VIZ Media has launched a Web site for theier online manga magazine IKKI where you can check out the opening chapters of Japanese graphic novels for free in electronic form.
Hit the jump for descriptions of the titles, some of which would not be deemed suitable for young children.
Kingyo Used Books By Seimu Yoshizaki
(Rated ‘T+’ for older teens)
This manga bookstore has a thousand stories to tell.
A businessman discovers how his childhood memories can brighten his day. An art student finds inspiration. An archer hits a surprising bull’s eye. A housewife rediscovers romance. Welcome to Kingyo Used Books, a place where people find their dreams in manga…
Title: House of Five Leaves By Natsume Ono
(Rated ‘T+’ for older teens)
A many-sided tale of faith and betrayal, drama and intrigue, set in the world of old Edo.
Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naïve, diffident nature has time and again caused him to be let go by the lords who have employed him. Hungry and desperate, he becomes a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a gang called “Five Leaves.” Although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws.
Afterschool Charisma By Kumiko Suekane
(Rated ‘T+’ for older teens)
History repeats itself… Or does it?
St. Kleio Academy is a very exclusive school: all of the students are clones of famous historical figures such as Beethoven, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Mozart, and Freud. All of them, that is, except for Shiro Kamiya. As Shiro struggles to adapt to this unusual campus, St. Kleio’s first graduate, a clone of John F. Kennedy, is killed. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies? And how does a normal boy like Shiro fit in?
Tokyo Flow Chart By Eiji Miruno
(Rated ‘T+’ for older teens)
This manga will f(low) with your brain!
Have you ever wished that somebody else would just DO SOMETHING about the chaos in your life? Then this is the perfect manga for a slacker like you! Tokyo Flow Chart is (probably) the world’s first four-frame comic strip in flow chart format. It breaks down the complexities of life and aids in the mastery of brain skills such as flow-chart-manga comprehension or mental bullet-dodging. As Confusious say, “Let your brain flow with the chart!”
Nice artwork is that color pencil
Nice artwork is that color pencil