Dorohedoro volume 1

Story and art by Q Hayashida

Published by Viz Signature IKKI

Released March 16, 2010

There exists two worlds, “the hole” that hosts punks, thieves, outcasts, and seemingly ordinary people, and the world beyond the doors where the sorcerers live.  Every so often, a sorcerer will enter the door to experiment on non-magic users, leaving their victims on the brink of death.  Dorohedoro is the story of the battle between the sorcerers and the man who cuts them down in order to track down the one who left him with a reptilian head.

Most Anticipated Manga 2010

I might be a bit late, but I still want to tell you what manga I’m most looking forward to in 2010.  There’s a lot of manga being translated in English these days and these are my top picks.

#5  51 Ways to Save Her by Usamaru Furuya (CMX Manga- September 2010)

Two former classmates, a gothic lolita and a college student, are reunited.  And then an 8.1 earthquake hits Japan!  I do love my post-apocalyptic stories.  And Tokyopop finished Dragon Head a couple years ago so this is long past due. ———————————————————————

#4 Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Shonen Jump- August 2010)

From the creators of Death Note, Bakuman is the story of two junior high students who team up to become the most successful manga-ka duo in Japan.  The from the creators of Death Note tagline didn’t impress me, but after reading a few chapters online, I can see this going to great places.  Bakuman was supposed to run in Shonen Jump USA this year, but it hasn’t been announced if it will only be a preview or full blown serialization.

#3 I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow by Shunju Aono (Viz Signature- May 2010)

40-year-old Shizuo Oguro is tired of his corporate career.  So he decides to quit to pursue his lifelong interest: becoming a manga artist.  I’ll Give It My All… is Shizuo’s story of the ups and downs of his quest at manga success.  This was one of the first series I sampled over at Sig Ikki and I instantly fell in love with it. ————————————————————

#2 AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga (Top Shelf- July 2010)

Just as the title implies, AX is a collection of short alternative manga stories.  Originally slated for a December 2009 release, AX was pushed back to summer 2010.  Volume 1 will contain shorts from Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Akino Kondoh, Kazuichi Hanawa, and Shinichi Abe. —————————————————————————————————————————————————

#1 Peepo Choo by Felipe Smith (Vertical- July 2010)

It’s not often that an American comics artist is flown out to Japan to work on a monthly manga in Morning 2 for Kodansha.  Peepo Choo is the story of two individuals.  Milton is a hardcore otaku from Chicago, obsessed with the anime Peepo Choo.  Reiko is a teenage model in Japan who wants a career overseas.  Tokyopop published Smith’s first series MBQ from 2005-2007.  I’m a huge fan of that series and cannot wait to read this one.

More manga I’m looking forward to

Buy and Brag #7

Welcome to the first in a 2-part season finale of andrewreadscomics’ Buy and Brag.  It’s been about two months since my last update, so I’ll post everything I’ve gotten since the day after Thanksgiving.  Some of these pictures have been sitting in my camera for a while, so it’s time to unleash them.  First up is my December 2009 package of Viz Signature manga…

20th Century Boys vol. 6–  I’m a couple volumes behind, but this is still one of the best manga of 2009.

Children of the Sea vol. 2–  I read the first couple of chapters of this volume on Ikki, but I wanted to read the rest of it in print format.  Anime News Network lists the series as ending at two volumes, so I assumed this was it, but as it turns out there’s four volumes out in Japan and is ongoing.

Detroit Metal City vol. 3–  Go to DMC!

Go Go Monster– Seeing as this is the only one in this column I actually read so far, I’ll give a brief review.  Go Go Monster is about an awkward boy who “sees things” at his school.  He believes that someday soon, these things will take over the school.  Enter the new kid, who doesn’t really believe him, but is intrigued and follows him up to the abandoned fourth floor.  This is from the same author as Tekkon Kinkreet, and to be honest is almost the same story.  But I do like this one quite a bit more as it comes from a more psychological perspective.

Ooku vol. 2– Still haven’t gotten to the first volume, but I’ve heard good things.