Honey Hunt © Aihara Miki/Shogakukan (Serialized in Cheese!)
Published in Indonesia by Elex Media/Level Comics
Contains [SPOILERS!]
Haruki keeps pushing Kanae away; however, Kanae refuses to budge from Haruki's side. The pair eventually decides to get married, but before the happy day can dawn, Haruki's condition worsens. It's critical.
Is there a Happy Even After in store for our couple? Find out in Diamond Life volume 3 that, at the very least, promises s'more tearjerking. (Won't say which kind. I will, however, (over)share that the Diamond Life finale will likely be a Very Fast Read; fellow shoujo/josei fan dalina02-san confirms: It only took one hour to finish that manga.
)
I don't have a summary for the other finale—Komori Yoichi & Takemura Yuji's marine salvage saga Master Of Sea—but one assumes Rintarou eventually services (if he hasn't already done so) his dad's ¥1.5 billion debt in full. (Sorry, not reading this Level title.)
The latest Honey Hunt—the shoujo manga ANN calls a transparent rip-off of Yoshiki Nakamura's Skip Beat!... with a mopey heroine instead of a magnificently angry one and a cast of pretty boys with potentially bad intentions
—has Yura landing a role in screenscribe Todoh Maki's newest drama. At the same time, singer/composer Q-Ta returns from England to see her — and we all know what effect he will have on Yura's concentration, at a time she really needs it.
Deeming celebrats like Q-Ta (and his twin Haruka) so much unacceptable debauch and not wanting to see Yura's budding career go down the tubes, manager Mizorogi orders his acting protégé to Just Say No! to boys and any romantic relationships. (VIZ's Honey Hunt 4 blurb cites greater paparazzi scrutiny of Yura as Machiavelli's, I mean, Mizorogi's reason.)
So what is Yura doing, disobeying Mizorogi and escaping to an onsen with Q-Ta?
Okay, so I don't think I've seen a Hot Springs Episode (yet) in Skip Beat!, so this is a Honey Hunt one-up.
New Level Titles
Ghost Mama Sousasen
© Sato Tomokazu
Shogakukan (Big Comics)
Published in Indonesia as
Ghost Mum Investigator
by Level Comics
Dead Mama Helps Son Solve Cases is the (relatively) novel premise of Sato (or Satou) Tomokazu's seinen manga Ghost Mum Investigator, originally Ghost Mama Sousasen. (I say novel
because I'm blanking out on any similarly-troped extramundane detective manga.)
First-grader Tonbo sorely misses his mommy, an ex-policewoman who died in an accident. Now whenever the grade-schooler wears his mother's specs, he can see and communicate with her spirit. What else to do with the newfound power, other than collaborate with mom to investigate spiritual cases?
Among the Ghost Mum & Son's initial caseload: spiritual kidnapping and a double suicide (if I read chapter title translations right). Level bills the Mediumship With a Twist story funny and poignant.
I'm pretty sure this is Cubitus' debut as a Level ROMIC/bande dessinée. Cartoonist Dupa's chubby white canine protagonist was first popped his furry head in Komikologi February, but only pokes his big black nose in and wags that highlighter yellow tail this Wednesday with Cubitus - Anjing yang Selalu Beruntung (Cubitus, chien sans accroc) and Cubitus - Si Anjing Penurut (Cubitus, donne la belle papatte).
The other BDs are regulars Lucky Luke and Spirou et Fantasio
(see list below).
Cubitus, who first appeared in Tintin, also starred in his own 1988-vintage Japanese anime, Don-don Domeru to Ron that became Wowser after export to the US. Aside from fame as Dommel in Japan, Flanders and the Netherlands, the Belgian native also goes by the aliases Teodoro (Italian) and Kaaboul (Arabic).
Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details and cover scans.
- Diamond Life 3 of 3 by Fujiwara Akira [Finale]
- [Premiere] Ghost Mum Investigator (Ghost Mama Sousasen) 1 of 3+ by Sato Tomokazu
- Honey Hunt 4 of 6+ by Aihara Miki
- K2 2 of 13+ by Mafune Kazuo
- Master Of Sea (Waga Na wa Umishi Master Of Sea) 15 of 15 by Takemura Yuji and Komori Yoichi [Finale]
- Psychometrist Eiji (Psychometrer Eiji) 14 of 25 by Ando Yuma, Asaki Masashi
- Tomo'o (Danchi Tomoo) 9 of 16+ by Oda Tobira
- Cubitus - Anjing yang Selalu Beruntung (Cubitus, tome 25: Chien sans accroc) by Dupa (Le Lombard)
- Cubitus - Si Anjing Penurut (Cubitus, tome 23: Cubitus donne la belle papatte) by Dupa (Le Lombard)
- Lucky Luke - Sepupu Dalton (Lucky Luke, tome 12: Les Cousins Dalton) by Morris & René Goscinny (Dupuis, 1958)
- Spirou - 4 Petualangan Spirou dan Fantasio (Spirou et Fantasio, tome 1: 4 aventures de Spirou... et Fantasio) by Franquin (Dupuis, 1950)
- Spirou - Seine di Paris (Spirou et Fantasio, tome 47: Paris-sous-Seine) by Morvan & Munuera (Dupuis, 2004)
NOTE
¹ Sources: Elex Media STO 30 June 2010 and Komikologi (synopses, except where noted)
² Links like this are Amazon.com (or other online merchants) search and/or product links (commercial), in case you're interested in another language version.
Volume previews continued
Some detective work required in the K2 medical drama —
Dr. K tries to locate nine of the 10 surgical scalpels left by his predecessor Kazuya, and gets word about Blade #2: a doctor named Takaiwa Seiji has it. Apparently, 15 years ago, Takaiwa got into an accident and was saved by Kazuya. So how did Takaiwa end up with the scalpel? And can Dr. K recover it?
First it was the tragic suicide of a girl who threw herself in front of train. Next came the shooting deaths of several Shibuya youths. And now, Toru has disappeared. While investigating Toru's trail, Shima and Eiji become suspects!
~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03)
disclaimer
Cover images and source summaries used here for reference are © their respective intellectual rights holders. No infringement intended.
other manga available this week (30 June 2010 street date)
Elex Media: BECK 19 · Detektif Conan 10+ Super Digest by Aoyama Gosho · Detektif Conan Spesial 32 · Hayate The Combat Butler 21 · Hell Girl 3 · A Kiss for My Prince 3 · Kunai Legend 3 · Legend of the Cursed Sword 30 · Look Up! 1 by Kusaba Michiteru · Natural Honey Dormitory 1 by Oda Aya · Otomen 8 · Pandora Hearts 10 · The Puppet Master Lin 8 · The Ruler of Nabari 11 · Spiral: The Bonds of Reason 4 · V.B. Rose 4 · Wild Life 6 · HanaLaLa 51/2010
m&c!: 1/3 Romantica by Shibano Yuka · A Badboy Drinks Tea 6 · Bakugan Battle Brawlers 7 · Bleach 29 · Cherish Fight by YASUKO · Finding My Destiny by Nakamura Sayumi · Love is Sweet by Kumaki Eri · Mysterious Joker 4 · Prince of Sewing by Koito Sayo · Wounded Angel by Mitsuha Yuu | AMERO BDs: 5 × Quick and Flupke by Hergé: (1) Mainan Terlarang, (2) Baik-Baik Saja, (4) Kembangkan Layar, (5) Sekarang Giliranmu and (6) Tanpa Ampun | Hong Kong manhua: Confucius 1 by Sai Ihara/Lee Chi-Ching · The Story of Wang Fenglei 3 | KOLONI local comics: Sweethearts · The Creator Jade · Komik Cihuy Anak Band
related monthly schedules
Level Comics July 2010 manga
Premiering Soul Eater by Ohkubo Atsushi and Yokohama Chinatown Fantasy by Nishi Yuuji · Ending Diamond Life
Level Comics June 2010 manga
Premiering Dark Edge by Aikawa Yu, Ghost Mum Investigator by Sato Tomokazu · Standalones: 1 or W by Takahashi Rumiko and Bus Hashiru by Sahara Mizu
other invaluable resources
7net Shopping · Baka-Updates Manga · Wikipedia · ANN
Technorati tags
Level Comics · manga · josei · seinen · shoujo · Diamond Life · Ghost Mum Investigator (Ghost Mama Sousasen) · Honey Hunt · K2 · Master Of Sea · Psychometrist Eiji · Tomo'o
ROMIC (BD): Cubitus · Lucky Luke · Spirou et Fantasio
Diamond Life 「 ダイヤモンド・ライフ 」
by Fujiwara Akira
Shogakukan Petit Comic, josei
Volume 3 first published in Japan 2007.12