Pictures and Wallpaper: Long Hu Men Next Level

Update: What's the stage after minimalism? Because that's where this release sked lands, with its additional m&c! artwork and NikBabble™ :D

Shanaou Yoshitsune: Genpei no Kassen © Sawada Hirofumi
Kodansha [Serialized in Monthly Shonen Magazine]
Published in Indonesia as Shanaou Yoshitsune Genpei War by Gramedia/m&c!

Yoshinaka ousts Heike from the capital, but his overweening ambition results in despotic excesses. The Kiso troops, too, begin oppressing the townfolk. To curb the tyranny, a mysterious group, concealing its members' identities behind lion masks, emerges...

I assume this Yoshinaka is the general who defeated the army of Taira no Koremori at the Battle of Kurikara Pass and marched to Kyoto. I really should read Shanaou Yoshitsune Genpei War, but catching up with 14 Genpei War tankou, plus the 22-volume prequel—volumes 17 through 22 of which are individually restocked this street date—fazes me. >.< (More on the Restocks below.)

Elsewhere, the case of Kotori's murder cracks wide open in —

My Life 4 of 5 by Momochi Reiko

Three years have passed since Kotori's murder. Her case file is gathering dust, and people's memories are short. Nobara spends her days listless as evidence proving Gotouda's guilt remains elusive. Only her friend Himeno's miscarriage rouses her from her lethargy.

Nobara goes to Himeno's boyfriend Murase's apartment to fetch some things for the hospitalized Himeno, only to discover there a DVD recording of Kotori's last moments...

Even sight unseen, am willing to bet that the penultimate My Life ends in an evil cliffie. My suggest: Wait till 10 August for the finale to street.

m&c! mangazines: Cherry 55/2011

Premieres I Love Dog and You by Ichikawa Show and Always by Your Side by Nakamura Sayumi

Sawry, I don't know from which Sho-Comi/ Ciao/ ChuChu/ Flowers shoujo manga Cherry 55's cover comes from, but that doesn't really matter (much) right now, does it? The moar important thing — the two debuts noted above.

About I Love Dog and You
I speculate that I Love Dog and You is Ichikawa Show's Inu Jikan 「犬じかん」, first serialized in Sho-Comi. Only three chapters long, Inu Jikan follows Riku, a girl who prefers the company of Canis lupis familiaris to that of (male) Homo sapiens. And it just so happens that the most popular boy in school not only has the word ‘dog’ in his name but owns three large dogs too! Will love bloom? [Excerpted from Baka-Updates Manga's Inu Jikan description]

The tankou compiling AKA Dog Time also collects a pair of one-shots, Amakuchi koigokoro and Himitsu no chikara. (Adding the latter two on the off chance the m&c! serializes them later.)

Before I Love Dog and You, m&c! also serialized Color of Sky, Color of Love that I rated a “shocking” 5.75 on a scale of 10 (considering how much I wub Ichikawa Show-sensei's Let's Go Home). For other Ichikawa Show manga, see after the release list.

About Always by Your Side
Meanwhile, Nakamura Sayumi's Always by Your Side is most likely Itsumo Soba ni Koi no Uta 「いつもそばに恋のうた」 ex-ChuChu, originally compiled 2010.04. Can't understand Gugel's translation of the Japanese synop, but a much-wubbed love song figures in a certain couple's life.

For other Nakamura Sayumi manga, please scroll down.

Additionally, m&c! includes Glasses In Love among the Cherry 55 titles, but I have no clue about its original title nor its manga-ka. If you know, please leave me a comment.

These other manga (for sure) continue their serial runs: Yomogi Loves Money? (Yomogi Mochi Yaketa?) by Arai Kiyoko; Dawn Aria (Akatsuki no ARIA) by Akaishi Michiyo; My Lovely Class Leader ♥ (Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou) by Nishimura Tomoko (volume 2 is skedded for this 10 August, btw); and I am not a Maid! (Maid ja Naimon!) by Iwaoka Meme.

m&c! also sneaks in a sneak peek into the local KOLONI series Satu Atap by Azisa Noor, a comedy set in a Bandung boarding house populated by not-quite human residents. (Two volumes released as per July 2010.)

☂ [RE-STO] Restocks of restocks, unless they didn't restock per m&c!'s plan?

m&c! manga (2011.07.27)

My Life (Inochi) 4 of 5 by Momochi Reiko

Inochi 「いのち」 by Momochi Reiko
Kodansha Dessert, shoujo
Volume 4 first published in Japan 2010.04

Shanaou Yoshitsune Genpei War (Shanaou Yoshitsune: Genpei no Kassen) 14 of 16+ by Sawada Hirofumi

Shanaou Yoshitsune: Genpei no Kassen
「遮那王　義経　源平の合戦」
by Sawada Hirofumi
Kodansha Monthly Shonen Magazine, shounen
Volume 14 first published in Japan 2011.02

Related series
Shanaou Yoshitsune (prequel, 22 of 22 volumes)

m&c! mangazines (2011.07.27)

Cherry 55/2011

Hong Kong manhua (2011.07.27)

Long Hu Men - The Next Level 5: Berebut Supremasi by Tony Wong (Jade Dynasty)
The Story of Wang Fenglei Season 2 Book Two by Tony Wong and Dick Kwong (Jade Dynasty)

[RE-STO] Restocked (2011.07.27)

Cherish Fight by YASUKO
March Our Hearts Together (Kono Sora ni Hibike) by Shibano Yuka
Miracle Ice Angel (Kururinpa!) by Imai Yasue
My cheerful Boyfriend (Seito Kaichou no Kareshi) by Satori Tae
My Cinderella (Watashi no Cinderella) by Kawase Natsuna
My Fragile Love (Usotsuki na Gemini) 1 of 3 by Miyawaki Yukino
My Fragile Love 2 of 3 by Miyawaki Yukino
My Fragile Love 3 of 3 by Miyawaki Yukino [Finale]
Mysterious Thief Milky Drop (Kaitou Thief Milky Drop) by Iwaoka Meme
Shanaou Yoshitsune 17 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi
Shanaou Yoshitsune 18 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi
Shanaou Yoshitsune 19 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi
Shanaou Yoshitsune 20 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi
Shanaou Yoshitsune 21 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi
Shanaou Yoshitsune 22 of 22 by Sawada Hirofumi [Finale]
Sweet Black by Nishikata Mai
Teenage Days ~ Okamoto Rei Secret Story ~ by Usami Tae
Triple Honey by Yamanaka Rico

Please continue to #prayforJapan and/or do something more to help the people who suffered through the devastating quake and tsunami. Still no word on some manga-ka post 3.11; fortunately as I write this, ANN reports that all Shogakukan and Shueisha manga creators (Electric Daisy's Motomi Kyousuke-sensei is a Shogakukan manga-ka) have been accounted for. (Thanks, Jasmine-san, for the Mangaka's Status in Japan After 11/03/2011 - Google Docs link.)

Dengeki Daisy © Motomi Kyousuke/Shogakukan [Serialized in Betsucomi]
Published in Indonesia as Electric Daisy by Gramedia/m&c!

Kurosaki resolves to come clean about his so-called “sin” and DAISY's true identity. He invites Teru out to soften the revelation, unaware that “Akira” is biding his time before approaching Teru and... (Take home Electric Daisy 7 to find out what trap “Akira” springs on our KuroTeru.)

Finales

A couple of “venerable” manga series superannuates this m&c! sked (try to remember when you first started reading them): Adachitoka & Kawashima Tadashi's Alive and Seino Shizuru's Pure Love Kamikaze Captain.

Alive wraps the way it launched, with only a list of the quoted from... chapter titles gracing the back cover:

#79 Let hope inspire you, but not let idealism blind you.
(from musician Don Henley; m&c!'s chapter title: Permohonan/Plea)
#80 I wish they would only take me as I am.
(from post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh; m&c!'s chapter title: Cara Melihat Dunia/How to View the World)
#81 The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself. (from American Modernist poet Wallace Stevens; m&c!'s chapter title: Menangis, Tertawa/Crying, Laughing)
Final Everything has been figured out, except how to live. (from French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre; m&c!'s chapter title: Semoga Sehat Selalu/Hopefully, Healthy Always)

There's also a manga-ka outtake at the end of Alive 21.

Meanwhile, in the last Pure Love Kamikaze Captain, Matsuru, not wanting to lose Chiemi's friendship, tries to bury his feelings where Chiemi can't see them. Hirata, however, realizes Matsuru's yearnings and dares Matsuru to compete with him for the love of Chiemi.

So now that Pure Love Kamikaze Captain is finished, does it mean we can soon look forward to the sequel Junai Tokkou Taichou! Honki?

New m&c! titles

Tony Wong's Long Hu Men/Oriental Heroes manhua hurtles to the next stage of martial arts action with Long Hu Men - Next Level, but doesn't ditch the bombastic subtitling (the first in the series is subtitled Tewasnya Dewa Iblis Awan Api!/The Death of the Fire Cloud Demon God) nor the artwork I wouldn't be caught carrying. (No offense meant to LHM fans.)

Sensei wa Egotist
© Shiiba Nana/
Shogakukan
[Deluxe Betsucomi]
Published in Indonesia
as My Egoist Teacher
by Gramedia/m&c!

But then it's equally likely you'll see me hugging Shiiba Nana's My Egoist Teacher—the other debut—close to my chest, reluctant to let anyone see me indulging in Guilty Pleasures.

There is a new English teacher in town. His name, Kyouichi Sanada. Handsome, blond, brown-eyed. When this lady-killer smiles, fangirls swoon. So how come whenever we're alone, he changes into a super-selfish guy?!!

In addition to the My Egoist Teacher ♥ title story blurbed above, this shoujo anthology also contains shorts Teacher's Girlfriend, Teacher's Cat and My Egoist Teacher ♥ Summer Holiday. This omnibus doesn't seem to be related to Shiiba Nana-sensei's Sensei wa Sadistic.

m&c! has also published these other Nana-chan manga: Kiss Me After School!, Gorgeous Twins, Prince Romantica and The Underground Kids.

Triple Deal/Reissues [RE-STO]

If you're a shoujo fan willing to part with IDR 80,000 and to date have been looking for Majiko!'s time-skipping Dynamic Duet (I guess it didn't reprise reissue last week), Tsuda Masami's Don't make her mad! Eensy Weensy Monster AND Harue Le Pon's Be careful of what you wish for... Mokke Guardian From Heaven—what's the probability of these conditions obtaining?—this 3×two-volumes value set is for you. Extending that possibility not zero off-chance into forcing the issue territory, here are the covers to facilitate your hunt: DD 1 and 2 | EWM 1 and 2 | MGFH 1 and 2.

☆ Reprints, 10 of them, including volumes 1 to 5 of Usami Maki's Love Sign a-gain, are also about to make a reappearance on bookstore shelves.

m&c! manga, manhwa and manhua (2011.03.16)

Alive (Alive - Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen) 21 of 21 by Adachitoka & Kawashima Tadashi [Finale]

Alive - Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen
「アライブ　最終進化的少年」
by Adachitoka & Kawashima Tadashi (deceased)
Kodansha Monthly Shonen Magazine, shounen
Volume 21 (chapters 79-82) first published in Japan 2010.05

Other languages
English Alive - The Final Evolution (Del Rey: volume 8 released 2009.11.24; succeeding releases taken over by Kodansha USA) and French (Pika Édition Alive Last Evolution tome 13 shipped 2010.06)

Born to Cook (Mister Ajikko II) 7 of 9+ by Terasawa Daisuke

Mister Ajikko II 「ミスター味っ子２」
by Terasawa Daisuke
Kodansha Evening KC, seinen
Volume 7 first published in Japan 2010.04

Related series
Mister Ajikko (prequel; 19 volumes)

Electric Daisy (Dengeki Daisy) 7 of 9+ by Motomi Kyousuke

Dengeki Daisy 「電撃デイジー」 by Motomi Kyousuke
Shogakukan Betsucomi, shoujo
Volume 7 first published in Japan 2010.07

Other languages
English Dengeki Daisy (three volumes per 2010.12 • volume 4 street date: 2011.04.05), French (Kazé; Dengeki Daisy tome 6 shipped 2011.02 • tome 7 street date: 2011.05.26) and traditional Chinese 愛情接合器 (Ever Glory Taiwan)