B. Ichi

Almost as soon as it was published in Shonen GanGan as a one-shot, Soul Eater became wildly popular in Japan with fans clamoring for more. However, B.ichi was actually Atsushi Ohkubo’s debut series.

In an alternate world there are dokeshis who have special abilities and are generally hated by the rest of the world. B. Ichi (B壱; B.One) is about one named Shotaro with the ability to take on the power of any animal whose bone he puts in his mouth. He is searching for his childhood best friend Emine when he meets Mana and Yohei, who decide to help him out when the other dokeshis run amok.

Mermaid Saga

If you say Rumiko Takahashi in the presence of an otaku, the older ones think of Ranma 1/2 and the younger ones think of Inu-Yasha. The hardcore completists think of Mermaid Saga.

Mermaid Saga (人魚シリーズ) is a series of darker stories that follow a young man named Yuta in his quest to find a mermaid. Legends tell of the flesh of the mermaid granting eternal life, but the reality is far uglier – both literally and figuratively. Along the way he rescues Mana, who ends up following him in his search.

The stories in this series are darker than anything Takahashi-sensei has written since Laughing Target, with murder and frightening creatures being the norm.

Yumekui Kenbun – Nightmare Inspector, The End

After what felt like an eternity, I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of the final volume of Nightmare Inspector. I was almost afraid to finish it because I really love the series and hate to see good stories end, particularly when so many similar titles continue to meander through mediocrity for years.

Hiruko the baku is still at the Silver Star Teahouse, eating the nightmares of unhappy patrons and living a fairly peaceful existence with Mizuki, Hifumi and Naamu the cat. What none of them could have expected was for Tsukishiro, a rival baku, to be tracking down the bits of Hiruko’s human memories in order to use him to open the Door of the Delirium and send the city into madness. Episodic though it is (mostly), you should probably read it from the beginning to understand the majority of this volume.

Kaze No Hana

When buying a new series, I flip through the book to decide if I like the art and read the back to get an idea of the story. I also tend to take into consideration the publisher of the manga, as I have been burned more than once by TokyoPop’s tendency to just drop less popular titles without so much as a word to fans. Yen Press has always been a good bet for me, right up until Kaze no Hana (風の花).

The story is pretty standard fare: Momoka is a high school girl who has lost her family and memory. She’s suddenly presented with a “spiritual sword” named Suzukaze that she can’t seem to draw or use until she regains her memory, and is one of the eight sword masters who keep an evil god called Kishimi sealed in Mitsurugi City.

Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei

Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei (さよなら絶望先生; Goodbye, Mr. Despair) is basically about a suicidal teacher and the stories of his classroom full of bizarre students, each of whom has some distinguishing characteristic; the girl obsessed with order and symmetry, the girl who refuses to leave home, the obsessive stalker girl, and the “main” girl who is completely and incessantly optimistic.

Not entirely sure what to make of this one, even after reading and re-reading the first volume. I like most of the characters and their quirks but the “main” relentlessly hopelessly optimistic girl really grates on my nerves.