Also, Yakitate!! Japan 15 in which Azuma & Co. leave Monaco for home to compete in a new series of nationally-televised bake-offs and Innocent Love Story: Girls Who Pass Through Time, which is NOT TokiKake.
Nosatsu Junkie © Fukuyama Ryoko/Hakusensha
Published in Indonesia as Charming Junkie by Elex Media Komputindo
Apparently, I will have to scotch expectations of finding The Fifth in my Christmas stocking since that futuristic thriller will not make it in time for the 24th eve. (Andrea-sensei sez we have to wait till January for volume 1 of Helix x Bishop exploits.) Still, there's Ouran High School Host Club volume 8 and La Corda D'Oro volume 6 as fallback.
Elex will also release the second to the last Charming Junkie manga (volume 15) and the Sweet Lollipop Return! finale (volume 6) on the 23rd, which should make those following these series happy. I, myself, don't follow, but I could be persuaded to read them if I find the aforementioned tankou (and the preceding volumes) under the tree. (Hint, hint!)
Being Modotte! Mamotte! Lollipop-clueless, all I can say there is that Nina got hitched. I can, however, babble about La Corda D'Oro 6 and tell you that no one's getting married here (yet) but Tsukimori, overhearing Kahoko's egregious violin-playing, now Wants. Answers! And finding Tsukimori stalking Kaho-chan, Hihara-senpai starts seeing green. (The jealous shade's probably darker than his hair's lime-ish hue.)
Speaking of hues, this time yellow, in Ouran High School Host Club 8, the contest for the King of Cowards is on, and the evil Hitachiin twins are up to their usual fiendish tricks. Can Haruhi protect the faint-hearted class president from HikaKao trickster menace? [Adapted from VIZ Media's volume 8 synopsis]
The penultimate Charming Junkie 15 reported as Next Attraction #5 raises even more thorny questions. Naka follows Umi to Germany, using her own savings for the plane fare. What's going to happen to our couple abroad? Will Naka be able to confess her feelings to Umi? And what of Umi's career as a male model? Questions, questions, and we want answers, answers.
The new manga (Innocent Love Story: Girls Who Pass Through Time and Innocent World) discussion and the rest of the synopses (for Ruler of The Land 46 and Treasure Gaust 2) are after the manga list.
Mangazines: HanaLaLa 45/2009
Ouran Koukou Host Club
© Hatori Bisco/Hakusensha
Ouran's Haruhi is the cover, but the Ryo/Aya/Yukari trinity from Tsukuba Sakura's Penguin Revolution headlines HanaLaLa issue 45 — which ought to tell you that Something Big Is Up. In the 40-paged penultimate chapter 34, The Bridge of Dreams
finally opens and Ayaori shows off beautiful, eerie, black wings tailored for his tyrant role. Meanwhile, Ryo, after strenuous acting and dance training, displays equally radiant wings, their luminosity eclipsing even those of Oka Yoko's, which we know constitute Yukari's bar for awesome. (See? It's the PenKaku ROI chapter.)
HanaLaLa 45 also features two final stretch chapters—132 and 133—of Takaya Natsuki's Fruits Basket (after these, only three more chapters remain) and a La Corda D'Oro special: La Corda D'Oro ~ Furioso.
Other regular Hana to Yume and LaLa titles in serialization are: Alice Academy by Higuchi Tachibana, Arakure by Fujiwara Kiyo, Darling, Mr. ERMINE - Si Penguasa (Okojo-banchou) and Perjalanan Keliling Dunia Mr. ERMINE (Shokoku Manyu Okojosan) (all by Uno Ayumi), Dragon's Fiancé (Ryuu no Hanawazurai) by Kusakawa Nari, the main La Corda D'Oro story by Kure Yuki, Skip Beat! by Nakamura Yoshiki, Sugar Princess by Nakajo Hisaya, Vampire Knight by Hino Matsuri, V.B. Rose by Hidaka Banri, and With My Brothers (Oniichan to Issho) by Tokeino Hari.
Elex Media manga and manhwa (2009.12.23)
Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details and cover scans.
- Charming Junkie (Nosatsu Junkie) 15 of 16 by Fukuyama Ryoko
- [New] Innocent Love Story: Girls Who Pass Through Time by Kayama Yumi - Serial Cantik
- [New] Innocent World by Yamada Daisy - Serial Cantik
- La Corda D'Oro (Kin Iro no Corda) 6 of 13+ by Kure Yuki
- Ouran High School Host Club (Ouran Koukou Host Club) 8 of 15+ by Hatori Bisco
- Ruler of The Land (Yul Hyul Kang Ho) 46 of 50+ by Jeon KeukJin and Yang JaeHyun
- Sweet Lollipop Return! (Modotte! Mamotte! Lollipop) 6 of 6 by Kikuta Michiyo [Finale]
- Treasure Gaust (Treasure Gaust: Shijou Saikyou no Hanta) 2 of 6 by Katsumi Naoto
- Yakitate!! Japan 15 of 26 by Hashiguchi Takashi
 | Toki wo Kaketa Shoujotachi by Kayama Yumi |
 | Innocent World 「 イノセント・ワールド 」 |
 | Kin Iro no Corda 「 金色のコルダ 」 by Kure Yuki |
 | Ouran Koukou Host Club 「 桜蘭高校ホスト部 」 |
 | Yul Hyul Kang Ho 「 열혈강호 」 |
 | Modotte! Mamotte! Lollipop by Kikuta Michiyo |
 | Treasure Gaust: Shijou Saikyou no Hanta |
 | Yakitate!! Japan 「 焼きたて！！ジャぱん 」 |
NOTE
(1) Sources: Elex Media STO 23 December 2009 (release schedule) and Komikologi (synopses, except where noted)
(2) Links like this are Amazon.com (or other online merchants) search and/or product links (commercial), in case you're interested in another language version.
New manga
Innocent Love Story: Girls Who Pass Through Time
「 幕末純愛伝説～時をかけた少女たち～ 」 by Kayama Yumi
Most everyone thinks this Serial Cantik title is TokiKake or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time but it's not. As I mentioned earlier and repeat here, it's part of Kayama Yumi's Toki wo Kaketa Shoujotachi, specifically the legendary pure love
story set during the Bakumatsu (but not the Shinsengumihen one; that's Youth Love Story). Don't believe me? Here's Elex's blurb from the December Komikologi:
During the final days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a time fraught with unrest, women hold the dubious honor of being simple relievers of stress. A small town geisha Ikumatsu, however, grasps tightly the dream of true love, even in the midst of social turmoil.
Definitely not TokiKake.
Innocent World
「 イノセント・ワールド 」 by Yamada Daisy
This Naka Gress! graduate eavesdrops on typical teen concerns hidden behind cheerful faces: divorce, boyfriends, the world we live in and life in general, but most of all, lessons learned.
Continuing series
Ruler of The Land 46
Yul Hyul Kang Ho 「 열혈강호 」 by Jeon KeukJin and Yang JaeHyun
Sinji, who has infiltrated Jangbek Mountain, threatens the life of Hwarin. Albeit gravely wounded, Han Bikwang strives to protect her, but will employing Guege fight attacks prove enough?
Treasure Gaust 2
Treasure Gaust: Shijou Saikyou no Hanta 「 トレジャーガウスト 史上最強のハンタ 」 by Katsumi Naoto
The uneasy fighting combi of Hanta, the baddest gaust hunter, and Chaidoran, the strongest gaust, face their biggest crisis ever, with the kidnapping of Chaidoran by a mysterious foe. Can Hanta save his partner? Or more to the point, will he even want to?
~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03)
UP NEXT: More Christmas manga
Level Comics 23 December 2009 releases: First Kiss anthology by Miyasaka Kaho, Minami Kanan et al. · 21st Century Boys 2 of 2 · Death's Notice 4 · Lucky Luke - Jembatan Mississippi · Lucky Luke - Kid Lucky by Morris, Pearce, and J. Léturgie
m&c! 23 December 2009 releases: Love Puzzle and Naze Nani Honey? by Satsuki Mikiko · Ohagi No 1 volume 1 by Komuro Eiko · NG Boy X Paradise 1-3 (of 3) by Miyawaki Yukino
disclaimer
Cover images and source summaries used here for reference are © their respective intellectual rights holders. No infringement intended.
manga available this week in Indonesia (16 December 2009 street date)
- Elex Media: Black Butler 3 · Pandora Hearts 4 · The Ruler of Nabari 5 · Fruits Basket 22 · The Puppet Master Lin 1 by Wada Shinji · Shonen Star 60/2009 · The Comic Club by Emon & Radit (local comic)
- Level Comics: Under the Rose 1 by Funato Akari · Fight!! Ippo 72 · Yugo The Negotiator 19 · Ergo Proxy 2 of 2 · Glass Chair 3
- m&c!: A Badboy Drinks Tea 4 · The Scent of Love 6 · Sweet Sweet Darling by Morio Masami · Long Hu Men 162 · Narutoya Ramen Road 5 · Dive!! 3
related monthly schedules
Elex December 2009 manga
Premiering Crows by Takahashi Hiroshi · Red Haired Snow White by Akizuki Sorata · The Fifth Columnist by Andrea Tezumo · Weapon Master () by Zhang Yong Ren · Innocent World by Yamada Daisy · The Comic Club by Emon & Radit (local comic); Continuing Otomen (volume 8) · C.M.B. (volume 11) · Q.E.D. (volume 32)
other invaluable resources
7net Shopping · Amazon Japan · Baka-Updates Manga · manaworld.com
Technorati tags
manga · manhwa · Elex Media · HanaLaLa · seinen · shoujo · shounen · Charming Junkie · Innocent Love Story: Girls Who Pass Through Time · Innocent World · Kin Iro no Corda · La Corda D'Oro · Modotte! Mamotte! Lollipop · Ouran High School Host Club · Ruler of the Land · Sweet Lollipop Return! · Treasure Gaust · Yakitate!! Japan
Nosatsu Junkie 「 悩殺ジャンキー 」
by Fukuyama Ryoko
Hakusensha Hana to Yume, shoujo
Volume 15 first published in Japan 2008.11
Nosatsu Junkie published in English by TOKYOPOP (six volumes, further publication postponed)