After stumbling across a haunted go board, Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player named Fujiwara-no-Sai has taken up residence in his consciousness. Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream--defeating the famed go prodigy Akira Toya! The main round of the pro test has begun. Everyone's feeling the pressure, no one more so than Hikaru's friend Isumi, who has failed the test twice before. Fighting off his feelings of self-doubt, Isumi faces his next opponent, who turns out to be Hikaru. But a careless mistake lands the pair in an awkward position!
"Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained Go board in his grandfather's attic-- and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the Go board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient Go master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago."--Cover of v. 1.
After stumbling across a haunted go board, Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player named Fujiwara-no-Sai has taken up residence in his consciousness. Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream--defeating the famed go prodigy Akira Toya! Hikaru faces the preliminary rounds of the pro test, during which he must eliminate not only his classmates at the insei school but also any outsiders who want to take the test. One of them in particular appears to know how to exploit Hikaru's weaknesses, and poor Hikaru seems powerless to stop him.
Moritaka and Akito will need to come up with an amazing new manga idea if they ever hope to get back into Weekly Jump magazine, and they only have six months to do it! But with Hattori, their former editor, helping behind the scenes, the duo might have everything in place to create the perfect story. -- VIZ Media
With Near openly suspecting the new L of being Kira and sowing doubt in the hearts of the task force members, Light is once again forced to pass the Death Note on to another to take the heat off himself. But this time, Kira chooses a disciple from among his true believers. With no way to contact his successor directly, Light must rely on his faithful follower's adherence to Kira's goals. Will this newest move bring Light's ideal world closer to reality? Or will losing control of the Death Note spell Light's doom? -- VIZ Media
The Hokuto Cup, a new tournament for young players from Japan, China and Korea, is looming, and Hikaru's rival Akira has already secured one of the coveted three places on Japan's team. While Hikaru battles his way to one of the two remaining spots, Akira's father baffles the go world with his unexpected retirement! -- VIZ Media
Since Sai's disappearance, Hikaru has given up go! Meanwhile, undefeated by his failure to pass the pro test, Isumi plays his heart out in China. His foreign training teaches him unique ways to handle the stress of mental challenges and competition. Upon his return, he asks Hikaru for a rematch! But how good will Hikaru's game be after such a long break--and without Sai...? -- VIZ Media
Beet is gonna beat the odds, and bust those violent Vandels! The New Dark Age It's the Century of Darkness where monsters known as Vandels rule the world, and the Vandel Busters are the only ones who can fight them. When a group of Busters are killed in battle, they pass on their magic Saiga weapons to Beet, making him the strongest Buster ever. But Beet won't just fight the Vandels--he wants to destroy them and finally end the Century of Darkness. Five Warriors The world's most powerful Vandels have agreed upon a terrible contest. The winner: the first Vandel to destroy Beet. The prize: control of the world! The scheming Garonewt is the first Vandel to take up the challenge, and he's devised a brilliant plot to crush Beet. On Garonewt's monster-infested island fortress, Beet and his friends could meet their doom. Or they could join forces and form an unstoppable new Vandel-busting team…the Beet Warriors!
Everybody has a dream, and for Shô Kazamatsuri, that dream is simple: he wants to be the best soccer player he can possibly be. He's the spirited leader of the Josui Junior High team and everyone looks up to him. In turn, he tries to keep the team together at any cost! Josui makes it to the district finals! When Shô and the others go to scout out their future opponent, the virtually unknown Hiba, they meet team captain Tsubasa Shiina. An informal game breaks out and the key players get to test out each other's mettle. Hiba's defense is strong--stronger than anything Josui's faced before. Does Josui have what it takes to become district champs?
Once upon a time, one had to read Japanese in order to enjoy manga. Today manga has become a global phenomenon, attracting audiences in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. The style has become so popular, in fact, that in the US and UK publishers are appropriating the manga style in a variety of print material, resulting in the birth of harlequin mangas which combine popular romance fiction titles with manga aesthetics. Comic publishers such as Dark Horse and DC Comics are translating Japanese "classics", like Akira, into English. And of course it wasn't long before Shakespeare received the manga treatment. So what is manga? Manga roughly translates as "whimsical pictures" and its long history can be traced all the way back to picture books of eighteenth century Japan. Today, it comes in two basic forms: anthology magazines (such as Shukan Shonen Jampu) that contain several serials and manga 'books' (tankobon) that collect long-running serials from the anthologies and reprint them in one volume. The anthologies contain several serials, generally appear weekly and are so thick, up to 800 pages, that they are colloquially known as phone books. Sold at newspaper stands and in convenience stores, they often attract crowds of people who gather to read their favorite magazine. Containing sections addressing the manga industry on an international scale, the different genres, formats and artists, as well the fans themselves, Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives is an important collection of essays by an international cast of scholars, experts, and fans, and provides a one-stop resource for all those who want to learn more about manga, as well as for anybody teaching a course on the subject.
