Shinobi Life 1, Gift Under the Rainbow 1, Dachs 1, My Cinderella, Sweet Black (m&c! 22 July 2009 new manga)

Shinobi Life © Conami Shoko/Akita Shoten

Ninja Kagetora drops from the heavens into the future (our now) and swears fealty to a young girl in Shinobi Life. However, our time-slipping stealth warrior is mistaken — "Princess" Beni is not the royal personage he's supposed to bodyguard. [Adapted from Baka-Updates Manga's series description]

Conami Shoko's fantasy historical romance manga debuts in Indonesia this 22 July.

Despite being premised on a Big Mis (the Silly Big Misunderstanding Plot to give the romantic cliché its full title), I'm optimistic about this series. I'm hoping the She's not the one! plotline is resolved quickly as Beni has no logical reason to keep the information to herself... or does she? In any case, I pray the story moves on to more emotional investment-worthy romantic conflict; I base my Pollyana-ism on the fact that the series is still ongoing in Princess. (Can't really sustain seven-volumes-plus narrative on something that could be resolved with a few minutes of talking now, can you? Oh, wait. This is shoujo we're talking about.)

My Cinderella
Meanwhile, here in Watashi no Cinderella, we have a real princess, Tsubaki. Tsubaki's papa orders her to date someone for her upcoming sweet sixteen. She chooses childhood friend Aoi whose alias is Cinderella. [Adapted from Aerandria Scans' description excerpted by Baka-Updates Manga]

W00t! The return of Kawase Natsuna-sensei! I heart her art, and her stories (Jewel of Magic, Story of the Neverland, The Witch Who Cannot Fly — all in my library) have always been, if not breathlessly satisfactory, then all's right with the world contentment-inducing.

Both of these new manga—My Cinderella and Shinobi Life—have BUY probabilities of over 75% and as such, get my personal stamp of GET!

More babble after m&c!'s 22 July release list (which includes volume 9 of Kirarin Revolution and volume 2 of Strawberry Love or Ichigo Doumei that took more than a year to get here).

m&c! manga (2009.07.22)

Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details and cover scans.

1. [Premiere] Dachs 1 by Ohyuki Shiwasu
2. [Premiere] Gift Under The Rainbow 1 of 2 by MOONSTONE & Yukiwo

Gift - Under the Rainbow 「 ギフト～ｕｎｄｅｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｒａｉｎｂｏｗ～ 」 by MOONSTONE & Yukiwo Kadokawa Shoten Comptiq, seinen Volume 1 first published in Japan 2006.11 Based on the eroge Gift (ギフト)

3. Kirarin Revolution 9 of 14 by Nakahara An

Kirarin Revolution 「 きらりん☆レボリューション 」 by Nakahara An Shogakukan Ciao, shoujo Volume 9 first published in Japan 2007.03 Main story: Kirarin Revolution: Tokubetsuhen

4. [New] My Cinderella (Watashi no Cinderella) by Kawase Natsuna

Watashi no Cinderella 「 私のシンデレラ 」 by Kawase Natsuna Hakusensha LaLa, LaLa DX, and LaLa Special, shoujo This volume first published in Japan 2008.02

5. [Premiere] Shinobi Life 1 of 7+ by Conami Shoko

Shinobi Life 「 シノビライフ 」 by Conami Shoko Akita Shoten Princess, shoujo Volume 1 first published in Japan 2006.05 Published in English by TOKYOPOP (volume 3 street date: 2009.11.03)

6. Strawberry Love (Ichigo Doumei) 2 of 2+ by Morishita Nodoka

Strawberry Love 「 イチゴ同盟 」 by Morishita Nodoka Kodansha Dessert, shoujo Volume 2 first published in Japan 2007.06

7. [New] Sweet Black by Nishikata Mai

Sweet Black 「 スイートブラック 」 by Nishikata Mai Hakusensha Hana to Yume, shoujo This volume first published in Japan 2007.10

NOTE
(1) Source: Elex Media STO 22 July 2009.
(2) Links like this are Amazon.com search and/or product links (commercial), in case you're interested in another language version.

More New Manga

Sweet Black
「 スイートブラック 」 by Nishikata Mai

Just like Kawase Natsuna's My Cinderella and Nishikata Mai's own Venus Capriccio (released 8 July), this standalone features childhood friends — Sagiri and Haru. According to Baka-Updates Manga, Sagiri, a popular model, feels a rift widening between herself and the boy she used to know.

Will she be able to stop it?

To Buy or Not to Buy
85 percent GET! probability owing to the asplosion of warm and fluffies in Venus Capriccio.

The other new manga m&c! plans to release on the 22nd are: Gift - Under the Rainbow by MOONSTONE & Yukiwo and Dachs 1 by Ohyuki Shiwasu. Can't find anything on the latter (the only extant thing in Ohyuki-sensei's backlist (from Baka-Updates Manga) is Hamster Research Report, a collaboration with Masumura Hiroshi-sensei.)

The seinen harem Gift - Under the Rainbow, on the other hand, is a manga based on Gift, a visual novel by MOONSTONE. The adaptation is supposed to be two-volumes long, so I'm at a loss as to why the STO entry doesn't have a "1" attached to the title.

Whatever the reason, in this 'verse, Gift refers to a power possessed by everyone living in the town of Narasakicho, a power that can bring forth one miracle in the wielder's lifetime. Another quirk of the town is the ever-present rainbow arcing above it. The Gift story revolves around high school student Amami Haruhiko and his strong connection to Gift's mysterious power. [Adapted from Wiki's Gift (visual novel) entry]

To Buy or Not to Buy
NO to both.

One last thing: can anyone confirm if Ichigo Doumei is still ongoing, or has it already ended?

~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03) who must plow through Eensy Weensy Monster to make way for Shinobi Life 1

disclaimer

Cover images and source summaries used here for reference are © their respective intellectual rights holders. No infringement intended.

manga available this week (14-15 July 2009 street dates)

• Level Comics (7.14): Fight!! Ippo 68 and Tokyo Juliet 7
• Elex Media (7.15): Yotsuba&! 8, Rocket Man 8, Alice Academy 11, La Corda D'Oro 1, The Best Skilled Surgeon (Saijou no Meii) 1 by Irie Kenzo & Hashiguchi Takashi
• m&c! (7.15): Bleach 13, Alive 15, Happy Café 10, Not an Angel (Tenshi Ja Nai!) 1-2 by Shigematsu Takako, Archlord 6 of 6, Battle Story Rockman Exe 4 of 4

...and next (21-22 July 2009 street dates)

• Level Comics (7.21): Magister Negi Magi 19 (Yes, only one Level manga)
• Elex Media (7.22): Eyeshield 21 volume 28, New Legenda Naga 3, SORA - The Wingless Duck 8, Comic Bomber 13 of 13, Shonen Star 55, Ghost Sweeper Mikami 34

other invaluable resources

7&Y · Amazon Japan · Baka-Updates Manga

Technorati tags
manga, m&c!, seinen, shoujo, Dachs, Gift - Under the Rainbow, Ichigo Doumei, Kirarin Revolution, My Cinderella, Shinobi Life, Sweet Black, Watashi no Cinderella

Save as PDF