AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei Manga

Nope, this isn’t the live action cast of the students in Negima.  AKB48 is a super-sized pop girl group in Japan that started in a theater in Tokyo’s Akihabara section.  There’s three teams within the group (A,K,B) with 16 girls per team, and “research” girls who have the opportunity to make their way up the ranks to the main teams.  Plus, there are multiple sub-groups that have spawned, including Not Yet, French Kiss and Itano Tomomi’s solo single.  There are also other “48” girl groups in Nagoya (SKE48) and Osaka (NMB48).  What does this all mean?  Well for one, somebody’s making a shitload of money off these girls, but also that AKB48 has finally hit the mainstream music industry in Japan in a big way.

Ryouko’s Spiritual Case Files (Ryoko no Shinrei Jikenbo) Manga

Here’s a blast from the past series, courtesy of mangaka Shinohara Chie.  Ryouko’s Spirtual Case Files (not to be confused with the other Ryoko’s Case Files) began in 1987 and ran for four volumes. The story focuses on Ryouko and her fateful meeting with a man’s soul that takes over the body of her deceased cat, Pou.  The man has no idea who he is or what happened to his body, but knows for sure that it’s being kept somewhere in a comatose state.  At first Ryouko wants nothing to do with this new Pou, but agrees to help him after he protects her from malicious spirits that are drawn to her spiritual powers.

xxxHolic 213: The End

I’m grimacing as I type this.

Freezing – Chapter 39

Aw, Satellizer’s hurr durr love expressions are adorable.

嵐 – The Manga Storm

Arashi is currently one of the biggest pop boy bands in Japan right now, and the group has been around since 1999.  Its five members are not just singers: they’ve long had a presence in TV series, films and their own variety shows.  While they’ve never had any of their songs attached to an anime series, all them have at some point been attached to anime or a Live Action version of a manga series.

This week, several mangaka banded together to produce “Arashi Meets Manga” – a feature section in the Asahi Newspaper that portrays each of the Arashi members in the art style of the series that they acted for.  Below are each portrait, along with other manga series that they have been involved with.