Welcome to Manga Zubon, where I take a look at the manga that have come out each month and pick what I think are the best of the lot. These are the manga that I feel deserve recognition and readership more than the rest, so I’m singling them out. My focus in this column is mostly on first volumes to get you in on the ground floor of new series, but I will include standouts in ongoing series as well. Keep in mind that though I do my best, I can’t read everything that comes out each month, so if you have something you think I missed or just have something to say about the ones I’ve chosen, please chime in in the comments section.

Aria V.1
Creator: Kozue Amano
Publisher: Tokyopop

This is the sequel to the two-volume Aqua series, which is also available from Tokyopop, but you don’t need to read that to understand this (you probably should, just because it’s good, though). There was an earlier release of Aria by ADV a couple years ago, but they never finished it, and I believe it had a different translation. Either way, it was fine too, if you happen to get that version. The book takes place in the future, where Mars has been terraformed and is mostly covered by water. One city there, Neo-Venezia, is patterned after old Venice, with canals crossing the city, and gondolier tour guides named Undines working the canals. Akari Mizunashi is a journeyman Undine, and each chapter is a day in her life, as she learns more about her work, meets interesting new people, and explores fascinating places with her friends, also Undines. Cool ideas, interesting characters, and some beautiful artwork make this one to pick up.

Gon V.3
Creator: Masashi Tanaka
Publisher: DC/CMX

The last surviving dinosaur in a time before man is cute as hell- and tough as nails. An entirely silent manga, this is a masterpiece of detail and expression, a blend of action and emotion that never ceases to blow me away. This time out, Gon travels downriver and has some fun with the fish, hunts for mushrooms in the forest a tries every kind he finds, and teams up with wolf cubs to take on the siberian tiger who killed their mother. It’s animal drama on a human scale, and at 6 bucks a volume, it’s a steal. Don’t pass it up.

Sand Chronicles V.1
Creator: Hinako Ashihara
Publisher: Viz

Once again, my shojo love is showing. I can’t help it- if a book is good, I don’t care what demographic it was written for. And this one’s good. Maybe even great. I’ll have to read a few more volumes before I make that declaration. For sure, though, I’ll be checking in to see, because there’s all the evidence of excellent drama and romance here. The manga is about Ann Uekusa, who moves back to her mother’s rural home village from Tokyo after her parents divorce. Ann immediately meets Daigo, the son of her mother’s old best friend, and the other village kids, and struggles to adapt as her mom starts to fall apart. The story follows Ann’s life year by year, hitting the important parts and then moving along, allowing for real character development to reveal itself over time naturally. There’s some genuine pain and love on display here, and Ashihara does a brilliant job of displaying it all and unfolding it in ways that make it feel natural. By the end of this volume, I really felt for Ann, her triumphs and tragedies, and that’s quite an achievement.

V. B. Rose V.1
Creator: Banri Hidaka
Publisher: Tokyopop

When Hibari Shiroi announces to her family that she is pregnant and getting married, everyone is happy for her- except her younger sister, Ageha. Hibari has always been her idol, and this just doesn’t match up to her unrealistic expectations of perfection. Despite Ageha’s problems dealing with the news, she tries to go along with it, and meets Yukari and Mitsuya, who are making the wedding dress. When an outburst about the marriage ends up hurting Mitsuya’s hand, Ageha (who hand-makes bags as a hobby) offers to help make the dress as a replacement, and along the way is able to deal with her feelings about her sister and just maybe show her love. The artwork is well-done in a fairly standard shojo style, the characters are engaging, and the ideas are well developed. I was especially taken with Ageha’s best friend, who is unwilling to blindly give her sympathy, instead giving her honesty- the kind of friend I look for. Very well done.

Zombie Fairy V.1
Creator: Daisuke Torii
Publisher: DC/CMX/Flex Comix

I can’t be the only one who used to watch bad Chinese martial arts and horror movies and loved to see those hopping vampires with the straight-armed poses? Well, in this book, poor Aoto Hozuki takes an old sealed Chinese coffin to an appraisal show to see what it’s worth and the host accidentally lets the occupant out! It turns out to be fairy woman with amnesia named Chun-Ai, cursed to turn into a jiang shi (that’s those hopping vampires) whenever she gets angry or sad by an ancient demon. When Chun-Ai’s old friend Lin-Fa shows up to try to break the spell, Aoto gets drawn into a quest to destroy the 12 demon beasts that are part of Chun-Ai’s curse. This is a delightful blend of action and laughs, with cute fairy girls, a heroic protagonist, and plenty of cool supernatural ties thrown into the mix. There are some standard manga tropes, such as the horny grandfather and the heroic teen with unknown powers, so don’t expect anything groundbreaking, but there was easily enough fun here to justify keeping up with the series.