Kingyo Used Books

The publishing industry is seeing hard times these days and manga publishers are no exception. After discontinuing Shojo Beat, Viz tried something new by launching their Shonen Sunday imprint and website. Not content to stop there, they also created Viz Signature IKKI to fill the seinen niche in sort of a different way. The idea is that readers can find and read new manga online before they buy it, and the manga that gets enough interest – reviews, comments, etc. – will be turned into a tankoubon. With that high-tech approach in mind, it’s kind of funny that out of all IKKI’s current selections I like the one about the old-fashioned used manga store the best.

Kingyo Used Books (金魚屋古書店; Kingyoya Koshoten) is a nice little slice of life series about a used bookstore that predominantly carries manga and the customers that shop there. Each chapter follows a different person and how manga makes a difference or plays a part in their lives. The store isn’t the focus of the stories themselves, it is simply the unifying element, and the shopkeeper Natsuki is always more than happy to help her customers find what they need.

There’s not really a storyline, at least not one that I’ve seen yet, but I’m already pretty hooked on Kingyo. Maybe I’m a little nostalgic because I’ve been reading manga for half my life, maybe I just like to compare the way it touches and influences my life with the way it does so for the characters. Either way it’s a very sweet look at how manga, and everything else in life for that matter, never touches two people in the same way. I definitely plan on continuing it and giving it as many votes and compliments as possible, because this is a manga that needs to see print – if only so I can buy copies and force them on my friends that think all manga is Naruto and Sailor Moon.