Hope you took advantage of last week’s meager offerings to save a few pennies, ‘cuz this week’s shipping list is a bruiser at 40+ titles, the lion’s share of which are long-running VIZ series: Bleach, Eyeshield 21, Knights of the Zodiac, Monkey High, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Rosaio + Vampire, Shaman King, Wild Ones. Also making a strong showing this week is Seven Seas, which is offering Avalon: The Warlock Diaries, a manga adaptation of Rachel Robert’s popular YA novels; a new edition of Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, reprinted in a wallet-friendly omnibus format; and new volumes of Inukami and Venus Versus Virus. Yen Press unveils its own novel-cum-manga, Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak (think Something Wicked This Way Comes for the underage crowd), as well as the first volume of Welcome to Wakaba-Soh, a harem comedy about a young man who moves into a dorm to be closer to the girl he loves, only to discover — surprise! — the building is filled with beauties. Rounding out the new arrivals list are a prequel to Tail of the Moon, a sequel to Yurara (a.k.a. Rasetsu, which I’ll be reviewing later this week), and a new set of Pokemon Adventures, all from VIZ; Ballad of a Shinigami, a supernatural drama from CMX; and Samurai Harem Asu No Yoichi, a sword-and-skivvies comedy from Tokyopop.

Other notable arrivals include volume five of Black Jack (Vertical, Inc.), which finds the doctor going toe-to-toe with rivals Biwamaru (the accupunturist) and Kiriko (the Jack Kevorkian shoo-in); volume two of Happy Happy Clover (VIZ), an all-ages series about cute woodland critters; and volume three of Jyu-Oh-Sei (Tokyopop), Natsumi Itsuki’s thoroughly engrossing space opera about a young man marooned on a planet where plants at at the top of the food chain.

NEW SERIES/ONE-SHOTS

• Avalon: The Warlock Diaries, Vol. 1 (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Ballad of a Shinigami, Vol. 1 (CMX)
• Cirque du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1 (Yen Press)
• Kashimashi Omnibus Edition, Vol. 1 (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Pokemon Adventures, Vol. 1 (VIZ)
• Rasetsu, Vol. 1 (VIZ)
• Samurai Harem Asu No Yoichi, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
• Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzou (VIZ)
• Welcome to Wakaba-Soh, Vol. 1 (Yen Press)

CONTINUING SERIES

• Baby & Me, Vol. 14 (VIZ)
• Black God, Vol. 6 (Yen Press)
• Black Jack, Vol. 5 (Vertical, Inc.)
• Bleach, Vol. 27 (VIZ)
• Dragon Drive, Vol. 14 (VIZ)
• Eyeshield 21, Vol. 26 (VIZ)
• Happy Happy Clover, Vol. 2 (VIZ)
• Honey and Clover, Vol. 6 (VIZ)
• Hoshin Engi, Vol. 13 (VIZ)
• Inukami, Vol. 3 (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Jyu-Oh-Sei, Vol. 3 (Tokyopop)
• Knights of the Zodiac, Vol. 26 (VIZ)
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (VIZ)
• Magic Touch, Vol. 2 (VIZ)
• Mixed Vegetables, Vol. 4 (VIZ)
• Monkey High, Vol. 6 (VIZ)
• Moon Child, Vol. 13 (CMX)
• Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, Vol. 11 (VIZ)
• NORA: Last Chronicle of Devildom, Vol. 5 (VIZ)
• One Piece, Vol. 21 (VIZ)
• Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 12 (VIZ)
• Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventures, Vol. 4 (VIZ)
• Ral Grad, Vol. 4 (VIZ)
• Rosario + Vampire, Vol. 7 (VIZ)
• Shaman King, Vol. 22 (VIZ)
• Shaman Warrior, Vol. 7 (Dark Horse)
• Slam Dunk, Vol. 4 (VIZ)
• St. Dragon Girl, Vol. 3 (VIZ)
• Sundome, Vol. 4 (Yen Press)
• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, Vol. 21 (Del Rey)
• Venus Versus Virus, Vol. 6 (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Wild Ones, Vol. 7 (VIZ)
• Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Vol. 3 (VIZ)