I’m quite delighted that so many people seem to like Yumi Unita’s excellent Bunny Drop (Yen Press). I have no idea if critical approval has translated into solid sales, or even solid sales by the standards of the often struggling josei category. I just know that it makes me happy when people like things that I think are good.

And I can’t help but suspect that Unita has something to do with the fact that Bunny Drop is so good. Call me crazy, but I think there’s causality there. So in the interest of making myself even happier, and assuming that Unita may be able to contribute to this process, I thought I’d see what other works were waiting in the wings.

One of her earliest ongoing series looks a little bizarre. It’s the single-volume Sukimasuki, and it ran in Shogakukan’s IKKI. It’s apparently about romantic complications between a pair of voyeurs. Of course it’s been published in Italian, under the title Guardami by Kappa Edizioni. Its IKKI provenance is the strongest thing in this title’s favor, so I’ll refrain from any serious wheedling until someone persuades me that it’s fully necessary.

Still in the seinen vein but more domestic-sounding (and looking) is Yoningurashi, which was serialized in Takeshobo’s Manga Life Original. Pleased as I am with Unita’s handling of an adoptive family, I would certainly be open to her take on another variation on the family theme. Plus, that cover is really adorable, isn’t it? I’m not entirely certain, but I think this one’s a four-panel comic strip, given that most of the series in Manga Life seem to be in that format. But it’s not about a group of four or more schoolgirls, so I’m a little confused.

Update: Alexander (Manga Widget) Hoffman informs me that this title isn’t four-panel after all, though it’s reassuring to see that Unita is still having some of her characters rock a pair of bell-bottomed trousers.

Can I be finished catering to the seinen demographic? Unita’s got a ton of josei under her belt. One of her current series is called Nomino, and it runs in Hakusensha’s new-ish josei magazine, Rakuen le Paradis. Erica (Okazu) Friedman speaks very highly of Rakuen le Paradis, and I yearn to learn to love Hakusensha josei as much as I love Hakusensha shôjo, which is the best shôjo there is. Getting back to Rakuen, it looks like it covers some impressive territory, at least in terms of sexual orientation of its stories’ protagonists and probably in terms of tone. And they managed to lure Kio (Genshiken) Shimoku to draw something for them. And, while this says nothing about the magazine’s quality, its name reminds me of seminal Styx hit “Rockin’ the Paradise” from their hit album, Paradise Theatre, which was the album of choice for my circle of friends in high school. It was the album boys and girls could agree on without reservation or compromise. If the tension over the Air Supply party soundtrack got too acrimonious, Styx was always there to offer the right balance of driving and swoony to make everyone happy, or at least not grumpy.

Oh, and Nomino is a slice-of-life story about the friendship between a boy and girl, or something. Maybe they’d both like Styx! Or something. I don’t care. It’s Unita, and it comes from a cool-sounding magazine for grown women. Hook, line, want.

Okay, so that’s three varied, perfectly respectable choices for publishers who are willing to feed my Unita habit. She seems like one of those impressively versatile creators who draws for a variety of audiences, and even in different formats if my four-panel theory is correct. I would like for someone to try and give her the Natsume Ono treatment and publish lots of different works from her catalog.

As I wrap up The Seinen Alphabet (three more letters!), I find myself thinking of the upcoming Josei Alphabet. Since there isn’t a tremendous amount available in English, I’m guessing they’ll consist largely of unlicensed works. It seemed like a good time to do a little investigating and see what’s lurking out there. Imagine my delight when I found something that looks both funny and weird.

It’s called Kiko-Chan’s Smile, five volumes written and illustrated by Tsubasa Nunoura and originally serialized in Kodansha’s Be Love. And it’s about a weird little girl. Isn’t she lovely?

Kiko is an independent, taciturn and, from what I can surmise, kind of forbidding child. Her parents don’t know what to make of her, but her classmates are delighted by the unusual events that seem to swirl around her. She meddles with her teacher’s love life, and she enjoys the companionship of her cat, who also happens to be an angel and the father of five half-angel, half-cat kittens. (Kittels? Angens?) Kittens with supernatural powers, people… tell me that doesn’t light a fire.

I have a documented fondness for manga about weird girls and an unexpected weakness for manga about precocious, disruptive children, so this seems like a fine opportunity to cross the streams, as they say. It doesn’t seem like what one would traditionally think of as josei; I get more of a Morning vibe off of it. But it was adapted into an anime, so that’s always a good sign. And it’s nice to be reminded that the subject matter of josei can be as rangy and odd as the other demographics.

I’m thinking this would be a nice one for Vertical. We can always hope that Kodansha’s own initial offerings do well enough that they’ll publish some less commercial titles, but I definitely get a feeling that this would fit in nicely with the good folks at Vertical. They support kittens in manga.

Hakusensha’s LaLa DX has given the world some charming comics: Natsume’s Book of Friends (Viz), The Lapis Lazuli Crown (CMX), The Palette of 12 Secret Colors (CMX), The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko (Tokyopop), etc. How about some more from that menu?

We could start with Akane Ogura’s Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen. It’s about the engagement of the children of two warring kings, brought together to secure peace between their nations. And they apparently hate each other. It’s up to three volumes and is currently running in the magazine.

All I know about Junai Station is that it’s the debut work of Kei Tanaka and that it’s one volume long, but the cover is adorable.

How many comics about royals going undercover to investigate their arranged betrothed does one magazine need? LaLa DX already had A Tale of an Unknown Country (CMX), and it also had Himitsu no Himegimi Uwasa no Ouji, written and illustrated by Mato Kauta. In this instance, the princess disguises herself as a boy to see just how horrible her intended really is.

And lest we overdose on the lighthearted cuteness, I’ll throw Yuki Midorikawa’s Hiiro no Isu into the mix. Midorikawa is rightly admired for Natsume’s Book of Friends, so it seems like barely a risk to pick up another of her titles. This one’s about a young martial artist trying to solve a royal mystery.

Do you have any particular LaLa DX titles on your wish list?

One of the many important things I’ve learned from the entertainment industry is that Christmas is the time of year to make unreasonable demands of higher powers that they are obligated to fulfill if they want people to keep believing in them. We’ve basically got them in a corner, so why not go for the big ask? Why not say, “Hey, someone should throw caution and logic to the wind and publish a 100-plus-volume cooking manga”?

While working on this week’s letter of the Seinen Alphabet, I ran across a mangaka named Tochi Ueyama, who basically only has one title to his credit. This isn’t due to laziness, as he’s been working on it since 1984. 112 volumes have been published to date. It’s called Cooking Papa, and it runs in Kodansha’s Morning.

As near as I can tell, it’s about an average family where the father, a white-collar worker, does the cooking. (The mother, a journalist, isn’t very good at it.) Papa helps their son learn his way around the kitchen. Every chapter includes recipes.

Now, I can hear all the “buts” to the point that they sound like an outboard motor. But it’s way too long! But cooking manga doesn’t have a great commercial track record! But we should pester Viz to publish more Oishinbo instead! But Kodansha isn’t taking that many risks yet!

All of those things are true. But if we all adopt our best Cindy Lou Who miens, perhaps manga’s heart will grow several sizes. It’s Christmas. We’re entitled to expect miracles. TV said so.

What are some of your Christmas Miracle license requests?