Lissa Pattillo
September 6, 2011 
Did everyone have a nice long weekend? Labour Day proved the perfect opportunity to get caught up on last week’s reading. Good thing too since there’s so much out this week! As the first shipping week of the month, it’s another Viz Media domination. Kodansha Comics, however, is definitely gearing up to give them a run for their comics.
First up though is Dark Horse, which is releasing Oh My Goddess (Vol. 39). The series is slowly edging toward its final volume. It’ll be really weird not having Oh My Goddess coming out, though—it’s been on English shipping lists since before I even started buying manga on a regular basis, and back then it was in single-chapter ‘floppy’ format too. The series is definitely at a different place now then it was back then. I wouldn’t have thought that after book after book of wacky sexually-frustrated comedy that I’d be reading the characters fighting over control of Hell and the Goddesses coming together to battle the lord of Demons. Good thing the power of love is always on their side, right?
DARK HORSE COMICS
• Oh My Goddess (Vol.39), ($10.99/US, $13.99/CAN)
Kodansha Comics has a huge week of new titles —five brand new stories to start collecting! Gon has already been released in the US but this new edition will re-introduce the crazy dinosaur to a whole new generation of readers. It’s a great story because it can be read by anyone since it has no words. Do not be fooled by Gon’s cover cuteness, though! He’s a terrifying little bundle of super-charged muscle and territorial attitude. It makes for a fun read but one that really caught me off-guard at first.
Also returning to English publication for a second time is Until the Full Moon by Sanami Motoh. We never got the full run of it so I’m excited to get to finish it. Of the entirely ‘new’ titles starting, I’m most looking forward to Bloody Monday. It’s about a talented hacker who uses his skills to try and prove his father’s innocence after the man is framed for murder. He then stumbles into terrorist plots and he needs to work with his friends and acquaintances to save Tokyo. It sounds like it has the potential to be a great suspense story.
KODANSHA COMICS
• Bloody Monday (Vol.01), ($10.99/US, $11.99/CAN)
• Cage of Eden (Vol.01), ($10.99/US, $11.99/CAN)
• Gon (Vol.01) ($10.99/US, $11.99/CAN)
• Mardock Scramble (Vol.01), ($10.99/US, $11.99/CAN)
• Until the Full Moon (Vol.01),
($10.99/US, $11.99/CAN)
Vertical has two books out this week, both one-shots. Curious as I am to check out Velveteen & Mandala after some interesting early reviews, I can’t deny my bias towards any work with Osamu Tezuka’s name on the cover so it’s The Book of Human Insects for me first. I actually bought it last week when a bookstore got an early copy so I can attest to the quality of the release itself. Hard cover, slickly designed cover slip and the same Vertical quality we’ve come to expect on the inside. It’s definitely one of Tezuka’s darker stories, though, so don’t go in expecting much (or anything) in the way of uplifting.
VERTICAL
• The Book of Human Insects ($16.95/US, $18.95/CAN)
• Velveteen & Mandala ($16.95/US, $18.95/CAN)
And then there’s Viz Media—manga behemoth! I’m already really sad to see Butterflies, Flowers go as this week marks its final volume. It’s a shoujo for an older audience (not for the kiddies!) and I’ve had some great laughs with every volume since it began. In this final volume it’s the two lovers versus the dreaded arranged marriage.
Toriko (Vol. 06) is my top pick of the week. It took me a while to get over the art style enough to pick up the first volume but I was hooked the moment I finished it. If all the fights Toriko and his friends have already had weren’t entertainingly intense enough, now they’re having one literally in the belly of a beast!
After I finish devouring that dish, I’ll be jumping on the new volume of Grand Guignol Orchestra. Zombies with a musical twist. There was a lot of who-betrayed-who in the last volume so it’ll be interesting to see how they temporarily bandage all these emotional wounds. While bandaging all those doll-like-zombie bites too of course—ouch!
VIZ MEDIA
• Black Bird (Vol.10), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Bleach (Vol. 36), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Butterflies, Flowers (Vol.08), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Death Note: Black Edition (Vol.05), ($14.99/US, $16.99/CAN)
• Dengeki Daisy (Vol. 06), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Grand Guignol Orchestra (Vol.04),
($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Kekkaishi 3-in-1 (Vol.03), ($14.99/US, $16.99/CAN)
• Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (Vol. 10),
($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• La Corda Doro (Vol.14), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Naruto 3-in-1 (Vol.03), ($14.99/US, $16.99/CAN)
• Naruto (Vol.52), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Oresama Teacher (Vol.04), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
• Pokemon: Black & White (Vol. 03),
($4.99/US, $6.99/CAN)
• Toriko (Vol. 06), ($9.99/US, $12.99/CAN)
That does it for this week’s On The Shelf—what on the list are you most eager to buy? Any must-have recommendations? Share your thoughts in our handy comment area for all our readers to see!
* All dates are based on distributor listings and may not necessarily reflect exact release dates. Some books may be ship prior to or after the date listed above varying by location and availability.
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