Some highlights from this week’s ComicList:
The one and only time I ever put on a pair of roller blades, a bee flew up my shirt. While nothing so dramatic resulted from previous encounters with ice or roller skates, I realized long ago that any attempt to increase locomotion via enhanced footwear would result only in comic relief for onlookers. It also led me to suspect that my center of gravity is actually located in another person’s body. That said, I’m still swayed by early praise for Hisaya Nakajo’s Sugar Princess: Skating to Win (Viz). Theoretically, figure-skating manga should have the gayest supporting cast ever, but I suspect I will be disappointed on this front.
In other princess news, this time involving actual sugar, Del Rey releases the seventh volume of Kitchen Princess by Natsumi Ando and Miyuki Kobayashi. This series was as blandly unsatisfying as a Hostess Donette in the early going, but it’s gradually turned into wonderfully melodramatic shôjo crack over time. Plus, you get recipes in every volume.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m thrilled that Yen Press is carving out a mini-niche of four-panel comics. I thought Ume Aoki’s Sunshine Sketch was just okay; I’d probably have enjoyed it more in smaller doses, as it was originally published. On the other hand, I can’t wait for the second volume of Satoko Kiyuduki’s Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro. This week marks the arrival of S.S. ASTRO: Asashio Sogo Teachers’ Room by Negi Banno, which sounds like a lot of fun. The harried employees of Japan’s school systems are among my favorite supporting characters in manga, so I’m looking forward to seeing them get the spotlight.