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Welcome back to another Previews preview!  There are plenty of interesting things to take a look at this month, so let’s get right to it.

Kris’s Pre-Orders

Vampire Knight volume 10, by Matsuri Hino.  SPOILER WARNING From Previews: “Rido is gone, but the battle rages on at Cross Academy.  The Night class is still under attack, and Headmaster Cross has joined the war to protect his students.  Zero, however, has vowed to get rid of all the Purebloods – including Yuki!”  From Viz Media, June 2010, $9.99.

Black Butler volume 2, by Yana Toboso.  From Previews: “Sebastian Michaelis.  Occupation: Butler.  He makes his master’s afternoon tea, polishes the silver, and heads up murder investigations?  As London is seized by fear when Jack the Ripper begins his killing spree in Whitechapel, Queen Victoria commands Ciel Phantomhive and his seemingly superhuman butler Sebastian to step in.  What will happen when the case takes a surprising turn?”  From Yen Press, May 2010, $10.99.

Also from Viz Media:

Afterschool Charisma, vol. 1, by Kumiko Suekane.  From the Viz Signature lines comes an interesting story about a bunch of historical figures thrown together at an exclusive academy.  From Previews: “St. Kleio Academy is a very exclusive school: all of the students are clones of famous historical figures such as Beethoven, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Mozart, and Freud.  All of them, that is, except for Shiro Kamiya.  As Shiro struggles to adapt to this unusual campus, St. Kleio’s first graduate, a clone of John F. Kennedy, is killed.  are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitor, or can they create their own destinies?  And how does a normal boy like Shiro fit in?”  June 2010, $12.99.  See a preview at SigIKKI.com.

Library Wars: Love & War, vol. 1, by Kiiro Yumi (original concept by Hiro Arikawa).  From Previews: “In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books is deems unsuitable.  The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves – the Library Forces!”  June 2010, $9.99.

Also From Yen Press:

Black Butler volume 1, by Yana Toboso.  I already reviewed this title, but it was not originally listed in Previews.  I assume due to its rather stellar sales, Yen Press decided to submit it, along with volume 2, which is mentioned above.

Kobato volumes 1-2, by CLAMP.  From Previews: “Hanato Kobato is on a mission: she has a wish she wants granted.  To achieve this, she must mend the wounded hearts of the people she meets on her journey and fill a magical bottle with the suffering she has relieved.  The only catch?  She cannot fall in love with those she helps.  That seems to be the least of her problems; she has no clue how to mend hearts, especially as each person’s heart is different.  Looks like the road to getting her one wish will b e a long and hard one.  But what is it that she wants?”  May 2010, $11.99 each.

My Girlfriend’s a Geek volume 1, by Pentabu (story) and Rize Shinba (art).  From Previews: “Taiga is a college student who’s always scraping by.  All he wants is a part-time job and a cute girlfriend.  So when he spies a ‘help wanted’ sign outside an office and a hot girl inside, he takes the job, no questions asked.  Everything goes well, prompting him to ask his coworker Yuiko on a date.  And when she asks him if it’s okay that she’s a comic/cartoons geek, he tells her it’s fine, only he has no idea how much trouble he’s just gotten himself into!”  May 2010, $10.99

Pandora Hearts volume 2, by Jun Mochizuki.  From Previews: “Heir to an aristocratic family, Oz Vesalius is a carefree teen, until his 15th birthday.  His entire world changes at his coming of age ceremony  when dark forces rise to punish Oz for the sins of a past life.  Incarcerated in a prison known as the Abyss, Oz’s life and perhaps his sanity are saved by a black rabbit called Alice.  As Oz plunges deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole, he must unravel the mysteries surrounding him before falling into the clutches of the shadowy cabal called Pandora!”  May 2010, $10.99.

From Vertical Inc.:

Tezuka’s Black Jack volume 11, by Osamu Tezuka.  From Previews: “Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats.  Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept a medical license.  This leads Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations.  Because he keeps his true motives secret, his ethics are perceived as questionable and he is considered a selfish, uncaring devil.  This volumes [sic] includes ‘Spasms,’ ‘The Only Means of Living,’ and ‘The Dog Whispers.'”  May 2010, $16.95.

From Tokyopop:

Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition volume 5, by Natsuki Takaya.  Collects volumes 9 and 10 of the 23-volume manga.  June 2010, $14.99.

From Digital Manga Publishing:

When the Heavens Smile, by Aki Senoo.  From Previews: “Takagi, a rather cute and innocent guy, is best friends and class mates with Kumoi, the tall, intellectual guy.  One day, Takagi sees a pencil sketch of a person in between Kumoi’s notebook pages, stunned to find he resembles his older brother.  So he asks, ‘Is that a picture of my brother… he passed away 6 years ago…?’  Kumoi responds, ‘no, no… that’s nobody.  It’s just a doodle of a random guy.’  Takagi tells himself that Kumoi couldn’t have possibly known his brother and that this was just a silly fluke and the drawing was nothing but a random drawing… but he can’t stop thinking there is something more to the sketch…”  May 2010, $12.95.

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess volume 2, by Hideyuki Kikuchi.  From Previews: “A vicious vampire gang four thousand years in the making has awakened from its slumber in order to seize control of Demon City Shinjuku.”  Setsura Aki and Doctor Mephisto must fight with all their power to avoid being overcome by these ancient demons.  May 2010, $13.95.  A review of the first volume will be in my main column in a few weeks, so keep an eye out for it.

From Bandai Entertainment:

Code Geass: Knight volume 1, by various (not listed).  It’s an anthology of side stories focusing on the male cast, so I’m not sure how canon it’s supposed to be.  But if Geass fans are like fans of…anything else out there, I imagine they’ll want all the story they’re able to find.  June 2010, $10.99.

From Abrams:

The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga HC, by Helen McCarthy.  The first authorized biography of Osamu Tezuka.  This came out last year, so I guess this is a reprint.  It was $40 then, and it’s $40 now.  Contains 300+ images, and a 45-minute DVD documentary.

From CMX:

Rampage vol. 2, by Yunosuke Yoshinaga.  From Previews: “The showdown continues between the Yellow Turban Army and Liu Bei’s Army!  The mysterious and invincible Zhao Yun wreaks havoc on Liu Bei’s soldiers and the army leader is next on his list.  If Liu Bei’s soldiers stay to fight, their death is inevitable, so they retreat, leaving the fearless Liu to stand alone.  Will Guan Yu or Zhang Fei be able to come to her aid in time?”  WAIT.  Her aid?  I hadn’t realized there was gender switching going on here.  June 2010, $12.99.  You can read an excellent (and generally favorable) review of the first volume here, written by Ain’t it Cool News’ Scott Green.

From Dark Horse:

Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus volume 1, by CLAMP.  From Previews: “Fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto finds a strange book in her father’s library – a book made by the wizard Clow to store dangerous spirits sealed within a set of magical cards.  But when Sakura opens it up, there is nothing left inside but Kero-chan, the book’s cute little guardian beast…who informs Sakura that since the Clow cards seem to have escaped while he was asleep, it’s now her job to capture them!”  July 2010, $19.99 (for 576 pages).

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service volume 11, written by Eiji Otsuka, with art by Housui Yamazaki.  From Previews: “Paint it black!  Designer Bunpei Yorifuji darkens the iconic cover design in honor of the sinister Class Cutter in Kurosagi’s longest story since volume 2, inspired by one of the most infamous Japanese crimes of recent years.  Can a girl who committed a brutal murder in grade school ever truly return to society…and why does Sasayama insist on dragging the Corpse Delivery Service into it?”  July 2010, $10.99.

Misc. Goodies for Your Shelves:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Trading Arts Set, from Square-Enix.  Ah, I had at first mistaken these for their Trading Arts action figures, but this is a boxed set of four figures: Alphonse Elric, Colonel Mustang (swoon), Envy, and Olivier Armstrong.  They each stand between 3″ and 5″ tall, and they look pretty detailed even in this little picture.  Ships in September 2010 for $39.99.    Hm…how much for just the Roy Mustang, I wonder?  If anyone picks this up, you are welcome to send that particular figure my way….

Tsubasa Chronicle/xxxHolic Double Feature Blu-Ray, from FUNimation.  The double film feature has been released on DVD, and now it’s making a move to Blu-ray.  Includes the short films The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom (Tsubasa) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (xxxHolic).  They’re both lovely films, so if you’re a fan of either series, pick this up.  May 2010, $29.99.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1, from FUNimation.  The first part of the new series, which recently premiered on Adult Swim.  Available on DVD and Blu-Ray in May 2010, for $49.99 and $54.99, respectively.

And that’s that!  Lots of exciting new things coming out!  And speaking of exciting things, make sure to come back this weekend, March 5-7, for a special three-part look at the films of Makoto Shinkai, to celebrate Global Shinkai Day.  I’ll be reviewing all three of his feature films over the weekend.

Kris
kristin@comicattack.net
@girlg33k_Kris