Anime in August

Fruits Basket Complete Collection DVD

The Sohmas are a family cursed, a curse which has led to their isolation for generations. When any single member of the family is embraced by a person of the opposite gender, they transform into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac! The Sohma’s have managed to keep this embarrassing little secret hidden for many, many years…That is, until young Tohru Honda stumbles into their life. Inspiring some and infuriating others, Tohru manages to turn life in this most unusual household upside down as Zodiac rivals clash. But above all, she must promise to keep their secret as one of her own… Or face the consequences!- Anime

Gungrave: The Complete Set

Back from the grave… back for murder.

For Brandon Heat, death doesn’t matter. Driven by his need for revenge, he returns from beyond the grave to cripple Milleneon, the huge mafia organization that uses undead monsters as its enforcers. His ultimate goal will be to destroy Harry MacDowel, the leader of Milleneon and, at one time, Brandon’s best friend… – Anime

Case Closed Double Feature

Contains two thrilling Case Closed adventures at a great low price!

The Time Bombed Skyscraper – The city is in the grip of a crazed bomber as planes, trains and massive towers all threaten to light up the night sky. In a desperate race against time, super-sleuth Conan Edogawa finds himself playing a game of cat and mouse with a deviant madman…

The Fourteenth Target – Someone is dealing out murder and mayhem one playing card at a time, and the deck is stacked against Richard Moore! Those around the bumbling detective are on a hidden hit list. Conan might need an ace up his sleeve to uncover the identity of the killer…- Anime

Case Closed: Season 1

Enjoy Case Closed from the beginning…the Season Sets have arrived on the case!

The criminal mind is a twisted one and Jimmy Kudo knows the shady corridors of humanity like no other detective in the business. He’s put more scum behind bars than just about anyone on the beat and his skills have earned him plenty of enemies, and he pays the price one dark night… Being poisoned and left for dead.

But rather than meeting his end in a shallow grave, Jimmy gets a new beginning. Awakening to find himself transformed, the evil elixir of his faceless foes has changed him into a small boy – The perfect cover! Utilizing his unlikely new persona and cutting edge technology, Jimmy is hot on the trail of his assailants as Conan Edogawa.

The path to justice will be littered with cruelty and madness, the worst of man on display as this sleuth cuts through the underworld in search of answers, solving one sick crime at a time. Truth is not open to interpretation. There’s no room for error when life and limb are on the line. A detective like no other, Conan is on the case!

The Season 1 box set contains episodes 1-26. – Anime

Case Closed: Season 2

The criminal mind is a twisted one and Jimmy Kudo knows the shady corridors of humanity like no other detective in the business. He’s put more scum behind bars than just about anyone on the beat and his skills have earned him plenty of enemies, and he pays the price one dark night…being poisoned and left for dead.

But rather than meeting his end in a shallow grave, Jimmy gets a new beginning. Awakening to find himself transformed, the evil elixir of his faceless foes has changed him into a small boy – The perfect cover! Utilizing his unlikely new persona and cutting edge technology, Jimmy is hot on the trail of his assailants as Conan Edogawa.

The path to justice will be littered with cruelty and madness, the worst of man on display as this sleuth cuts through the underworld in search of answers, solving one sick crime at a time. Truth is not open to interpretation. There’s no room for error when life and limb are on the line.

The Season 2 box set contains episodes 27-52. – Anime

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete 2nd Season

When the Elric brothers recklessly attempted to raise their mother from the dead, the horrors they unleashed marked the beginning of a long journey into the darkest corners of the cruelty of mankind. Now, destinies are converging for those who remain to fight for the light of salvation.

The hunt for the truth behind truths is growing more desperate, and ruined Ishbal waits at the end of a road choked with wreckage both human and soulless. Amid rumors of new war and resurrected horrors of the past, hidden masters rush their pawns down this path of betrayal and doubt. As these seekers of the Philosopher’s Stone grasp for answers, the most sacred tenet of Alchemy is questioned – The Law of Equivalent Exchange. But the harshest judgment is reserved for the belief on which the Elrics have built their lives – the faith in an unbreakable bond between brothers. Weary and broken, Edward and Alphonse must face the ultimate sacrifice. Will it be enough to make them whole?

The Season 2 Box Set contains the Complete Second Season – Episodes 26-51. – Anime

Graphic Novel Ga-Ga

Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies

Eisner Award Winner graphic novel about how a life-altering event affects an entire family than another Lifetime disease-of-the-week story. When freelance writer Fies finds out his mother has both lung cancer and a brain tumor, her attempts to fight the disease—including rounds of radiation and chemotherapy—pull her entire family into the struggle. Fies is gentle but honest in telling his story. He refrains from painting his mother as a saint, depicting her instead as someone getting through a horrible situation by refusing to acknowledge just how bad it is. Nor does he shy away from the more complicated emotions his mother’s health generates, including a sometimes heated rivalry with his two sisters (knowledgeable “Nurse Sis” and empathetic “Kid Sis”). Fies is most compelling when he finds insight in small details unique to his mother’s experience, such as the strength she draws from a leather purse her father made while confined in a tuberculosis sanitarium.- Adult GN

Fairy Tail 7 by Hiro Mashima

GUILD WAR

Fairy Tail’s rival guild, Phantom Lord, has taken the competition to dangerous levels by smashing the Fairy Tail building and nearly killing three wizards. What is Fairy Tail’s response? A full-frontal assault on Phantom Lord! But this clash is all part of the Phantom Lord’s evil plot to capture a coveted prize.- YA GN

Shaman King 23 by Hiroyuki Takei

Epilogue IV

Hao wants Spirit of Fire to consume the Golem for its mana…with young Salerm still inside! Yoh will do what it takes to save her, but also must fight off the Golem and the ghost of Ludsev’s father! With this many attackers, Yoh could seriously use the help of a friend–a friend like Joco and his powerful new Over Soul! – YA GN

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation

In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world’s most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury’s full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag’s awakening to the evil of government-controlled thought and the inestimable value of philosophy, theology, and literature.

Including an original foreword by Ray Bradbury and fully depicting the brilliance and force of his canonic and beloved masterwork, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is an exceptional, haunting work of graphic literature. – YA GN

One Piece 19 by Eiichiro Oda

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber?at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world… – YA GN

One Piece 20 byEiichiro Oda

Showdown at AlubarnaWhen leaving Rainbase to head off the rebels in the capital city of Alubarna, Luffy gets pulled aside by Crocodile for some cozy one-on-one time! With only three minutes to fight, can Luffy take on the sand pirate on his domain?! The rest of the crew must help Vivi stop the rebels, but the formidable Officer Agents have been waiting for them at the city gates! Will Vivi be in time to stop the inevitable clash between the rebels and the Army?! – YA GN

Low Moon by Jason

The acclaimed graphic novelist Jason returns with his most eagerly awaited book yet, thanks to the inclusion of the title story, the world’s first (and likely last) chess Western. Originally serialized in 2008 to a huge audience in the New York Times Sunday Magazine “Funny Pages” section, “Low Moon” made Jason’s 2008 appearance at the MoCCA Arts Festival in Manhattan the talk of the prestigious show, catapulting the Norwegian star to a higher level of mass appeal. This 216-page hardcover book features five yarns – all brand new with the exception of the aforementioned “Low Moon,” which is collected into book form for the first time. The volume also includes deadpan, genre-warping tales of murder, revenge, and strained relationships. – Adult GN

Spent by Joe Matt

In the tradition of Bukowski and R. Crumb, his tale turns on his disgust with himself and all of humanity, and, like the greats, Matt entertains as he cringes. – Adult GN

Titles New at MCPL

Shaman King Volume 18

Yoh Asakura is a shaman—one of the gifted few who, thanks to training or natural talent, can channel spirits that most people can’t even see. With the help of his fiancée, Anna, Yoh is in training for the ultimate shaman sports event: the “Shaman Fight in Tokyo,” the once-every-500-years tournament to see who can shape humanity’s future and become the Shaman King. But unfortunately for Yoh, every shaman in the world is competing for the same prize…

Yoh rushes to aid his friends in battle, but is too late to save one of his most gifted allies. Can Jeanne, the leader of the X-Laws, restore him with her healing abilities? She may be our heroes’ only hope…but her price is Yoh’s withdrawal from the Shaman Fight! – YA GN

Nora Volume 3

Nora, an unruly demon, has defied the Demon Sovereign one too many times. For the sake of his “education,” Nora is sent to live among mortals and enters a bond of servitude with cool-as-ice star student Kazuma Makkari. Kazuma is about to learn the ways of the underworld…and Nora will learn more from the “real world” than he ever thought possible!

The Soul StonesNora and Kazuma learn that the Resistance is out to defeat Dark Liege by destroying her five Soul Stones: jewels from the Demon World that have made their way to the Human World. Nora soon discovers he has a special ability to detect these gems…but he’s not the only one! – Adult GN

Little Things

A collection of funny, poignant, and autobiographical short stories, Little Things looks at the aspects of daily life — friendship, illness, death, work, crushes, love, jealousy, and fatherhood — we take for granted. As each story loops into others, Jeffrey Brown shows how the smallest andseemingly most insignificant parts of everyday life can end up becoming the most meaningful. Brown’s first full-length autobiographical book in several years, Little Things is also his most impressive, touching, and true. – Adult GN

Spawn: Shadows of Spawn

You’ve never see Spawn like this before! Two hundred pages of glorious manga by famous Japanese manga master Juzo Tokoro! New Spawns! New and classic villains! What more could any fan want? – YA GN

Will You Still Love Me if I Wet the Bed?

Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed? started out as an exercise in keeping a personal comic journal of the finer points of a relationship, but quickly evolved to become Liz Prince’s first solo full length comic. Described as a mix between Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka, Liz’s comic is made up of short vignettes that capture all the cute, gross, and endearing aspects of relationships. – Adult GN

What’s new in June?

We added a new manga series to our collection- W Juliet

W Juliet

Sixteen-year-old tomboy Ito Miura has been chosen to play Romeo in ROMEO & JULIET! The problem? She doesn’t want the male role! So, who will be Juliet? The favourite for the part, beautiful and vain Tsugumi, must compete with the cute new transfer student, Makoto Amano. But Makoto has a secret, and if rival Tsugumi, or anyone in the school, finds out, it could ruin Makoto’s life, dragging Ito down as well! – YA

The Eternal Smile

From two masters of the graphic novel–Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim come fantastical adventures through the worlds we live in and the worlds we create: the story of a prince who defeats his greatest enemy only to discover that maybe his world is not what it had seemed; the story of a frog who finds that just being a frog might be the way to go; and the story of a woman who receives an email from Prince Henry of Nigeria asking for a loan to help save his family. With vivid artwork and moving writing, Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang test the boundaries between fantasy and reality, exploring the ways that the world of the imagination can affect real life. – YA

Dragon Voice 7-10

Dragon Voice is centered around Rin Amami, who has an unpleasant voice but managed to get into the singing group Beatmen because their mentor is convinced that Rin has the legendary Dragon Voice. – YA

Tuxedo Gin 13-15

Rival city! Ginji vies with Minako’s friend Helen for the role of Minako’s guardian, and steals the show as a stand-in stunt bird for Mike the genius penguin; Ginji’s boxing coach’s granddaughter and Nana the one-ton-of-fun walrus compete with Minako for (respectively) Ginji and Gin-chan’s affections; and a Ginji look-alike threatens to steal Minako from human Ginji, and penguin Gin-chan from Minako! Will the rivalry ever end? – Adult

Batman R.I.P.

Dr. Simon Hurt, leader of the international criminal associates known as the Black Glove, has devised an elaborate psychological trap for Batman. The scheme succeeds in breaking Batman’s sanity, long established as being dangerously fragile, and leading him to adopt a psychotically violent persona, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, who squares off in Arkham Asylum against Dr. Hurt’s new ally, the Joker. Batman’s delusions are likely to be as confusing to readers as they are to him. Morrison uses elements from seven decades’ worth of disparate and contradictory versions of the character, and only the most dedicated fans will recognize most of them. Tony Daniel’s art grounds the complex proceedings with clarity and verve. Batman’s apparent demise at the saga’s end leads into an arc in which various would-be successors vie for the right to wear his cowl. – Adult

Join the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture!

Genshiken volume 4

A short time ago, college freshman Kanji Sasahara was struggling with an otaku identity crisis, but joining the Genshiken gave Kanji the confidence to fully embrace the otaku lifestyle. So when club president Madarame resigns from office, he pegs Kanji as the best candidate to fill his shoes. And what is President Sasahara’s first order of business? To create a Genshiken fanzine to sell at the next Comic-Fest, which seems to many like a bold step for the notoriously inactive Genshiken. Meanwhile, cosplay aficionados Ohno and Tanaka appear to be spending a lot of time together. Does that mean love is in the air? – YA GN

My Heavenly Hockey Club 2

Hana Suzuki has it good: she’s the only girl in the Grand Hockey Club, and all the other members are super-hot guys. But the dream may be over. If the Hockey Club doesn’t win its next match, the school will disband it! Hana and the boys are pretty much the worst hockey players ever. Can they get their act together in time to save the club?

Includes in-depth translation notes and a preview of the next volume! – YA GN

Elk’s Run

The town of Elk’s Ridge, West Virginia, was built on a dream: The dream of war-scarred Vietnam veterans to live in peace and harmony, in a place untouched by violence, crime, corruption, or greed. A living Norman Rockwell painting, governed by the most basic values and free of all things considered undesirable by its founders. It was supposed to be paradise. And for a while, it was.

Over the years, some in Elk’s Ridge have grown restless. They fear their refuge has become a prison . . . or a tomb. And they yearn to do the forbidden: escape. But when one desperate bid for freedom ends in a tragic accident, a heinous act of mob justice suddenly tears the idyllic mask from this promised land and the evil its residents sought to keep out blooms from within. Now, as a deadly chain reaction of events threatens the future of Elk’s Ridge, its elders gird for battle against the real world. And a group of terrified teens prepare to make their own stand–against the people they once trusted and the only life they’ve ever known. Because there’s nothing left to do but fight or die.

A chillingly lyrical tale, rendered in starkly beautiful, visceral artwork, Elk’s Run is an unforgettable and unrelentingly powerful graphic novel event not to be missed.- Adult GN