After the ridiculousness that was May’s Bookshelf Overload (thanks, TCAF!), the number of manga and other books that I acquired in June seems entirely reasonable. Last month I took advantage of a few good sales combined with gift cards to fill in some gaps in a few of my manga series. As I mentioned previously, Kazuo Umezu’s Drifting Classroom looks like it may be going out of print, so I made a point to complete my set. I also supplemented my recent haul of review copies from Kodansha. As for June’s preorders that I was particularly excited for (and dreading in some ways because they’re so emotionally intense) at the top of the list sits Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 2 by Inio Asano and Orange, Omnibus 2 by Ichigo Takano. (I’d actually like to post some Random Musings about Orange, but it will probably be a while before I can get around to it.) June was also a good month for me for shoujo science fiction. I discovered Wrecked Hearts by Mathilde Kitteh and Luca Oliveri and imported Moto Hagio’s SF Art Works collection, both of which are great. (As a side note, if you’re interested in Wrecked Hearts and ordering directly from PEOW! Studio in Sweden is difficult, I recently discovered that it can also be ordered from Retrofit Comics in the United States.)
Manga!
Drifting Classroom, Volumes 9-10 by Kazuo Umezu
Emma, Omnibus 3 by Kaoru Mori
Everyone’s Getting Married, Volume 1 by Izumi Miyazono
Franken Fran, Omnibus 2 by Katsuhisa Kigitsu
Genshiken: Second Season, Volume 7 by Shimoku Kio
Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 2 by Inio Asano
Inuyashiki, Volume 2 by Hiroya Oku
Kaze Hikaru, Volume 14 by Taeko Watanabe
My Little Monster, Volumes 11-12 by Robico
Noragami: Stray God, Volumes 8-9 by Adachitoka
Orange, Omnibus 2 by Ichigo Takano
Red Red Rock and Other Stories by Seiichi Hayashi
Say I Love You, Volumes 10-11 by Kanae Hazuki
Vagabond, Omnibus 6 by Takehiko Inoue
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Volumes 5-6 by Miki Yoshikawa
Your Lie in April, Volumes 3-4 by Naoshi Arakawa
Comics!
Elf Cat in Love by James Kochalka
Hellbound Lifestyle by Kaeleigh Forsyth
I.D. by Emma Ríos
New World edited by C. Spike Trotman
Shadoweyes, Volume 1 by Sophie Campbell, colors by Erin Watson
Wrecked Hearts by Mathilde Kitteh and Luca Oliveri
Artbooks!
Seconda by Yeehun
SF Art Works by Moto Hagio
Nonfiction!
Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat translated by Patrick McCarthy
Shed & Frontlawn Zine by Graeme McNee, Ryan Cecil Smith, and An Nguyen
Ah, yes, I got my Shadoweyes recently too. Perhaps you should consider doing something on Kickstarter projects that interest you or something, I like backing things on there. And I know Sparkler Monthly is doing its yearly Kickstarter right now and could probably use getting the word out to help them every little bit.
I back so many things on Kickstarter! There are plenty more that I would love to back but depending on my finances any given month I have to pick and choose. I try to mention projects that seem most relevant to Experiments in Manga in the My Week in Manga posts. Maybe I can expand on that some, and start including less-relevant projects that I’m excited about, too. ^_^
In addition to Sparkler Monthly’s Year 4 Kickstarter, I’m also currently backing:
*Enough Space For Everyone Else: a science fiction comics/illustration/prose anthology that avoids conquest, imperialism, and war tropes
*Always Raining Here, Volume 2: the final print volume of webcomic about the evolving relationship between two gay high schoolers (I picked the first book up at TCAF)
*Elements: Fire: an anthology of comics by creators of color from the same small press behind the Beyond queers comics anthologies
I would definitely be all for seeing at least comic related Kickstarters mentioned more around here. Yeah, the Licki cat brush would definitely be a bit too far off, but not regular ol’ comics!
I am currently backing FaLLEN vol 2, I picked up v1 at this past Zenkaikon and I really enjoyed it! And you can pick up both volumes in the Kickstarter too, so I definitely want my vol 2 of that one.
And I’ve pledged for Sorcery 101, which hasn’t made its goal yet, so that kind of sucks for me.
Oh, I’m not familiar with FaLLEN! It looks interesting, so I’ll have to check it out. :) I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up throwing some money at Sorcery 101, too; I keep seeing it mentioned by people I know, but I haven’t actually read any of it myself yet. I’ll make a point to start mentioning more of projects that I find interesting; most of what I back on Kickstarter ends up being comics-related anyway. :)