What I Read in May: Digest Version, 1 of 2

b Animal Academy 6: So, so sweet.  More gentle, cute antics at a high school that trains magical animals to be able to pass for humans in casual society.  I cannot describe how bummed out I am that I won't get to find out how this ends.  This volume brings us some backstory for the character I like the least.  Touching and well-handled.  This story isn't just about the cute.

b Canon 1-2, 4 of 4: I liked this one this time around, too.  I'm glad a lot of Chika Shiomi's work ended up getting published because it's great, not-your-average shojo.

p Cirque du Freak 1: Pass.  I just don't like the idiot main character enough to care.  And I definitely sympathize with the little misunderstanding that leads his former best friend to become his arch-enemy, but I don't like him either.

b Demon Sacred 2-3: Still so intriguing!  Still don't trust that blond demon!  Still seriously ticked off that I won't get to find out what happens after volume 4 because I am a darned law-abiding citizen . . .

b Hana Kimi 22-23: How can you not love a shojo artist who creates really sweet stories and loves Lord of the Rings and Ghost in the Shell?!  I still feel like the ending sort of ran out of steam in a I-can't-keep-drawing-this-for-the-next-6-years-of-my-life way, but that fail only started in the last two books, and they were still plenty of fun.

b Hikaru no Go 2: Awwwww, everyone looks so young and adorable!  Bring on the Go playing!  Glad to see Sai bullying Hikaru again.  This series is just solid all the way through.  Tons of characters, and you want them all to win, but no one can win all the time.

Elegy for Apothecarius Argentum 8

I just finished volume 8, and I am in mourning.  Not just for character X, whose death has been bumming me out every time I think of it all day (poor character X!!!!), but for the fact that I will NEVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS. 

Seriously, I'm going to go cry some more about the demise of CMX, the company who published this fine series with its slightly amateurish art and its startling ability to casually go where no manga I've read has gone before.  Euthanasia, abortion, slavery, prostitution: is this really a shojo manga (nothing at all like Banana Fish)? 

And two characters finally got to walk a bit holding hands, and then political chaos breaks out!  And this totally unexpected cliffhanger with a zillion converging loose ends leaves you wanting more NOW, and you can't have it because you are a good, law-abiding citizen (seriously contemplating breaking copyright law to find out what happens because you can't buy what happens next).  A sad, aborted "ending" for another fine series that deserved a full run.

Go read it now before even what we have is out of print.  Oh, my poor character X!  This sucks for us all!

Requiem for Go!Comi

The death of this publisher was not nearly as unexpected or huge as CMX's, but it still made me sad.  If you were collecting any of these titles, you should really get a move on picking up the ones you're missing because something tells me they'll be even harder to find even faster. 

Complete Series I've enjoyed at least part of

• Afterschool Nightmare: This one deserved all the critical acclaim it received.  Solid series.
• Angel's Coffin: I like historical fiction and You Higuri.  So there.
• Black Sun, Silver Moon: I enjoyed it, not just for the zombie puppy. It was kind of sloppily plotted (and I don't say that because of all the undead/zombie killing), but there was some quality angst there.
• Bran Doll: Trashy, pointless, weird fun.
• Crossroad: Had some interesting issues dealt with in different ways than I'd seen before.  And the tone was kind of unique, too.
• Devil Within: Trashy, creepy, totally fell apart at the end, but still weirdly compelling.
• Her Majesty's Dog: Really liked this one, too, for its interesting interpersonal relationships and people behaving in unexpected ways nonetheless consistent with their deeper than usual characters.
• Night of the Beasts: Chika Shiomi knows how to not give you what you expect in your horror stories. 
• Tenshi Ja Nai!!: Kinda creepy sometimes, but I did enjoy the ride.

Probably Incomplete Series I've enjoyed at least part of

• 07-Ghost: Had such potential.
• Bogle: Fun caper-y brainlessness.
• Bound Beauty: Not nearly as creepy as it could have been; this one was actually a lot of fun.
• Cantarella: I AM SAD. How, aside from reading history books, will we ever find out what happened to Cesar?!  And moth-guy?  And the fictional characters?!?!
• Cross x Break: Okay, this one was just funny and mysterious from page 1.
• Crown: Stylish, silly, lots of fun.
• CY-Believers: Can't remember a thing about it, but I liked the first volume.
• Hikkatsu!: Come on.  He kills appliances.  Martial arts and appliances.  Best fighting move names ever.
• Kurogane Communication: Sweet, sad, wistful sort of post-apocalyptical story.
• Song of the Hanging Sky: Okay, I'll admit it: I thought Cantarella was the series I would be most disappointed about, but Song of the Hanging Sky is.  This series was just brilliant.  The art, the story, the characters, the world, the plot, the choices . . .  I may actually cry that I will never find out what happens to all these poor people.

Sigh.  I would like to hope that someone would pick some of the best of these up.  +anima didn't do that well, but there's this other manga about kids with wings that's doing pretty well for Yen Press.  Someone (Yen Press, Tokyopop) pick up Song of the Hanging Sky.  DMP might like 07 or Cantarella if it ever gets finished in Japan . . .

Thanks for the good times, Go!Comi.  Rest in Peace.

Any series you have fond memories of or will miss?

Requiem for CMX

CMX, one of my favorite manga publishers, is dying. 

To mourn their passing, I'm taking a trip down memory lane to celebrate all the good times CMX brought me.  I made some lists.  Shut up; it's soothing. Connie over at Slightly Biased Manga did the same thing in an angry, funny, well-written post that includes more than bare bones summaries of some of her favorites.

What do my lists tell you?  (Aside from the fact that I am an indiscriminate, omnivorous reader, which you may already know, and the fact that I was too saddened [actually, just in too much pain] to do all the links, though I may try to fill some in later.)

1. CMX has made me very happy over the last six years.  I was slowly (as my budget allowed) collecting a LOT of their series, and I am heartbroken to see them summarily ungently kicked into that good night.
2. You should buy any of these titles that interest you before they're gone. 

What don't my lists tell you?  Which ones I've talked about in "What I Read" posts.  Most of them had at least some CMX.

Complete Series I've enjoyed at least part of

• Astral Project: Trippy.
• Battle of Genryu: I really wanted to know what was going to happen next.
• Canon: A little shojo horror from a master of it. A lot of reversals in such a short series.
• Chikyu Misaki: Cute and sometimes creepy. The baby loch ness monster thing was just irresistable, and you had to love the guest starring role featuring WOlverine.
• Cipher: THe 80s will never die! Just a treat the whole way through, even when it was pretty dark. If you liked Fame back in the day . . .
• Deka Kyoshi: I really did like this one for its ability to go to very dark places that kids sometimes have to face unprepared because no one will talk to them about certain situations.
• Devil Does Exist: Snotty, bratty, and fun romantic comedy with very stylish artwork.
• Dokkoida?!: Dumbest superhero costume ever; silly and stupid and fun series.
• Emma: Beautiful in every way.
• Empty Empire: I still wanted to know what happened next.
• Flat Earth Exchange: In the end, I really did enjoy it.
• Gals!: SuperGALS! forever! Like the anti-afterschool special.
• Jihai: Short, sweet sci-fi trilogy about what we do to make the most of the time we have. And stuff.
• Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne: Tanemura. 'Nough said.
• Key to the Kingdom: Really underappreciated gem of old-school, straight-fantasy. Great stuff.
• Kiichi and the Magic Books: Quirky, sad, wonderful.
• King of Cards: Yeah, why did they license this? It wasn't because Tateno was famous here (that came later), but I thought this series was a hoot because of the versatility it showed.
• Land of the Blindfolded: Sweet, sometimes sad romance with some supernatural touches.
• Lapis Lazuli Crown: Fun, quick shojo goodness.
• Lizard Prince: Yeah, kind of adorable and quirky and relaxing.
• March on Earth: Yes, there was some melodrama, but there were these transcendent moments that made it worthwhile.
• Monster Collection: Trashy, violent, fanservice in its quirky fantasy version.
• Moon Child: Out of this world. Literally. And that ending. Like a roller coaster in a dark building.
• Name of the Flower: Sad, quirky, tender story about how we can't save each other sometimes.
• Omukae Desu: Weird and wonderful.
• Oyayubihime Infinity: Fate, destiny, tattoos. Really fun.
• Palette of 12 Secret Colors: Breezy, lovely, quirky, wonderful, like most of this author's stuff.
• Penguin Revolution: Cheerful and genki and adorable.
• Pieces of a Spiral: Wanted to know what happened.
• Recipe for Gertrude: Adored this quirky, category-defying work of weirdness with its somewhat detached heroine and its odd moments of tenderness and humor.
• Seimaden: Dark love story fantasy. Cough You Higuri Cough.
• Sword of the Dark Ones: Violence, swords, angst, shorter than Berserk.
• Tears of a Lamb: Kind of a psychological vaguely relational school drama.
• Tenryu: The Dragon Cycle: I like the artist. Her characters are delightfully cranky on a regular basis.
• Tower of the Future: Fan of the artist, but I did like this story's quirkiness.
• VS (Versus): Bring on the music melodrama!
• Young Magician: Dark, dark fantasy where very bad things happen.

Incomplete Series I've enjoyed at least part of

• Apothecarius Argentum: This one hurts.  Sort of classy and classic and restrained and just great.
• Ballad of a Shinigami: Quirky short stories about a little Shinigami and the people she meets.
• Broken Blade ?: Shonen mech fantasy magic world political drama love story war thing. Very nice.
• Crayon Shinchan: So very, very wrong. I had to babysit a kid like this once, so I know they exist.
• Fire Investigator Nanase: I was curious to find out how it all turned out.
• From Eroica With Love: Ridiculous, hilarious, highly inappropriate.
• Gon: Astounding and brilliant. No text, just things that would make the Nature Chanel seem benign and boring.
• I Hate You More Than Anyone: Funny, twisted romantic comedy.
• Musashi Number Nine: I am a sucker for teenage spies.
• Swan: Oh, dear.  I loved this one.
• Two Flowers for the Dragon: I wrote about this delightful title once.
• Venus Capriccio: Cute and breezy romantic story with a slight twist.
• Venus in Love: I kind of adored this melodrama-free slice-of-romantic-life college story.

Series I never had a chance to enjoy even part of (but wanted to)

Classical Medley, Diamond Girl, Go Go Heaven!!, Go West!, Kikaider Code 02, King of Debris, My Darling! Miss Bancho, Oh! My Brother, Steel Fist Riku, Stolen Hearts, Suihelibe!, Tale of an Unknown Country, Teru Teru x Shonen, Time Guardian, World I Create, Any of the new ones with one volume out.

Here are some other announcements and reactions.  Excuse me while I go cry.

Do you have any CMX series you're going to really miss?

Waiting for Tokyopop

Why do I do this to myself? 

I finally read the first volume of the light novel series The Good Witch of the West.  It was good, which is why I'm once again annoyed at Tokyopop (the English language publisher, in theory) for just leaving everybody hanging.  Are they scrapping it (like the excellent Kino's Journey and the interesting Scrapped Princess)?  Is it just on hold until the economy gets less shaky?  Does anyone even know at Tokyopop since they aren't even responding on their own forum or informing their marketing people/sales reps?

I should know better than to start a Tokyopop series since the ones they do finish publishing are often so-so, and the great ones just disappear.  Like many other manga readers who have been with Tokyopop since before they started the 100% authentic manga revolution, I'm trying not to lose all faith in them, but they are making it increasingly hard for fans to care about them because they don't appear to care about their readers, (you know, the ones paying their salaries and stuff).

Thank you for your continued release of 12 Kingdoms, but there's so much more you could be doing.  Be great again, Tokyopop!  Please!

Dreaming about Kodocha

I was excited when Kodocha was licensed, super-excited because I heard the whole thing was licensed.  I was therefore kind of devastated when that turned out not to be true.  (And I won't even get started about Galaxy Railways.)

I couldn't wait to see all the things that weren't in the amazing Kodocha manga (as well as a stellar things that were).  I loved the hyper-activity in motion.  I was stunned by the amazing performance Laura Bailey put in as Sana; I even watched the whole thing dubbed in honor of her incredible effort.  I told my friends about it; some of them bought it.  Then we all had to deal with the misery of not seeing half of the show.  If you're listening, Funimation, I would totally pay to see the rest of it, even without the dub, but I can't because I am such a law-abiding citizen.  Sometimes, I wish I weren't.

I feel like companies shouldn't be able to license things if they're not going to follow through.  When a show or manga I like gets canceled (Beck, Beyond the Beyond, Never Give Up, Dazzle, Galaxy Railways), it irritates me because I feel like the studio has broken a promise it made to me when it purchased the license and got my hopes up. 

Of course Tokyopop and Funimation made me no guarantees, but they're the big companies who do the research and licensing; they should know what they can make money on.  They should not jerk me around.  They should know they are my conduit to legal manga and anime, the only kind I have access to since I am so straight-laced as to only access legal content legally (and pay for it because I understand how much I need to support it with my consumer vote of approval--the dollar--to make sure it keeps coming).  Why do they keep hurting me by leaving me hanging? 

This economy sure isn't helping. 

Maybe I should look at this positively: every canceled bit helps my wallet, right?

What anime/manga has left you hanging?  What do you really wish we could legally access more of?  Would you be willing to buy inferior versions (streamed stuff, subbed-only, manga online/e-book format) just to get your hands on the rest?