Rising Manga Prices

Ok, I said I was going to do my next post on my new Blog, but I lied! The new blog is just about done, I just need to transfer all my posts tonight after work. I’m just so disappointed with rising manga prices lately that I had to make a post! With so many companies selling their manga at over $10 these days I was happy that Viz was still around to hold down the affordability fort at $7.95 for Shonen Jump titles and $8.99 for Shojo Beat titles. Now I look at the pre-orders for the newest manga from Viz and they’re all at the new price of $9.99.

Lovely Complex (Love*Com) – Review Blurb

Title: Lovely Complex (Love*Com for short)
Author: Aya Nakahara
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Licensed: Yes (Viz)
Release Date: July 3, 2007
Volumes: 17+

Quick Summary
This series is about Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Otani, Risa is very tall for a girl and Atsushi is very short for a boy. Because of this, they are called the “All Hanshin Kyojin” after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference. They happen to be in the same class and people seem to find it humorous to pair the tallest and shortest kids next to one another. Risa comes across a boy from another class during summer school that she develops a crush on and since Atsushi has a crush on her friend they plan to help each other become successful in love despite their heights.

Beauty Pop – Review Blurb

Title: Beauty Pop
Japanese Title: Byūtī Poppu
Author: Kiyoko Arai
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Licensed: Yes (Viz)
Release Date: September 5, 2006
Volumes: 9+

Quick Summary

Beauty Pop is a high school Shoujo with a beauty industry theme. In a certain high school there is a group of 3 boys (pictured below, left to right: Ochai, Narumi, and Kei) that have formed a group called the Scissors Project (SP for short). They each come from families that own respected businesses in the beauty industry. SP selects an attractive girl from the school and makes them over in front of the rest of the school. It’s said that a girl that is made over by SP has a 100% success rate of confessing and being accepted by their crush.

Ouran High School Host Club – Review Blurb

Title: Ouran High School Host Club
Japanese Title: Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu
Author: Bisco Hatori
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama
Licensed: Yes (Shojo Beat/Viz Media)
Release Date: July 5th, 2005 (U.S.)
Volumes: 10+ (ongoing)

Quick Summary

Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at Ouran High School and because of the outrageous cost of the school uniform Haruhi wears baggy men’s clothing as a substitue. That combined with her short hair and huge glasses is enough to cause people to think that she is a he, and she does nothing to correct the misunderstanding. One day Haruhi was searching for a quiet place on campus to study and she stumbles upon the Ouran High School Host Club. In her confusion she accidentally breaks an enormously expensive vase and must work as a host with them until her debt for the vase is paid, although she must disguise herself as a boy to do this. Her gender is not fully discovered by the Host Club until after she becomes a host.