Hanako and the Terror of Allegory Volume 1 by Sakae Esuno
I had high expectations for this title. I really liked the first volume of Esuno’s other series Future Diary, which I keep meaning to read more of. I tend to enjoy stories about wacky detectives, so a detective of allegory or folklore seemed intriguing. Unfortunately [...]

Stolen Hearts Volume 1 by Miku Sakamoto
I bought this volume purely because of the cover image. A cute girl in a kimono has her mouth open in an “O” of surprise, while a red-haired boy lurks ominously in the background. At school Shinobu spills milk on a bag belonging to Koguma, the intimidating tough guy [...]

Sand Chronicles 7 by Hinako Ashihara
As I was reading Sand Chronicles, I was reminded again how refreshing it is when shoujo series extend the time line of the story past high school. So many manga series end with high school graduation, but I like seeing the cast of Sand Chronicles as they move into the [...]

Here’s what I think looks good:

CMX
Stolen Hearts #2
Venus Cappricio #4

Digital Manga Publishing
Red Angel – If the vampire manga currently out isn’t enough for you, there’s this: Mika, a transfer student, is a girl as beautiful as an angel. She invites her new friend Nana to her house, where Mika’s brother Koryu fascinates her. But between [...]

Sexy Voice and Robo by Iou Kuroda
It is the first installment of the Manga Moveable Feast, and the book picked was Iou Kuroda’s unique manga about a teenage adventuress named Sexy Voice and her older otaku sidekick, chauffeur, and occasional bodyguard Robo. Nico Hayashi’s part-time job is talking with random people on a telephone dating [...]

Alice in the Country of Hearts Volume 2 by QuinRose and Hoshino Soumei
I continue to be weirdly fascinated by this dating sim manga set in the world of Alice in Wonderland. I was hoping that some of the metatextual elements that I saw in the first volume would be expanded on in the second. This [...]

Natsume’s Book of Friends Volume 1 by Yuki Midorikawa
I always tend to like manga about yokai or spirit hunters, especially when they incorporate interesting storylines and unexpected character designs. Natsume’s Book of Friends seems like a great addition to the yokai genre of manga. Natsume is a boy who was passed around from relative to [...]

All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga
All the manga blogs love All My Darling Daughters, and I am no exception. This single volume would be a great first pick for anyone interested in sampling Fumi Yoshinaga’s work if they haven’t already. I sometimes have mixed feelings towards volumes of manga short stories perhaps due [...]

I wanted to do a mini-round up of things related to the GGNT list.
Graphic Novel Reporter has a roundtable discussion explaining the history behind the list.
Over at Good Comics for Kids, a discussion of some of the titles that made it onto the list.
I was happy to see that the title I nominated, Ken Saito’s [...]

I previously enjoyed Asano’s Solanin. What a Wonderful World is an earlier work, but I didn’t realize until I read Shaenon Garrity’s review over at about.com that Asano was only 22 when he started working on this manga. It is unusual to get such a polished and accomplished work from such a young creator. In [...]