Update2 Elex sez in the 4 May STO that Dream Eater Merry 1 did not release on Wednesday. Keeping it here though because it's not repeated in next week's list. It's tentatively skedded for 11 May 2011. Will confirm later.
Nodame Cantabile © Ninomiya Tomoko/Kodansha
[First serialized in Kiss]
Published in Indonesia by Elex Media
After disappearing, Nodame finally returns to Paris. She also embraces the piano again, this time playing her own Free and Gleeful music though. Chiaki begins to accept the path Nodame is determined to take, but all that changes when Nodame performs Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31.
You can see why I didn't tack on "of 23" to Nodame 23 in the post title — to accommodate the not-so off-chance that Elex publishes the two-volume Encore Opera Hen as Nodame Cantabile 24 and 25 — just like Kodansha and (Tong Li Taiwan) did.
I reinstate Kariage kun 41, per Elex's 4.27 STO. The New Kobochan 1-4 reprints that didn't release on the 20th are skedded for 4 May. (Back story here.)
New Elex manga
Whilst the Arsène Lupin edu-manga generated favorable buzz long before volume 1 actually got a street date, Dream Eater Merry emerges as the top new manga DO WANT!, prolly owing to its recent anime adapt. Elex's summary —
Mimpi manusia adalah dunia, dan penguasa dunia-dunia yang dikunjungi saat tidur ini adalah para setan mimpi. Suatu ketika, hal sebaliknya terjadi; para setan mimpi juga ingin berkunjung ke dunia manusia. Untuk itu, mereka butuh wadah berupa tubuh manusia yang mereka kuasai kesadarannya. Mimpi buruk mengalir ke dunia nyata, dan yang menghadang mereka hanya satu, Merry Nightmare, setan mimpi yang terlempar keluar ke dunia manusia dan justru mencari jalan pulang.
—goes on about the role reversal of dream demons wanting ingress to the human world and needing to possess human vessels, which is where our heroine Merry comes in, for she needs to stop the leaking nightmares...I find the Elex blurb convoluted (but still skosh stingy on Why invest? detail), so I truncated the translate. If, like me, you prefer the Fujiwara Yumeji-centric synopsis, »here's an informative one from Wikipedia. (Of course, you won't need it if you've watched the anime.)
Edit (per 2011.05.01) As advised at the top of the post, Dream Eater Merry will likely street on the 11th.
Kaitou Lupin ©
Maurice Leblanc and
Kazumine Daiji/
The Kumon Manga Library
Published in Indonesia
Arsène Lupin
by Elex Media
Elex also apparently wants to introduce a new generation to the eponymous Arsène Lupin, gentleman burglar who can disguise himself as anyone. In volume 1 of Kazumine Daiji's Kumon Manga Library classic, the mysterious thief is rumored to have boarded the cruise ship Provence, his alleged presence unleashing terror on passengers Close Circled by an ocean.
Will Lupin get caught? And who will do the catching?
The third premiere is the boxing troped Stand Up!, the volume 1 cover of which just makes me go Pfft! and then Guffaw! (But then again, I'm not the target demographic. Not really burning to become strong(er) through boxing, you know.) Rounding out the newbies is another Doraemon Movie manga duo, Petualangan Nobita di Kota Mainan —First and Last— based on the 1997 Doraemon: Nobita's Adventure in Clockwork City film.
Nakayoshi 4/2011: Animal Official debuts
Watashi ni xx Shinasai!
© Toyama Ema/
Kodansha
That XX Me!'s Yukina is Nakayoshi Gress! 4's cover girl promises breath-stealing Shigure × Yukina doki-doki, but the conventional newsworthy is the debut of Fukushima Haruka's Animal Official. Circumstantial evidence makes a case for this a half-human creature slinks into the animal club; he evinces Dracula
manga equaling 1-nen 5-kumi Ikimo Gakari, the ex-Nakayoshi Lovely Vampires and Werewolves, oh my! serial. Further assuming that Animal Official replaces CHOCOLATE by the same manga-ka.
The other Nakayoshi pals per the cover line-up are: Arisa by Ando Natsumi, Hell Girl Return by Eto Miyuki and Jigoku Shojo Project, Little Marchen and Ogawa and Team Saito by Sakyo (the latter's volume 5 released last February), Little Shugo Chara! by PEACH-PIT & Naphthalene Mizushima, Navi Runa by Kikuta Michiyo & Ikeda Miyoko and Shugo Chara! Encore! by PEACH-PIT.
Elex Media manga (2011.04.27)
- [Series Premiere] Arsène Lupin 1 of 5 by Maurice Leblanc and Kazumine Daiji
- Blooming Youth (Hanasakeru Seishounen) 2 of 12 by Itsuki Natsumi
- Doraemon 6 of 45 by Fujiko F. Fujio (right-to-left edition)
- [Premiere] Doraemon Movie: Petualangan Nobita di Kota Mainan —First— (Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Neji maki Toshi Boukenki) by Fujiko F. Fujio
- [New] Doraemon Movie: Petualangan Nobita di Kota Mainan —Last— (Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Neji maki Toshi Boukenki) by Fujiko F. Fujio [Finale]
[Series Premiere] Dream Eater Merry (Yumekui Merry) 1 of 6+ by Ushiki Yoshitaka- POSTPONED- Here is Greenwood (Deluxe) 3 of 6 (Koko wa Greenwood) by Nasu Yukie
- Kariage kun 41 of 49+ by Ueda Masashi
- Nodame Cantabile 23 of 25 by Ninomiya Tomoko
- Otoboke Section Chief (Otoboke Kachou) 10 of 23+ by Ueda Masashi
- [Series Premiere] Stand Up! 1 of 3 by Itagaki Masaya
 | Hanasakeru Seishounen 「花咲ける青少年」 |
Other languages
Traditional Chinese 天國少女 (Tong Li Taiwan, 12 volumes)
Related series
One-shot sequel (Melody 27 June 2009) and Hanasakeru Seishounen: Tokubetsuhen (one volume per 2011.03)
Adaptations
A 39-episode anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot, starring seiyuu Endo Aya (Kajika Louisa Kugami Burnsworth), Morikawa Toshiyuki (Huang Li-Ren), Ono Daisuke (Eugene Alexandr De Volkan), Namikawa Daisuke (Rumaty Ivan Di Raginei) and Fukuyama Jun (Carl Rosenthal) that aired between April 2009 and February 2010 on NHK, and at least two theatrical runs of a stage adaptation, the first premiering 29 September 2010 in Tokyo
 | Doraemon 「ドラえもん」 by Fujiko F. Fujio |
Awards
Best Children's Manga, 27th Shogakukan Manga Awards, Grand Prize, the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award (1997) and the Excellence Award, Japan Cartoonists Association Awards (1973)
Related series
Doraemon Plus (sequel; 5 of 5 volumes), Daichouhen Doraemon (side story; 24 of 24 volumes); Dorabase: Doraemon Chouyakyuu Gaiden (spin-off; 21 volumes, ongoing) and The Doraemon's Special (spin-off; 12 volumes)
Adaptations
A 52-episode anime adaptation by Nippon TV (1973.04 - 1973.09), a 1,787-episode series by Shin-Ei Animation (broadcast on TV Asahi from 1979.04 - 2005.03), a 2005 adaptation by Shin-Ei Animation and Studio Pierrot (premiered 2005.04.15; 300+ episodes) and numerous movies
 | Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Neji maki Toshi Boukenki |
Related
Based on the 1997 movie Doraemon: Nobita's Adventure in Clockwork City
 | Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Neji maki Toshi Boukenki |
Related
Based on the 1997 movie Doraemon: Nobita's Adventure in Clockwork City
 | Yumekui Merry 「夢喰いメリー」 |
Adaptations
J.C. Staff's 13-episode anime adaptation starring seiyuu Okamoto Nobuhiko (Fujiwara Yumeji) and Sakura Ayane (Merry Nightmare) aired in Japan between January and April 2011.
 | Koko wa Greenwood 「ここはグリーン・ウッド」 |
Other languages
English Here is Greenwood (VIZ Media, nine volumes)
Adaptations
A six-episode anime OAV starring seiyuu Sasaki Nozomu (Hasukawa Kazuya), Sakamoto Chika (Kisaragi Shun), Iwata Mitsuo (Ikeda Mitsuru) and Seki Toshihiko (Tezuka Shinobu) released in Japan between November 1991 and March 1993 and a 13-episode live-action renzoku that aired on Tokyo MX from July to September 2008 (Cast: Izawa Yuki, Suzuki Hiroki, Miura Riki and Sato Yuuichi)
 | Kariage-kun 「かりあげクン」 by Ueda Masashi |
Awards
Recipient, 28th Bungeishunjū Manga Award (1982), along with Ueda Masashi's other series Furiten-kun and Masashi-kun and Suzuki Yamato's Ai MY Tenrankai
Related series
Kariage-kun: Chinan dake no Kuchikara Otoko! Hen, Kariage-kun: Itazura Meichin Bamenhen and Kariage-kun: Makenai Onnatachihen (sequels)
 | Nodame Cantabile 「のだめカンタービレ」 |
Related series
Nodame Cantabile - Encore Opera Hen (two volume sequel released in Japan as Nodame Cantabile 24 and 25)
Awards
Best Shoujo Manga, 2004 Kodansha Manga Awards
Other languages
English Nodame Cantabile (Del Rey: 16 volumes per 2009.07.28), French (Pika Édition: Tome 12 per 2011.02.16), traditional Chinese (Tong Li: 交響情人夢 25 released 2011.01.29)
Adaptations
Adapted into an award-winning live-action TV series starring Ueno Juri (Nodame) and Tamaki Hiroshi (Chiaki Shinichi) that aired from October to December 2006 on Fuji TV, followed by a four-hour sequel TV special, Nodame Cantabile New Year's Special in Europe (4-5 January 2008), and two live-action movies: Nodame Cantabile Saishū Gakushō Zen-Pen (Japan premiere: 2009.12.19) and Nodame Cantabile Saishū Gakushō Kou-Hen (2010.04.17).
The first season of the Nodame Cantabile anime aired in Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block from January to June 2007. The 11-episode second season Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter ran from October to December 2008. An OAV was bundled with the limited edition manga volume 22 released 10 August 2009. The third season Nodame Cantabile: Finale aired from January to March 2010. Seiyuu Kawasumi Ayako and Seki Tomokazu played protagonists Nodame and Chiaki in all three seasons.
 | Otoboke Kachou 「おとぼけ課長」 |
 | Stand Up! 「ＳＴＡＮＤ ＵＰ！」 |
[Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details.]
Mangazines (2011.04.27)
- Nakayoshi Gress! 4/2011 (Indonesian Nakayoshi)
Kaitou Lupin 「怪盗ルパン」
Original story by Maurice Leblanc; Illustrations by Kazumine Daiji
The Kumon Manga Library, educational manga
Volume 1 first published in Japan 1997.12