Since I'm leaving for Texas on Wednesday, and will be there for a month, I figured that I probably wouldn't be able to get a computer weekly to put up the manga of ze week. In anticipation of that, I'm putting up 3 series this week to make up for what I won't next month. Anyways, all three have the same subject material, so the similarity makes them seem like good matches with each other. I could write an essay on them actually.

Like YKK, My Girl and Usagi Drop probably need a certain level of maturity to truly enjoy. Maybe it'll awaken those dormant maternal instincts in girls.

My Girl



Title: マイガール, My Girl
Author: Sahara Mizu
Genre: seinen, drama, slice of life
Serialized in: Shinchosha Comic Bunch
Total Volume Count: 3 (Ongoing)

Kenn's Comment: The first of the three series today. What can I say? This manga is really great. The art is beautiful, and the story is bittersweet, and has such an innocent feel to it. It's not in your face either, which gives the series that warm fuzzy feeling. The author is wonderful too. Her work usually very realistic, in that the characters interact with humanity itself. Think of Solanin from a while back. The realistic portrayal of life in manga form.

Summary from MangaUpdates:
Kazama Masamune - a single 23-year-old man...has a kid? During the season of cherry blossoms, his beloved passes away. He happens to meet a little girl outside work and realizes she is his daughter who was raised in secrecy by his lover. The worst spring of his life is transformed into a painful yet vivid spring.

Otaku no Musume-san



Title: おたくの娘さん, Otaku no Musume-san, An Otaku's Daughter
Author: Stu-Hiro
Genre: Seinen/Shounen, Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life
Serialized in: Kadokawa Shouten Dragon Age
Total Volume Count: 5 (ongoing)

Kenn's Comment: The second series. It's alphabetical by the way. It's the lightest of the three series. The story had potential, but compared to the other two series of the three, the plot is lacking, and the characters are quite as deep as they could. Perhaps it's because it's listed as Shounen. Nevertheless, it's a nice light-hearted slice of life.

Updates from MangaUpdates:
Kanau Yukimura is nine years old and she's meeting her father for the first time. However, he turns out to be an otaku! The two of them start living together in the same apartment, next to a lot of interesting neighbors. Unsurprisingly, things don't always go smoothly for these two...

Usagi Drop



Title: うさぎドロップ, Usagi Drop
Author: Unita Yumi
Genre: Josei, comedy, drama, slice of life
Serialized in: Shodensha Feel Young
Total Volume Count: 5 (ongoing)

Kenn's Comment: More light hearted than My Girl, less so than Otaku no Musume, this series is somewhere in between the two series. That's not to say that it's similar to the other two. It's a slightly different situation, and has a different target audience. Unlike Otaku no Musume-san, the comedy comes from the interactions with other characters, rather than gags and situational comedy. It's a heart warming series that everyone...,okay not everyone, can enjoy.

Summary from MangaUpdates:
Returning to his family's estate for his grandfather's funeral, thirty-something bachelor Daikichi is floored to discover that the old man had an illegitimate child with a much younger lover! Needless to say, the rest of the family is shocked and embarrassed by this turn of events, and not one of them wants anything to do with the little girl, who refuses to say a word. In a fit of angry spontaneity, Daikichi decides to adopt her! But is living with an overgrown teenager who can barely take care of himself the key to making Rin come out of her shell?