Well, 2015 is off to a rather impressive start when it comes to the somewhat ridiculous amount of manga making its way into my household. Thanks to some gift cards, major sales at my local comic book shop (where I picked up a ton of out-of-print manga), and one of the biggest boxes of review copies that I’ve ever received, my wallet isn’t hurting nearly as much as it might initially appear. (Thankfully.) There were still quite a few preorders in January, though. I was particularly pleased to see the third volume of Black Rose Alice by Setona Mizushiro (which I believe was technically released in February and I just happened to end up with an early copy), as well as What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 6 by Fumi Yoshinaga and the debut of My Neighbor Seki by Takuma Morishige. Ken Niimura’s Henshin is another interesting, and rather delightful, release from January. (Review to come soon!) As for out-of-print finds, I was very lucky to come across a complete set of Museum of Terror, an anthology series from Dark Horse of some of Junji Ito’s horror manga. I was also able to fill in a couple of missing copies from my Tramps Like Us collection, which made me happy.
Manga!
Air Gear, Volume 32 by Oh!Great
Alice in the Country of Hearts, Omnibus 3 by Soumei Hoshino
Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit, Volumes 1-2 written by Owl Shinotsuki, illustrated by Delico Psyche
Apple and Honey: His Rose Colored Life by Hideyoshico
Attack on Titan, Volume 14 by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, Volume 3 written by Ryo Suzukaze, illustrated by Satoshi Shiki
Attack on Titan: Junior High, Omnibus 2 by Saki Nakagawa
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Omnibus 5 by Yukito Kishiro
Black Rose Alice, Volume 3 by Setona Mizushiro
Cage of Eden, Volume 16 by Yoshinobu Yamada
Does The Flower Blossom?, Volume 1 by Shoko Hidaka
Earthian, Volume 4 by Yun Kouga
Fairy Tail, Volumes 44-46 by Hiro Mashima
Finder, Volume 7: Desire in the Viewfinder by Ayano Yamane
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 4 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
Hands Off!, Volumes 1-8 by Kasane Katsumoto
Hands Off!: Don’t Call Us Angels, Volumes 1-2 by Kasane Katsumoto
Henshin by Ken Niimura
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 2 by Hiromu Arakawa
IC in a Sunflower by Mitsukazu Mihara
Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibus 7 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
Manga Dogs, Volume 2 by Ema Toyama
Missions of Love, Volume 10 by Ema Toyama
Museum of Terror, Volumes 1-3 by Junji Ito
My Little Monster, Volumes 5-6 by Robico
My Neighbor Seki, Volume 1 by Takuma Morishige
Noragami: Stray God, Volumes 2-3 by Adachitoka
Oishinbo, A la Carte: The Joy of Rice written by Tetsu Kariya, illustrated by Akira Hanasaki
Sankarea: Undying Love, Volume 10 by Mitsuru Hattori
Say I Love You, Volume 5 by Kanae Hazuki
R.I.P. : Requiem in Phonybrian by Mitsukazu Mihara
The Seven Deadly Sins, Volumes 5-6 by Nakaba Suzuki
Terra Formars, Volume 4 written by Yu Sasuga, illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana
Tramps Like Us, Volumes 11-12 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Omnibus 2 by CLAMP
UQ Holder, Volume 3 Ken Akamatsu
What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 6 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Whispered Words, Omnibus 3 by Takashi Ikeda
Will You Be My Cute Crossdresser? by Mitohi Matsumoto
Witchcraft by Yamatogawa
xxxHolic, Omnibus 4 by CLAMP
xxxHolic: Rei, Volume 2 by CLAMP
Manhwa!
Give to the Heart, Volume 2 by Wann
The Tarot Café, Volume 4 by Sang-sun Park
Comics!
Never Forgets by Yumi Sakugawa
Prince of Cats, Issue 6 by Kori Michele Handwerker
Starfighter, Chapter 3 by HamletMachine
Nonfiction!
Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan edited by Mark McLelland, Kazumi Nagaike, Katsuhiko Suganuma, James Welker
Infamy: The shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves
Anime!
Ai no Kusabi: The Space Between directed by Katsuhito Akiyama
Film!
Ping Pong directed by Fumihiko Sori
Music!
Aku no Sanka (Flowers of Evil soundtrack) by Hideyuki Fukasawa
I was disappointed my comic shop didn’t have Black Rose Alice 3 or Assassination Classroom 2 when I went there yesterday. In exchange though, I got Elfquest omnibus 2, MilkyWay Hitchhiking and omfg Real 13! I had been waiting to buy Real 13 for soooo long, why must it only come out once a year?! The wait is painful!!! PAINFUL!!!
Real! FINALLY! Such a fantastic series. I’m glad you were able to get your hands on the most recent volume. Hopefully your comic shop doesn’t have some weird Viz Media delay and Black Rose Alice and Assassination Classroom will come in soon. Oh, and Elfquest and Milkyway Hitchiking are excellent choices, as well! :D
My comic shop is weird, they just got in Real, yet I got Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in December. They get some things early, some things late, only Dark Horse seems to be on time (and they don’t get much Yen Press, but for Vertical, Kodansha, Seven Seas, and Viz, I’m good, though I only collect a few Yen series anyway). Fortunately, comic shops don’t seem to care about manga street dates, so they just throw it all up on the shelf and see what sticks. I notice that they tend to get in one big bunch of manga a month typically. But I wait to buy it there because they have half off sales all the time, maybe 60% off on holidays (still waiting for them to get more Adventure Time Flip Side TPB though). It’s only on paperbacks and hardbacks, not individual issues, but I mostly read manga, so I don’t care. Even on the few American comics I do read (Saga, Bravest Warriors, Adventure Time) I wait for the TPB. Though I do need to return later this month for Avatar: The Rift glorious hardcover edition.
Huh. Distribution can be strange like that, I guess! But in the end, what’s important is that you get your manga. :D My shop doesn’t have sales very often, so I’ll admit, I’m a little jealous. I generally wait for the trade collections, too, although sometimes I’ll buy a standalone issue or the first couple installments of a new series to see if it catches my attention.