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.

Another fairly slow month.

All Nippon Air Line: Paradise at 30,000 Feet
Creator: Kei Azumaya
Publisher: June Manga/DMP

This one’s a series of short, mainly gag, stories about an all-male gay airline with the acronym ANAL. In case you hadn’t guessed, it’s yaoi. Tongue firmly planted in cheek, Azumaya has a great time with the concept, looking at both the various people who work at the airline and the customers who love to fly it. Flights are themed (macho, martial arts, bald stewards, sexy businessmen, whatever) and customers choose their fetish, with an eye towards ogling and maybe even scoring with the workers. The focus of the airline is service- oh, and sexy man-love. Fun and funny, this was damn enjoyable, but not what I’d call deep.

Crayon Shinchan V.1
Creator: Yoshito Usui
Publisher: CMX/DC

You may be familiar with this character and the goofy, ribald humor of the book from the anime running on Adult Swim, or you may have read some of the volumes released in the past by Comics One. CMX has a new translation and uncensored art, and reads right to left, unlike the Comics One versions. I find it to be superior. As for the manga itself, Shin is a precocious kindergarten student with no respect for authority or rules, and a predilection for using language in ways that make me crack the hell up. His long-suffering parents are no angels themselves, and Usui does a hilarious job of looking at everyone as a ridiculous figure, including Shin himself. This volume starts off a bit slow, as Usui was just getting started, but once he gets going it’s a sight to behold.

Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo V.1
Creator: Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop

The continuation of the popular Pet Shop of Horrors series, this simply moves the enigmatic Count D’s pet shop from San Francisco to Tokyo and replaces his old detective nemesis with the building owner’s son. Still, those things are just window dressing in what makes the series good- intriguing stories about how the magical pets that Count D sells change the lives of their owners, in good and bad ways. These aren’t ordinary cats and dogs, but magical creatures and shape-changing spirits, each involved with their ‘owners’ for their own reasons. Creepy and off-kilter, these stories don’t require any knowledge of the previous series (though I recommend that as well), and are drawn beautifully in a bishonen style. A slightly disturbing but altogether excellent read.

Ral Grad V.1
Writer: Tsuneo Takano
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Publisher: Viz

My initial interest was raised here because of the presence of artist Obata (Death Note), but the story of a medieval world under attack by shadow monsters that bond with and take over living beings seemed cool too. The main character, Ral, was born bound to a powerful shadow dragon named Grad, and locked away in a pitch-black cell away from everyone for fifteen years, in contact only with his tutor. With the kingdom about to fall, Ral is freed in a desperate hope that he will defend them, and the teenage boy discovers women for the first time, fixating on breasts. An innocent in many ways, Ral wants to protect the women (and their boobs) in the world from the shadows, and Grad would like to kill the Shadow Queen, so they set off on a quest to do so. Ral commits bold acts of derring-do and sexual harassment, every inch the hero and the hormone out of control. Action-packed, funny, and not exactly what I’d call mature, this was easily fun enough to keep following.