By Mat K.
Okay, so this week is a bit on the short side, especially compared to last week which was fairly massive. There are a few gem selections, even though there are less than ten titles showing up. As far as stuff you will want to know about, in terms of continuing releases, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys Volume 9 is at the top of the list. We are almost half way through the series and Kanna has decided to stand up and avenge Kenji-will she be able to muster up enough support for her cause? Kanna makes her way to a mafia-operated casino and quickly finds herself at a high stakes table. Is she lucky (and smart) enough to turn the odds in her favor at the bizarre and fast-paced game of Rabbit Nabokov? Either way, Monster is getting harder to come across, so it’s time to make the switch to either 20th Century Boys or Pluto while they’re still readily available.
So for some pretty sweet fantasy Children Of The Sea by Daisuke Igarashi is great. Volume 3 comes in this week, the issues are a little far between, but at least now you have a good jump off point. After Ruka sees a ghost in the aquarium her dad works at, and meets two strange boys and they all get caught up in a mystery surrounding why the ocean’s fish are disappearing. In book three Ruka is traumatized when Sora disappears into the night sea right in front of her. But although she refuses to speak of the incident, the meteorite Sora made her swallow is not so silent. It whispers to her from inside her body, and with its guidance she leads Umi and Anglade into the open ocean in search of answers. Between all that, the art is also really unique, which is always refreshing, especially the covers which all have watercolor, underwater, reflectiony-ness to them.
Also of note this week, there is one series premier which actually looks pretty sexy. Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane is about St. Kleio Academy, which is a very exclusive school. All of the students are clones of famous historical figures such as Beethoven, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Mozart, and Freud. All of them, that is, except for Shiro Kamiya. As Shiro struggles to adapt to this unusual campus, St. Kleio’s first graduate, a clone of John F. Kennedy, is killed. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies? And how does a normal boy like Shiro fit in? Neat, right? Like Clone High from Mtv back in the days of it’s animation programs, except Afterschool Charisma also includes murder, mystery and intrigue.
All I can say other than all that is that if nothing this week interests you, then this is the catch up week you’ve been waiting for. Time to stop reeling over the massive new releases and get back to series you’ve fallen behind on. School’s almost out, or already out for everyone, especially for those of you who haven’t been in school in years. Either way, we got your books. Come get ’em. See you all next week!
Ja Ne!
