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Banri Hidaka's V.B. Rose began running in 2004, and in Japan the series has made it to 14 volumes. Here in the States, however, we're still working our way through the romance series and today we're looking at the seventh installment. In case you're unfamiliar with this series all you really need to know is that it's a romance about a girl named Ageha and a bridal shop owner named Arisaka. This has been a slow burn from the beginning and it's one of those romances that is taking its sweet time coming about. You get a snippet here and there, but major developments are often few and far between. This installment pushes things forward somewhat, but in a direction that's a little different than readers may expect.

Volume seven opens with Arisaka and Ageha celebrating their birthday together. It's a cute enough scene as the two get to know each other better and watch fireworks, but nothing big comes about. It's evident that they care for each other though neither takes the next step and spills their guts about their feelings. As a reader this is kind of frustrating, but I'm sure Hidaka intended for it to be that way for the characters as well. It leaves Ageha questioning their relationship and she even has to go to her schoolmates for advice in how to approach things or handle situations. Meanwhile Arisaka gets grief from his friends and business partner as well.

Complicating matters this time around Kana Hirose shows up to the show. She's introduced as a corsage maker, but she's actually more than that to Arisaka. Let's just say that her appearance is enough to make Ageha uncomfortable. More than Kana's past with Arisaka leaves her character standing out because she has quite the attitude and contrasts the characters we've come to know. How the two could have had a relationship is beyond me, but it's enough to make Ageha's head spin and thoughts drift, so it's entertaining enough.

The questioning about their relationship goes on for a while as both Ageha and Arisaka lose themselves in their own thoughts. Just as the volume begins to wind down and come to a close, however, something happens that turns the story on its head. I don't want to give it away since it's such a big turnabout, but let's just say that someone steps forward and expresses feelings. Maybe it's who you think, and maybe it's not. All I know is I wasn't expecting it and the next installment should be very interesting because of it.

As always Hidaka's artwork is top notch. Each panel is full of detail with nice backgrounds when necessary and solid character designs. I must say that Arisaka's appearance still confounds me though. He's almost too girlish for his own good, though I suppose the manager of a bridal boutique should be somewhat.

All around the seventh installment of V.B. Rose will keep fans happy. There are enough developments between Ageha and Arisaka here to string you along, the appearance of Kana is welcome, and the surprise at the end brings about an interesting climax. We'll see how things resolve themselves in the eighth volume, but for now consider this one easily recommended if you enjoyed any of the previous releases.

Mine Yoshizaki's Sgt. Frog is arguably one of the cutest, funniest franchises to come along in quite some time. To be fair though, the manga has been around for the better part of a decade so it's not exactly like this amphibian is the new kid on the block. The anime was recently released in the States, but for some time now the manga bas been translated by Tokyopop. The 17th installment came out earlier this year, and the 18th is to be released just around the corner.

In case you're unfamiliar with Sgt. Frog, all you really need to know is that it's about a platoon of alien frogs who come down from space to conquer our world. Unfortunately for them, and their leader Keroro, things don't go quite as planned. They are more or less marooned here on Earth (known to them as Pokopen) and become domicile, living with humans and doing house chores. There's still the desire to rule the world though, and the schemes Keroro and his kind hatch are truly hilarious, if not a little harebrained.

For the 18th volume of Sgt. Frog we have ten new chapters that catalogue the misadventures of Keroro and his cohorts.

The first chapter is a back-story about how Momoka Nishizawa actually met Tamama. If you've been following the manga then you already know Momoka is loaded and Tamama is something of a goof. In this origin story we find out that the two met with Tamama crashed Momoka's birthday party. Another alien decided to join in the festivities as well and beat the snot out of the frog. In true heroine fashion Momoka came to Tamama's aide and claimed that his life was now hers. There are some great bits in this chapter and I really appreciated the introduction between Momoka and Fuyuki. Let's just say that there's much ado when they bump into each other.

The follow-up chapter isn't quite as good, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. In the second one Keroro and his squad get it in their head that the mosquito is a feared adversary of the Pokopenians. They decide to shrink down and basically become mosquitoes, attacking Natsumi. Things don't exactly go as planned and we'll leave it at that. After the mosquito incident Giroro takes over and training Keroro's platoon, and trust me when I tell you that he goes over the top. He basically constructs a giant underground simulation room and puts the frogs through some rigorous things indeed. Sharks, missiles, and giant waves are really only just the beginning (think something big, squishy, and smells like bacon).

From here the volume goes on to feature a couple of smaller chapters, including a favorite of mine with Fuyuki traveling to the moon to stay at a Keronian hotel. There are some other good ones after this as well, though I'll leave those for fans of the series to discover. I will say that this volume ends on an interesting note and will leave you eagerly anticipating the 19th installment to see what happens.

From start to finish Sgt. Frog's 18th volume is highly entertaining. The chapters here are fantastic for the most part, though there are a couple clunkers mixed in. Even so there are plenty of laughs and even a few bits of fan service as Yoshizaki caters to some of his audience. The artwork is as awesome as ever, the writing is witty, and the stories are very creative. Sgt. Frog is a winner and this volume is just another fine installment!

Originally released in Japan in 2005, Happy Café finds itself nestled firmly in the shoujo genre. The manga has apparently gone on to receive other volumes overseas, though here in the States Tokyopop has just released the first one. It should be said that the first volume of a manga is much like the first episode of an anime series, or anything else for that matter. One typically gets a general idea of what it's going to be about, but it's rare when something grabs and hooks you right out of the gate. Kou Matsuzuki's Happy Café is such a release that is kind of hard to gauge from its opening volume.

Happy Café doesn't offer many surprises. You see a happy looking girl on the cover with a couple of metro boys, and that's pretty much what this manga presents. The story centers around a bakery named Café Bonheur, where its patrons seem to leave happy. This entices 16 year old Uru Takamura to the point she enters the café and offers to work there for free after frequently seeing customers leaving with a smile on their face. She's a spirited little girl with a somewhat troubled past and wants nothing more than to bring happiness to other people. Once she enters the café, however, she notices that some things aren't quite what they seem to be.

For starters the baker in the café, Shindo, doesn't appear to be the kind of guy who would instill good feelings in others. He's kind of sullen and violent, frequently hitting people and saying what's on his mind regardless of other's feelings. Be that as it may though, Shindo-san is a remarkable baker and Uru notices that he's quite a different person when he's in the kitchen. He smiles and looks pleasant, which is a far cry from his outward appearance the rest of the time. Joining Shindo at Bonheur is Ichiro, who is well-mannered, but something of a narcoleptic who falls asleep constantly. The only way to revive him is by shoving food in his mouth. Odd, I know, but it's pretty funny and stands as one of the manga's running gags.

Once the three main characters are introduced; which happens during the first couple of pages, Matsuzuki begins building on their relationships and personalities. Uru, Shindo, and Ichiro are interesting enough by themselves, but I must say that they do play off each other quite well in this volume. Uru seems to be smitten with Shindo, Shindo sees a little of himself in Uru, and Ichiro is almost too nonchalant for his own good. There are many amusing bits that stem from their interactions, but anything resembling an interesting, cohesive story is not really part of the equation.

Happy Café seems almost too content to just keep things in neutral for this volume. Some stuff happens, but it's nothing that will really hook readers. There is plenty of potential for sure and the characters are fun enough so there may be some nice developments in the next volume. Now that the introductions are out of the way one would hope that Matsuzuki would take the plot to the next level.

As far as the artwork is concerned, Matsuzuki's style is pretty attractive and detailed at times. There are many points in this volume where there are no backgrounds and at times characters are merely represented by outlines and simple shapes. Despite some of these shortcuts the manga looks quite nice and the art style is very enjoyable.

If you're looking for a new manga to sink your teeth into Happy Café may be right up your alley. Then again, you really have to be looking for a shoujo comedy in order to appreciate anything that happens here, because there's not much else. The unfortunate part about this first installment is the fact that nothing really happens here. The story doesn't become interesting and the character development only goes so far. Hopefully the next volume will change that, but until then this one looks to have some promise.

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