Link to the Show / Show Notes
Being in Tokyo, I cannot escape the one thing I used to live off when I lived in Osaka as a student... PHONEBOOKS!!! These things are everywhere. Train station kiosks, news stands, convenience stores and obviously book stores have these in bunches. You really cannot walk two blocks without running into one on sale. Their ads are all over the insides of trains. Their billboards are everywhere. There are so many to choose from; ranging from Golf to CoroCoro.
So to please the manga gods, I'll be focusing my review time to looking at phonebooks. The Side Dish Futomaki has been on hiatus for a little over a month. So get ready for an anthology tsunami that will start off with Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon Age. This magazine is home to a pair recent licenses - Orfina and Dorothea. It is also the home for Fullmetal Panic!, Louie, Slayers and Orphen. This magazine is pretty fantasy, sci-fi heavy but as you will hear Fujimi Shobo is testing out some other genres - namely terror!
This week we look at:
Fujimi Shobo's
?????????
9??
Monthly Dragon Age
Vol #9
Every Month on the 9th
560Y
Seinen/Shonen
Major Titles:
Karin *
Tsubame Syndrome
Zero In
Full Metal Panic! ?
Variante *
Orfina *
Maid-guy Kamen
Ore-fechi Ichigo-chan Ki wo Tsukete!
Dorothea *
Pixie Gale
The Third
Namala! my love
Raymond
Shanou
Kyojiro to Eien no Sora
Lolicon Phoenix
Mizore no Kyojitsu
Omamori Himawari
BLAZE
Bremen
Hageruya!
High School of the Dead
Gunbuster 2
* = currently licensed
italics = wish list titles
My Picks
High School of the Dead is by far the best new title in here... and it debuted in this issue! Amazing drama for a first chapter (70+pgs). With some very intense scenes that reminded me of a mix of Battle Royale and House of the Dead. Best thing is that the cast becomes small very very quick.
The Third is a fantasy title with tremendous potential. Kadokawa has been pushing this property because of the anime/merchandising angles, but this series can hold its own. Written by the guy behind Galaxy Angel, Louie and Lodoss Wars - Mizuno Ryo - this series mixes in good drama with nicely paced meelee action in this fantasy world. Honestly the way this is set up I could easily see another Louie tie-in. (Crosses fingers!!)
FMP Sigma is a given. But Orefeti is a gag comedy that is all over the place. This series is so random that the characters in this volume spend most of their time with poop on their heads!! Even the girls!! Might not make it to the US but I am praying maybe DrMaster gives this a shot as it is in line with ToriKoro and Koromo-chan in its slice of life/part-time 4koma comedy nature.
Listen to FutoMaki Here: 
As always, be aware that the review might contain spoilers.
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