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• B. Ichi Volume One

Yen has a knack for licensing unusual stuff and B. Ichi is definitely that. It opens in Toykyo, Japon (misspellings are deliberate) with the arrival of a young girl on a Vespa, Mana. Mana has a strange quirk. She’s driving around the country, following the advice of fortunetellers, and has an obsession with earning commendations from people. She literally runs into a young man named Shotaro, who is even quirkier than Mana. For instance, he has a fascination with a TV show character named Justice, yet has no conception of a weekly TV schedule. He’s sort of the overly optimistic man-child archetype.

• Kujibiki Unbalance Volume One

Cursed with bad luck for his entire life, freshman Chihiro Enamoto is just about to run into some big changes this school year. When Chihiro and childhood friend, Tokino, manage (by luck!) to get into the prestigious Rikkyoin Academy High School, it's only the start of things to come, not the least of which being the pair's unlikely lottery prize of becoming the president and vice-president elects of the student council! The two soon meet up with the other council candidates - genius girl, Renko, and unlikely elementary girl, Koyuki - setting the stage for a student council unlike any other.

• Kasumi Volume One

Stuck with a father often on the move due to his research, high school student Kasumi is sent from school to school before she can even get settled in. Finally, with the promise of staying in one place, Kasumi is transferred in to an elite private academy, where she discovers an interesting surprise during an impromptu magic show: If she holds her breath, she becomes invisible! Possibly brought on by a freak accident in the forest before her arrival at school, Kasumi's in for a lot more than she bargained for when she's not the only student who seems to be exhibiting some odd traits.

• Zombie Loan Volume Four

Zombie Loan, volume four, picks up right after the hot springs ending of volume three. It can most easily be summed up as ‘family matters.’ This is probably the series’ can’t miss back-story issue. At first, we get to meet Chika’s Western father, who is the flamboyant blond ‘could be a big brother, not a dad’ stereotype. We’ve all seen the type before, but still he manages to be endearing, much more so than Chika’s sister who never stops text messaging to say anything interesting. A little too true to life, that is.

• Papillon Volume One

Poor Ageha has been living in the shadow of her super gorgeous sister, Hana, ever since the twins were in second grade. Thanks to her country upbringing - or so she tells herself - Ageha is plain, boring, and self-conscious; everything that Hana isn't. Finally, she's had enough, and plans to build herself up once and for all, no matter what Hana tries!

• Croquis Pop Volume One

Croquis Pop is about a boy named Da-Il, who doesn't really know anything about art or comics, but somehow manages to find himself working for a comic book creator. This bizarre situation becomes even more bizarre when Da-Il discovers that he has some sort of supernatural ability to see ghosts and to make his drawings come to life!

• Kamichama Karin Chu Volume One

This is the first volume of the sequel to the highly popular Kamichama Karin and it probably won’t make a whole lot of sense if you’re unfamiliar, as I was, with the first series. Still, you can pick up most of it as you go.

Karin Hanazono is now in eighth grade and the story opens with Karin getting caught sleeping in class, face down on a typical teen magazine. She later leaves to pick up Kazune Kujyou from the airport after his return from London. Both of them were once and future lovers and have the ability to transform into gods via powerful rings (as laid out in the first series). Even though Kazune is a chauvinist, Karin loves him, and as one can imagine, things are a bit awkward when she brings him home since they know they’re to marry in the future but right now they’re pretty much young adults. Exhausted, they fall asleep in the same room.

• A Promise of Romance

Satsuki has traveled from Japan to England to study acting, but he ends up putting his training to work in an unusual way. When he meets Edward, a peer trapped by the words of his inheritance, Edward asks Satsuki to pretend to be a woman…and his fiancée. But can Satsuki keep pretending when his feelings for Edward become more than a sham?

• The Girl Who Runs Through Time

Kazuko Yoshiyama is your average small town Japanese schoolgirl, starting up her senior year and just as indecisive about her future as any teen would be. We start out by meeting some of her friends, such as her childhood friend, Kazuo Fukamchi, a boy she has a bit of a crush on, and Mariko, whom she calls a jerk but who still seems to be a friend-of-sorts. Mariko is the anchor holding Kazuko to earth, the practical one. Mariko is already dating college boys and has plans, making Kazuko feel child-like. Then there’s Goro, who’s big into sports and cooking and is more or less the heart of their little group.

• Magic Lover’s Tower Volumes One & Two

Roxanne is the class cleanliness rep, a plain, shy girl who has a huge crush on class bad boy Logan. When a mysterious young man shows up claiming to be a magical guardian, he offers her the chance to play a game which might allow her to finally win Logan’s heart.

• Body Language

Yuichi and Kanae have the worst reputations at their college. Yuichi is a playboy who’s loved and dumped most of the girls at the school, leaving behind only memories of his terrible personality. Kanae is reputed to be a cool beauty who gives his body to anyone—man or woman—who’ll have him. Their friendship is the talk of the cafeteria, but are they more than mere friends? Or has their need for companionship pushed them into a deeper connection?

• Variante Volume Four

It’s hard to review the final book of a series. What is there to say that doesn’t ruin it? I know, let’s recap what’s led up to this point:

Aiko, a young girl, woke up in a hospital with giant holes in her memory and a monstrous right arm where her normal arm should be. Her parents were slaughtered by something known as a ‘chimera’ and her arm is also now chimeric in nature. An organization, known as Atheos, has roped her into working for them, (aka, be their hired killer). Aiko has some friends looking to rescue her, and help her bring down Atheos, notably Agent Sudo who started out investigating her and is now helping her instead.