Toma Kamijo, an academically-challenged student in Academy City, wields the power of the Imagine Breaker in his right hand, which allows him to completely negate all supernatural powers - as well as his own luck. When he happens upon a mysterious nun named Index, whose mind has been implanted with the Index Librorum Prohibitorum - 103,000 ancient texts banned by the Church - Toma's luck is about to be pushed to its limits when he finds himself in the middle of a war he never expected!

    

    In fact, he’s known among the art elite for being the man to watch. That doesn’t keep his critics from arguing that his work lacks personality or emotion. Of course, his life doesn’t have much of that either. While perusing a dating site that connects urban gay men to their rural counterparts, Aiden comes across a profile of a Washington state rancher. The silhouetted picture and matter-of-fact language trigger his inspiration and spin him into a creative journey that ends with a collection that surpasses perfection. After his collection sells to a prestigious buyer, Aiden feels he has no choice but to meet and thank his muse. Little does he know the journey to the rugged mountains of Southeast Washington could change his life forever.Devin Pearce is tall, built and remarkably handsome, all of which is accentuated with the personality of an angry bear. When he first comes upon Aiden, he can’t see past his anger -- this stranger is here because his nosy housekeeper set up that damned profile. But Aiden isn’t a typical stranger, not only does this man have the looks but he has a work ethic Devin has seldom seen in another man. Sure, Devin wants love, but experience has taught him to be leery. Can he trust his instinct that Aiden is an extraordinary person, or will he let the tragedy of past relationships get in his way?The fire between them burns hot, but they are truly opposites. Only the fates know if they are brave enough to overcome their differences and build the relationship they both dream of.

    During his owner's life Hachiko saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925 when Professor Ueno didn't return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the station where his friend was waiting.Hachiko was given away after his master's death but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After some time, Hachiko realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he didn't see his friend among the commuters at the station.Hachiko became a permanent fixture at the train station, which eventually attracted the attention of commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachiko and Professor Ueno together each day. Realizing that Hachiko waited in vigil for his dead master, their hearts were touched. They brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait. This continued for 10 years, with Hachiko appearing only in the evening, precisely when the train was due at the station.Hachiko: The True Story of the Royal Dogs of Japan and One Faithful Akita is Hachiko's story, as well as an informative look at dog culture in Japan and the history and tradition of the Akita-ken, one of the most ancient, beloved, and faithful dog breeds ever.

    The next day, she put on her mourning clothes and went out to meet her best friend for lunch to discuss finding a replacement for her love interest.Nikki is a horror novelist. Her choice of career is dictated by an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that forces her to write stories of death and destruction. She can't control it, doesn't understand it, but can use it to make money anywhere in the world. Currently "anywhere" is in Japan, hiding from her mother who sees Nikki's OCD as proof she's mentally unstable. Nikki's fragile peace starts to fall apart when the police arrest her for the murder of an American expatriate. Someone killed him with a blender.Reality starts to unravel around Nikki. She's attacked by a raccoon in a business suit. After a series of blackouts, she’s accompanied by a boy that no one else can see, a boy who claims to be a god. Is she really being pursued by Japanese myths—or is she simply going insane?What Nikki does know for sure is that the bodies are piling up, her mother has arrived in Japan to lock her up for the rest of her life—and her novels always end with everyone dead.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

    And Usagi's most important friendship, with retainer Tomoe Ame, is spotlighted in the epic-length "Mother of Mountains," her origin "Tomoe's Story," and the poignant tea ceremony tale "Chanoyu." Throughout, Stan Sakai's award-winning combination of intriguing storytelling and deft line work constitute a master class in the comics form! Collects Usagi Yojimbo Volume Three #76-#93, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #1-#3, and more!

    This second edition of creator Yoshiyuki Tomino's novelization is redesigned for a new generation of fans.Yoshiyuki Tomino is one of Japan's best known science-fiction directors.Frederik L. Schodt writes extensively on Japanese culture and lives in San Francisco, California.

    A distillation of more than fifty years' engagement with Japan and its history, it is the crowning work of our leading interpreter of the modern Japanese experience.Since 1600 Japan has undergone three periods of wrenching social and institutional change, following the imposition of hegemonic order on feudal society by the Tokugawa shogun; the opening of Japan's ports by Commodore Perry; and defeat in World War II. The Making of Modern Japan charts these changes: the social engineering begun with the founding of the shogunate in 1600, the emergence of village and castle towns with consumer populations, and the diffusion of samurai values in the culture.Marius Jansen covers the making of the modern state, the adaptation of Western models, growing international trade, the broadening opportunity in Japanese society with industrialization, and the postwar occupation reforms imposed by General MacArthur. Throughout, the book gives voice to the individuals and views that have shaped the actions and beliefs of the Japanese, with writers, artists, and thinkers, as well as political leaders given their due.The story this book tells, though marked by profound changes, is also one of remarkable consistency, in which continuities outweigh upheavals in the development of society, and successive waves of outside influence have only served to strengthen a sense of what is unique and native to Japanese experience. The Making of Modern Japan takes us to the core of this experience as it illuminates one of the contemporary world's most compelling transformations.

    A quick and clean assassin. But he's burned out and ready to quit.Trained by a government agency with no name, Layne Parrish can snap a neck with one hand. But tea parties and cartoons with his three-year-old daughter is where his priorities are. After retiring to the mountains of Colorado for a simpler life, Layne thought that perilous world was behind him.He was wrong--dead wrong.When his former boss begs for his expertise, Layne knows he has one mission:  Eliminate an assassin to save a life. It's a job he can't refuse. This particular assassin is a ghost from his past--a murky past he wants destroyed.  But when Layne picks up his pistol for the last time, will his plan backfire?

    Filled with music recitals, football games, and family outings, his life seems to be picture-perfect. What observers don't know is that Shawn is living a life on both sides of the fence. He's harboring dangerous childhood secrets that could ultimately rip his family apart. Shawn makes the mistake of befriending James, a gold-digging bisexual with a secret agenda. Pushing Shawn head first into a life of sex, secrets, and lies, James will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Take a story where everyone has secrets, and then mix that together with explosive sex and a dash of the painful truth, and the outcome can only be disaster. Heads will roll as Shawn's faithfulness, love, sexuality, and family structure are tested to the very shocking end. Be warned: this is not your average down-low book.

    Gripping, action-packed, authentic, and filled with larger-than-life men and women of the Greatest Generation, CRASH DIVE puts you aboard a submarine during the war. You'll stand alongside Charlie as he proves himself time and again by keeping his wits and being decisive in crisis, though each encounter leaves him more heavily scarred for it. You'll attack a convoy in a daring night surface attack, emerge in a sea fog to ambush a battle group, and charge the battleship Yamato during the decisive Battle of Leyte Gulf. All the while, you'll live with the crew in the cramped, noisy, and challenging machine that was a diesel-electric submarine. CRASH DIVE: The Complete Series puts together for the first time all six episodes in Craig DiLouie's highly acclaimed historical military fiction series: CRASH DIVE, SILENT RUNNING, BATTLE STATIONS, CONTACT!, HARA-KIRI, and OVER THE HILL.

    It was like lightning, the first time they looked into each other's eyes: Gray Eagle, the captured Indian brave, and Alisha, the beautiful young settler. As the proud Oglala warrior was being tortured by his white captors, only Alsiha seemed to notice he was a human being - handsome and strong, and one who took her breath away.But if Alisha could have read Gray Eagle's thoughts she would have been even more disturbed...Because from the moment he saw her, the Indian knew he had to possess the fair-skinned one - and his life would not be complete until he had made her his slave!

    Schodt received a 2017 Japan Foundation Award in 2017 for his work in bringing Osamu Tezuka and other manga artists to the world!Since first published in 1983, Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics has been the book to read for all those interested in Japanese comics. It is virtually the "bible" from which all studies and appreciation of manga begins. More than that, given the influence of Japanese manga on animation and on American-produced comics as well, Manga! Manga! provides the background against which these other arts can be understood. The book includes 96 pages from Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, Reiji Matsumoto's Ghost Warrior, Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles, and Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen.

    She doesn’t need any more complications, but that’s exactly what Chloe gets when Patrick Murphy shows up on her doorstep.Life is good for Patrick Murphy.He has an agent who can help kickstart his acting career, his relationship with his best friends has never been tighter, and he’s saved up enough money to finally move into the cityNow if he can just find a place to live…There are many reasons why they shouldn’t be together: They’re both focusing on their careers, Chloe is coming out of a nasty breakup, and is it ever a good idea to date your roommate?Roommate Wanted is the first book in the Sharing Space series, a contemporary romance about an interracial couple who ignore all the reasons why they shouldn’t be together to focus on the one reason they should: love.Roommate Wanted will be available for Kindle devices in September 2013. A new volume will be available every 2-3 weeks.

    So she places an ad in a gentleman's newspaper... and soon finds herself a suitable arrangement on a farm in Promise, Wyoming. Only problem is that her would-be husband turns up dead the day she arrives.Rancher Colt McBride is known for his true grit and business smarts. Yet when it comes to his new neighbor, Victoria, he's stumped: Who is she, really? She's lovely to look at, of course, and has proven herself a gentle soul. She's even causing him to question his staunch bachelorhood. But any kind of future may be shattered when a stranger reveals a secret about Victoria's past—one that could destroy them both. Unless, together, they can take a leap of faith—right into each other's arms...