Recent Purchases -- April 2013

Here are the links from Tumblr. Many of these series and oneshot collections are on my to-do list.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Now to find some place to put these away... >_>

Please leave some feedback if you want a project to become a high priority ... or if you don't.  Also, please share your purchases and recommendations too!
 

My June 2012 Manga Purchases

Here are lists of the manga purchases I made in June.  Click on the links to see pictures of the covers on Tumblr

English Language Books

• “Alice in the Country of Hearts” Omnibus Volume 1
• “Alice in the Country of Hearts” Omnibus Volume 2
• “Alice in the Country of Hearts” Omnibus Volume 3
• “Alice in the Country of Clovers”
• “Dawn of the Arcana” Volume 4
• “Kamisama Kiss” Volume 9
• “Ouran High School Host Club” Volume 18
• “Black Bird” Volume 14
• “The Earl and Fairy” Volume 2

Japanese Language Books

• “Inoribana” by Mikase Hiyashi
• “Mizutama Fabric” by Mikase Hiyashi
• “Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii” Volume 2 by Dai Shiina
• “Uchi de Ocha de mo” by Yasuko Tsukioka
• “Renai Democractic” by Chie Shimada
• “Hatsukoi Succubus” by Haruki Okada
• “Seigi no Mikata” Volume 2 by Miyuki Mitsubachi

 Electronic Manga Purchases

• Viz iPad App
• “Sand Chronicles” Volume 1
• “Sand Chronicles” Volume 2
• “Seiho Boys School” Volume 1
• “Seiho Boys School” Volume 2

• JManga
• “Your and My Secret” Volume 7

My Manga Purchases for May 2012

Here's what I bought manga-wise this month.

English Language

• "Oresama Teacher" Volume 8

Japaneses Language

• "Magnolia" Volume 4 + Drama CD
• "Tempest" Volumes 1 & 2 by Aniya Yuiji
• "Hebi to Maria to Otsuki-sama" by Uno Sanae
• "Unknown" by Shiwase Yuki
• "Joosama and the White Rabbit" Volume 2 by Oto Hisamu
• "Paradise Pirates" by Yamaguchi Miyuki (Avoid this one! It's stupidly cliqued.)
• "Sakura no Himegoto" Volume 1
• "Wannin" Volume 1 & 2 
• "Hachimatsu to Batafurai"
• "Kanojo no Namida ga Yuki dato Shitara"
• "Ramune Bannouyaku" by Matsuzuki Kou

Electronic English Language

• Nura Volume 8
• Blue Exorcist Volume 7

I haven't gotten through all the stuff in Japanese yet, by I can tell you that I didn't like Paradise Pirates and I could only get through the first chapter before I had to put it down.  It's like an old-timey Disney Princess ended up on a jolly pirate ship.  Yuck!

March and April 2012 Manga Purchases

Here's a list of my manga purchases for March and April.  I bought a lot of stuff...heheh...A lot of the stuff I bought in Japanese I'm evaluating for potential future projects.

English Language Manga:

• "Kamisama Kiss" Volume 8 -- very cute as usual, 4/5
• "Skip Beat!" Volume 27-- The dangerous sibling play arc continues! There's lots of action in this volume and we get a glimpse in Ren's side. 4/5
• "Dawn of Arcana" Volume 3 -- It's still plugging along nice. 3.5/5
• "A Devil and Her Love Song" Volume 2 -- I got tired of the one-dimensional mean girl "gag" and couldn't finish the chapter.  I do not intend to read this series any further. 2/5

Japanese Language Manga

• "Furachina Sister" ~ Ominbus Edition by Morie Satoshi
• "Oouso Swing" by Tsujita Ririko
• "Setsugetsuka" by Morie Satoshi
• "Megane no Incubus-kun" by Nakano Emiko
• "Kage ni Saku Hana" by Tomofuji Yuu
• "Ore to Atashi no Kareshisama" Volume 1
• "Nobara no Hanayome" Volumes 1 and 2 by Toyota Yuu
• "Neko no Machi no Ko" by Morie Satoshi
• "Rex Fabula" Volume 2
• "Miko Pape" by Saenaki Ryo
• "Kowairo Henge" by Morie Satoshi
• "Many" by Tsutsumi Kakeru
• "Kurogane Girl" Volumes 1 and 2 by Kokoro Matsume
• "Akagami no Shirayukihimi" Volume 7
• "Vahlia no Hanamuko"
• "DN Angel" Volumes 14 and 15
• "Ouran High School Host Club" Perfect Guide
• "Baroque Knights" Volume 1
• "Hana ha Sakura Yori mo Hana no Gotoku" by Sakano Keiko
• "Ojousama no Untenshu" Volume 2
• "Kokyuu Days Shichisei Kuni Monogatari" by Sumomo Momo

February 2012 Purchases

Here's a list of my manga purchases from February 2012.

English Paperbacks

• Oresama Teacher, Volume 7
• The Earl and The Fairy Volume 1
• La Corda d'Oro Volume 15
• Dengeki Daisy, Volume 9
• Black Bird, Volume 13
• Stepping on Roses, Volume 7
• Blue Exorcist, Volume 6
• Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 11
• Otomen, Volume 12
• A Devil and Her Love Song, Volume 1
• Kamisama Kiss, Volume 7
• Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 7
• Dawn of Arcana, Volume 2

Japanese Paperbacks

• Seirei Produce Volumes 1 & 2
• Nanatsu Kururi Volume 1
• Yuurei Apaato Karinin Volume 3
• Ao no Rhapsodia

January 2012 Manga Purchases

This post is quite late, but better late than never!

English Paperback:

• "The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi", Volume 1
• "Sumomomo, Momomo", Volume 1
• "Nabari no Ou", Volume 1
• "Durarara!!", Volume 1
• "Black Butler", Volume 5 & 8
• "Skip Beat", Volume 26
• "Black Bird", Volume 12
• "Dengeki Daisy", Volume 8
• "Oresama Teacher", Volume 6

Japanese Paperback:

• Hana to Yume Platinum
• "Joousama no Shiro Usagi:, Volume 1
• "Natume Yuujincho" Winter 2012 Special
• "Sayonara Chocolate"

December 2011 Manga Purchases

I meant to do this post earlier, but I hadn't made the time until now.  I'm taking a little break from translating before my brain completely melts.  "Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama" is turning out sweeter than I thought it would be.  I'm glad we are picking it up :).

Here's a list of manga I bought last December.

English Paperback:

• "Kamisama Kiss" Volume 6 -- cute and wonderful as usual
• "Natsume's Book of Friends" Volume 9 & 10 -- little a mini-vacation
• "Dawn of Arcana" Volume1 -- A new favorite

Japanese Paperback:

• "Soredemo Sekai was Utsukushii" Volume 1 (by Shiina Dai) -- prepping to translate after we finish "Fushigi no Maria-kun"
• "Yukarism" Volume 2
• "Rex Fabula" Volume 1
• "Magnolia" Volume 3 + Drama CD
• "The Devil's Puzzle" -- Me likey!  Hopefully, we can translate this the second half of 2012

Ipad

• "Ai Ore" Volume 3 -- couldn't finish.  I'm done with this series.

November 2011 Manga Purchases

I didn't purchase many books in November.  I guess it's because there wasn't a lot manga released.  Anyhow, here's a list of the manga I purchased this past November.

English Language

• "Princess Knight" part 1 by Osamu Tezuka -- Old.  This is nice as a historical artifact, but unless you have a young child to read this to or you're a manga scholar, I think you can skip it.

iPad 

• "Ai Ore" Volume 3 -- I'm done with this series.  It no longer holds my attention.

Japanese Language

• "Hana no Kishi" ("Knight of Flower") Volume 5 by Nishikata Mai -- I was hoping for some extras :(.
• "Boku to Kanojo no XXX" ("Your and My Secret") Volume 8 by Morinaga Ai -- the series ends very satisfyingly.

December will be a quite a different story.  Lots of manga was released in December in time for the holiday season.

September 2011 Manga Purchases

Here's the list of the manga purchases I made this month.

English Language Books:

• Skip Beat, Volume 25 -- This volume covers the bulk of the Valentine's Day arc.  Both Sho and Ren sorta do battle in the wake of Kyoko giving Reino Valentine's Day hate chocolates.  I noticed a little bit of sloppiness in the image editing and the English adaptation (the script needed more massaging), but overall it was clearer than what's available in scanlation.  I really liked this volume a lot!  5/5
• Kamisama Kiss, Volume 5 -- I've only read the first half.  So far it's very cute.  

New Purchases March 9 - April 20

Here's a list of manga I've purchased in the 5 or 6 weeks (I will add mini-reviews as I read the volumes):

• "Black Butler" Volume 5
• "Shinobi Life"Volume 7
• "Natsume's Book of Friends" Volume 6 -- Lovely as usual (5/5)
• "Stepping on Roses" Volume 5-- More crazy smut-lite stoopidity.  It's fast paced and childish, but I can't help but like this series. (3/5)
• "Skip Beat" Volume 23 -- Kyoko brilliantly mind-***s Chiori.  It's a must read volume (5/5)

New Purchases (Aria Tankoubon and Others): February 24 - March 8

They're here!

And they are quite nice! 

• Magnolia Volume 1 (Amazon JP -- Naked Ape) (Yes Asia $11.49 + $3.99 shipping)
• Chapters 1 - 4 and Lily Chapter 1
• Metallic Lettering on the cover jacket
• Color page
• Magnolia Archive!  Character sketches of Ayato, Lily, Hugo, and Nagi! Very nice!
• Junketsu + Vampire Volume 1(Amazon JP) (Yes Asia)
• Chapters 1 - 4
• Color Page
• 1-Page omake
• Pika Ichi Volume 1 (Amazon JP) (Yes Asia $10.49 + $3.99 shipping)
• Chapters 1 - 4
• Extra Comic (non-Pika Ichi)

Note:  If you purchase $40 or more of merchandise from Yes Asia, shipping is free!

Manga Purchase: December 7th - 31st

• Dengeki Daisy Volume 3 -- Kurosaki Delight!  Love him!!!  5/5
• Kamisama Kiss Volume 1 -- The first chapter is pretty weak, but it gets better. 3/5
• Arisa Volume 1 -- This starts off pretty innocently as a story of twin sisters separated by divorce.  Then one day the rebellious sister goes to visit the good sister and spends a day at school in her shoes.  Things go off the tracks from there beginning with the good sister's attempted suicide.  This got surprising intriguing towards the end of the first volume.  4/5.  Note of caution:  The English licensing isn't stable and as if now only volume 2 out of a 6 total available volumes out now are scheduled to release in 2011. 
• Eensy Weensy Monster Volume 1 -- See my earlier review of this charming series. 5/5
• Gakuen Alice Volume 14
• VB Rose Volume 11 -- Flashbacks to when Yukari and Mitsuya first met that tease the edges of BL.  Part of me wishes it was something a little complicated like that...but...that's not the story.  Still, it feels a little like a cop out.  It looks like the translator and English adaptation writer were trying to use "hipper" language.  I think it was overall successful, though, a few phrases read a little weird.  4/5
• Skyblue Shore Volume 1 -- See my earlier review of this boring first volume. FAIL. (No link to purchase.  Save your money for something better.) I hope this series doesn't influence whether the author's other series "Orange Chocolate" gets licensed.
• Ghost Hunt Volume 11

If you are interested in owning any of these series, please consider purchasing from Omari's Sister's Amazon store.  Thanks to the people who last month made purchases from the Ouran section I created.  I hope you are enjoying your merch :).

New Manga Purchases: Nov 10 - Dec 7, 2010

• Honey Hunt Volume 6
• Skip Beat Volume 22
• Ouran High School Host Club Volume 15
• The Gorgeous Life of Strawberry-chan
• The Super-Cool Life of Strawberry-chan
• Library Wars Volume 3
• Butterflies and Flowers Volume 5
• Your and My Secret Volumes 5, 6 and 7

If you want to buy some of these books, please consider buying them from the Omari's Sister's Amazon Store.  Support your favorite manga series and put a nickel in my pocket.   A great many of you should be good consumers and buy Ouran volume 15 since so many of you read it and claim to LOVE it and Bisco Hatori.  Put your money where your mouth is and give Ouran and Hatori-sensei some love!  In fact!  I have set up a special area in the store just for Ouran goods! (Include all available volumes from Viz, clothes, plushies, and various other stuff I thought was cute)

Link to Ouran Goods at Omari's Sister's Amazon Store

New Manga Purchases: Oct 23 - Nov 9, 2010

• Chobits Omnibus 1 (Clamp) -- 720-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Chobits Omnibus 2 (Clamp) -- 688-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Clover Omnibus (Clamp) -- 512-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 1 (Clamp) -- 576-pages! Currently on sale for $13.49 on Amazon -- This omnibus contains Volumes 1 - 3, along with a lot of beautiful color pages.  It's big and high quality.  Most of the sound effects and dialog that is not in bubbles are left in Japanese with the English translation close by.  In a few cases no translation is provided which is a little frustrating.  Anyhow, if you've never read Cardcaptor Sakura, please do.  It really is delightful.  It reminds me of the many daydreams I had of being a magical girl when I was about 8 or 9-years old.  Oh, and the color pages are gorgeous! Some of them look like the artwork used for the introductory pages from its magazine serialization.  I highly recommend buying this if you are a Clamp fan or a fan of the series.  5/5
• Yours and My Secret Volumes 3 and 4 (Ai Morinaga)
• V. B. Rose Volume 10 (Banri Hidaka) -- Ageha goes shopping with Arisaka mom, Ran, and learns about Arisaka's sad childhood.  I wanted to slap Ran.  Anyhow, it's a good read.  3.5/5
• Apothecarius Argentum Volume 7 (Tomomi Yamashita) -- out of print, but you can still buy copies from used book sellers through Amazon.

If you are considering purchasing any of these books, please consider purchasing from Omari's Sister's Amazon store.

A note about the omnibus additions:  The Clamp omnibus editions from Darkhorse are wonderful!  They are high quality and contain color pages with lots of original artwork.  These are truly great printed manga experiences!  I hope to see more Omnibus editions of manga series in the future.

New Manga Purchases: Sept 23 - Oct 22, 2010

• Penguin Revolution Volume 7 -- A pleasant end to a pleasant series. 4/5
• Blood Alone Volume 4
• Apothecarius Argentum Volumes 5 -8 -- A great read! 5/5
• Maid Sama! Volume 6 -- still skipping pages to the good stuff. -- 3/5
  
• Dengeki Daisy Volume 2 -- What not to love about this series? 5/5
• Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 4
• Black Bird Volume 6 -- heheheheh
• Stepping on Roses Volume 3 -- guilty pleasure 3/5
• Honey Hunt Volumes 1 -5 -- As much as a guilty pleasure as "Hot Gimmick" 4/5
• The Lizard Prince Volume 1 -- I didn't finish this volume because it was too juvenile.  This would make a great starter manga for 8 - 11-years old crowd. 2.5/5
• Makami-sama Iu Toori Volume 1 (Japanese Language)
• Black Butler Volume 3 -- 5/5

If you are interested in purchasing any of these manga, consider buying ithem from my Amazon store and put a little bit of change in my pocket!

Link to Omarissister's Amazon Store

New Manga Purchases: September 2010

• Shinobi Life Volumes 1 - 5 (5/5) -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  YOU MUST OWN THIS SERIES TO READ IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.  IT IS A DRUG!!!
• Volume 1
• Volume 2
• Volume 3
• Volume 4
• Volume 5
• Apothecarius Agentum Volume 1 (5/5)
• Stepping on Roses Volume 2 (3/5)
• Alice in the Country of Hearts Volume 4 (3.5/5)
• Butterflies and Flowers Volume 4 (3/5)

If you are interested in purchasing any of these books, please consider purchasing them through the Omari's Sister Amazon Store.  The first 5 volumes of "Shinobi Life," "Alice in the Country of Hearts" Volume 4, and "Stepping on Roses" Volume 2 are all currently discounted!

Also, buy my used manga and help me clear my shelves for more new manga! (Link)

• Vampire Knight Volumes  1 - 8 (Volumes 5 - 7 Purchased!)
• The Wallflower Volumes, 1- 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, and 16 (Volumes 13 and 14 Purchased!)
• Rasetsu Volume 1

All are books lightly used and decently priced. I'll discount your shipping if you buy multiple volumes.

New Manga Purchases: Week of August 15, 2010

• "Rasetsu" Vol. 1 -- This is a spin off of "Yurara."  In this series Yako from "Yurara" returns and starts working for a small exorcist company.  The company's main talent is an 18-year old woman who happens to strongly resemble Yurara.  The ghosts they exorcise are run-of-the-mill and the side characters are very one dimensional.  I can't recommend this series based on this first volume because there are much better series with similar themes.  These series include the original series "Yurara," "Her Majesty's Dog" by Mick Takeuchi, and "Ghost Hunt."  2/5
• "Afterschool Charisma" Vol. 1 -- I'm so sad about this one.  The premise is GREAT!  It's about a school filled with the clones of notable historic figures and one seemingly normal guy.  But then that premise is rammed down the reader's throat and then pounded into the reader's head with a jackhammer to make sure we understand these are clones of famous people.  I think a little subtlety would have been nice.  The quiet moments when Kamiya is with Freud and Hitler (of all the famous people to clone...) are quite nice.  The rest of it, though, is schlock.  I think it also would have been nice to get rid of the obvious villains and the glaring lack of ethics of those villains.  I guess I felt this series could have been a whole lot better if it stuck to the nature vs. nurture question and gone with it in that vain.  So what if Marie Curie wanted to play music and be in love with the school's founders son?  That could have been interesting. Oh!  The most excellent thing about this volume was the "All Mighty Dolly."  I wants one badly!!! It's soooo cute!!!  2.5/5  I really feel that this one is a matter of taste, so if the premise sounds good to you, you might want to check it out, especially if subtlety is not your cup of tea.

New Manga Purchases: Week of August 1, 2010

• Vampire Knight, Volumes 5 - 8
• Skip Beat, Volume 21
• Otomen, Volume 7
• Black Bird, Volume 5
• Dengeki Daisy, Volume 1
• VB Rose, Volume 9
• Gakuen Alice, Volume 12
• Flower in a Storm, Volume 2
• Dengeki Daisy (Japanese language), Volume 6
• Chimua Port (Japanese language)
• Hana to Yume Issue 17

If you wish to purchases some of these titles, please help me out a little by purchasing through my Amazon Storefront, Omari's Sister Recommends.

New Manga Purchases: Week of July 4, 2010

• Mixed Vegetables, Volume 8
• Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 14

If you like Ouran, I recommend that you get this volume because the translation is closer to the actual Japanese and different in some parts than what's available in the scanlation.  This is especially true for the situation in which Haruhi is kidnapped.  This volume covers chapters 62 to 66.

• Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 3

New Manga Purchases: Week of June 27, 2010

• La Corda D'oro Volumes 11 and 12  -- 3/5 the story moves glacially and there's lots of filler extra stories (they aren't very interesting).  I do recommend this version over the scanlation for better image quality and smoother English.  It was interesting enough, though, to make me want to go back through the Lala magazines I have to catch up to the current chapter.  Perhaps I'll write up some chapter summaries.
• Two Flowers for the Dragon Volume 6
• Kaichou wa Maid-sama (Maid-sama!) Volume 5