoh
Bunny Drop, Volume 10 by Yumi Unita
Crimson Spell, Volume 3 by Ayano Yamane
Dorohedoro, Volume 12 by Q Hayashida
Dictatorial Grimoire, Volume 3: Red Riding Hood by Ayumi Kanou
Drifters, Volume 3 by Kohta Hirano
The Drifting Classroom, Volumes 4-7 by Kazuo Umezu
Fairy Tail, Volume 37 by Hiro Mashima
The Flowers of Evil, Volume 9 by Shuzo Oshimi
Knights of Sidonia, Volume 8 by Tsutomu Nihei
Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 11 by Kiiro Yumi
Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibus 4 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
Mail, Volumes 1-3 by Housui Yamazaki
Man of Many Faces, Volumes 1-2 by CLAMP
No. 6, Volume 6 by Hinoki Kino
No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Volume 3 by Nico Tanigawa
Oishinbo, A la Carte: Vegetables written by Tetsu Kariya, illustrated by Akira Hanasaki
Say I Love You, Volume 1 by Kanae Hazuki
Sunny, Volume 3 by Taiyo Matsumoto
Tegami Bachi, Volumes 1-14 by Hiroyuki Asada
Vagabond, Omnibus 5 b Takehiko Inoue
Vinland Saga, Omnibus 3 by Makoto Yukimura
Whispered Words, Omnibus 1 by Takashi Ikeda
Wolfsmund, Volume 4 by Mitsuhisa Kuji
xxxHolic: Rei, Volume 1 by CLAMP
Yakitate!! Japan, Volumes 1-3 by Takashi Hashiguchi
You and Me, Etc. by Kyuugou
Manhwa!
9 Faces of Love by Wann
Stone Collector, Book 2 written by Kevin Han, illustrated by Zom-J
Comics!
47 Ronin written by Mike Richardson, illustrated by Stan Sakai
Greek Love written by Dale Lazarov, illustrated by Adam Graphite
Juku: A Comics Album by Various
Monsters & Titans: Battling Boy on Tour by Paul Pope
Sex Criminals, Volume 1 written by Matt Fraction, illustrated by Chip Zdarsky
Novels!
Battle Royale: Remastered by Koushun Takami
Collections!
Monkey Business, Volume 4 edited by Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen
Nonfiction!
The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington
Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster by Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill
Anime!
Berserk: The Golden Age, Arc III: The Advent directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka
[…] Finally, if you’re looking to add to your manga collection with a classic, Ash has the first Fullmetal Alchemist omnibus up for grabs. If you’re looking to take a peek at someone else’s haul, Ash also has this month’s Bookshelf Overload. […]