Children of the Sea, Volume 1


Daisuke Igarashi - 2007
    Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans' fish.

Land of the Blindfolded, Vol. 1


Sakura Tsukuba - 2000
    Now she must learn how to live in a world of people "blindfolded" to everything but the present.Is Kanade's special ability a gift - or a curse?Sometimes high school student Ōtsuka Kanade sees glimpses of a person's future. But when she glimpses an unfortunate incident coming, can she - should she - change it? New classmate Naitō Arō can see a person's past. Are these teen seers of the past and the future made for each other? And who is right, Arō with his "hands off" policy about meddling in people's lives or Kanade, whose more proactive stance has already had unhappy consequences?This volume also contains two stories by the author, "After the Festival" and "The Mistaken Man".

Japanese Cuisine


Tetsu Kariya - 2006
    To commemorate its 100th anniversary the heads of newspaper Tozai Shimbun come up with a plan to publish the “Ultimate Menu”. The assignment is given to journalist Yamaoka Shiro, the protagonist of the series. With the help of a female coworker, Kurita Yuko, Yamaoka starts off on what can only be termed an epic saga to find the dishes hat will go into the “Ultimate Menu”. The subject of volume 1 is Nishon ryori, or Japanese cuisine, featuring stories on subjects like how to prepare a proper dashi (broth that is one of the building blocks of Japanese cooking), or matcha (the powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony), or red snapper sashimi. The subjects of the later volumes are: 2) sake, 3) fish, 4) vegetables, 5) rice dishes, 6) udon, and 7) izakaya or “pub” food.

Vampire Knight, Vol. 1


Matsuri Hino - 2005
    She was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy, and now works alongside Zero to guard the Academy's secret. Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking Volume 1


Koji Kumeta - 2005
    DESPAIR Nozomu Itoshiki is depressed. Very depressed. He's certifiably suicidal, but he's also the beloved schoolteacher of a class of unique students, each charming in her own way: The stalker. The shut-in. The obsessive-compulsive. The girl who comes to class every day with strange bruises. And Kafuka, the most optimistic girl in the world, who knows that every cloud has a silver lining. For all of them, it's a special time, when the right teacher can have a lasting positive effect on their lives. But is that teacher Itoshiki, a.k.a. Zetsubou-sensei, who just wants to find the perfect place to die?