Alright, so I lied. We're not done with our SigIKKI coverage. I just couldn't help myself, really: Bokurano is probably one of their most popular titles when it comes to the SigIKKI label, and I'm starting to root the series on, even though I want to just be the cool indie hipster who reads Tokyo Flow Chart and What's The Answer.

Take a bunch of kids, give them a giant robot, and tell them to save the world. It's something we've always imagined doing, and we even read a bit about in 20th Century Boys. So what Bokurano essentially amounts to is something of a wish fulfillment fantasy for many of us guys (and apparently a lot of you girls) -- yet the series handles it with a surprising level of deftness.

The big thing with Bokurano is that the story doesn't feel like a typical "save the world" story. The whole time I've been reading it, something has been lurking in the back of my head telling me that something is going to go horribly awry with this. Perhaps its how their robotic guide has a plastered-on smile at all times, or the somber tone of some of the characters.

Either way, Bokurano is sure to be one of the front runners for SigIKKI once it makes it to print, and will ensure some success for the line. This will be a title to pass around to your friends for sure. Check it out over at the SigIKKI website and let us know what you think of it.

Of all the cool stuff I picked up at NYAF this year, Collateral Damage was by far the coolest.  I had no intention of buying a board game at the convention, but once I heard the concept for CD I was intrigued and curiosity won out over frugality. As an added bonus, every single person I tell about it seems to say "Wait, there's an anime board game?", so I feel special for being in the know.

Hit the jump to find out whether the experience of playing this game is anywhere near as cool as the fact that it even exists in the first place, although I have to say: it makes a great conversation piece in your anime collection either way.

Some of the stories over at SigIKKI are only a single chapter long, but they show some real promise -- especially their comedy works. Two works in particular caught my attention, and really deserve yours: What's the Answer by Tondabayashi and I am a Turtle by Temari Tamura.

What's the Answer is really short: only four pages. The premise is simple: a setup with some sort of question and three possible solutions that fill single-panel pages. The results are bizarre and ingeniously funny. The format seems fantastic and I'd love to read more, but Viz has yet to list any more on their release calendar. If they don't, it looks like I'll have to hunt this one down in Japanese.

The other, I am a Turtle proves itself to be a well-set up 4-koma title that's about an African turtle that's  made its way to Japan and now lives with his longtime owner in a dilapidated old hotel. It's even got blood stains on the wall. And so we follow the turtle and his cast of characters around as we see the world from his point of view. It's a terribly cute story, but Viz is releasing chapters every...two months? C'mon, for a 4-koma, you really could put this one out a bit quicker.

While it'll only take you a few minutes to read both of these titles, it's worth your time to check 'em out and let Viz know that they should be published. I'd be very sad to see these titles just languish in the ether of the web.

Over the weekend I was privileged to see Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (Hottorake no Shima: Haruka to Mahou no Kagami) from Production IG. While initially what drew me to it was Otsuichi's writing as he is a co-writer for the movie, the visuals and the performance took over as my favorite things about the film.

Unlike most anime we watch at Jtor, Oblivion Island is a 3D CG work that aims squarely at your average 8-year-olds. Unlike Ghibli's Ponyo, for example, all the character animation in Oblivion Island is rendered in 3D, and much of the background visuals as well. The result is a fairly rare thing to see, coming out of Japan, rather than an American animation studio, because it looks closer to a Pixar film than anything. Read on for details about the film and why you might want to check it out...

There's always one bad apple in the group, and in the course of reviewing all the titles up for grabs over at SigIKKI.com, Shunju Aono's I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow fell utterly flat with me.

The story is a comedy based around a 40-year-old man living with his father and high-school aged daughter who decided to quit his job and find himself as a manga artist. The father is belligerent, the daughter works at what appears to be a whorehouse for extra money, and the main character says that he'll really do his best... tomorrow.

I actually had high hopes going into this story. I was hoping that it would be something along the lines of About Schmidt or any other series that picks on older people having a sudden change in life -- a really easy topic to write about -- but it just came off as belligerent and sad. The father's advice and criticisms are straightforward and true, and the main character has no redeeming qualities about him.

I was at least hoping the Dad would go a bit off the wall.

Comedy really is one of those subjective things, so I may be missing something here. It's worth it to go check out the title, but unless you enjoy watching a grown man get disrespected time and time again while he just takes it like a lying dog, then this series will be a pass for you.

At a glance, Boys Over Flowers may seem like your typical shoujo manga, and perhaps at its heart that's what it is. Still, once you've fallen in love with the characters of Yoko Kamio's epic tale, you're likely to never forget them.

It takes a bit of a commitment to read the whole series: it ran for eleven years and still stands as the best selling shojo manga of all time. For those of you who read and loved every bit of the story of Makino, Domyougi and their friends, you may feel a bit like I do -- that you were sorry to see them go and wished the story would never end.

Yoko Kamio must have felt the same way, and it's because of that that this new chapter exists: Jewelry Box. It contains two additional stories: What happens to Makino as she rushes to attend her friend Shizuka's wedding, and the story of side character Hanazawa Rui. Now, if you've never read any of Boys Over Flowers, this is not the book for you ... but if you have, well, you're probably already salivating.

Hit the break for more.

As popular as samurai tales are over in Japan, it seems like we get a cherry-picking of the best. Ruroni Kenshin, Lone Wolf and Cub and Vagabond are just a few of the titles. Not that I'm complaining about only getting the good stuff. Viz has been hosting Natsume Ono's House of Five Leaves over at their SigIKKI site, and it looks like it'll join the ranks of those high-end titles.

House of Five Leaves, as far as the story goes online, is about a ronin, a masterless samurai, who ends up helping a group called the House of Five Leaves in a kidnapping operation. He's alone and at the end of his wits, and over the course of the four chapters, finds himself naturally drifting towards joining this group. It's a bit of a slow boil, but the story has some real promise.

To an extent, the story reminds me of Rock's path in Black Lagoon, trying to walk the line between his upright and honest ideals and the dark side of those he's working with, all while still living a life that's truly enjoyable. Except here, things are more nuanced. And there's no Balalaika.

Ono's artwork gives the series a beautiful look to the classical world of the samurai. More wispy and airy than Vagabond, it gives an otherworldly feel to the work -- in a sense, it reminds me of some of the more classical art, with just a bit of an updated punch.

If you're looking for a lot of swordfighting and epic battles, Five Leaves isn't going to be your cup of tea. This is more for the person who wants to get caught up in some of the culture of Edo. So, if that sounds like a pleasant read for you (it certainly has been for me), then go ahead and check it out at SigIKKI's website. And Viz, I can't wait to see a print copy arrive in the mail!

Let's fill a high school with the clones of all sorts of famous characters in history. Unlike the amazing Clone High, this story is all serious-business, and our protagonist, Shiro, is the only non-clone in the school. Things are all happy-go-lucky until Marie Curie suddenly "transferred schools" 'cause she didn't want to be Marie Curie anymore, and JFK was assassinated. Something's afoot.

To be honest, I wasn't exactly interested in Kumiko Suekane's Afterschool Charisma at first. They threw in too many characters at once, the art style didn't strike me as anything amazing -- albeit it was well done -- and the characters seemed a bit flat.

But all that changed when I reached the end of chapter four, where they introduced a cheery little boy from Austria.  Now I'm wondering just where the manga is going to go by introducing a volatile character like the Fuhrer while trying to manage a conspiracy plot and all the other personalities at the school.

My recommendation of this series is a bit tentative, simply because it's got a really interesting premise, but I wonder if the characters will prove deep enough to be something more than the manga archetypes overlaid on top of a basic historical profile. The title certainly strikes me as one of the more mainstream series to come out of SigIKKI (more than Tokyo Flow Chart, for sure), and I'm sure it will see success once it makes it to print.

I'll be reading it, for sure, out of sheer interest to see where the plot can go, and if we're going to find the body of clone Louis Brandeis in Clone Hitler's room.

Imagine the entirety of the Earth designated as a nature preserve, and human society has moved up to an artificial ring circling the Earth. Pretty cool, right? Well, along with that is the usual class stratification, which brings us to our protagonist Mitsu, who lives in the lowest tier, and just started his work as a window washer.This is the world of Saturn Apartments by Hisae Iwaoka.

It's a high-risk job, seeing as you can get hit by debris or winds can send you flying all over the place. Mitsu knows this especially well, because his dad died on the job five years past, leaving him all alone. He was the guy everyone liked, and so the community came to look after Mitsu. Now that he's a working man, just graduated from middle school, he's tackling his job with all the seriousness he can muster.

What really struck me about Saturn Apartments was the art style. It's something different and has a strong feeling to it, although I had a hard time telling apart characters' ages -- I thought some of the people in their 40s and 50s were the same age as Mitsu. It was all fine and dandy, until I saw the drawings of Earth.

They were absolutely captivating. I stopped and stared at it for a good minute, taking in all the detail and the absolute beauty of it.

The story takes itself at a slow yet serious pace, and I get the feeling that it's ultimately going to be a tale about growing up. Which is just where I want it to go. While you may not be impressed by the cover art, or only have a passing interest in futuristic Earth, go and read the first chapter. You'll find yourself wanting to read the rest almost immediately.

Can't wait to see it in print, Viz!

I never really got into 4-panel gag manga before. Oftentimes I'd simply chuckle at it and wonder if I really spent my money well. Too often I feel like the joke that went on the strip just wasn't that special, or the four panels used just didn't allow for anything special.

Well, that all changed when I read Tokyo Flow Chart by Eiji Miruno over on the SigIKKI website. I died reading this stuff. It's not so much the characters themselves or anything related to the narrative -- instead, it's the storytelling mode. As the name implies, this 4-panel manga is actually a flow chart. Sure, there's a straight narrative that you can follow, but a number of alternative stories branch off from most every panel.

The art style matches the crude nature of the jokes, but I must admit, I felt like a couple of characters out of Kingyo Used Books reading this gag manga. It made my whole day better. While I'm here talking about the humor, I have to give major credit to the translator and editor who worked on this title: there's a lot of American pop culture worked in to make the jokes work, and there were times when I was simply floored. Top-notch work.

At the moment, only two chapters are online, and this title hasn't been scheduled for publishing yet, so it's all the more vital to go check it out. Tokyo Flow Chart is a hilarious perversion of the 4-panel genre that, if it hits you right, will have you rolling on the floor in laughter. I was, and now I've got to clean up the mess I made.