Ichiroh! Vol. 1
Mikage
Originally released in May 2009 ($10.99)

The life of a ronin is hard. Nanako is finding this out the hard way, failing her college entrance exams and moving into an apartment to attend prep school. Of course, she's stuck in a tiny dorm room at a Shinto shrine with her slacker friend Akane. And the woman who runs the building? She extorts them for labor, of course. All the while, Nanko has to fight off the lesbian crush of her friend Shino, and her brother's lustful intentions.

So, there's plenty thrown at you in this title. That's not necessarily a good thing, though, as the beginning of the first volume progresses clunkily. Most of the jokes fall flat, the characters are off-putting, and it was a bit much to chug through. By the end of the book, I was a bit sad to have it end already (it's 117 pages), but I want to point back up to that price tag. $10.99.

Sorry, but I'm not that interested in the title to give up $11 for. Unfortunately, Yen Press' 4-koma titles are getting either more niche or just less funny. I feel like they got some of these 4-koma titles in batch licenses, and so we're seeing the releases of them. This would be something that I'd borrow from a friend, unless you're a big 4-koma person.

Welcome to Wakaba-soh Vol. 1
Chaco Abeno
Originally released in June 2009 ($10.99)

A romantic comedy set in the high school era, Kentarou decides to enroll in Karen Toguin's high school, just so he can be closer to her. It'd probably help if he was actually friends with her, first. So, like any harem setting, Kentarou is stuck in a dorm filled with girls, and is constantly stuck in the situation of looking like a pervert.

The setting here has certainly be treaded before. A lot. At least Kentarou isn't wearing glasses. Again, the series starts off clunky -- probably because the second chapter was written two years after the first -- and it picks itself back up again, only to be thrown off by the end of the volume. Characters are bombarded at you, the art is frequently lazy, and there were points where I became lost in the plot.

This one is a definite pass for me. Perhaps if the volumes were collected into more (a la Viz Big), then I'd be more apt to pick it up. But as it is right now, the price is much too high for something that I'd probably only read if it was in Yen+.

Step Vol. 1
Yu Yanshu
Originally released in April 2009 ($10.99)

This action tale follows Mr. Han, a pretty-boy Vampire who's a monster hunter. He'll gladly kill any other vampire, too. The title comes off as a bit of a Mushishi -- each chapter having Han deal with a different problem. At the same time, He's taking care of a sweet little girl, Tang Dynasty, treating her like his daughter and looking out for her. But his intentions aren't all pure and good. He's actually using her to amass a bunch of power and take over the world.

So, it's a bit of a twist. This Chinese title was surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting much when I heard "vampires," but the action was good enough to keep me interested and taking a possibly evil route for the protagonist got me a little giddy. The art is full-color, which makes up for some of the times the art gets a bit sloppy. Even if you don't pick up the title, at least flip through the artwork in the back -- top notch stuff.

This is one that I'd say go ahead and pick it up if you're looking for something a bit different in the action category. It's not going to be a life-changing title, but it's something that's worth reading in transit. It's a title I can point to, showing the strength of Chinese manga.

The History of the West Wing
Sun Jiayu and Guo Guo
Originally released in May 2009 ($12.99)

Based on a classical Chinese play, Xixiang Ji, West Wing is about the romance between te daughter of a government official and a wandering scholar. The man tries to win her hand, as she is set to marry a man she has never met -- someone who is a druggie and abusive. I think you can take a guess at the plot from here. It's a classical play, after all.

What's amazing about this title is the artwork. It's all top-notch, and totally beautiful. There are plenty of full-page images, oftentimes used to break up the chapters, and they are simply fantastic. Now, this being a classical play, some of the actions within the story are very stilted or seem to follow a specific train of logic. Again, you're buying this for the art.

If you're a very artistic person, and want to see something well done, then by all means pick this up. Otherwise? It's something you'd borrow from a friend. A good read, but not something that I'd shell $13 for.